Who are the best people in Wgtn to rebuild an R154 gearbox?

[Mr Ree]

Hi there TS'ers.

I have bought an R154 conversion package which has been sitting inside the front door, on a pallet of wood, for the past 2 years now, with the intention of swapping out my current W58 and replacing it with its stronger sibling..

Given the cost of the package, and coupled with the amount I have already spent on my car, I figured if I am going to go to the effort of swapping the driveline in my car, I may as well build it to cope with pretty much anything I can throw at it.

I am buying all of the typical "Marlin Crawler" upgrades which consist of the thrust washer, bearing retainer, billet shift fork, shifter bushings etc, and also will be reaplcing every synchro, seal and bearing inside the box. The only thing I wont be replacing is the gearset unless the initail inspection shows any signs of wear/damage.

Now the question is, how many options do I have in the Wellington region to have this gearbox rebuilt? And who has personal experience, both good or bad, with any of the shops? Warranties? Failures?

I would really appreciate any advice that anyone has for me, as I must admit that given I tend to do most of my own work, Im feeling a little nervous handing over such a large chunk of money to someone and trusting they will do a good job.

Thanks in advance everyone.

[Leon]

I've used Mossrax for repairing a gearbox last year. No dramas with them. They're a bunch of car club / car racing guys, so once you get past Chris' (the owner) *extremely* gruff manner then it's all good. Honestly, he comes across as the worlds grumpiest man, but he's probably only in the top five or so.

I've had bits and pieces of work (not just gearbox) done by them over about 17 years (god I'm old) and I don't think I've ever had my BS alarm go off once.

[Mr Ree]

Thanks for the reply Leon.

Funnily enough Mossrax was the first name that sprang to mind. I met Chris during my teenage years when I had a workshop down in Happy Valley, and he ended up taking over our smaller workshop when my mates and I took over the larger half of the shed. I doubt he would remember me though as it was 20 years ago

I asked a friend of mine who works in the trade if Chris would be the man for th job and he said that his prices are through the roof, and it would cost me the cost of the gearbox again to rebuild it.

Was the price reasonable for your work? P/H rate?

I spoke to a garage out the hutt a while back, who advertise on trademe and if my memory serves me correctly, I recall his saying I would be looking at 4 or 5 hours labour for a complete strip down and rebuild.

Does this sound about right to you?

Thanks again.

[DFECTED]

can get it done through someone who worked for miles udy for about 10 years and now does it part time

[Mr Ree]

Thanks for the reply.

Can you give me a bit more information about this fella please? Does he still have use of a workshop and a press etc? Does he specialise in gearbox rebuilds?

Cheers

[Leon]

Was the price reasonable for your work? P/H rate?.

Yeah, the price was about what I expected, as it was gearbox in/out, then gearbox strip and replace with parts supplied (in the form of another gearbox).

I don't recall what the per hour rate was sorry, and I gave the reciept to the person who subsequently purchased the car off me.

[Dell'Orto]

Maybe try Ray @ Vogel Motors, hes a bit of a gearbox wizz (especially with Mitsi ones!) but I dont know if they have the gear to do anything there.

[gepsk8]

ray who DFECTED will be talking about.
I haven't caught up with him while last time saw him he was at speedtech, hes very knowable with all japa gearboxs.

[LEAKER]

theres a place in petone, http://www.wellingtonautomotive.co.nz/

they did a diagnosis for me, and they did it well. when i was talking to him he seemed pretty knowledgable, no bull shit and keen to do work. I haven't however had any actual work done by him but id be getting him to do any gearbox work in the future for me.

[Crucible]

I can vouch for Ray also, he was an apprentice at Miles Udy when I was working in a w/s in lowerhutt (like 10 years ago). Miles and Ron where Manuel Trans Gurus and done all the gearbox work for franchises in Wellington at the time including us, so yeah Rays had lots of experiance.

theres a place in petone, http://www.wellingtonautomotive.co.nz/

Thats the new owner and ex - Miles Udy Motors.

[Mr Ree]

Thanks everyone for your replies.

I have spoken to one of the guys at wellington automotive a few months back and must say I was impressed with his attitude and knowledge about the R154.

I was given a price of around $550+gst for all the rebuild work which seems reasonable I guess?

Hopefully I can get a few more prices and recommendations before making a decision.

Cheers

[Leon]

Sounds more than reasonable. Cheap even

[Mr Ree]

Thanks for that, it makes me feel better as I honestly have no idea what a good price is