Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Howdy folks,

Would a '69 Cortina four speed transmission be the same as a Lotus four speed of the same era?

Thanks in advance,
Mike

cal44 wrote:Would a '69 Cortina four speed transmission be the same as a Lotus four speed of the same era?

No, I dont think so unless it was a Cortina Lotus (mk2) even then the gearchange would be in the wrong place due to the remote gear change.
On the standard 1300/1600 mk2 Cortina the fiirst gear ratio is not the 2000E (2.97) as used on the Elan and I think you will also find it is a single rail gearbox as opposed to a three rail type on the Elans.

Thanks Brian........ There was one for sale locally which got me to thinking. Now I don't have too.

Mike

Mike,

If it is from a '69 Cortina, it will still be a 3-rail gearbox. Cortinas went to the single rail in 1970. A non-GT Cortina will have a magic wand shifter but all the guts inside
will be the same as Lotus except for the ratios. Still, a good source of parts, just not the gears.

If it is a GT, the gear ratios will be the same, but the shifter rails are different, because they are upside down with the tail housing mounted remote shifter.

Roger

Elan45 wrote:If it is from a '69 Cortina, it will still be a 3-rail gearbox. Cortinas went to the single rail in 1970.

Well according to this publication the single rail was introduced from 1969.
http://www.c5martin.co.uk/marlin/Berli% ... rboxes.pdf

Clearly there are change point between 3 rail early, 3 rail late, 3 rail integral remote and the single rail boxes. That said I have gotten 3 of the later single rail boxes and there are some usable parts in them. some sill need to be used in pairs like syncro hubs and synchros. Get the Dave Bean Catalog and look at their gearbox pages. The only way to know is to go and look at the box and determine what the hell it is. Like every part used in the Elan , the Cortina changed (I guess thats really the other way around). Post a photo of the box and then maybe someone with some previous experience may be able to offer a an opinion. Is this one of Phil's boxes? Brian, Roger and I all have some experience with these boxes, like many of the posted topics on this forum, this is a loaded question that can not be answered with the info Mike has posted. If a box is cheap (or even better - Free) I'll grab it and see what it is, then again I collect boxes so what else would you expect.

Gary

O.K guys, what do you think of this? The ask is $300.00. He claims the trans is for a GT.

Hi Mike

You will need an early 3 rail Cortina box and the box in the photo you posted, then shuffle parts to make a semi-close box that is suitable for the Elan. I have done it and its worth it if you have the other parts (which I did). You will need the early tail shaft housing, main case, the 3 shift rails, shift forks, shifter tower and "magic wand shifter to shorten. All in all a lot of work, I got the early Cortina box for $60 and the semi-close single rail came in the LoCort I bought so well worth the effort for me to build up the correct box for the LoCort.

Gary

Thanks Gary. Love the insight.

Mike

Mike,

If the gearbox you are questioning is indeed the one in the photo, that is a single-rail box. If Gary says it can be done, then I'm sure it can, but it is not the straight-forward spare parts collection that a Cortina 3-rail box would be.

Roger

To clarify a bit after thi8nking a bit more about it, all that you get out of the box in Mike's photo is the first motion shaft, the counter shaft, all of the gears with their respective synchro hubs and synchros. You will effectively toss out the first motion shaft (17 tooth)and the counter shaft (second motion). the main shaft from the wide ratio box will need to be used as its about an longer than the single rail box.

Gary