5 Speed Conversion - From Australia

[AussieEtype]

I have a home made Getrag 5 speed conversion in my vehicle - not yet completed but does drive OK however there are some aspects that may impact long term reliability.

As the engine is coming out soon, I am thinking about buying a Tremec T5 based kit for the V12. I can obviously import from one of the reputable suppliers from overseas but for a number of reasons buying locally would be preferred.

Spitiri in Melbourne have a conversion kit but it is only for the 6 cylinder engines - he does not do one for a V12.

So does anyone know of a supplier in Aust who can provide a suitable kit for the V12.

Thanks

Garry

[Rustyred]

Gary,

Try Dellow Automotive in Revesby. I'm pretty sure they do Tremec Bellhousing Kits,
If not give Mal Wood in Qld a call, They specialise in Tremec stuff. I have used Mal before for other conversions, and he's pretty good.

Cheers John

[AussieEtype]

John - thanks for your reply.

Yes Dellow do a bell housing and indeed sell the Tremec TKO600 gearbox for a good price - but I am after a "kit" that will basically just go in.

I can buy the bell housing for $700 and the gearbox for $4500 but then I will need to work out a new gear lever position and play around with gear ratios and get a tail shaft etc etc etc - where in a kit this is already done.

However - you mentioned Mal Wood - I googled his company and I agree a good person to discuss things with.

However a a kit would be preferred.

Thanks

Garry

[42south]

Gidday cobber
Check out this site. Appears to have what you need. You supply your own box.
http://www.conversioncomp.co.nz/product ... &return=13

They also offer a conversion using the Supra box.
Cheers

[Woolfi]

"However there are some aspects that may impact long term reliability."
Maybe this is correct, maybe not. I have a Getrag since 28 years in my EV12. Since 5 Years the Getrag is "punished" by a 6,0 L motor. Until today no problems.
A friend of me has a EV12 6,0 L with injection and a Getrag and he is trating his car very "rough". He has also no problems with this gearbox.
The biggest problem with the Getrags is, that some of the parts are not anymore to get. On long term this will become a big problem.
Regards Wolfgang Gatza

[AussieEtype]

Hi Mark and thanks for that information - is certainly an option if I can get a rear housing to move the gear lever to the correct position.

Woofi - my comments with respect to the long term reliability is related to the homemade conversion not the gearbox itself. The adaptor plate to made the gearbox is home made and as the input shaft to the gearbox was a little short the Chev flywheel had to be spaced out from the crankshaft flange.

The bell housing is integrated with the gearbox. This Getrag is not a BMW or Jag gearbox. It was wa gearbox that was introduced into out local vehicles to replace the troublesome Borg Warner T5 which was suffering 5th gear failures due to the torque of the 5 litre V8 it was fitted too. The Getrag was also problematic and was later replaced with the 6 Speed T56 gearbox.

I am not satisfied with the arrangement I currently have and would rather fit a purpose built kit and gearbox.

Cheers

Garry

[AussieEtype]

I contacted Mal Wood in Queensland today - he developed the 5 speed kit that Spitiri uses for the 6 cylinder.

He is in the process of developing a kit for the V12 and is waiting for his first prototype of the gearbox extension to be received.

Now a question for the brains trust.

I thought the later 6 cylinder 4 speed gearboxes and the 12 cylinder gearboxes were basically the same in its case etc. Am I right????

If so, is the gear lever with respect to the gearbox case in the 6 and 12 cylinder gearboxes the same??

Logically if they are, the gearbox extension that Mal Wood has already developed for the 6 cylinder could be used on the 12 cylinder.

Thanks

Garry

[PeterCrespin]

The late 6 cyl 4-synchro gearbox castings (i.e. those produced after launch of the V12 in 71) had the two bosses on the right for the V12 slave. In all other respects the cast iron case was identical to earlier ones and box fitment was determined by tail housing length/OD fitment and top cover.

It is the top cover that determines lever position (sedan or E, broadly-speaking) and tail housing that determines LWB E vs SWB E vs sedan.

The above only applies to Jag parts and other boxes can locate gear levers on the tail housing. I have no idea what Mal's conversion entails but presume he knows a lot more than either of us and has no incentive to pull even thick sun-bleached antipodean wool over our eyes. It costs a lot of money to prototype castings so he won't be doing it for the good of his health.

[AussieEtype]

Peter - Thanks for that information. By any chance if you know if the top cover is the same on the 6 cylinder and 12 cylinder boxes?

Mal Wood is the Tremec expert here and builds his 6 cylinder kits for a major Jaguar independent here is Aust.

To be honest I would prefer to use a kit from say Paul Cangialosi at Medatronics but the exchange rate, shipping and local taxes means that this is a very very expensive option. The local 6 cylinder kit (which I know is well put together) is only about 60% of the all up cost of an imported kit.

Thanks for the information.

Garry

[PeterCrespin]

Yes, 4-synchro tops are identical for 6&12 cylinder Es.

Why not fit an all-Jag overdrive box for half the price of a five speed? I have a full standard 4-speed setup and a V12-compatible MOD box that could be used instead with the V12 bell. No need to change the mount or propshaft even. If your Getrag is on a standard V12 bell and clutch (using just an adapter ring) you don't need to change those parts either.

[AussieEtype]

Thanks Peter - that helps a lot.

If I had started with a manual 4 speed I would have most likely gone as you suggested with an overdrive but I started with an auto - hence at the time the Getrag which does not have a detachable bell housing - hence not a Jag bellhousing. The flywheel has a 1" spacer on it to bring it out from the crank flange and the chev billet flywheel does not use as many bolts as the Jag flywheel. Hence my concern about the long term reliability. Having said that the few kms I have done on it as relatively low speed (90kph) had it working well and using enough power to spin the wheels caused not issue - but in the longer term who knows.

But thanks to your information - the local 6 cylinder version of the T5 with the V12 adaptor bell housing (these are made locally) should work fine. I just need to check the gearing. The Getrag I have has ratios almost the same as the Jag 4speed with 5th just an overdrive and the Getrag replaced the common T5 here so most of our T5s will have ratios that are close enough.

Cheers

Garry

[angelw]

Hello Garry,
I agree with Peter Crespin, an overdrive unit is a sweet option and way less expensive if you already have a manual gear box.

If you're concerned with any of your home made components, I manufacture precise adapter plates for a large array of different gearboxes (all CNC machined), adapter plates (where required) for mounting Overdrive Units and correct duplicates of a manual flywheel. If you care to email me on the following address, I can answer any question you may have and forward pictures of the flywheels we manufacture.

bill.angel@bigpond.com

Regards,

Bill

[abowie]

Can you take a whole lot of photos of the unit and installation and put them in a new thread here? Would be very useful.

[AussieEtype]

Thanks Bill - as mentioned my car was an automatic so i never had a 4 speed manual.

The issues I have with the 5 speed (VS Commodore 5 Litre V8 Getrag) I have is that the adapter ring between the engine and the bellhousing may or may not be exactly spot on.

Also the input shaft into the gearbox is a bit short so a thick spacer is used to space out the flywheel from the crank flange - probably not a great issue as the entire flywheel/clutch has been balanced.

At the time Jag V12 flywheels were almost impossible to find and as the original Holden flywheel is cast, a Chev Billet flywheel was used with the Jag auto flex plate/ring gear bolted on. The Chev flywheel bolt spacing lined up with the jag crank flange but it only has about 2/3 the holes.

These issues are what concern me about the long term viability.

Happy to pay for a new conversion that will go straight in but would prefer to use a local kit if on were available as Aust Consumer Law applies.

Happy to pay more and source overseas (most likely Medronics) but I just want to exhaust local sources first.

Cheers

Garry

[angelw]

Hello Garry,
Dellows in Sydney have new bell housings cast for the purpose and are correct for a number of gear boxes. Toyota Supra is one gearbox they cater for and they can supply a reconditioned box as well.

I operate a restoration business in Ballarat, Victoria, specializing in E Types and S3s in particular. Ive used bell housings from Dellows in the past and they're good quality. I'm not sure if they supply flywheels as part of their kits; as I manufacture them, I've not had the need to inquire. All the flywheels we manufacture are CNC machined. We make exact copies of the original as well as light weight versions. We also manufacture kits for Left to Right, or Right to Left Hand Drive conversions, including the almost impossible to get RHD Steering Rack assembly.

I don't have a finished unit in the shop to take a picture of at present. Because we use CNC machines for all our mechanical parts manufacture, we make them Just In Time. I was going to Post a picture of the Blank Casting that the Pinion Tower attaches, to show how accurate they are in appearance compared to the original, but I wasn't able to attache the picture. Perhaps someone would explain how this is done.

Regards,

Bill

[AussieEtype]

Bill - thanks for the information.

cheers

Garry