Gearbox gone ker-plunk

[Obiwonkeyblokey]

With wonderful timing, the gearbox on the Tuscan went bang on the way to the ferry to Le Mans. Luckily a fellow pistonheader stepped in and lent me his Range Rover for the weekend while the TTuscan was recovered to spend its Le Mans week on a ramp at Duxford automotive.

Bugger,

but then as every cloud has a silver lining I am looking at this being an opportunity to upgrade / uprate the little thing. We have decided to replace the 4 speed o/drive unit with either a ford T9 or a Borg Warner T5 ( my preference being the T5).

now the good bit, engine.

what started out as a slightly drunken " I wonder what the Tuscan would be like with a 4.5 AJP" - cue much merriment and stories of twisting chassis, resulted in me thinking about putting in the small block ford V8, the 289.

What are peoples thoughts on this, as opposed to uprating the V6 in there at present, and is the BWT5 the way to go on the gearbox?

thanks.

[heightswitch]

Your Tuscan V6 can become a replica of a Tuscan V8 if you really wanted it to.

All I would say is that you will need to have a lot of money in your back pocket.
If your gearbox went bang on the car then I will bet you all the tea in China that all of your other componants are due to snap.

Some points to consider before you embark on the conversion.

1. How is your chassis? Its 30 yr old so does it need to be replaced before you put 3 times the torque through the car

2. How are your uprights, front and rear. you probably will need to replace them unless you like racing your wheels up the road alongside you

3. All your bushes etc new?

4. Do you want to also install a cage

5. are you going to fit a 289 or 302

The reason i am trying to alert you to all of this is that currently you have a nice v6 tuscan. a very rare car.

if you really want a V8 car then my advice would be to buy a wrecked old Vixen S2 safe in the knowledge you are going to start from the ground up.

You will spend the best part of £10k if you are doing the work yourself. You will spend a lot more if you are also paying labour charges.

Your car is a nice old rare thing but will need the same money spending on it as an old S2 vixen to get the desired result

Anyone who reckons you can do it cheaper hasn't done it.

I currently have 3 cars on the go!

I also have an old S2 vixen!!

Neil.

[aphelion]

Saw your car at Dulford at the weekend - it's a very nice example (gearbox aside!). I'd second heightswitch - a V8 would always be an expensive replica whereas the V6 is the real thing, and a relatively rare beast. Just my five penn'orth!

[mikehowell]

Of course you can do this to a Tuscan V6, you probably have the resources, but should you, with only about 40 examples remaining?
Why not sell/store the Tuscan and buy the Vixen V8 here- www.pistonheads.com/sales/list.asp?s=9

Edited by mikehowell on Tuesday 20th June 17:48

[ATE399J]

Agree with all the above regarding the engine. However, as far as the gearbox is concerned this link might help... www.capri.pl/garage/5speed.html

I've thought of doing this myself (overdrive unreliable - won't disengage when de-selected) but the problems I see are, firstly, finding the bellhousing described and, secondly, that bellhousing (having found one) uses a cable to actuate the clutch. Further research suggested that there may be a Transit van that used the "right" bellhousing with a hydraulic clutch but the chances of finding one of those......

Steve Read (Gamekeeper) knows someone who has done this job so maybe contact him?

Phil.

[Obiwonkeyblokey]

I agree with the points above and having slept on it overnight have resisted the temptation to whack the V8 in it, mainly as it could then be regarded as a vixen wuth a V8 rather than a Tuscan. So I will leave the V6 and add a Borg Warner T5. Apparently there is a small adaption required for the bell housing but nothing too out of the ordinary.

Will report back when its done.

Owen

Edited by Obiwonkeyblokey on Wednesday 21st June 09:33

[heightswitch]

If you are going the T5 route then you can buy from Real steel or other similar a hydraulic release bearing assembly which slides onto the output shaft in your bell housing. This does away with the need for a clutch fork and slave cylinder.

I ran with such a set up in a cobra replica once and would say for a road car would be the best solution for you.

A race car where you want access to everything has other merits when considering keeping the hydraulics accessible.

Neil.