Gearbox or Parts for Volumex Car

I'm doing a rebuild on the gearbox from my Volumex car. I'm assuming the box is a Volumex gearbox as I believe they have different ratios from the standard Beta box....so guessing original builder used the box from donor).

I'm needing to get a couple of bearings (top and bottom one from main shaft) and a set of syncros but struggling to get the bits. Any chance anyone has an old box they may want to sell? (even an old Beta box as I assume these parts will be common).

Or does anyone know where to try for parts? I've lodged a request with Omicron. My local gearbox guy needs a reg no from the original donor to contact his suppliers....usual kit car problem.

Mark.

Mark

Have a look at the Monte Hospital website under gearbox, they have a selection of gearbox bearings and syncro rings (special order and a bit pricey). I have a volumex box fitted to my Strat, the main difference between the standard box and Volumex is the latter has a taller diff making all the gears longer legged, knocks some 500rpm when doing 70mph.

David

Hi David,

Fantastic....I will give them a try. Thanks for that.

Mark.

Hmm....no luck with the Monte hospital unfrotunately.........they say the boxes are completely different and they can't supply anything I might need. They suggested Beta boyz which I have emailed anyway.

David - is there a chance you know the reg no of your donor? It might help a local guy I have asked.

Mark

That’s a b****r !!!. I have had a look on google images for Lancia Beta Coupe Volumex I have come up with some reg numbers for you, all are red cars. B648 YHM, B922 PHO, B150 JPC I am making the assumption that they are all genuine.

I bought my gearbox from Ebay several years ago for £10, those days are long gone!!

I hope the above reg numbers will help your local guy.

David

Thanks David, I know...it's a real shame how time has moved on and so many of these things have been lost!

Not having much luck really.....thanks for the numbers. I passed them on and gearbox man has just called and says he is getting nowhere - apparently I need to find a Lancia dealer in Italy as there are none in the UK. That means I will be needing a chassis number as a UK reg will be meaning less to them (that is if I can find a dealer!)

Ah.....the joys of kit cars.

I’ll have a look through my paperwork tonight, i may have a copy registration document for one of my old HPE VX’s.
Guy

Thanks Guy, much appreciated.

Mark.

Mark

You should find the attached Guy Croft link an interesting read as it covers the differences between the Montecarlo and Volumex gearboxes
.
http://www.guy-croft.com/viewtopic.php?t=419

David

Hi Mark, hope this helps - I had an HPE VX registration A888EAU with chassis number 828BF7 00943314 and engine number 00448319

Hope that helps?

Guy

There is an MG preparation company who buy up Volumex cars and engine/boxes simply to use the supercharger on MG engines. The unfortunate thing is I can't remember the name of the Company!
But, I'm thinking they don't use either the engine or gearbox in their projects. They must do something with them. Maybe they have some hanging around?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by john

There is an MG preparation company who buy up Volumex cars and engine/boxes simply to use the supercharger on MG engines. The unfortunate thing is I can't remember the name of the Company!
But, I'm thinking they don't use either the engine or gearbox in their projects. They must do something with them. Maybe they have some hanging around?

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Is it these people John?:
http://www.vintagemgparts.com/vx_superchargers.html

Doesn't ring a bell Chris.
It was 10 years ago they bought my Volumex engine and box off ebay.
From Essex way I think.

That seems strange that you can't get the bearings from the Monte Hospital. A friend of mine has put a VX box in his Montecarlo and recently rebuilt it. I was sure he got everything from the Monte Hospital. I'll ask him and let you know, I remember there being a significant waiting time for one of the bearings though. Stay tuned.

I don't think there are that many applications where a bearing is actually made for a specific vehicle application.
More that gearbox designers use standard bearings. There are a vast range on offer at the specialists like Simply Bearings.
If you actually measure inner and outer diameters and thicknesses you may find them without vehicle chassis numbers or registration numbers.
Like everything I say it's only an alternative, not gospel. But if you are stuck it's worth a try.
Same with baulk rings.
You need someone with enough interest to research the parts not just look them up
On a vehicle database.

My friend here got synchros and bearings from the Monte Hospital, he had to special order them, he said they were expensive and took a couple of months. He said there was some confusion because it was a VX box and not the standard Montecarlo box as they are slightly different. He said "all Beta boxes are the same except for one of them the clutch is mounted on the layshaft not the mainshaft so the gears and synchros are on the secondary shaft." Not sure which one he's meant as he sent me a text message and didn't really specify which one he was talking about. Hope that helps though.

Ok, firstly, as always, thanks to all for your help thus far.

As of now I have tried:

1) The Monte Hospital (will try again though Paul, cheers)
2) Guy Croft
3) The Monte Consortium
4) Avanti Motorsport
5) Tecnotransmissioni
6) VintageMG
7) Beta Boyz

So far, no joy.....this is proving to be a bit harder than I thought! I think I can probably get my way around the bearings and seals as you say.....but sychros and collars are obviously a bit more specialised, but as you say, they may be the same in the beta as they are in the Volumex. Might just be easier to get hold of an old Beta box and swap the parts over....

Ok, so I have now managed to source a complete gearbox and have made the best from the two of them. I still haven't really managed to source any of the parts, so hopefully I don't need any in the future.

The next issue seems to be a clutch kit. Struggling to find one of these too........this is painful....... and Stoneligh is looming!

Mark

What do require for the clutch as I have a good spare Clutch cover. Looking on EBay there are complete Fiat Abarth 130 TC clutch kits for sale , I assume they are the same as Beta 2.0 ones.

David

Hi David,

I've had a good look about on ebay etc but I can't find out for sure if the 2.0 Beta (or Fiat 130 TC) ones are the same as the Volumex. I don't think they are, because a few of the Beta listings I have looked at do not list the Volumex, and when I put the details in it says "not compatible".

My current clutch still has some life left, but I stupidly left the release bearing on the gearbox when I sent it in to get checked over.....and it's gone. I wanted to just put a new set of everything in it because it was stripped anyway.

I was looking at my existing clutch and it appears to be a Sachs Sportline and I have the part numbers. Googling these didn't work either. All this stuff seems to be getting harder......

Mark

I have a volumex gearbox fitted to my 2.0 twincam and use the standard beta clutch. The fly wheels are all the same on the Strada, Volumex and Beta with the same bolt spacing. The only difference may be the splines on the Strada clutch plate as it runs a ZF gearbox. Just tried the Beta clutch cover on the spare 130 TC engine in the garage it fits. The AP clutch cover has the following part number on it AP HE2182.

David

I fitted a Helix clutch to my steel flywheel on my twin cam engine. Guy Croft can supply all the parts.

Cheers for that David and Paul, I've been away with work and haven't had the chance to order anything yet....need to get it done ASAP. Running out of time now.

M.