Cortina Lotus Mk1/2 (2000E) 5 Speed gearbox
Discussion
Sam
The Lotus Cortina Register forum has just come up with the answer:
In 1966/67, Hewland produced a five speed Cortina gearbox - later to be built and sold by C.T.Wooler ( Engineers ) of Wembley.
The box was developed for race use and resulted from a demand from Cortina, Cortina Lotus and Lotus Elan drivers who used their cars for motorsport. They found that the gap between second and third on the standard box made life a little awkward when coupled to their tuned and often "peaky" engines.
Using the original cast-iron gearbox casing, the Hewland engineers went about the task of fitting five gears whilst retaining the format of a three shaft, constant mesh box. Space within the casing only allowed for a face-dog, non-synchromesh gear engagement system to be used. The lack of synchromesh is compensated by the extremely close ratios of the gears and provided an astoundingly fast gearchange, ideally suited to racing. Hewland used helical gears ( A first for Hewland ) as a compromise between the much needed strength for competition and a reasonably quiet operation for everyday road use.
The Lotus Cortina Register forum has just come up with the answer:
In 1966/67, Hewland produced a five speed Cortina gearbox - later to be built and sold by C.T.Wooler ( Engineers ) of Wembley.
The box was developed for race use and resulted from a demand from Cortina, Cortina Lotus and Lotus Elan drivers who used their cars for motorsport. They found that the gap between second and third on the standard box made life a little awkward when coupled to their tuned and often "peaky" engines.
Using the original cast-iron gearbox casing, the Hewland engineers went about the task of fitting five gears whilst retaining the format of a three shaft, constant mesh box. Space within the casing only allowed for a face-dog, non-synchromesh gear engagement system to be used. The lack of synchromesh is compensated by the extremely close ratios of the gears and provided an astoundingly fast gearchange, ideally suited to racing. Hewland used helical gears ( A first for Hewland ) as a compromise between the much needed strength for competition and a reasonably quiet operation for everyday road use.
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