Humber FV1600 - ARN 105-819 - Restoration moves forward.

[Dave Mills]

After replacing the pinion and setting up the rear diff, replacing the transfer case with a NOS transfer case I have a very quite vehicle apart from the exact same grinding noise at 48Kph at 2400 revs.

Have traced it to the gearbox I think any Humber owner will know the total Pain in the A... it is to get the transmission out. Well I have had mine out and stripped down twice and I am a bit of a master at it. Up and out through the passenger door. Have found that "Fred the Fiddler" some time in the past has been at it and have found the following

1. Stepped pin that holds the 2nd and 3rd gear selector ring in place missing hence trapped 5 k's out of town in third gear travelling at 10Kph home as it slid past its guides.
2. Rear main shaft thrust washer missing.
3. Reverse idler 1/4 inch thrust washer missing

After finding all of this I thought I had it, but no the dreaded noise was still there.

So out the box came again, stripped down and replaced the cluster shaft as the brass bushes seemed a little worn and thought that maybe the nose was tooth chatter due to inconsistent messing, fitted it all up, passed, the cigarette paper through the gears and it came out crinkled but not torn so I was "In like Flynn". At least I had false hope it would seem. (Richard Couttes-Smith shared that little trick with me).

But no, the noise was just the same except the vehicle was even smoother on the road until the noise starts. A phone call to Russell in Stawell and I will pick up another gear box complete to install and see if the noise disappears. if it doesn't I will at least know that my gearbox is OK, if this occurs damned if I know what is causing the noise. I will know in about two weeks.

Some pictures of my parts gearbox stripped down. Built like a brick shithouse and as heavy as can be.

The maddening part about this saga is that upon a visual inspection on rebuild the gearbox looked and felt fine, did not drive the vehicle so could not test it out. Oh well the joys of vehicle restoration and wanting to get it right.

Cheers,

Dave.

[fv1620]

Frustrating business Dave, I feel for you. Incidentally what sort of oil are you putting in the gearbox?

[David Herbert]

My sympathy to you too. At least you are finding things wrong that are better repaired but having done such a superb restoration it must be very anoying to be taking it to bits again.

I note that you had new brass bushes made for the drive shafts. If they are being lubricated with any EP grade of oil they will already be dead as the EP additives attack brass / bronze resulting in the bearing surface breaking up at a microscopic scale and wearing away very quickly. You probably knew this but I thought I would throw it in anyway !

Good luck with getting this sorted out.

David

[Dave Mills]

Thanks Clive and David, it is disappointing but this happens at times. I am using a 40W-70 Mineral oil in the gear box. I believe that if I had concerns with the drive/suspension stations the noise would be able to be pin pointed and I would have it at a greater range of speeds. The noise was evident from the first drive and will come into play very quickly once you hit the speed and rev range. All other times it is as quite as can be, if the noise starts and you hit a bump it may stop or can even start, I have driven the vehicle with the front tail shaft removed and no difference likewise it will occur in 4WD or 2WD.

The only thing I can think of now is the 2nd / 3rd syncro cluster and the small internal teeth which engage 3rd gear may just be grabbing due to wear?????they of course are all covered and no way to visually check them apart from a total disassembly.

It almost sounds as if the 1st / Rev gear is grinding into the casing due to shaft alignment problems, no evidence of this occurring. In saying this the gear box is as smooth as silk turning by hand and the clearances all look fine.

I will slip another gearbox in, I may have different noises from using another one but if it fixes the noise I then know for sure. A game of trial and error and once you get the hang of it the gearbox is pretty straight forward to remove and replace.

A Humber owner once said to me that to fix a Humber it only takes "Time and Money".

Will keep you informed.

Cheers,

Dave.

[Dave Mills]

Saturday was the day that we conquered the dreaded gear growl in our Humber. Another set of Humber ears came down from Stawell bringing a second transmission. A drive of the old girl and a diagnosis of transmission noise was confirmed, so, out came the transmission for the 3rd time and in went the donor transmission; road test and you guessed it same noise at the same speed. Heart breaking to say the least, so off came the front drive flanges to discount the front drive line and noise was still there. Could not believe it some serious head scratching then it struck us; the clouds opened up, angels began singing and their it was staring at us. The tail shaft from the transmission to the transfer case was out of sync by 90% Removed the shaft split the slip joint, realigned, refitted and now I have a very, very quite vehicle. Somehow in a past life the tail shaft must have been reassembled incorrectly and I did not pick it up, with the rear diff solidly mounted the tail shaft was winding up and trying to turn the gears against themselves. This explains why the transfer case and transmission both had noise and when I hit a bump the noise stopped as this allowed the tail shaft to unwind and de torque.

Anyway a couple of shots of the transmission being removed again and the donor vehicle going to the Humber grave yard at Stawell.

A very happy Humber owner at the moment.

Cheers,

Dave.

[hrpearce]

Been caught working too hard on a problem myself only to have a bystander point out the obvious staring me in the face. Dam frustrating.

[Dave Mills]

Have now had the canvas made and fitted by our local canvas fellow. A great job and we are very happy, you will notice we had it manufactured so that we can roll up the sides for greater vision. Yes, Yes I know it is not original, however, it is very practical.

Cheers,

Dave.