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5-Speed Conversions

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Waynes said:
Hi Mike, This is a very original 22k mile Healey. The problem is that the FWD U-Joint needs to be several inches further forward. The sliding yoke into the Transmission will move forward with the driveshaft disconnected from the rear. It's like the driveshaft tube is too short. I attached a picture. I have installed several Smitty kits. One in my own BJ-8 and some for friends in Austin 100's and all six cylinder models. I never had as many problems as with this kit. The selling point was the new transmission with the Toyota transmissions getting hard to find. A forum for people installing these kits to help others doing the same would be great for anyone attempting to install or contemplating buying the Driven Man kit. Thinking it will be a good conversion with the install problems resolved. Their tech support has been ok , but not really Healey specific. They sell kits for several American and British cars.
Click to expand...
Another similar T5 install in a Healey shows the driveshaft U--joint forward of the transmission tunnel. this looks to be a v8 install. This would not interfere with the hand brake in the tunnel.
 

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  • T-5 install.jpeg
    T-5 install.jpeg
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Waynes said:
Hi Mike, This is a very original 22k mile Healey. The problem is that the FWD U-Joint needs to be several inches further forward. The sliding yoke into the Transmission will move forward with the driveshaft disconnected from the rear. It's like the driveshaft tube is too short. I attached a picture. I have installed several Smitty kits. One in my own BJ-8 and some for friends in Austin 100's and all six cylinder models. I never had as many problems as with this kit. The selling point was the new transmission with the Toyota transmissions getting hard to find. A forum for people installing these kits to help others doing the same would be great for anyone attempting to install or contemplating buying the Driven Man kit. Thinking it will be a good conversion with the install problems resolved. Their tech support has been ok , but not really Healey specific. They sell kits for several American and British cars.
Click to expand...
I sorted out the drive shaft clearance problem. First I relieved the hand brake mount support. It's a little 45 degree brace welded to the mount. I then noticed I had to slightly pull the transmission to the R/H side of the car for the rear mount bolts to align, with the mount plate. This contributed to our clearance issue. With the transmission in place without any preload it was in a better position. I decided to open up some of the holes in the rear mount plate where it attaches to the frame rails to eliminate the need for the preload. With that done and a shim under the rear transmission mount to raise it slightly, we seem to be good.
 

Attachments

  • final clearance.JPG
    final clearance.JPG
    696.4 KB · Views: 50
Waynes said:
Hi Mike, This is a very original 22k mile Healey. The problem is that the FWD U-Joint needs to be several inches further forward. The sliding yoke into the Transmission will move forward with the driveshaft disconnected from the rear. It's like the driveshaft tube is too short. I attached a picture. I have installed several Smitty kits. One in my own BJ-8 and some for friends in Austin 100's and all six cylinder models. I never had as many problems as with this kit. The selling point was the new transmission with the Toyota transmissions getting hard to find. A forum for people installing these kits to help others doing the same would be great for anyone attempting to install or contemplating buying the Driven Man kit. Thinking it will be a good conversion with the install problems resolved. Their tech support has been ok , but not really Healey specific. They sell kits for several American and British cars.
Click to expand...
After resolving a few issues with the Mount plate and the rear mount alignment. I think we are good.
 

Attachments

  • driveshaft small.JPG
    driveshaft small.JPG
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Waynes said:
I sorted out the drive shaft clearance problem. First I relieved the hand brake mount support. It's a little 45 degree brace welded to the mount. I then noticed I had to slightly pull the transmission to the R/H side of the car for the rear mount bolts to align, with the mount plate. This contributed to our clearance issue. With the transmission in place without any preload it was in a better position. I decided to open up some of the holes in the rear mount plate where it attaches to the frame rails to eliminate the need for the preload. With that done and a shim under the rear transmission mount to raise it slightly, we seem to be good.
Click to expand...
Sorry the picture is upside down .
 
The Supra W58 5 speeds may be hard to find but the 2 wheel drive truck W59 is a good alternative and much easier to find. The main difference is that the W59 5th gear has a 19% overdrive while the W58 has a 21% overdrive. Also the W59 gearshift comes up in almost the same location as the BJ8 stick. The W58 stick is about 3 inches further back and requires modification to move the stick forward.
 
There are 3 positions that are available for the Toyota W series transmissions. Obviously, they are forward, mid and rearmost. Pete Delaney will supply what you need for his kit. I am ignorant of the other vendor options. Mine is right where I am comfortable resting my mitt.
 
Wondering about feedback on gear ratios on the W58 versus the Tremec. The W58 has a worse stump puller first gear than even the factory box (3.285 vs 2.93), and the gap to 2nd gear is really big (1.894/3.285 or 58% versus 1.94/2.95 or 66% for the Tremec). The W58 is better on the 2/3rd upshift than the factory gearbox (1.275/1.894 or 67% versus 1.309/2.053 or 64%) but the Tremec is a closer ratio at 1.34/1.94 or 69%. I think I would also prefer the Tremec 0.73 O/D versus the W58's 0.78 (both better than factory 0.82).

It seems to me that the Tremec with 0.73 O/D and 3.545 rear end would be about the perfect gear set. I wish I would have thought of that before spending big $$'s to rebuild the factory T/M and O/D. The chance to have modern synchros and the ~50 lb weight savings over the factory gearbox + O/D would be an added bonus. Plus I'm guessing that options to rebuild a T-5 in 20 years will be a lot better than the options I have for the factory gearbox.
 
Jerry said:
One of the people in our local club had a Driven Man Tremec installed. He hired someone to do the install. Very expensive! I drove the car and it worked well, but it needed adjusting for the shifting to work well.

In my car I have the Smitty conversion. A Supra transmission was the doner. Very nice.
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I have an '87 Supra W58 transmission in my TR6.....LOVE it! I got my kit from Herman (HVDA) who was the nicest man and was always there to assist.
 
I have a W58 with a 3.54 rear end and I love it. I now use first gear all the time from a stop and I honestly don't notice much difference in terms of torque in going up through the gears except for lower engine rpm in top gear. Having 1st gear synchro is also nice. I think the hydraulic clutch is a bit easier on my left foot and leg than the mechanical clutch was, and I like the thought of an actual ball bearing in the throwout fork as opposed to the carbon block which was always chipped when ever I looked at one.
 
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