Gearbox Identification Marks

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Minicooper1964
Basic 850
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Gearbox Identification Marks

Post by Minicooper1964 »

I recently bought an old 3 synchromesh gearbox 22A363 for renovation as I believe the casing is common to the original 997 Mini Cooper . However during cleaning I noted some stamp marks on the base of the casing , the number 57 in a square plus some other unreadable adjacent numbers . Does anyone know what they mean ? Also what do the stamped 183867 numbers on the front of the casing signify . For info the laygear is stamped M 40
Any help on ident marks would be appreciated.

TIA Bruce
Minicooper1964
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Re: Gearbox Identification Marks

Post by Minicooper1964 »

Pictures of gearbox identification numbers now attached
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LuisM
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Re: Gearbox Identification Marks

Post by LuisM »

Some early boxes were marked beneath with week number , a letter , and year ex: 20 - E - 61

The front number i believe to be just a serial number , on Cooper & S boxes these numbers usually start with 9F, 10F, 12F . These denote engine size .
Some later 4 sync ADO16 casings ( MG1300 , Riley 1300 ) were marked 12H

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Re: Gearbox Identification Marks

Post by CooperTune »

Every mini has a story. The 190 gear box went missing from my wrecked 64 1071 S roughly 20 years ago while in storage. I paid past due storage and purchased the car and what parts were left about 15 years ago. It took an additional 5 years to find out who had bought the 190 box. I called and spoke with the buyer offering to hook up my trailer pick up his 64 998 Morris Cooper bring to my shop remove power unit swap (what I considered my 190 box) replacing with a freshly rebuilt 1128 with his choice of close ratio or std gear set and choice of CWP and return to him no charge. I was surprised when he declined my offer and hung up on me. Fast forward and ten years later I found the phone number and called again. It seems the shop who was involved had promised him a Cooper S power unit in exchange for his 998 Cooper unit and cash. What he ended up with was a 1275 AA smog head engine and the 190 box. No new radiator and a car that over heated just about anytime. With other early collector cars the mini has lingered in a corner mostly unused the whole time. I suspect it's unusual to get to drive the 190 box before laying out silly money. The 190 case has marking like you display. Just as the clutch housing is marked there is a lot to look for on these early cars. Steve (CTR)
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iain1967s
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Re: Gearbox Identification Marks

Post by iain1967s »

My 22G333 box has the same 57 stamp on one end and 11 June 1964 date code on the other end, plus the 12FA1612 serial number on the front.

This is a relatively early example of the Q variant with the smaller diameter 1” idler gear bearing hole.
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rogerotto66s
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Re: Gearbox Identification Marks

Post by rogerotto66s »

A friend has a Y 22G333 which does not appear to have a serial number stamped into the usual place.
Does this have any significance?

IMG_2114.png
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Roger Williams
1966 Austin Cooper S - LHD - Wet - Personal Export
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Toby
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Re: Gearbox Identification Marks

Post by Toby »

rogerotto66s wrote: Mon Jul 01, 2024 10:19 pm A friend has a Y 22G333 which does not appear to have a serial number stamped into the usual place.
Does this have any significance?
That would mean it was a replacement box.
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Toby
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Re: Gearbox Identification Marks

Post by Toby »

Minicooper1964 wrote: Fri Mar 25, 2022 7:34 pm I recently bought an old 3 synchromesh gearbox 22A363 for renovation as I believe the casing is common to the original 997 Mini Cooper. However during cleaning I noted some stamp marks on the base of the casing , the number 57 in a square plus some other unreadable adjacent numbers. Does anyone know what they mean ? Also what do the stamped 183867 numbers on the front of the casing signify. For info the laygear is stamped M 40
The number on the front of the box 182867 is a sequential number, it would mean that 182866 others of the same type were built before it. Having said that it can only be an 850 box as the 997 was made in such high numbers besides it ought to have a magic wand diff housing.

The date stamp on the bottom reads X 14 / * / 6* which mens it was made on the 14th day, unfortunately the month digit isn't legible in your pic and the year would be some where in the 60s yet the last digit of the year is also illegible. However it does tie in with it having a relatively low sequential number
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Peter Laidler
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Re: Gearbox Identification Marks

Post by Peter Laidler »

I'm minded to suggest that in my experience, a solitary numerical stamp mark in a casting, such as the 57, then it is an inspectors stage marker.

On the internal turret castings there are several stage inspection marks that I remember. One was D6E in a square. And another, two letter W's interlocked to tell us that it was examined by an inspector at Woolwich
rogerotto66s
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Re: Gearbox Identification Marks

Post by rogerotto66s »

Toby wrote: Sun Jul 14, 2024 9:59 am
rogerotto66s wrote: Mon Jul 01, 2024 10:19 pm A friend has a Y 22G333 which does not appear to have a serial number stamped into the usual place.
Does this have any significance?
That would mean it was a replacement box.
Thanks Toby.

Can you tell me what a “replacement” gearbox is and why no serial #?
Roger Williams
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Toby
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Re: Gearbox Identification Marks

Post by Toby »

There wouldn’t be a serial number as the box didn’t belong to a car off the production line. It most likely came through a dealer as a replacement due to issues with the box that was fitted originally. If a box contained a fault or broke, dealers wouldn’t spend the time repairing the original, but just order a new one and fit that.
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