T9 5 speed conversion

[alanr]

Well a few months have gone by but here are my thoughts on the Voigts Type9 5speed conversion. I didn't actually get around to fitting the gearbox until July.
It is defintely not a 'job for the weekend'! especially so if like me you are fitting it to a car with the body on and in a home garage without a lift/ramp. i purchased a floor transmission jack and was so pleased I did. It definitely made the job easier.
Here is the 'box ready to go in:-

Steve Lyle in the US did an excellent write up on fitting the Type9 in his Elan back i think in 2020 and everything he said back then is correct and I found more or less the same fettling and fitting issues with the Voigts conversion. i found myself referring to his write up time and time again.
It takes patience and time.....lots of it!
There is an awful lot of faffing around making sure that the Type 9 gearbox fits nicely in the +2 chassis. It is a really tight fit in the original Lotus chassis and getting the getting the gearbox back far enough in the chassis took me quite some time to get it right.
I also found with the chassis cut you need to be quite generous with your cutting otherwise as I said before you just can't get it back far enough into the 'V' part of the chassis.
I had the gearbox in and out umpteen times over days before I was happy. Not easy when working on the floor! Even when I thought I had it just right when I came to put the engine back in I found I hadn't got it back far enough for the engine mountings to fit and line up and I had to do some fettling in the back lower part of the chassis to get clearance for the gearbox mounting.
The supplied Gearbox crossmember plate also needs a lot of trial and error 'adjusting' to make it fit.

As I said there is a lot of fiddling and fettling and filing needed but eventually I got there and the box was in and the engine refitted.

The next issue for me was the gearlever. Although the position for the lever in the box was exactly in the right place aperturewise i just wasn't happy with the way it was so close to the dashboard. It was too long and I couldn't see how I could sort the gaiter for it. I deliberated for some weeks over how to solve this issue.

Eventually I came to the conclusion that the Voigts gearlever as supplied just had to go. A lot of thinking time went in to this but there was no other option.I cut it off at the bend part of the lever and adapted the 4speed gearlever to fit with a bit of lathework and new threaded part to take the 4speed lever. The end result with the gearlever further back and shorter is so much better and i got my old chrome gearlever back!

The final hurdle was sorting the gaiter, which also took me ages to sort. I came to the conclusion I didn't want a 'scrunchy' type modern style leather gaiter so what I have ended up with is a Mk1 Toyota Rav4 gearlever gaiter which cost me £3 from a scrapyard!. I have machined a bit of polished bling to go on the top and i am very pleased with the end result which I think is in period with the car.

...and so to drive the Type9
I ordered and paid extra and had a 2.89:1 1st gear and I am so pleased I did. This makes first gear virtually the same as the 4speed box.The 5th gear 0.82 is also just great and brings the rpm and resultant noise level down to a much better and more relaxed cruising level.
Overall I am very pleased with my Voigts type 9 conversion. The actual gearchange through the gears is much better than my old 4speed box was which was something i didn't quite expect. However it is early days and I have had to have a conversation with Alan Voigts about the synchro on 2nd and 3rd when the box is cold. The change is not quite clean as i think it should be but after a few miles and it is warmed up it is perfectly ok. Alan thinks it is just the baulk rings bedding in and will improve as I put more miles on the gearbox. Time will tell.

Would I do it all again? ...Most definitely, despite the large expense it is a big improvement to my +2S130.

Alan.

[RichardHawkins]

Alan,

That looks lovely, and thanks for taking the time to tell us about it.

Richard Hawkins

[alanr]

Thanks Richard.
It was an expensive leap of faith that so far seems to have turned out very well !

Alan

[mbell]

Yes that looks a very nice and neat install. Would take a real expert to know that was anything but the factory box.

Hopefully fully the 2/3rd shift improved with use. If not might be worth experimenting with a few brands of oil to see if they improve it.

[alanr]

Hopefully fully the 2/3rd shift improved with use. If not might be worth experimenting with a few brands of oil to see if they improve it.

It is not a real problem, I have only done a couple of hundred miles so far with this gearbox and it is only going up the 'box into 2nd and 3rd for the first few 3-4 miles from cold and then afterwards all gearchanges are really slick and good.
I asked Alan Voigts if he thought changing to a different oil would be beneficial, MT Redline or similar, and he said not. He says It is just the baulk rings bedding in and will improve as the miles go on. Currently I have Comma 75/90 GL4 Semi Synthetic in it which is what he considers is best for the Type 9.
I will just wait and see. He obviously has far more experience of the Type 9 than I have.

Alan.