r380 gearbox

[mrcrappy]

hi, im told that the R380 gearbox is better than the usual LT 77 (or whatever its called), can any one tell me if :-
a) what car the R380 is off
b) if anyone has fitted one to a 350 wedge and if it is any improvment
c) if any thing is different eg length, clutch, bellhousing etc.

RPI sell this box new for £975 + vat but that is quite a lot to spend on a gear box for an old car, but im sick of getting my other normal box change only to find its not much better and gets worse as the time goes on.

[danny hoffman]

What's wrong with your change? There is a spring arangement on the top of the box which can make things feel a bit sloppy, quite easy to sort.

Danny

[350matt]

I Looked into doing this when my box was playing up, the R380 is Rover box which went in the RV8 the MGB re-vamp thing of the early '90's. Consequently it wasn't used much. I think it also ended up in a couple of Light delivery vehicles so you'd struggle to find one 2nd hand, however it's supposed to fit the rover Bellhousing and mounts with no problems as externally is nearly the same. However I found a new 2nd hand rover box and have been running it on the 75/90W synthetic gear oil with no probs, although it does still graunch from cold. Apparently Tower View do some kind of upgrade service (tried on Mr Heaths mobile test-bed), which may be worth considering.

Matt

[GreenV8S]

This was the one Rover developed to replace the LT77, that was supposed to give a better gear change and higher torque rating. In the end it had a slightly higher torque rating but was generally reckoned to have a worse gear change. So it's debatable whether its better or worse, but certainly not decisively better. If I were you I'd stick with the LT77 if I were you. Some people recommend using ATF fluid, some recommend synthetic, so you may find it's worth trying different fluids. Certainly a lot easier than swapping the whole box!

When I had the tweaked 4.6 installed, Tower View fitted mine with a toughened 'Bernie Special' that has uprated bearings, apparently the main weak point of this design. At 60 k miles the synchros on mine have seen better days but otherwise it seems OK. Quite impressive considering the power being put through it and the amount of abuse it gets. I believe Steve Heath's 5.2 powered 390 uses a similar box and I haven't heared of any problems from him either.