GB8 gearbox - any info?

'GB8' gearboxes were the 'laydown' boxes fitted to Featherbed Dominators. The box fitted to the 'singles' and Model 7 was prefixed '102' at this time. There were differences to shell and outer cover / kick start shafts but quite possibly not to the internals.

Stuart, I'm not completely sure...I 'did' a lot of jumbles with a friend who was building a box for a Model 88 and I 'think' it was only the shaft and the shell which differed but please don't rely on my memory, 'cause I try not to ! I'm sure that someone who knows what they're talking about will be along shortly.

Hi Stuart,

I make no claim to fit Richard's description of someone who knows what they are talking about, but I did have a similar gearbox situation to yourself, but in reverse which might be of interest to you.

The Laydown box that came with my 1956 Dommie99 turned out to be a 102/singles/Model7 type. There was no outer marking as such, perhaps it had been polished out - that is probably why !

I only discovered it was thewrong typeafter obtaining a spare box to play around with and reading various past comments on this forum about Laydown gearbox types. The spare box was marked GB8 **** and I realised that this was in fact the correct type for a featherbed Dommie. It has a much shorter clutch cable inlet "tower", and a shorter kickstart shaft, bush and outer return spring cover. There are various minor differences to the internal castings and there appeared to be slightly different selector mechanisms but these don't affect the workings. Both castings have the same internal cast number GT101 VAF but in different places and format. These aspects can be seen in the photos below.

To achieve a more original appearance I decided to fit the correct GB8 inner case to the existing shell and gearbox components already fitted to my Dommie 99. I did however retain the longer kickstart shaft, bush and spring cover because I had already fitted some o-rings and cork gaskets to the shaft.This gives a slightly larger clearance between the kickstart and silencer.The shaft, bush and cover were changed as a set.

Should you still want a type 102/singles/Model7 type inner case for your 1955 ES2, you are welcome to the one shown in the photos below, now just a spares item, as a direct swap for your GB8 type, pm me if interested, I'm in Hampshire.

Pete