Alfetta sedan gearbox

[alfeddie]

Hi guys,
I'm considering to purchase a 81 2lt Alfetta sedan gearbox if it will fit my 74 series 1 alfetta sedan.
So my question is, will the gearbox bolt straight onto my 74 Alfetta driveshaft? Reason I'm changing the gearbox is that my 2,3 & 4 synchros are on their way and I am struggling to find replacements. At the same time I'm not to sure if it's the actual synchros or the clutch plate as at times at complete stop I find it hard to engage gears.
Could Anyone shed some light on this dilemma, would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers.

[Darryl]

Re the swap, as opposed to the diagnosis - I think the output flanges on the diff (to the brake discs / half shafts) will be M10 fine on the '74 but M8 fine on the 81? A few options to deal with that depending on what bits you have available to swap. I think everything else will bolt straight up.

[alfeddie]

Thanks for the response guys,

In relation to the clutch bite, on about a 1/4 of the pedals return path you can hear and feel the bite. I have also notice that during a cold start the gearbox tends to vibrate excessively at random occasions but once the car is warm it disappears. Although the vibrations are always evident when I turn the car off, it only disappears if I push the clutch pedal down and proceed to turn the car off. I believe this may be either the clutch or the rear donut flange. Thoughts?

I'm also glad to hear that I can bolt the other gearbox straight in. I may choose not to go down this path if the problem with the 2, 3 and 4th gears not engaging properly is due to my clutch plate or clutch system and not my synchros. 

Again thanks for your inputs guys...

[colcol]

If you are getting vibrations through the gearbox, you could have worn gearbox and engine mounts and the rubber coupling could be on the way out as well, if you are getting a bit of a crunch when shifting into usually 2nd gear, then you could have a worn synchro ring or and drum on that gear, if you are having trouble shifting into several gears it could be the clutch, check to see if you have full travel on the slave cylinder, for example if i remember rightly on a 33 it is 17mm, check to see what the travel length is on an Alfetta, if you have insufficient travel then the clutch won't be fully engageing \ disengageing and the gears are not being selected correctly, just like not pushing the clutch pedal all the way down and you get harsh selection or a crunch, Colin.

[Martyn]

I'd try Colcol suggestion and make sure the slave cylinder is working properly . The travel on the clutch fork should be 10mm when clutch is depressed. The bleed nipple on the slave cylinder faces more to the road than upwards .So any air trapped is very hard to remove and copious amounts of hydraulic brake  fluid may need to be transfused before you've got it all out and hence a "full" clutch travel.
HOWEVER! It could be the bolts on the gear shift lever housing have come loose and being a mush linkage at best of times make gear selection difficult to impossible. Bought a car once like this the owner said clutch had gone, all it was was the 3 bolts loose on the gear lever housing.
If you are swapping gearbox's you will find the half shafts from the sedan have 8mm bolts at both ends and no spacer and thus longer. Some GTV half shafts are shorter have spacer that allows  10mm bolts thru brake disc end and  8mm bolts on half shaft end. I have seen other variants of 8mm bolts at disc brake end. Finally if the diff housing is held on with nuts it is an early model Alfetta gearbox with coarse gear teeth, the later model diff housing is held on by bolts and has finer gear teeth.

[colcol]

Check that the slave cylinder is stroking the full 10mm, this is relatively easy check before you can check other things, such as loose bolts on gearbox, the early Alfettas had coarse teeth in them, and these are a sought after gearbox as the teeth are very strong and go well in track cars, the later Alfettas had fine teeth gears, these gears are weaker, and are not as durable as the coarse teeth, the reason they went to weaker fine teeth is they are quite, and don't whine as much as the earlier ones, its not that Alfa Romeo tried to make them cheaper, listen to the whine in a V-8 Supercar, where the gears are made to be strong and durable, not to get a high score on noise, harshness and vibration!, Colin.