Technical Wondering What type of gearbox I have ?

[Fiat kris]

Hi everyone,

Was given a spare gearbox when I bought my 500 ( 1958) and am wondering if it’s a constant mesh or synchronised gear box ?
Is there anything that I can look for that will show what I have ?

Kind regards kris .

 

[Toshi 975]

External views all shout very early original non syncro gearbox.
Thin drive shafts, two bolt starter mounting, the clutch lever arm and the clutch release bearings.

 

[the hobbler]

Hi everyone,

Was given a spare gearbox when I bought my 500 ( 1958) and am wondering if it’s a constant mesh or synchronised gear box ?
Is there anything that I can look for that will show what I have ?

Kind regards kris .

Being that the starter is at the top of the bell-housing, you have a 500s"dog-clutch box"---i.e. NO synchro. A '126' synchro box has the starter at the side of the bell-housing. The 'dog-clutch box' is in fact the stringer gearbox---I would be tempted to inspect the 'box, replace as neccesarry (possibly1st gear,new couplings,drive-shafts,drive-shaft boots etc) and use it. Being that it is an early '2-bolt-starter' gearbox, I would suggest that you obtain one of the braces for the starter-mount as it is not inknown for the 2-bolt mounting starters to break the top of the bell-housing (I wore that 'T' shirt and watched the video in my 'yoof').

 

[Fiat kris]

Thanks for the information appreciate that. was really hoping it was synchronised. Am struggling the with the old gear box with the rev matching and double clutching

 

[the hobbler]

Thanks for the information appreciate that. was really hoping it was synchronised. Am struggling the with the old gear box with the rev matching and double clutching

Just keep practicing----after a while it will become '2nd nature'. I have been driving 500s since I started my apprenticeship (many, many years ago)and I got so used to doing it that even now, I find myself double-de-clutching on my modern diesel-engined car! If you do the gear-changing gently, without rush, you will find that you only have to "D-d-C" on DOWN changes. On UP changes, just pause for a second or two in neutral and you will slip into the next gear with no problem.

 

[Fiat kris]

Just keep practicing----after a while it will become '2nd nature'. I have been driving 500s since I started my apprenticeship (many, many years ago)and I got so used to doing it that even now, I find myself double-de-clutching on my modern diesel-engined car! If you do the gear-changing gently, without rush, you will find that you only have to "D-d-C" on DOWN changes. On UP changes, just pause for a second or two in neutral and you will slip into the next gear with no problem.

Yes I’m going to keep practicing, have no problem shifting up but finding it almost impossible to shift down . Have watch a few different videos but can’t get the feel for the rev matching . It kinda ruins the fun of driving the car .

 

[Goldnrust]

This video is very good at showing it, and helped by the fact that the chap is actually driving a 500, so you can get a feel for the speed and sound of what it can be like in a 500.



When I took my 500 for it's first drives, around this time last year, that was my first time driving a crash / non-synchro gearbox. It was a bit daunting to start with, but I muddled through, and now I don't even realise I'm doing it.

I wouldn't fit a synchro box now, even if I was gifted one. That involved nature of getting the grips with the crash box is all part of the character of the car to me now.

If it helps, when I was learning my mistake was not to give it enough of a rev on the downshifts. It looks like you should just need to tap the throttle to get the revs up, but with the heavy flywheel on a stock 500 I often find myself giving the throttle a good half throttle or more stab to really bring those revs up.

Likewise, if you let the engine RPM drop further when practicing your downshifts it can be a bit more forgiving. To downshift from 4 to 3 while you're still doing nearly 40mph, right near the III shift point on the speedo, requires a big rev match and the car will really complain if you get it wrong. But if you wait till you're doing 30mph or slightly less to do that downshift then you don't need as big a blip of throttle and I also feel with less engine speed, and less flywheel inertia that it's a bit more forgiving to ending up with a miss-match of speeds.

 

[Fiat kris]

Th

This video is very good at showing it, and helped by the fact that the chap is actually driving a 500, so you can get a feel for the speed and sound of what it can be like in a 500.



When I took my 500 for it's first drives, around this time last year, that was my first time driving a crash / non-synchro gearbox. It was a bit daunting to start with, but I muddled through, and now I don't even realise I'm doing it.

I wouldn't fit a synchro box now, even if I was gifted one. That involved nature of getting the grips with the crash box is all part of the character of the car to me now.

If it helps, when I was learning my mistake was not to give it enough of a rev on the downshifts. It looks like you should just need to tap the throttle to get the revs up, but with the heavy flywheel on a stock 500 I often find myself giving the throttle a good half throttle or more stab to really bring those revs up.

Likewise, if you let the engine RPM drop further when practicing your downshifts it can be a bit more forgiving. To downshift from 4 to 3 while you're still doing nearly 40mph, right near the III shift point on the speedo, requires a big rev match and the car will really complain if you get it wrong. But if you wait till you're doing 30mph or slightly less to do that downshift then you don't need as big a blip of throttle and I also feel with less engine speed, and less flywheel inertia that it's a bit more forgiving to ending up with a miss-match of speeds

This video is very good at showing it, and helped by the fact that the chap is actually driving a 500, so you can get a feel for the speed and sound of what it can be like in a 500.



When I took my 500 for it's first drives, around this time last year, that was my first time driving a crash / non-synchro gearbox. It was a bit daunting to start with, but I muddled through, and now I don't even realise I'm doing it.

I wouldn't fit a synchro box now, even if I was gifted one. That involved nature of getting the grips with the crash box is all part of the character of the car to me now.

If it helps, when I was learning my mistake was not to give it enough of a rev on the downshifts. It looks like you should just need to tap the throttle to get the revs up, but with the heavy flywheel on a stock 500 I often find myself giving the throttle a good half throttle or more stab to really bring those revs up.

Likewise, if you let the engine RPM drop further when practicing your downshifts it can be a bit more forgiving. To downshift from 4 to 3 while you're still doing nearly 40mph, right near the III shift point on the speedo, requires a big rev match and the car will really complain if you get it wrong. But if you wait till you're doing 30mph or slightly less to do that downshift then you don't need as big a blip of throttle and I also feel with less engine speed, and less flywheel inertia that it's a bit more forgiving to ending up with a miss-match of speeds.

Thanks for that , know that you have mentioned hi revs I think my problem was being too light on getting the revs up .
Will give it another go .