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Are these really that expensive?

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Do you know the ratio's for the Toyota?

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It depends on the tranmission you buy. Check out the Ratio on his web site. HVDA Conversions

Herman recomends the 5th gear to be .783 as its the closest to the Triumph.

The Toyota Supra 82-85 is the best 5 speed to get. I believe the ratios are the same as the Celica, but not positive. Its aluminum weighs 70 pounds and if you can find one in a salvage yard they'll practically give it to you. I picked up a supra transmission with very low miles for 50 bucks. It looks brand new! Can't wait to get that puppy installed...
 
My HVDA was $1,500 with the hydraulic TO bearing. The junk yard W58 trany was $150.00 with a 30day warranty. If the trany is bad you'll know immediatly. I've seen reconditioned W58's for $750.00. Still less money than an OD unit & 70lbs less in weight. Not to mention the reliability factor.

John's a great guy and does some of the finast work out there but the Ford unit in my opinion is fine for a stock car but does not offer the same value as the Toyota kit. The hydraulic TO bearing alone makes it worth it.

The most amazing thing about this is the selection available and options on trany's alone. Who'd of thunk.
 
Err - actually no. That's the problem.

If you want a rebuilt o/d unit, you are looking at about the same as a 5-speed conversion with a rebuilt 5-speed box $ wise. You can get a completely rebuild W58 (which is a very stout box, and which weighs a good 40lbs less than an o/d tranny) for under $1000. You can pay as little as $150 from a breakers. The HVDA kit is about $1500.

Check out the prices on Espositos site for a conversion without an o/d to exchange and you'll see exactly what I mean.

Driveability is of course a different question entirely...

<edit> Oops - I just saw trboost said exactly the same as I did, we must have crossed postings...
 
I did the HVDA kit, with the hydraulic TO Bearing. Got the trans from ANAHEIM GEAR (ANAHEIM CA)(NFI). I called them in the morning, they took my credit card over the phone,
built the trans that day, tested it on their dyno, and then delivered it to Britalia Motors in Fullerton,Ca. (NFI).
Walter at Britalia has done a few of these. He suggested a modified master cyclinder, to give me a longer throw on the clutch pedal. Works really nice. I paid about $900 for the trans. I really liked the idea of the trans being rebuilt and TESTED before it was installed. Although I can do some work on my car myself, I was glad to have the shop install the trans. The w58 trans works very well, smooth to shift.

BUT:
I think the OD Trans is more FUN!!
 
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He suggested a modified master cyclinder, to give me a longer throw on the clutch pedal.

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What master cylinder did you use? What modifications did you have to do to the m/c?
 
Actually , your right about the OD fun part. It definetly has a WOW factor. I drove a TR with OD for the first time last weekend. It happened to work flawlessly and was pretty cool the way it shifted. It does get a little weird when you leave the OD on & stop , then go into first , then second. It seems to stay in OD making it very slugish.

I also have a racing TR video with the actuator on the shifter. To me that's the place. This was a nice advantage to gear changes with no clutch through certain parts of the track.

The reality is , these are 30,40 year old OD trans that can only be rebuilt so many times. The quality of clutches and other parts are questionable & the qualified techs are few and far between. Because so many of us are driving more & more miles on these cars , we want reliability. The OD trany is a very complicated unit that does what a contemporary 5-speed does.
 
I just want to take some stress off the engine at faster speeds(71' TR6 Driver)"no trailer queen here" /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/nonod.gif
I could have gone with O/D or the Toyota trans. I'm going with the ford trans. for the extra speed and reliablity. :
I had the O/D unit in my 73' GT6 and all I ever had was problems. "They are a great unit when they work"
John gives me the confidence of his workmenship, and I trust him completely, he's never steered me wrong before.

I belive when your building a driver you must first think of functionality , if your restoring back to spec. then yes go with the o/d.
 
re: master cyclinder used.
I believe it is a Spitfire mc, plus Walter used a spacer from some Jag. The Spitfire mc has a smaller bore, so it takes a longer stroke to move the T.O. bearing. I think that is the idea....
I had the original mc when I first got the car back with
the W58, but then the mc went bad. When I went back to the shop to pick up the car, it was a done deal. So I was really able to feel the difference. Liked it much better with the Spitfire MC. I keep all the original parts in storage.
 
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