I too got a great full gearbox with A type o/d for $400. Some guy had
it in his barn, I don't think he realized its value. Anyway, it ran
great for about a year, then the countershaft bearings went, which
meant a rebuild. The second gear didn't look great, but I couldn't
afford to replace it. Gearbox blew again about a year later. Rebuilt
again. Then the o/d blew at a TRF weekend. Got a rebuilt o/d from TRF
for about $900 or so I think. So by now I guess it would've been
smarter to just buy at Toyota 5 speed. I probably would be ahead from
a cash flow perspective! Then again, the first couple gearbox rebuilds
probably could've been avoided had I not beat the car so much, I was 16
years old at the time and treating the TR like an American muscle car,
stop light drag racing and the like.
Third gear syncro is toast again, so I'll need to rebuild again in the
future. For now, I just shift slow from 2nd to 3rd. Don't know if
I'll stick with the Triumph gbox with A type o/d, or go to the Toyota 5
speed. Has anyone on the list actually got a Toyota gbox in their car?
Please write in with your experience!
Tim Holbrook
1971 TR6
--- "Kai M. Radicke" <kmr@pil.net> wrote:
> > Chuck---I too am considering the 5 speed box by Toyota. If I
> > had a TR6 OD unit I would probably stay with the original setup.
> > But I don't, and high mileage on my tranny will make something
> > happen here eventually. The gear spacing options will give me
> > what I need, with a .85 final drive and a lower 1st ratio. One
> > hangup is no speedo connection, and a price of U.S. $2000.
> > Or is that two hangups?
>
> Dick, Chuck, and everyone else interested.
>
> I used to think the Supra 5 speed was the way to go, for a gearbox
> for the
> TR6. That is until I found out about a company which uprates
> overdrives
> here in the USA. Why settle for 5 gears, when the uprated OD is
> strong
> enough to be used in competition in all 4 forward gears (8 total
> ratios).
>
> Price isn't bad either, it's $1200 for a fully rebuilt and uprated OD
> unit... you must provide the core for rebuilding. This is avaliable
> from
> Medina Motorsports in Ohio, 330-725-2725. Essentially what they do
> is (a)
> replace the friction material in the OD with something which is much
> more
> durable and can transfer quite a bit more torque (b) replace some of
> the
> spinning bearings and likewise with ones again that can cope with the
> greater transfer of power and finally (c) increase the hydraulic
> pressure of
> the overdrive unit for instantaneous engagement.
>
> The overdrive provides a more useful top ratio, and keeping your
> hands on
> the wheel during competition (esp. autocross) is quite an asset, as
> all it
> takes to switch up to next ratio is a flick of your finger.
> Acceleration
> can be vastly improved also, with the ability to use OD in the lower
> gears
> as extra, intermediate gear ratios.
>
> Then we also have the argument for purity, an overdrive quite simply
> wins
> out here over the Toyota Supra gearbox. Hell might as well just
> throw in
> the Supra motor as well ;-) Triota has a nice ring to it! heh
>
> And Dick, in your case, you can probably find an overdrive fairly
> cheaply if
> you look. In June, I purchased a working complete A-type overdrive
> gearbox
> from Missouri for $400... probably one of the best deals I ever got
> on
> anything in my life! It even came with some spare components. I've
> bench
> tested it and all is well, but it will probably be sent off to Medina
> this
> winter so that it will be ready to mate up to the supercharged TR6
> motor
> which is nearing completion.
>
> If you're worried about the integrity of the rest of the gearbox,
> well...
> they were rallied in numerous 50s and 60s rallies in the TR3 and TR4
> all
> with overdrive working on every gear, the TR250/6 gearboxes are
> essential
> the same with different ratios, and now even more uprated components
> are
> available such as heavy duty layshafts.
>
> I don't think there is any reason to not stick with the Triumph
> gearbox and
> overdrive, they can cope with power well and they can be made to
> cope with
> even more power for less money than purchasing a Toyota Supra gearbox
> conversion.
>
> Kai
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