An odd issue lets you get even with Ferrari: Money saving gearbox tip

While inspecting the gearbox for wear we were reminded of a great money saving tip that was passed on to us by a very experienced Ferrari tech. The Dino gearbox has the odd number of 5 forward speeds with synchromesh. Each gear has its own synchro ring but it shares a synchro hub with one half being used for one gear while the other half is used for its sister gear on the gearbox cluster.

As such 5th and 4th share a synchro hub, 3rd and 2nd share a hub, but 1st gear only ever uses one half of its hub because its sister gear (reverse) is not synchronized. Because the hubs are perfectly symmetrical and reversible, when re-building the gearbox the 1st gear synchro hub can be flipped putting into service a perfect un-used half.

If you have ever priced out synchro rings for these gearboxes you will see that this tip can save you upwards of $600. Getting even with Ferrari is worth even more.