Hi folks. . .its your lurking scapegoat teej here and I'm finding myself with
enough time and energy to tell you about my newly rebuilt o/d tranny (which
my buddies at O'connor Classics in Santa Clara were instrumental in helping me
find parts for) Token plug!! :-0. .Anyway. . even though she's been hibernating
and drying out (save Cindy Grant and I's run to the Rabers X-Mas party-damn it
was cold with the
top down!!) I can't wait to yank the engine and stuff my new tranny in it!!
As you may or may not know. . pre-68 o/d's are hard to find due to a marketing
ploy by BMC. Turns out that the Austin Healey 3000 came standard with overdrive
and they didn't want to cross boundaries by selling it as an option to the B
which was supposed to be a lesser car!! So early o/d's are fairly uncommon!
But I tracked one down and $1200 dollars in parts and purchase later. .it
should
add immensely to the pleasure of driving the car. .haven't ever even ridden
in such a beast but I've heard that it reduces engine speed by as much as
600-700
RPM on the freeway. .somewhere around 20 MPH per 1000 rpm's if I remember
correctly. Anyway there are two outstanding issues. . apparently the o/d prop
shaft is 1 7/8" LONGER than the non-o/d box. .which makes NO sense to me-go
figure. . .also-will I need to change the speedo? So. Does anyone have any
suggestions for either locating or modifying my existing prop shaft to be
compatible with the new tranny? Was wondering if machining a spacer out of
aluminum might work? Anyway. .thanks for any help anyone can offer. .
On a related note.c . .Pops just put a set of Dayton Wires on his 53 XK120 and
they're beautiful. . .SS spokes and 72 of em to boot!
He asked me did I wanna put the old painted ones on the B. . .can you imagine
a B with 16" wheels running low profile GatorBacks?? How funny would THAT be?
Ridiculous I imagine. . anyway I'd better go. . hope yer all doin well and that
your holidays afforded you plenty of quality time with loved ones-be they human
or British!
later
teej
--
TJ Noto
tj@twg.com
66 MGB "Once again Yankee ingenuity Triumphs over British craftsmanship"
69 Triumph TR6R "In a million pieces on the garage floor"
87 BMW 325iS "My sole concession to technology in an otherwise arcane stable"
The Wollongong Group
1129 San Antonio Rd Palo Alto CA
415 962-7172
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