Pinion Failure-Why?, Gears in disarray Options

[groot]

It certainly could be my fault. I didn't check/set/change the pinion depth when I re-assembled this gearbox 2 seasons ago.

At Mid-Ohio this weekend I couldn't catch 5th... which led to pitiful laptimes.... in the first session. So, I adjusted the linkage thinking that the fork just wasn't pushing the engagement ring far enough.... next session, same thing. I didn't take the start and watched from a corner station.

So, after that I checked the shift linkage, no major issues. I pulled the shift rod holder to look at the shift forks, again no major problems. So, I decided to pull the gearstack and that's when I noticed the pinion pictured here..... still not sure what the problem was with 5th, but it is probably worn synchros.

I rebuilt this gearbox before the start of last season and only refreshed it with parts I had....flipped synchros, better dog teeth, a few gear changes and no bearing changes. I'm only running 150 ponies through this box.

It looks like the pinion isn't meeting the ring at the right angle, but I'm just guessing. Does anybody have input????

.............sorry for the crappy pics, my camera wouldn't focus on the part I wanted ot show.