Thomas Wiencek wrote:
> I have been seriously looking into possible 5-speed conversions for my
>Alpine. I know about the kit from New Zealand that uses the Toyota
>transmission. My questions are -
> Why the Toyota trans?
Tom,
Probably because the over here the Toyota trans is relatively cheap and easily
sourced second hand from Japan. Japanese law makes it difficult to register
vehicles that are more than about 5 (I think) years old - it gets easier to buy
a new one. Hence there is a large supply of good second hand cars, many with
very low miles. Many of these are exported whole or as parts to Aus and NZ,
its been going on for years. For example it's cheaper to buy a low mileage Jap
engine (with 12 months warranty) than to get your own engine rebuilt.
The Toyota 5 speed is a popular conversion for many earlier model Holdens and
Falcons that came with 3 or 4 speed trannies as it's strong enough to sit
behind a 5 litre V8
Cheers
Vic
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