Diff Between Be1 And Be3 And Mi16 Box

[Trick 1]

In a physical sense.

I understand that be1 and be3 need different linkages?

 

but do they look different fromthe outside?

 

Reason i ask is that i bought an mi16 gearbox, but not sure if it will straight fit to my 205mi16?

[M@tt 77]

either box will fit straight onto your engine if thats what you mean or do more so mean with regards to clutch cable and reverse selector?

 

i believe all mi16 box's are BE3 design so need a BE3 cable and mine has a lift up reverse cable as well.

 

HTH

[Trick 1]

Sorry, i did mean if they would fit the existing cable etc.

 

My car was previously a 1.9gti, so im assuming it has a BE3 box fitted now?

So in theory, should be straight fit?

[M@tt 77]

From your signature your car is 1992 so it would be a BE3 box as standard. Therefore it will be a straight swap over with regards to the clutch cable.

 

The only thing you may find is that the mi16 box might have a lift up reverse mechanism depending on its year, in which case you will need to swap your gear lever for a lift up reverse style one with the associated cable.

[Trick 1]

Lift up reverse...are you able to tell this by looking at the box?

[Richie-Van-GTi 70 2 Cars]

lift up reverse generall has an opening on the top of the casing where the cable would be screwed in, a non lift up reverse generally has a large black plastic nut type thing on with a small tube on top of it. Hard to describe.

[Ryan 99]

On every BE3 gearbox I've seen one of the selector arms is round and curved upwards (circled red), while BE1s have flat selectors (bottom right).

 

 

BE3s also often (but not always) have "BE3" stamped on them somewhere, either on the diff cover, or around the top of the bellhousing somewhere. BE1s often have "XU30" in similar places.

Edited May 29, 2007 by Ryan

[huzzer 0]

i believe all mi16 box's are BE3 design so need a BE3 cable and mine has a lift up reverse cable as well.

 

HTH

 

The Mi16 box that came on my 1.9 mi was a BE1. It was stamped BE1 aswell. Came with lift up reverse and flat selectors????

[Ryan 99]

The Mi16 box that came on my 1.9 mi was a BE1. It was stamped BE1 aswell. Came with lift up reverse and flat selectors????

 

Mi16 BE1s still have the BE3 clutch machanism though, so you'd need the BE3 clutch pedel.

[Miles 331 1 Cars]

Ryan's spot on, Good picture too.

[Baz 421]

Excellent info, cheers Ryan. Explains my car! Ph2 with an Mi box, with reverse lockout but Be3 etc.

[GLPoomobile 958]

Riddle me this then (cos I can;t get my head around all this )...

 

My white 205 is an 89 1.6. So i'm not sure if it would originally have had a BE1 or BE3 box. Think my 89 F reg had a BE1.

 

It's had an Mi conversion and apparently retains the 1.6 box, and it has lift reverse.

 

So does it have lift reverse as it's an 89 model so would have had it originally anyway, or does it simply have an Mi box with lift reverse and NOT a 1.6 box, or either way did t need to have lift reverse fitted as part of the conversion anyway????

 

Does any of that make sense?

[jackherer 543]

An '89 will have had lift up reverse all along, sounds like it has the original gearbox still.

[Trick 1]

PIc here

 

so from this pic...does it indicate the box in here is be1? or am i looking at the wrong thing?? (flat connector)

[M@tt 77]

thats looks like a BE1 box, however looking through your other photos i was unable to see a lift up reverse cable going into the gearbox, so thats got me confused :S

[Trick 1]

exactly..so i am!

i dont have a lift up reverse......its opposite 5th gear.

[Baz 421]

That's the same as a Be3 box i have sitting outside, and have seen before, it's the arm to the right of that (in your pic) that would tell you if it's a be1 or 3 i suppose?

 

Whether the left arm, shown in your pic is angled or flat just depends where it comes from, 405s and 306s have a bent arm as in Ryan's diagram, 205's have athe flat arm, iirc.

[Baz 421]

 

The circled arm will differ on a be1 box to the one in the picture. The other arm is what you'd change if putting the box straight into a 205 from a 405/306, i think!

Edited May 31, 2007 by BazGTMi

[Trick 1]

Jsut had a look and yes you are right, the arm to the right is the one for a BE3...

[Trick 1]

lift up reverse generall has an opening on the top of the casing where the cable would be screwed in, a non lift up reverse generally has a large black plastic nut type thing on with a small tube on top of it. Hard to describe.

 

Can you tell from these pictures if it has the lift up reverse?

 

GEARBOX

[Ryan 99]

That looks like a BE1 box to me. The reverse cable screws in here:

 

[Trick 1]

ok, if its a BE1 box, then to convert my setup to Be1, what else would i need:

 

*New Gear lever (with lift up reverse) & cable for reverse

[M@tt 77]

That should be it, the Mi16 box uses a be3 clutch pedal and cable, which you've already got so that should be it.

[Trick 1]

Thanks for your help...

[Kev-G 1]

That looks like a BE1 box to me. The reverse cable screws in here:

 

 

As does the filler plug (although I think it's actually a breather) on the BE3....

 

You can tell from looking down that hole @ the shaft underneath, but I'd never be able to explain it