Most rebuilt gearboxes, including ours, come without the "turret". This is the part that the gearstick bolts to. If you pull back the rubber boot on the turret you will reveal two large springs and two adjuster screws and locknuts. The role of these springs and screws is to set the rest position of the gearstick when you let go of it and is referred to as the 3/4 bias setting. When you fit a new gearbox this can sometimes need adjusting to agree with the selector shafts to ensure a clean gearshift. Firstly you need to work out which way to adjust it, to do this drive the vehicle but when shifting into 3 and 4 instead of letting the gearstick go where it wants to go try holding it a little to the left then a little to the right, one way or the other it will drop in nicer. When you have worked this out you can adjust the screws the springs are resting on to lean the stick left or right until it shifts better.
To do this you will need : LT77 or R 380 with bellhousing LT230 with handbrake, with hi/lo and diff lock linkages Clutch kit, mounts, shifter
After a long run in my Discovery, when the gearbox gets hot, the gear lever becomes stiff when moving from side to side. Why?
The nylon cage at the end of the selector rail can swell when hot, and cause friction. To rectify this, the parts needs replacing. You can find this part here
I have a short stick Disco R 380 which I would like to convert to a long stick to fit a Defender, how do I do this ?
There are 2 ways to do this:-
1) strip the gearbox and fit the Defender selector rail (FTC4588) and the Defender yolk (FTC5120) with grub screw FTC4536. Once these parts are fitted you can fit the R380 defender top housing and linkages or you can also fit the Defender LT77 top housing but you will have to remove the 'T' piece under the housing which is held in place with 2 M6 screws.
2) rather than strip the gearbox we make an adapter piece that you can fit to the end of the existing selector rail then fit the Defender yolk to this part then fit the Defender top housing. We can supply the adapter, yolk and screw at £ 75 + VAT, see here.
I have a short bellhousing R380 on a 200 TDi engine and want to fit it to a 300 TDi engine, will it fit ?
Yes and no, not all the holes will line up but most do, pls see :
and the 300 TDi clutch cover housing :
Looking at the top bellhousing photo :
Lets call these holes, 12 (O'clock), 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11
When the bellhousing drops onto the clutch cover housing in the lower photo :
Holes :
12, OK
1, OK
2, OK
3, OK
5, doesn’t line up
6, no hole but there is some material so you can drill and tap and fit a
stud
7, doesn’t line up
8, OK,
9, doesn’t line up
10, OK
11, OK
The bottom line is most line up but not all, in my experience, enough line up for it to be secure and not cause a problem.
