Teach Me About Mi16 'box In A 205

[MerlinGTI 3]

Im told when fitting a MI16 gearbox in a 205, the top selector arm thing needs extending. As far as im aware theres two ways of doing this, cut and shut the orginal in situ, or the risky (?) but more asthetically pleasing method of replacing the MI arm with a 205 one.

 

I have questions :

 

Is the BE1 arm the correct length for the MI 'box, or must I use a BE3 205 jobbie?

 

If cutting and shutting how much material must I add?

 

Is there a good way of replacing the arm without the center bit falling inside the box (Im told if this happened its a box apart jobbie)

 

any other info/help/tips greatly appreacited

Cheers

[dcc 855]

I think what you are thinking of is the gear selector lever? out of the 405 this lever is angled (from what i remember) so you need to get a 205 box next to a 405 box, and swap these over. easy enough when I did it a few years ago. you can do it without the arm falling down. use the punch to hold the arm up when you have the pin out. as far as i am aware, the be1 and be3 boxes from a 205 would use the same gear linkages, so there shouldnt be a problem using one from a different model box, however i could be wrong!

[Miles 331 1 Cars]

BE1 and BE3 arm's are very very slightly different, The holes about .5mm different between them but if it';s the only one you have it does fit 98%.

[MerlinGTI 3]

hmm 98% is no good for me, 'box is going in my baby. I will try and obtain a BE3 one.

 

Can anyone elaborate on the arm swap a bit more please? any tips? Ive had the crap scared out of me about the center of the arm falling back inside the box! Will a magnet (pick up tool) be enough to hold it out? I cant see how im gonna get the arm back on whilst holding the center bit with a punch?

 

Thanks for the help so far gents

[pug_ham 244 3 Cars]

The way I've swapped the arms before is by putting it into 5th gear before knocking the double roll pin (one inside the other) out of the shaft & swapping them over but if you could use that the magnet the shaft in place while you swap them over imo.

 

I don't think its that easy for them to fall out of place, I@ve done three or four without any problem.

 

Graham.

[tony perks 1]

Ive just rebuilt my box into be3 if i couldnt get reverse could this be because i used the be1 arm, and yes i used the be3 reverse in the box?

[james_pug 26 1 Cars]

im 99% sure that if you remove the dif casing then you can hold the arm up so it doesnt drop.

[dcc 855]

James you are right, but why do that if it doesn't fall down anyway