series 2 AP auto box specialist/repairer or manual conversion?

[keri]

Hello to everyone hope all are safe and well i am looking for advise and or help as I'm coming to the end of my series 2 1985 restoration the car is an original factory automatic with the AP gearbox which i know can be problematic now i know it had a gearbox fault many years back and ended up in a Coys auction because of it  the chap i bought it of  installed a second hand gearbox which he was told was good but was never tested  it selects all gears and moves forward and back but I've not been out on the road yet to really test it as the car been of the road for over 17 years now i had 2 auto boxes that came with the car so i hope one is good but if not i would like to get it somehow repaired there must be somebody here or in Italy that can repair or supply parts for  these gearboxes as there must still be a fair  few still running these boxes i would love to keep it an auto if at all possible however if not I'm lucky to have a spares car which is manual so i will strip this of its manual bits for mine just in case, so as anyone done this before i need to know things like are drive shafts the same ect any help guidance would be appreciated.
thanks
keri

[Theo]

My Gamma Coupe was converted from Auto to Manual before I purchased it, or so I've been told even though decoding the VIN number on an Italian website shows the car as manual.

But I do have an automatic Trevi with a 3-speed AP gearbox very similar to the 4-speed AP gearbox fitted to Gammas. I can confirm that a properly working AP auto gearbox is a delight! My carbureted Trevi even uses a vacuum valve arrangement that blips the throttle on the down change as the car slows down. So I'd certainly recommend persevering with your auto box and only consider changing to manual as an absolute last resort. I believe the AP Lancia gearbox is similar in design to AP auto boxes fitted to Austin Maxis and other British Leyland cars so parts should be available in the UK. Having the correct amount of very clean Dexron II  transmission fluid  is very important I believe so I would suggest you drain, refill, run, drain and refill the gearbox a few times before you use the gearbox in anger.