Rosabella still sick - can ANYBODY help please? (1 Viewer)

TDH

Jun 22, 2009
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Some of you may remember our plaintiff posts from Dunkirque at the end of April after The Rosabella had munched her gearbox 10 minutes after getting off the ferry.

Well, she eventually made it back home and is now at the fixers in Ludlow. The gearbox can't be fixed and the mechanic is having a load of fun trying to track one down. I've given him what contacts I have I (thanks for the links received so far) but there continue to be problems. He managed to find one that he thought would do only to find out that the ratios for a diesel engined vehicle are different to those for a petrol engine. The next one that turned up was for a right-hand drive van (the Rosabella is LHD). There was some talk about taking the innards out of that and putting them in our old casing - I'm not sure where we are with that plan.

The only other alternative we've come up with is a new (recon) engine with gearbox attached. I'm not convinced that even that will be straightforward because of the mods that will be needed to fit something else into the Rosie's engine bay.

The Rosabella is based on a Ducato first registered in March 1989, 2.4l diesel. She's too good to scrap - has anybody got any ideas please?
 

hilldweller

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She's too good to scrap - has anybody got any ideas please?

I've had money pit projects in the past. Take care that your your last words aren't "I wish I'd never started this". In my case £8K of parts, sold as an unfinished project for £1750.

You'll really scream if you fit a used box and it does the same next trip, have you discovered if they are prone to failure ?

It looks to be like you need contacts in Europe. Find as many free forums as you can and post help messages.

Plan C. Buy a decent panel van and transfer the insides from Rosabella ][.

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TDH

TDH

Jun 22, 2009
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Hi TDH the gearbox on LHD & RHD should be the same :winky:
terry

Well, that's what I thought, but he insists that the mountings were different.

The other thing I wondered was (but obviously didn't ask because I'm daft) why you can't change the ratios in a box from a petrol engine.
 

Wildman

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Have a word with Paul (Onderweg) he has the URL of a huge Belgian Breakers yard where everything is sorted and labled. they might be able to help.
 

hilldweller

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you can't change the ratios in a box from a petrol engine.

Probably all new gears so you might as well fit them in your box if the casings are sound. But since you say your box can't be repaired maybe they aren't.

*Everything* can be repaired - at a price.

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TDH

TDH

Jun 22, 2009
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I've had money pit projects in the past. Take care that your your last words aren't "I wish I'd never started this". In my case £8K of parts, sold as an unfinished project for £1750.

You'll really scream if you fit a used box and it does the same next trip, have you discovered if they are prone to failure ?

It looks to be like you need contacts in Europe. Find as many free forums as you can and post help messages.

Plan C. Buy a decent panel van and transfer the insides from Rosabella ][.

I know Brian, it is a worry.

One of the things we're asking for, and which our mechanic (who we've used for years, and trust) agrees with, is a warranty on whatever we buy to get us on the road again.

You probably remember our original plan was to do a conversion last winter, until we found The Rosabella II. I am conscious that there will come a point where we have to cut our losses - at the moment I'm still for getting it fixed because we paid what I considered to be a reasonable price for the van in the first place and the rest of the vehicle is sound

The thing that's a real pi**er is that yet again, summer's here and we haven't got a van!!! Still, could be worse, we could have had to spend an arm and a leg on putting a new roof on K's house...... oh yes, that's right, we did have to!! At least we're stuck at home in the dry!!:thumb:
 
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TDH

TDH

Jun 22, 2009
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Have a word with Paul (Onderweg) he has the URL of a huge Belgian Breakers yard where everything is sorted and labled. they might be able to help.

Thanks - I've pm'd Paul.:thumb:

Probably all new gears so you might as well fit them in your box if the casings are sound. But since you say your box can't be repaired maybe they aren't.

*Everything* can be repaired - at a price.

Yes, I'm going to see the guy tomorrow and will talk this through with him.:thumb:
 

Terry

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Hi TDH they should be the same mountings :thumb: even if they are different the mounts should fit easy from one to the other. The only things different on lhd an d rthd is the steering rack and bits to re route the breaks, clutch,and dashboard The engines and gearboxes are the same :thumb:
I think you should look at a different mechanic
Try a search for gearbox recon :thumb:
terry

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TDH

TDH

Jun 22, 2009
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Hi TDH they should be the same mountings :thumb: even if they are different the mounts should fit easy from one to the other. The only things different on lhd an d rthd is the steering rack and bits to re route the breaks, clutch,and dashboard The engines and gearboxes are the same :thumb:
I think you should look at a different mechanic
Try a search for gearbox recon :thumb:
terry

Hi Terry,

I just interrogated the mechanic. He confirmed that the gearbox was ostensibly the same but that someone had welded the linkage modification to take it from LHD to RHD so he didn't want to have to do major surgery.

It sounds as if Mike at No 1 Gear may be able to help - thanks for your advice.

T

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