5 spd to Xflow Questions/Options

[Iamscotticus]

Hello, Im sure its been covered before, 

Right hand drive cable clutch 1996 Scholarship 1600 XFlow live axle.

In my box of parts I have Ztec flywheel, Ford 928M 6398 CB, lightened I believe.

Shall I use this? I wont need to buy those 1X23x190mm discs from Burton.  I could use standard 2.0 discs, right?

I have a 1x23x 190mm disc for Xflow/5spd

Will the larger flywheel affect the Xflow starter tooth mesh and position?

I have a cast iron bell housing Ford 71887505AC and ali Ford D12A-6394-AD bellhousing, and forks for both.  

I have the 1" ali spacer with V6 layshaft bearing relief.

I have a 2.8 V6 T9 box with 7" input shaft (yes, previous owner switched the gearset with a 4 cylinder into a V6 box).  I could be really lucky if the set was uprated with a close ratio kit, but I don't know that yet.

So now, as I understand it, I cant use the ali spacer because that would space the input shaft out of the pilot, and I cant fit the box to any of my bells because none are for V6.

Shall I cut out a layshaft relief in the bell I use?

Thanks

 

[Nigel Riches]

So, as far as I can understand, you have a 5 spd casing from a V6 motor, with a short first motion shaft and a four speed gear set, man this is a cocktail, which you want to install in place of the four speed G/B in your car? is that correct? Is the present G/B a 2260 type with integrated B/H? (standard Escort G/B)  If it is, the five speed 'box wont line up with the G/B mounting, it is further back, the propshaft will need shortening and the gear lever will be in a new position.

What do you hope to gain by this exercise?

There are plenty of aftermarket gearbox outfits which could furnish better ratios, stronger synchros and bearings and that would be more of a plug and play solution, if you have a five speed case why not get a five speed gear set?

This project seems like a lot of work for no gain.

I went through something like this, but not as wild, and ended up getting the chassis (1982)  modified at Arch for the five speed 'box, used the spacer plate and long first motion shaft and it all kind of clicked together.

There are a lot of interweb pages about this stuff, the tribe at Westfield and other assorted makes have info about gearbox swaps, and sites like "Passion for Ford" and such like carry articles, going back to the dim darks before WWW, Cars and car conversions had good articles about it.

I did ditch the 2260 G/B and fitted a type 2300, more commonly known as a 2000E G/B with Capri B/H, the mounting was a few mm out of line, a bit of quick filing had that sorted, but again the prop shaft needed shortening.

Have fun, sounds like you are, and if you PM me I'll send you some elderly pages from Cars and Car conversions which has a lot of info about changing these gearboxes. 

Cheers. Nigel.

 

[Iamscotticus]

Thanks Nigel. 
A minor correction tho..  The T9 box is a 2.8 V6 5 spd.  The first motion shaft and gear set were changed out to a short first motion shaft.  It still retains the bulbous V6 layshaft bearing.

Yes I have the Escort box as supplied by Caterham with the Xflows on Classic live axles.
I plan to do plenty of driving at 112 K/hr.
RPMs over 5K on 185, 75 R13s isn't how I want to treat my motor.  So, an overdrive is very welcome.

My options with this T9 seem to be,

Rebuild the box with a long 1st motion shaft (missing) and use the spacer 
or
Grind out the area out of the b/h for the layshaft
or
The set might work as is with the spacer and the shaft partially in the spigot bearing.  This is still a possibility if the face of the spigot stands 1" proud of the B/H face.  But if the spigot is flush with B/H, there is maybe .20" of support with the spacer.
I haven't taken the Escort box off to find out.

Another thing I don't yet know is if I did cut the B/H, if the shaft spline area and shaft support tube are correct length? Hacksaw!

Thank you, Scott

[Nigel Riches]

Hi Scott, I would imagine that as an ex Academy car the diff would be a lower ratio than the standard live axle at 3.6 : 1, that would help reduce the engine rpm / to speed equation.

My car has the standard Marina diff (3.6 : 1) and at 70 MPH (112KMH), with a 0.87 (I think) fifth gear, on 185/70 -13 wheel tyre, is running about 3500 rpm. So definitely a reduction from your set up.

Have yo run any figures through the online gear ratio calculators out there? 

A longer diff and larger tyres would lose some engine speed, and be a bit less hassle to install, you could then have a time of working out if the gearbox, bell housing, mounting position etc will come together, just a thought.   

Stick with it, chin up.

Nigel.