Smitty’s transmission parts

[GregFlanagan]

Where do find the speedometer parts for a Smitty's transmission?

 

[Basil]

Greg, I see from your profile you have an Austin Healey? Since you're asking a specific technical question I'm going to move your post to the Austin Healey forum. I will leave a "place holder" in the New Member's forum which will re-direct people to your post but in the AH forum. I'f you're reading this then you are in the Austin Healey forum.

The "New Members Introductions" forum is for introducing yourself to the members here. Please make another post in the New Members Intro forum and tell the group about yourself.

Hopefully, now that your question is in the AH forum someone can help you.

Basil

 

[steveg]

Where do find the speedometer parts for a Smitty's transmission?

Use the Smitty's instruction book to get part#s to buy them from Toyota. If you need the drive gear, you may have to consult with a Toyota parts guy to get the correct one for your trans. Or (see below) look online.

If you need to figure out which trans you have, see the wikipedia article: "Toyota W-series transmissions". It has all the ratios of all the W-series transmissions.

I previously had one of the trannys with the .85 5th gear and when I switched to the .78 Supra trans, needed a new drive gear.

Suggest also purchasing the Toyota angle drive - it'll make your speedo cable last longer.

Nisonger* or other speedo shop can modify a Healey speedo cable with a Toyota bottom end. They will want to know how long you want it.
*Nisonger built one for me - they knew all about them. They can supply the cable, too.

You may have to use the wikipedia article to figure out which transmission you have, then search online for the proper speedo drive gear for that tranny.

 

[GregFlanagan]

Thank you Steve, Where do I get the Smitty’s instruction book?

 

[steveg]

Thank you Steve, Where do I get the Smitty’s instruction book?

Greg - what is the status? Is the trans installed on the car and all you need is the speedo drive stuff? Or is there more to it than that?

Need more details.

 

[HealeyRick]

Or you could save yourself some time and trouble figuring out the correct ratios by installing a unit like this: https://www.classicautoinnovations.com/classic (I was a beta tester and have been quite happy with it)

 

[GregFlanagan]

Yes, the transmission was already in the car when I bought it. The dealer in Nashville did not forward me the history and receipts after many requests (it was advertised with all of the receipts and a picture of them). So I do not know anything about the transmission. I have had the car 5 years. The other day one cable disconnected from a small ratio changing box (see photo) and the two dangled on the pavement. Needless to say this was not good for them. So I went to the Moss catalogue and then it dawned on me I was not needing standard Healey parts. Therefore the call out for help. So I really do know nothing about this transmission or it’s speedometer cables.

 

[twas_brillig]

HealeyRick: I appreciate you reminding us of the speedometer options that we have. I remember thinking that the price was expensive, but then replaced the speedo in our dune buggy and it's about 9% optimistic for not a whole lot less. Same face and perfect accuracy??? You've got me thinking again, as our BJ7 has the 5 speed with the 3.91 diff so the speedo reads wrong; and the 3.54 ratio that would match our current system is beautiful but has a permanent whine. Seriously - Thanks. Doug

 

[steveg]

Greg,
You're in pretty good shape. You might be able to calibrate the speedo using the stub of a cable that comes out of the transmission. Disconnect the little gearbox first.

You push or drive the car 52' 9.5" and measure the number of turns the cable stub makes. You can put a tape flag on the cable and count the number of turns to the nearest quarter.

This process usually requires an assistant. You'll need to remove the transmission tunnel.

Then you send the speedo off to Nisonger with the number of turns you recorded. They will change the internal gearing to accommodate the number of turns you've recorded.

Also measure the total length of the speedo cable from trans to speedo. Tell them to make a hybrid cable of that length: Toyota at the transmission end; Healey at the top end. Peter Bayer is the contact there. They do this stuff all the time.

If you don't already have it, suggest purchasing the Toyota angle drive per Smitty parts list above.

See:
https://www.nisonger.com/

 

[HealeyRick]

HealeyRick: I appreciate you reminding us of the speedometer options that we have. I remember thinking that the price was expensive, but then replaced the speedo in our dune buggy and it's about 9% optimistic for not a whole lot less. Same face and perfect accuracy??? You've got me thinking again, as our BJ7 has the 5 speed with the 3.91 diff so the speedo reads wrong; and the 3.54 ratio that would match our current system is beautiful but has a permanent whine. Seriously - Thanks. Doug

The biggest advantage of the Classic Speed is that it allows you to keep your original speedometer. Since I have a Ford transmission with a 3.54 rear end, getting them to play together with the standard speedo was a bit tricky and the Classic Speed solved all that. Accuracy is perfect, although you might lose the signal in a tunnel. In your case, where you have the Toyota tranny already hooked up to the speedo, I think having Nisonger recalibrate, as SteveG suggests above, might be a less expensive option.

 

[steveg]

From Classic Speed site:

 

[HealeyRick]

From Classic Speed site:

View attachment 58644

Give them a call. Very friendly folks and LBC owners. I'm sure they'll tell you when it will be back in stock.