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3.54 Ring and Pinion

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Never used one. I looked into them but had the gears installed instead. Kinda surprised to hear the adapters don't last long; must use plastic gears.
 
steveg said:
You remove the cable from the back of the speedo, attach a pointer to it, such as a piece of masking tape, push the car through 52 feet, 9-1/2" and measure the number of turns the pointer makes. This enables the speedo shop to re-calibrate your speedometer. I've used Nisonger in New York; West Valley Instruments (Morris Mintz) can do it in LA.
Nisonger has a pdf on how to do this.
Click to expand...

I had West Valley Instruments do this when they refurbished my speedo (not for the 3.54 axle -- I'm still eyeing the one on ebay for $75). A bobby pin works great as a pointer on the end of the speedo cable. It's interesting that both Nisonger and WVI places say to push the car 52' 9.5" and count the number of turns. It's far more accurate to push the car until the pointer turns exactly some number of turns and then measure the distance traveled. It's hard to estimate the last fractional turn of the cable as you hit 52' 9.5"; it's easier to start with the pointer straight up and then push the car until the pointer goes around exactly 10 times and them measure the distance traveled in feet. If you need the number of turns in 52' 9.5" you simply divide the number of turns by the distance traveled and then multiply that number times 52.79 ft.

Keith
 
I gotta believe Smiths had a large variety of internal gearing option to suit the rear ends that were available. My speedo shop found a set of gears that were designed for a 3.54 rearend--they had to be ordered from England--and installed them (these aren't really gears, but toothed wheels driven by pawls driven by cams driven by gears driven by the large spiral gear driven by the cable). The mileage readouts are spot on, even with slightly smaller diameter (185/70) tires. I've seen a couple of sources for different internal gears for Smiths speedometers (of course, the 'turns per mile' indication on the dial will not be correct any more). IOW, if you can get the 'gears' for a 3.54 rearend you don't need to do the 'count the turns over (some portion) of 5,280 feet' exercise.

The speed readout can be calibrated with a) any of many websites that will take gear/rearend ratio, RPM and tire diameter and give MPH, b) a GPS or c) our local police department has helpfully put large radar speed displays on our local roads (some people think this is to slow traffic, but I know it's really to help car nuts calibrate their speedometers).
 
57_BN4 said:
What are you guys doing to recalibrate the odometer/speedo for the new diff ratio?
Click to expand...

Well, I intended eventually to have a ratio box built to correct the speedo, but never got around to it. Having verified against a measured mile that the 3.54 gears change the speedo and odometer readout to 10% low, I just mentally compensate. A friend had some "static cling" plastic dials manufactured for BJ8s that did the compensation and I used one for a while, but decided I just preferred the mental compensation instead.
 
Here's the setup I made to measure the turns. I downloaded a circle divided into 1/10ths off the internet, then divided those into halves. It screws into an adapter made of a piece of aluminum rod with an Allen set screw. The pointer is taped to the cable housing with duct tape or clamped with a small hose clamp; the disc is aluminum. Note the speedo cable rotates clockwise so the disc is numbered counter-clockwise.
SpeedoCounter.jpg
 
Has anyone had recent contact with the vendors mentioned earlier in this thread - https://www.354gears.com/index.html ?

Did anyone purchase a set of 3.54 gears?

I have my rear axle out atm for oil seal replacement and radius arm bushings (had to cut the bolts out as they were rusted fast!), and am going to have the diff looked at to gauge its health this week. If it needs replacing, then I'm keen to try the 3.54 ratio...
 
See if you can find a Wolseley 6/110 dismantling in your area- they use the 3.54 ratio. Could probably buy a whole car for the price of a new ring/pinion.
 
Hello CanberraBJ8. My dad purchased a set of 3.54 gears for his 100. They're in; and he's pleased. Not much mileage on them yet.
 
Hi PSJ

That is interesting to hear. Most people I'll talked to who have them in BJ8s say its the best thing they've done to the car! - or at least are very happy ;-)

However a friend just up the road from me who has a 100/4 said it made his car too sluggish - just not enough torque in top+overdrive to go up long medium hills and dropping out of overdrive then made the motor work harder than before with the standard ratio... But that might just be his car? He does now have a 5 speed 'box in it too. Anyway, he recommended that I don't change, and so did the guy who built my engine for me. Everyone else like the 3.54 it seems...

Cheers
SF
 
The reason 3.54s are so rare is because they were the rear end ratio that came only in those 3000s without overdrive. The 100-6s without overdrive had the 3.90 that then became standard with the 3000s with overdrive. Also, the overdrive in the 100-6 was 28%. The overdrive in the 3000 was lowered to 22%.
 
Converting to the 3.54 gears was the single best upgrade I've done to my BT7 in the 50 years I've had it. You won't be sorry if you make the switch.
 
I'll strongly consider it then - though the price seems to have gone up considerably since the beginning of this thread... :-(
 
Speaking of price, what are people paying to have them installed? I know it will depend on how many of the bearings get replaced as they are really expensive, but I'm just trying to get an idea. I was planning on the R&R of the center section myself (leaving the axle housing in the car), so the shop would only have to deal with that part.

My car is a 100/4, BN2 4-speed. I was a little surprised to read CanberraBJ8's comment about his friend not liking the gears. I hope these gears don't make the car a complete slug to drive. Right now I find 1st gear only good for about 10-15 feet in normal driving, in fact when my dad owned this car he always drove off in 2nd. Driving on the highway I find myself turning 3000-3500...in the right lane...with semi-truck grilles filling my rear-view most of the time.

Thanks,
Walt
 
BoyRacer said:
The reason 3.54s are so rare is because they were the rear end ratio that came only in those 3000s without overdrive. The 100-6s without overdrive had the 3.90 that then became standard with the 3000s with overdrive. Also, the overdrive in the 100-6 was 28%. The overdrive in the 3000 was lowered to 22%.
Click to expand...
I purchased my 3:54 in the late 80's complete with pumpkin and it came from Canada. I paid $450.00 for it plus shipping. Evidently those gears were used on a lot of cars from Canada and they weren't Healeys. Best improvement I did to my BJ8 next to the Toyota 5-speed.
 
ahmk3 said:
I just saw a 3.54 ring and pinion on Ebay sale # 370735112667 Buy it now or best offer.
Click to expand...
I buy this item from ebay after seeing the message on the forum. Thank you for the information. The ring and pinion hare arriving to my house.
Now, i try to find to install it. I will give the cost for installed it on my bj8 but as i know, it' s effetively depending on the bearings that need to be replaced !
Can someone give me an estimate of normal working hours to install it ?
It's will help me with my mechanic.
 
My father and I did it in about a day (6hrs), but we're not pros and we took our time (I had previously taken the 'third member' out). It takes a couple hours to remove the third member--sometimes called a 'pumpkin'--if you can do this yourself you'll save quite a bit of money but you'll need to get under the car. It's not a terribly difficult job (easier than changing the axle hub bearings and seals). Some shops specialize in differential work--I'd be surprised if it took more than a couple hours for an experienced technician to install the gears, but they may quote more. Finding the parts may be the hardest part for an 'amateur,' you may need different bearing spacer shims and possibly a pinion spacer (the shop may mill yours down if necessary, or may need a thicker one). You'll also need a micrometer and possibly some other specialty tools.

Here in the States labor would be about $200-300 to change the gears, plus parts depending on whether you reuse the bearings and need new shims/spacers. Besides that, you'll need a new pinion seal and a gasket (or use a gasket maker; i.e. silicone), plus new gaskets and O-rings for the hubs. The shop will probably quote at least an hour if they have to remove the third member and another hour to install it (much more than that would be unreasonable IMO; they should have a lift which makes it an easier/quicker job). Way back when I bought 3.5 gears from Michael Lempert he arranged a shop to do the work if necessary--again, gear change only--and they charged $200 but the cost has probably gone up.

Also, your speedometer will read about 11% low after the gear change. You can either a) live with it that way, b) install a ratio adapter or c) recalibrate the speedo and install different gears on the odometer and trip meter. I went with (c), and years ago it cost me $200 and a couple weeks' down time (no speedo). You can change the speed indication by repositioning the indicator needle, but your odometer and tripmeter will still read 11% low. A ratio adapter seems like a good idea, since you can always uninstall it, but you may have trouble finding one that will work with a Healey (I couldn't find a seller I felt comfortable with).
 
I'm new to the forum, but pleased to inform that I talked with Mike Lempert just two days ago and they have plenty of the 3.54 ring and pinion sets on hand. He said his son Dan is handling the gear sales now. The price is $500. I have ordered a set and hope to have it installed prior to travel to Conclave in Charlevoix, QC.

Jaloppie
'67 BJ8
'59 Bugeye
'53 XK120 DHC
 
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