MT75 Gearbox

Just wondering if anyone out there is running a Ford MT75 5-speed gearbox in their Elan. Any information on the conversion process and on the final result would be great.

thx
Darren

Hi Darren. I am not familiar with that tranny. ( Probably know it as something else..) What is it and where does it come from? Nice to see someone out there has the same car as mine.. I don't run across them very often..

Mark

I believe it is out of a Sierra. There is a .pdf on 5-speeds you can download from the San Francisco Lotus club on the topic. MT75 and n/9 are two that are mentioned there.

You're right, it's nice to see someone with an S2. I'm having a bit of a time trying to put my car together (I didn't take it apart) without anyone nearby that I know of in the GTA with an early Elan.

Darren

If there's any way I can help from "long distance" please consider posting any questions you have. I've a lifetime of Elan experience, as do a few others on these forums and we're certainly ready to lend a virtual hand any time! Is there anything specific you're puzzling over?

Try this - it's quite nice as a reference.
https://www.zetecinside.com/xr2/gearbox.htm

I also didn't take mine apart myself. Mind you i didn't broadside it myself either! The factory Lotus parts manual is a great help for figuring out where everything goes. Let me know if you have one cause I may have a spare!

And feel free to ask anything. If you are interested in an Alfa 5 speed such as I have, I may also be able to get another tranny adapter.. I think there is still one left in my friends garage, with a disassembled tranny to boot! The fit is quite fantastic in the Elan chassis.

An Alfa 5-speed? How much "cobbling" of the chassis/body is involved in the conversion? Have you a set of photos? I'm curious as I've a good box here. The adapter home-made?

Bringing an old thread back again which I had forgoten about...

TypeRboy, do you still have that Alfa adapter and transmission? Any details on the transmission, pros and cons etc. would be great.

You know what, I wouldn't consider any other tranny for a 5 speed swap into the Elan.. In my opinion there is no way the MT75 or the type 9 would be a good fit.. They are quite a bit taller and longer that the 3 rail, and there is little wiggle room in the chassis.

It also looks to me like the shifter comes out way further back than the 3 rail which could make the shifter a pretty funny shape to bring it back to the front of the consul..

The Alfa required a 1/4 inch half moon slice taken out of the frame right where the shifter comes through into the cockpit..( it comes out about a half inch further back than the stock location, and no-one has ever noticed the difference..) That's because the frame there comes together in a v shape, while the Alfa has a very large round shifter housing. The tranny is a little taller than the 3 rail, which meant I had to cut and weld the motor mount bolt holes down about 3/4 of an inch.

It's hard to tell for sure, as I installed my tall block at the same time, and part of ( well most of really ) that drop was necessary to clear the hood with the valve cover at the front.. The combination of the two changes leaves the bottom of the air filter sitting on the passanger footwell, but it's not a problem, and i'm sure the stock block would be a much better fit.

The biggest problem was welding a proper u-joint flange onto the Alfa output shaft to match the Lotus setup. As I remember the driveshaft was the proper length, so no changes there. The cross member for the tranny was easy to make as well...

The Alfa shift is a little heavier than the Lotus stock tranny, because in it's original form it had a very long shifter for leverage, but in the Lotus the shifter is very short. The ratio's are very good, but I think first to second gear is a bit wider than the Lotus box. My motor has quite a bit more torque as a tall block, and just eats it up!

I did have some photo's at one time, and I still have the plans and specs somewhere as well, but finding them after 10 years or so may be a trick. The adapter was designed and manufactured in a run of 6 by a friend of mine.. he is very qualified to do this sort of thing, and the thought,plans and design that went into it is all out of proportion to the limited run of them. He still has one that he is not using.

Now I'm going to go and start looking for the old plans etc.

I am going to be removing my tranny later this summer for a noisey input shaft bearing, and will get some more pics of it then..

Thanks for the information. Did the gearbox come from a Giulia? Several of the other Alfa boxes I have seen have integral bellhousings.

I am 100% in agreement with you that the MT75 and Type 9 boxes are much to hard to adapt, and the kits that do this from Alan Voight in the UK (for example) are far too expensive at 1500 pounds plus shipping, duty, tax etc.

The elan box ratios are:
2.97, 2.01, 1.39, and 1

The Giulia ratios (I believe) are
3.304, 1.988, 1.355, 1, and .791

I have also seen some conversation around using an Isuzu MSG-5K box (i-mark, Impulse, pickup) which also fits in quite well (with adapter plate), gear knob in the same place, and even the speedo cable works without modification. Gear ratios as follows:

3.22, 1.98, 1.35, 1, .86

I'm leaning to the Alfa if I can find one.

Check with Quantum Mechanics. In the northeast, he's got a good reputation and seems to know his business.

Well, I've taken the plung. I got myself an Alfa gearbox. However, I want to get the Elan together and enjoy it for awhile before I begin pulling it apart again. Plus, I have some work to do on the MGB, and I have a rule - "only one car apart at a time"

Good rule. Wish I could manage that. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif