The Dark Wob

If you have the rebuild kit and going to the trouble you already have done chap,why don't you expand your knowledge about the box and rebuild it yourself? Be careful and follow instructions properly and should be fine. Take your time. You can do it.

I want to, the problem is I don't seem to have any instructions, spec sheets or knowledge (I've been looking): the rebuild kit didn't have any, and before I ordered the rebuild kit Old Man gave me the idea we'd be able to make use of it (and I'd learn from him) before it arrived earlier, and I went out on an unrelated jaunt: I came home to him shirking the job. I'm not sinking £160 though, it might be my money but if he wasn't confident he could do the job he should have told me and I'd have put the money to better use.

Bear in mind my dad is an ex-RAF flight engineer so I'm a bit surprised he's bricked it at a gearbox...


I'll find a way to sort it. Fortunately as my parents are still married, and that I know them well enough, this hopefully won't cost me anything more. My mum is also keen on the Civic so won't see it languishing, nor will she let me sell it... it'll get sorted one way or another.

Sounds like your mum needs to 'remind' your dad of his skills.

ghosty wrote: ↑Tue Apr 30, 2019 10:33 pm As I've mentioned before I only drive autos out of choice, but it's so I can be a better driver and get more enjoyment out of the one thing I've always wanted to do since I was a kid.

That doesn't make any sense, Max. Allowing the car to change gear for you won't make you a better driver or make the experience more enjoyable. You'll not get the chance to master skills such as lift-off braking and rev-matching while down-shifting, and with respect to enjoyment, would you let the car do the steering for you? Or maybe acceleration? Gear-changing is arguably one of the most engaging aspects of driving, why leave it to a machine?

And then there's the reliability issue. Apart from clutches, which are a service part, when did you last hear of someone that wasn't a Land Rover owner complaining about manual gearbox problems? It seemed to me there was a thread on the beige forum every bloody week about someone with a defective auto. And they're more complex & expensive to work on than a manual box.

Anyway, ATEOTD it's your choice. I'm just poking holes in your justifications

Yes auto's are not as exciting or interesting to drive but if you live in a city a manual with a heavy clutch soon becomes very annoying. As to rebuilding the box my only advice is don't even try to do it yourself. I have only ever rebuilt one auto box in over 30 years in the trade and never again ! It was even a BW 65 so not the most difficult of boxes. Contact an auto specialist and tell them you have the kit and could they do it for you. (my local manual gearbox guys will fit press in bearings/ syncro's for a drink If I take them in stripped down) It won't be cheap but there is so much that can go wrong it just isn't worth not having it done by a professional. I expect it will need a lot of special tools as well to get it set up properly. The other option is chuck a secondhand box in and hope it's ok.

^ This.

I wouldn't touch a manual box, never mind an auto.

John F wrote: ↑Wed May 01, 2019 9:32 am Allowing the car to change gear for you won't [...] make the experience more enjoyable.

Of course it does. A lot.

John F wrote: ↑Wed May 01, 2019 9:49 am ^ This.

I wouldn't touch a manual box, never mind an auto.

I've done a manual (LT77 fact fans), never been inside an auto but I believe they are full of black magic & witchcraft. Saying that I'd half like to have a look & see how the buggers work.

What's in the rebuild kit Max?

Hooli wrote: ↑Wed May 01, 2019 12:12 pm

John F wrote: ↑Wed May 01, 2019 9:49 am ^ This.

I wouldn't touch a manual box, never mind an auto.

I've done a manual (LT77 fact fans), never been inside an auto but I believe they are full of black magic & witchcraft. Saying that I'd half like to have a look & see how the buggers work.

What's in the rebuild kit Max?

HAha! See the comment I made earlier about dodgy Land Rover manual boxes

What was it, Andy - failed synchro between 1st & 2nd gear?

John F wrote: ↑Wed May 01, 2019 9:49 am I wouldn't touch a manual box, never mind an auto.

There's no fucking dragons, witches or magic involved in an auto box. I've done a few manual boxes too. Last transmission stuff I had to do for someone else was on a DAF 66 1300, which a garage didn't want to go near. Oooh, rubber belts...runaway!

I've got fuck-all space in the shed at the minute or else I'd start my Honda SWRA CVT-7 teardown and rebuild thread. It WILL happen when the space is created.

A Honda ML4A should be a piece of piss, it's only a couple of shafts and some wet clutches.