JowettTalk

How do you tell the difference between a meadows gearbox & a jowett box? Is the Meadows really any better/different? Did meadows make this box for anyone else?

All the gearboxes have number stamps on the case. A box from Jowett will have a "J" stamped in front of the number.

I'm sure there is a thread discussing the differences. Ratio splits are slightly different. Better? Seems to be personal opinion.

Cheers,
Scott

Thanks Scott give me a Skype when you are next on line.

Note that all the components of a Meadows box were different to the Jowett, not just the case. You can actually tell by just looking at them they were better made. Jowett boxes were made on inferior machines (sold to IH who suffered the same problems later) and most of the gears were not honed by decree from the 'watch making' production manager.

Anyhow that does not mean you cannot make a decent box from Jowett parts. You just need a good eye when selecting the parts, checking for wear and make sure you hone the gears, unless you are using a complete gear set from a known good box. This task, along with checking the layshaft and syncho assemblies, means it requires a very good engineer to produce a reliable box.
Harry Brierley did a good write up available from Jowett Shop (T.I.L 1 Rebuilding a Javelin/Jupiter Gearbox) and also Ed Wolf from which the Tech Notes consolidated a reasonable checklist which is in Part XX.

I understand that like the engines, Jowett continued to try and iron out gearbox problems even after car production had ended. So if "J xxxx" identifies a Jowett box, presumably "R xxxx" nearby means reconditioned. But is it safe to assume that an "R" box will be reasonably reliable?

Nick

Having disassembled about 50 boxes and rebuilt about a dozen in the last 40 years I did not see much difference between the R and the J, as the main thing you are looking for is wear. If anything the later boxes were worse as tooling became more worn and there was more cost cutting. If the R does signify a Jowett Engineering reconditioning then that 'might' mean it was better just after reconditioning. But after 5000 miles, the wear was probably the same. Almost a quarter of the broken boxes I have split had a tooth off the layshaft first gear. Others had worn washers causing syncho balls to pop out and many others worn input shaft bearing housings. Many suffered from lack of oil as religiously checking every 500 miles was certainly not done throughout the life of virtually all the boxes.
Many boxes have initials on them signifying who assembled them. They did take pride in their work.

If the meadows box is totally different, did they make this box for anyone else?