More 333 oddishness

[bwaminispeed]

Ok, I have seen posted here a few times that early (pre 66???) 333 gearboxes with the rubber couplings are marked with a letter Y, and, later ones with Hardy Spicer joints Have a Q on them.......

I have two 333 gearboxes, both with rubber joints, both letter Q...

What's up with that, I can't imagine even one of them getting back dated to rubber couplings from HS joints, never mind two of them........

I have two 64 pre hydro S's that need boxes, and, my understanding was that they both should have Y boxes with rubber couplings...

Any ideas out there....

[360gts]

They are rare...very rare...many owners sold these 333 casings as ...333 unaware that there were different 333's.
They are out there...just hard to find. My 65 S has this one....just haven't seen many. A couple of visible differences on the front lip...
Even the 333 X is different...and that is a fairly rare case as well.

[Exminiman]

I would think they are fine, but for a slightly different reason.

Number of years ago I worked in a materials managment role, in a large factory.

The pressure is immense to keep the factory moving and achieve deadlines, so if you dont have material of the exact type on the BOM you will look for and use close alternatives. As long as they work from ana engineering point of view.

So, my guess ( only a guess) is that “Q” or “ Y” dont refer to the couplings, unless there is an engineering reason why the cases are can only used with certain joints.

Even dates on materials, may only refer to the production date of that particular casting, or part, not when it was fitted.

[AndyPen]

I would think they are fine, but for a slightly different reason.

Number of years ago I worked in a materials managment role, in a large factory.

The pressure is immense to keep the factory moving and achieve deadlines, so if you dont have material of the exact type on the BOM you will look for and use close alternatives. As long as they work from ana engineering point of view.

So, my guess ( only a guess) is that “Q” or “ Y” dont refer to the couplings, unless there is an engineering reason why the cases are can only used with certain joints.

Even dates on materials, may only refer to the production date of that particular casting, or part, not when it was fitted.

My own experience with the MOD replicates that, and just to confuse issues, I had a Y box with Hardy Spicers in its crate, but it was a Gold Seal Unit so probably done at the works!!

Wish I'd never sold it though!!!