Morris Minor Owners Club

When I bought my Midget I got a spare gearbox with it which I was told had a damaged 2nd gear. Well it certainly is! The second gear has two damaged teeth, the lay gear a third of them are missing! When I dismantled the gearbox, I only found one interlocking ball, so I suspect the problem was it was rebuilt with this missing ( all the bearings and bushes look like new) and consequently he managed to engage two gears at once, with the obvious consequences. I also discovered it is a Minor 'box, so will be rebuilt as a spare for Vanessa.

My question is it worth using good secondhand gears, a new layshaft is around £130, I can get a used one for £50. I will probably also replace 1st gear, which is a bit worn, unless the views is that this is still useable? I've heard that mixing new gears with used ones can lead to binding, and I will have to replace the laygear.

Gears usually bed in as a set, single cogs mixed can cause the box to whine but with old gear components you have to use what you can get, I can't see these reconditioning places worrying about mixing gears though.