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New thread from Billy's post - $65 transmission

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Hey guys,

Sorry I have not been around much. Life priorities had to shift away from the car for a while. But I was just thinking A LOT about this topic. BillM (I think) borrowed a back plate from me to test the fit of a Mistubishi KM-132 from a D-50 2.0 (narrow block). Last I heard, the transmission more or less fits the tunnel. Also the input shaft is the same size and spline count as the 1500, so a stock clutch can be used. The heater vent under the battery shelf interferes a bit. It was suggested that this could be fixed with a few whacks from a big hammer. It is not possible to fit a starter with the narrow block bell housing in the stock location on the KM132 bell housing. Also the hump needs to be cut a bit for shifter location. I cannot remember if the shifter hits short or long. If short, it may be possible to use the Starion/Conquest gearbox as it is a bit longer, though rarer. If it is possible to cut away the bell housing and replace with the Midget bell housing... the KM-132 could be a contender.
 
Good to hear from you Morris. We have missed you. I hope that research is continuing. My other thought was Suzuki Sidekick. It seems there would be lots of those with GM versions also.
 
Isn't that what Bugzuki is but that was a complete driveline swap.
 
I have been obsessively thinking about this the past week or so.

While I think there are several approaches to getting the KM132 gearbox to work I keep going back to the J type overdrive unit. There are still plenty of those lying around in junkyards attached to the back of Volvo M46 transmissions. It maybe might be possible to fit a remote overdrive unit the back of the stock transmission. The KM132 has a 5th gear ratio of .85 which would put my highway rpms in the 3400-3600 range. The Laycock overdrive has a gear ratio of .78 which puts the rmps in the 3100-3300 range. Another nice thing about the Laycock idea is that if set up right, it could work in any Spridget. The challenges are:

1) While you do not have to cut the cross member, you will have to cut out pieces of the tunnel aft of the shifter. I believe this could be done by cutting out panels on either side of the tunnel. According to the measurements, the od unit will just fit between my Miata seats. But it may be necessary to relocate the e-brake
2) A custom, very short drive shaft would have to be made which means it will probably need to use CV joints
3) A custom input shaft and forward housing would have to be made for the od unit. There is a company here in the US that makes these parts. The input shaft costs $250, but they do not list the price of the housing... or whether they are willing to sell the housing separately from one of their complete remote od units.

Based on rough guesses, I think the whole shebang would set you back about $1000-1200 bucks. This ain't cheap, but it's much cheaper than any of the commercially available kits. If there was enough interest in the project to organize a group buy, we may be able to bring the price down a bit.

Ultimately, if the KM132 will work, it's probably a better deal. But still I thought it would be fun to submit this to the group think.
 
Morris, isn't your car a late 1500 engined car?? The triumph spitfire had a Laycock overdrive fitted to it from the factory. If you have the 1500 engine you can fit the overdrive from the spitfire with a little tunnel bashing. We have a guy in the local club that has done so. BTW the Laycock overdrive is now made by a company in Cali that fits it to everything. Very popular among the rock crawler guys. I had one in my MGB and think I prefer it to a 5 speed.

Kurt.
 
It's not so easy to lay hands on the spitfire gearbox unless you want to spend some $$$. Also, I believe installing that gearbox requires cutting the cross member... which is something I have been warned to never attempt... which only makes me want to do it more.
 
Morris said:
Hey guys,

Sorry I have not been around much. Life priorities had to shift away from the car for a while. But I was just thinking A LOT about this topic. BillM (I think) borrowed a back plate from me to test the fit of a Mistubishi KM-132 from a D-50 2.0 (narrow block). Last I heard, the transmission more or less fits the tunnel. Also the input shaft is the same size and spline count as the 1500, so a stock clutch can be used. The heater vent under the battery shelf interferes a bit. It was suggested that this could be fixed with a few whacks from a big hammer. It is not possible to fit a starter with the narrow block bell housing in the stock location on the KM132 bell housing. Also the hump needs to be cut a bit for shifter location. I cannot remember if the shifter hits short or long. If short, it may be possible to use the Starion/Conquest gearbox as it is a bit longer, though rarer. If it is possible to cut away the bell housing and replace with the Midget bell housing... the KM-132 could be a contender.
Click to expand...

Morris, you have probably already seen this, but, just in case:

https://projectzerog.com/transmissions.shtml
 
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