Yeah, the box is going to be rebuilt soon, probably over my uni summer holidays when I have the time. I read somewhere on this forum that if the selector forks are badly worn they can be welded up and machined tighter. If they are badly worn when I have a look at them, I might have to do that. Does anyone know how much play should be in them? I haven't got the box with me to check how much there is at the moment, but there is some play.

edit: hahaha, where I read it was you posting it on this thread carnut.

i never had single rail problems until i went bigger than a 351 and then it all turned pear shaped.. fitted toploader to clevo with 408 stroker in it and never looked back, but all the stocky 351's i've had never hurt the single rail they were pretty tough for what they are!

hey i had an xy 351 cleavland with mild work and i swapped the slosh box auto for a borg warner out of a 302 xb. i gave it the berries everywhere and the thing held up fine. this included some good hits of rubber onto the road through the 9 inch stock lsd diff. the top loader is an old design and weighs more than the borg warner too. as for fast changes, my last xy gs 302 had a toploader and jammed all the freekin time. not nice at the lights or roundabouts . last thing, 302 xb boxes had a lower geared first gear that can be nice to know when buying.

I HAVE A SINGLE RAIL OUT OF A XF BEHIND MY 460HP CHEV AND HAVE BLOWN A CLUTCH AND PRESSURE PLATE TO PIECES,TAKEN ALL THE TEETH OF THE SPIDER GEARS IN THE DIFF AND THE GEARBOX IS STILL GOING STRONG.

Hey what about a tremec 5 speed? sumfin different., could use shorter gear ratios as well...vito.

Hi People,

I've got a sinlge rail in my XE ESP 351, and it's leaking. Grrr! I took it to a workshop to have the oil changed (I don't have anywhere to do it myself), and when I came back, the bloke told me that there was no oil in it at all!!! They put Castrol VMX80 in the g'box and took it for a test drive to make sure all the bearing were still okay (which they were thankfully). He said that it was leaking from the top cover-plate and that the box needed to come out to replace the gasket etc. I was quote $450-$500 drive-in/drive-out.

Does this sound like a "reasonable" quote for this, or, can the top cover-plate be done without taking the box out?

Cheers.

It doesn't take long to get the box out on them. The OE gaskets were made of cork, so they only last so long.
How is to change gears in the morning when cold????
Those boxes use engine oil, SAE 30.

Single rail strong, Toploader stronger
Toploader notchy, Single rail smooth
Toploader expensive, single rail cheaper
Unmolested toploader with standard shifter good, modified/worn shifter linkages bad

Good luck on your choice!