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Moss J-type overdrive conversion bracket


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Hi Peter,

thank you very much for your help!

Just to be shure: the mounting point moves about 5 cm back?

On the photo above it looks like it moves 3 or 4 cm back OVER the crossmember?

Ciao, Marco

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On 1/3/2021 at 7:14 PM, Brian Eldred said:

Thanks Adrian, 

My pipe is also 2" diameter so similar, though I need 8mm spacers to get 2mm clearance. It seems to clear the hole in the cruciform OK, though not much clearance at the bottom. I've modded the exhaust bracket to be like the TR3 type and ordered some bushes and bolts so will check again when that's mounted properly.

The Moss kit does seem to need a lot of beggering about though! I might try the one I found on eBay, which is an almost flat plate with a GT6/spitfire type rubber mounting. And cheap.

Brian

I hadd simular problems with the moss bracket on my 3A. In the end I binned it  and bought a bracket from Colin at CTM which I think is for a TR4; Fitted straight on no problems and no fiddling. I dont know if the brackets are still available as I cant see them on CTM's site

cheers

Alan

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6 minutes ago, Kiwifrog said:

I hadd simular problems with the moss bracket on my 3A. In the end I binned it  and bought a bracket from Colin at CTM which I think is for a TR4; Fitted straight on no problems and no fiddling. I dont know if the brackets are still available as I cant see them on CTM's site

cheers

Alan

Has anyone ever pointed out to Moss that their product is not fit for purpose?

Rgds Ian

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22 hours ago, Ian Vincent said:

Has anyone ever pointed out to Moss that their product is not fit for purpose?

Rgds Ian

I've been in conversation with a chap from Moss who told me that the kit was designed by Pete Cox (who incidentally rebuilt my gearbox). He then contacted Pete, who confirmed that the bracket needs spacers in the early cars, which are included in the kit - except they're not. Apparently the first kit Pete designed used the GT6 etc. mounting but this was deemed not strong enough. Although I would have thought a GT6 engine + overdrive box wouldn't be much lighter if any than a TR?

Anyway I've ordered the cross member from TR Trader on eBay and a GT6 mounting, so when all the bits arrive I'll try both - and take photos. Of course I'll have to mount the box to the engine first, which I gather is a bit of a challenge....

Brian

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Is the engine in the car, if so yes it is not easy. It helps alot to screw a couple of longish studs into two of the 5/16" UNC holes, then slide the box along them.

IMG-20201220-WA0035.thumb.jpeg.1054fe85b20537b9de887a78c3a35642.jpeg

Bob.

Edited by Lebro
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Hi Bob,

Yes the engine is in the car. I've got a slightly longer stud in the top hole which I hope will help, and a wheel skid on castors with wooden blocks underneath. I'm going to wait a day or too for my garage to get above freezing point before I give it a go.

I have sorted the exhaust mounting and have all the parts for both rear bracket options. The TR Trader bracket and GT6 mounting looks like a non-starter, as it raises the box higher than the Moss bracket (without spacers) by 25 mm.

Brian

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I've just spent a couple of hours wrestling with and swearing at my gearbox, and have got it pretty close to the engine. But I can't get it far enough forward for the clutch arm to clear the floor before the bellhousing hits the 3 studs at the top of the backplate (I took the one longer stud out). Does that mean these studs have to come out? I can't remember if they stayed in when I took the old box out.

Thanks for any tips!

,Brian

Gearbox.jpg

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Brian,

I don't recall tha being a problem when I replaced my gearbox last year.  As I recall I had a pretty easy job of it, about an hour and it was back in and I was reassembling the welter of bits that surround it - which was much more challenging.  Is there anything stopping the lever pulling further forward? or can you just rotate the box a bit to clear?  Daft questions I know but if it came out, it will go back in.

Rgds Ian

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Brian it either works and fits quickly or it won’t and you have to press reset and try again and sometimes and magically it’ll all comes together. 
 

I've been there and feel for you.
 

long studs (4 or 5 inches) at the top 1 2 or 3 locations of the engine to take the gearbox load whilst it away from the engine. 
look at bobs thread on his engine rebuild he uses Really !!! Long threaded bar 

that and lining up the splines to slide it home. 
 

have another go it’ll come right. 

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I would lift the engine up a bit. Make sure the clutch drive plate is central. Put the gearbox in gear so an assistant can twist the rear flange on demand.

Turn the gearbox anticlockwise to get the clutch lever below the floor until a little further forward. ( I always end up lying underneath it in a health and safety free zone.)

Then wrestle, swear, cus and mysteriously bang its in.    Good luck,  John

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The longer studs look like a great idea when the engine is out of the car, but in the car they wouldn't let me twist the gearbox to get the clutch shaft past the floor. I'll try raising the whole lot a bit as John suggests, then do some more wrestling and swearing :rolleyes:

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When I put one in last I had the person at the back taking the weight of the back end with a rope sling whilst also able to twist the drive flange, the OD adds a considerable weight and you have your hands full dealing with the front.

Just after it slots in have a bar ready to slide underneath the tail shaft area to take the weight on the floor whilst you have a breather.

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Try a central single long stud. This allows some pivot. 
 

I also used an electronic level on a borrowed input shaft. Then see if you can get similar  on the gearbox when sliding it home. 
 

I also have bolts on that left side not studs. 

9521A10A-FD27-4FDE-9E3E-EF5CD9542126.jpeg

4CB4CB8E-D7E3-4942-AD9D-394FC4CFECFA.jpeg

7EC63403-D8E6-4DD8-B6E0-494BE530AA3C.jpeg

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Well after raising the engine a bit and another couple of hours wrestling on Wednesday I managed to get the clutch arm in the right place, but was still stuck about 35mm from home.

Then yesterday, after trudging through the snow to my garage at the top of the garden, heated only by a small fan heater, I had another go. I lifted the engine as high as it would go, dropped the back end of the gearbox as low as it would go, and the gap at top and bottom was about the same. A quick wiggle and it was in, oo-err missus! At least until the bell housing hit the bulkhead, then I lowered it until cleared then shoved it the rest of the way. Deep sigh of relief :rolleyes:

On to the mountings: I had previously welded a piece to the exhaust bracket so that it resembles the standard TR3 type, and bolted it in. see pic 1. I think this must have lowered the pipe very slightly. With a jack under the gearbox drain plug (with a block of wood with a hole in it) I raised it as far as it would go.

The TR Trader cross member was too high to get the GT6 type mounting onto it by about 5mm, as suspected. And if it had gone any higher I reckon the prop would foul the tunnel. Pics 2 & 3.

For the Moss bracket, I made up some spacers out of 6mm aluminium plate. Trial fit seems OK, about 2-3 mm clearance above the exhaust pipe, and enough clearance for the prop. Though as others have said, the cut-out for the solenoid will need opening out. See pics 4 & 5. I'll feed this back to Moss - I think if they made the recess into the chassis rails 6mm less it would not only do away with the spacers but give more clearance on the solenoid. I also need to fettle the RH flange, but that's because on my car the floor isn't quite central on the chassis...

I'll wait till it warms up a bit before fitting all the other bits- I remember the top starter motor bolt was a right wotsit to get at- and it will be a while before I get to test it.

Hope this may be of help to anyone else doing this job!

Brian

Exhaust bracket new.jpg

TR trader gearbox bracket.jpg

TR Trader gearbox bracket 2.jpg

Solenoid.jpg

Moss gearbox bracket 2.jpg

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Well done Brian.  What happens with the speedo cable?   I recall we fitted a VeeThree speedo angle drive instead of the Smiths thing as I had one to try out.  The cable pointed down at the chassis/exhaust/road from memory without the angle drive.

https://m.indiamart.com/ananddistributors-bengaluru/veethree-right-angle-drives.html

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1 hour ago, BlueTR3A-5EKT said:

Well done Brian.  What happens with the speedo cable?   I recall we fitted a VeeThree speedo angle drive instead of the Smiths thing as I had one to try out.  The cable pointed down at the chassis/exhaust/road from memory without the angle drive.

https://m.indiamart.com/ananddistributors-bengaluru/veethree-right-angle-drives.html

I've bought a NOS angle drive and a 69'' (I think) cable, but haven't tried fitting them yet.

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  • 2 months later...

Just to finish this off, I finally got everything fitted and gave it a test run on Monday without the tunnel on to make sure everything worked (I covered the end of the prop with a bit of cable-tied cardboard). Success! 

I ended up spacing the bracket a bit higher with some washers, giving a total of 8mm spacing above the chassis. I also filed out the hole for the solenoid somewhat as others have done. I'll feed this back to the technical dept. at Moss.

Now I have the problem that the gearbox tunnel doesn't fit - it fouls the bell housing on the starter side, as the 'bulge' for the later starter bendix is longer. Has anyone else had this issue? Would a later tunnel fit?

Brian

Gearbox mounting.jpg

Gearbox 2.jpg

Gearbox tunnel.jpg

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1 hour ago, Ian Vincent said:

I have a saloon overdrive box (2000 saloon) in my TR3a and I am still using the orginal steel gearbox cover and I have never noticed it being a problem.

Rgds Ian

Hi Ian, I see from the Moss catalogue that TR3As post TS50000 have the longer starter motor and a different gearbox casing, so maybe the cover is different too?

Brian

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17 minutes ago, Brian Eldred said:

Hi Ian, I see from the Moss catalogue that TR3As post TS50000 have the longer starter motor and a different gearbox casing, so maybe the cover is different too?

Brian

Yes the earlier cover is tapered in sooner around the starter bulge than the later one, just checked as I have one of each on cars here.

Stuart.

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55 minutes ago, Brian Eldred said:

Hi Ian, I see from the Moss catalogue that TR3As post TS50000 have the longer starter motor and a different gearbox casing, so maybe the cover is different too?

Brian

Brian, as Stuart points out, that would be the answer. Would it be a major task to modify your cover?

Rgds Ian

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2 hours ago, Brian Eldred said:

Just to finish this off, I finally got everything fitted and gave it a test run on Monday without the tunnel on to make sure everything worked (I covered the end of the prop with a bit of cable-tied cardboard). Success! 

I ended up spacing the bracket a bit higher with some washers, giving a total of 8mm spacing above the chassis. I also filed out the hole for the solenoid somewhat as others have done. I'll feed this back to the technical dept. at Moss.

Now I have the problem that the gearbox tunnel doesn't fit - it fouls the bell housing on the starter side, as the 'bulge' for the later starter bendix is longer. Has anyone else had this issue? Would a later tunnel fit?

Brian

Gearbox mounting.jpg

Gearbox 2.jpg

Gearbox tunnel.jpg

Hi Brian, From your pictures, the modification of the mounting plate to accommodate the solenoid looks v similar to mine; it concerns me slightly that a fair amount of material has to be removed from the LHS of the bracket; not ideal?

Rgds

David

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