Dear Bob,
Your notes on MGB gearbox oil were quite timely. My 1969 MGB-GT now has 261,600 miles on its transmission, and countless quarts of oil have gone through it. Yes, 30 wt. as the manual says. I changed the oil last week (more on this in the next paragraph) and found some bearing race metal in the drain plug depression. Though it sounds fine, shifts well, and all the synchros work, I think I should start saving for a rebuild. Also, I feel the practice of double clutching on down-shifts has prolonged the life of the synchros.
Now I caution your readers: when using the rubber hose to fill the trans, it must be long enough! I used this technique for many years, except instead of a funnel I used a pump type oil can to squirt oil down the tube. This took some time, depending on how low the oil was. Well, last week I was topping up the various oil levels and I couldn't find the hose I normally use to fill the trans, so I substituted a different one which turned out to be shorter than my normal one. All went well until it slipped into the gearbox! With visions of pulling engine and trans out of the car to get the little bas... I finally decided I would first see if I could remove the side cover plate and snake it out under the gears. The hose was on the other side from the cover plate. Well to my surprise, after removing the drain plug and reaching in with my finger to see if there were any more metal chips, I touched my friendly rubber hose. I moved it a little to the side and it fell out. Boy, was I relieved.
After putting the plug in and finding a longer piece of hose and an old funnel, I filled the box with 30 wt. oil much faster than I have ever done before.
Geoff Kimler
Arroyo Grande, CA
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