Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi guys,

does anyone have any experience with the JLH gearbox cross member? Is it a weld in or bolt in replacement similar to the one used in the Morris Minor Centre 5 speed conversion kit, and does it have any advantages?

Regards

John

Its weld in. I personally have no experience, but members from the other side have said it gives the gear changes a much more direct feel.

It also looks as though it has provision for gearbox mounts, which, off the top of my head, the Morris Minor centre one doesn't

The mm gearbox mount i think has rubbers, in a similar way. If you look on their website you will see the mounting block.

both use the same ford mounting block. the mmcb crossmember has no holes 'pre drilled' due to installation variations. the jlh one is weld-in and you weld it in wherever it needs to be, so is (i believe) pre-drilled.

the jlh one utilises brackets that weld to the chassis legs, with strengtheners inside the legs (i believe) and the crossmember bolts to the brackets so it is still removeable to facilitate getting engine and box in and out. it's less 'reversible' and 'diy' that the mmcb one, but as alex'n'anne has said, stronger and a better engineering solution.

if you click on the link in my sig 'Bluey's thread' it takes you to my thread on another forum. at some point in there (around page 9 or 10 or so) Mr JLH himself has posted some pics of their crossmember.

just checked, page 11 actually.

I like the simplicity of it - looks sturdy too, and well made.

i have a modified one to fit my twin cam gearbox and it is built like brick out house/but not heavy at the same time

i have a modified one to fit my twin cam gearbox and it is built like brick out house/but not heavy at the same time

ditto

Thanks for posting the pics Chris, I think it looks a better bet than the MMC one. I take it there is no hammering flat the cross member drain holes involved?

i dont know, i'd imagine not as i think the jlh crossmember would be welded on behind (further back than) the drain holes. i wont be using the mmcb one on my 2 door project, it's still in it's infancy so i'll do the necessary work to make a jlh-style one.