Gearbox swop?

[alexblack13]

That's already downloaded and in the file David. Great stuff. Thanks a lot.

Great info fellas...

Thanks. Al'

[worzel]

Hi

Apologies- had to get my oar in!

I too used to have a 3.54 diff in my sprint- swapped from a 3.77 after that sprang a leak. I'm afraid to say I didn't notice any difference whatsoever- motorways were still a real drag. I think a 3.5 diff ups the gearing from 17.62 to 18.50 so not a lot of difference there.

I suppose it depends how you use the car- possibkly most elans don't get their legs stretched much nowadays so low gearing isn't a problem. I can only speak from personal experience but I'd say that dropping in a 5 speed box (dropping in?) is about the best thing I've done to the car- and over the years I've altered quite a bit. I can honestly say that 70 mph is a real crawl- and if the speed limit was not that figure the car would be quite comfortable at 95 all day (don't know how I know that actually).

Admittedly mine is geared at 24.9 mph/1000 revs so it's slightly higher than the usual Type 9 conversion but even at 22.7 mph/1000 revs (the previous gearing on my car) top is a LOT higher than a car running the highest ratio diff.

Having an extra gear is useful for distance work but even around city areas I still use 5th quite a bit. As I've said before however the noise levels don't seem much altered so don't expect to transform the car into a limo!

Just my own experiences.

John

[alexblack13]

LOL..... Turning an Elan into a limo? Take a lot more than a gearbox and diff swop John, I just want a bit more relaxed cruising, esp if thinking about foreign trips etc. I am not sure I can live with it on a very long trip. LeMans was great but I am glad it was not in the south of France.


Just a touch more refinement and less din will be very welcome..

Alex....

[trw99]

Alex

This article, from the Golden Gate Lotus Club site, is worth reading, if you have not already done so: http://www.gglotus.org/ggtech/elan-5spd/elan5spd.pdf

Whilst I understand the wish of some owners to fit a 5 speed box (and each to their own), my view is that the Elan was designed to be enjoyed more on winding country roads and indeed that is the environment in which it excels. Motorways were few and far between in the UK in 1960/1 of course and I do acknowledge that Lotus fitted out a small number of Sprints with the 5 speed at the end of it's run.

I also feel that if you have a 5 speed fitted to your Elan, you will be more inclined to use motorways, whereas with the excellent standard 4 speed, you would allow more time for the journey, go cross country and thus be rewarded with greater dollops of fun. Which rather brings us back to the debate you had Alex as to which car to take to Le Mans this year. If you had the luxury of more time, might you have avoided motorways altogether and taken the Sprint on the interesting routes there and back, thus avoiding the gearing issue you found on the trip?

Tim

[DJThom]

I am just now getting ready to pull the engine out after being stranded in July with distributor problems. It's still stuck in the block, was never able to wiggle out.

While my engine is out, I'm going to attempt to mate it with an Alfa 105 5-speed box. I will advise how this goes. I also long for lower revs on those inevetable highway convoys to race tracks and vintage events.

[Foxie]

Hi Guys,
As an over the winter project I am thinking to change the 4 speed box for A Lotus 5 speed. Can I ask opinions please. Good Idea? or not. Alex...

Yes. definitely
+2S with 5 speed and 3.55 diff

[alexblack13]

No real issues Tim.. It went like a dream and I was amazed it never overheated!

What I did find was I constantly reaching for another gear which was not there. (says it all really!) Mrs B found this halarious. It would have been great to snick it into an other gear I can tell you & I suspect this would transform the car. Its like driving down the M6 (say) in 3rd gear in the Porkie!! & I missed not being able to .. eerr ..'Play'...

I am almost covinced to get started on it now..

Thanks all for the advice and opinions... I do appreciate..

Alex B....

[stuartgb100]

Alex,

I replaced my Sprint 4 speed box with a Lotus 5 speed 2 years ago, and have no regrets whatsoever.

I had the box rebuilt by Susan Miller's expert (Graham Boulton) and it's been well-behaved.

I find fifth to be more of an overdrive, and I've always 4th to fall back on for a bit more oomph !

Best improvement by far (over and above the gglotus article) was achieved after fitting a
"quick-shift" gearlever. This completely stopped the 'slopping about in pudding feeling' when changing
gears. It's now really quite crisp.

If there's a market for these, I might be tempted to get some made.

Regards,
Stuart.

[elansprint]

Stuart there may well be i have the lotus 5 speed in & the lever flops about like a dick in a dustbin
Ian

[bcmc33]

Best improvement by far (over and above the gglotus article) was achieved after fitting a
"quick-shift" gearlever. This completely stopped the 'slopping about in pudding feeling' when changing gears. It's now really quite crisp.

If there's a market for these, I might be tempted to get some made.

Stuart,
I know what you mean. Do you have a picture? Is it anything like this?
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... K:MEWAX:IT
They are sold by a guy near to me and I had it in mind to get one over the winter.

Stuart there may well be i have the lotus 5 speed in & the lever flops about like a dick in a dustbin
Ian

I have to admit that mine is not that tight

[alexblack13]

So funny! A Dick in a dustbin!! Oh dear.Here am I setting off to bed giggling like a school girl.

Behave you lot!!

Al'

[AussieJohn]

Can anyone tell me what the "quickshift" gearlever mod. is. cheers, John. PS the "dick in a dustbin" tickled me too!

[john.p.clegg]

John

Same as the usual but the pivot is moved further up the shaft thereby less travel/more force is needed to effect the gearchange..

John

[Jas]

Hi Alex

My car came with the Lotus 5-speed box and it was a joy for motorways and long journeys, I say was because 5th gear has now "disappeared", I suspect a broken synchromesh to be the fault.
The shifting has always been a little disappointing, a little slow and wage, but I have tried Victor Holnagel's car and it shifts much better and the concentric clutch slave cylinder has a very nice feel to it.
So over the winter I?ll give a full overhaul with a concentric cylinder, because I really miss that extra gear.

[alexblack13]

Well..... Where to start. Made my mind up to go for this then up pops the clutch slave Cly. Then the exhaust was mentioned..
(''no matter who says what it wont fit with the 5 speed'')

As I see it.. I need the box, clutch driven plate, clutch cover. I can modify (bore to diameter) the release bearing and also the fork to fit. Then I need the prop-shaft ,which I have more or less committed/decided to buy from one of us. And by the looks of things a small mod to the exhaust pipework to clear the box etc...


Options are Internal concentric slave Cly'... and a mod to the gearstick to improve position and feel The stick becomes shorter and further forwards towards the dash.

That's about all I think I need to do With or without the options. As I mentioned in a previous post I think the clutch slave as std should be fine providing the plate mod is carried out (5 mm machined off the boss) and good pipery with fully synth fluid.

Anyone agree with this lot or do I have problems looming.

I need to decide now basically....I want to get the box sorted out 1st and get on with it over the Xmas hols etc..



PS... the bonnet hurling damage gets fixed soon. Its going with me to the NEC show and Frank (Option 1) is collecting from there. ?300 repair on top of the box job. Mrs B is going to kill me!...

Al' ....