5 speed box

[steve hinde]

I have recently bought a super seven 1991, absolutely mint. I love the thing to bits and plan on sprinting/hillclimbing in the BOC Gases Comp next year. It has a 1700 X flow producing around 140bhp. Thge question which will nodoubt bring howls of laughter to you xperts, is: can you fit a 5 speed box say Sierra type and will it be of any benefit. I do use the car on the road as well and hope to holiday in it so advice on carrying cases etc would also be helpful 😬

Cheers

Steve Hinde.

 

S,Hinde

[Peter T]

Live Axle or Dion?

 

C7 PWT Pure Steel XE.

[I.Mupferit]

Yes you can is the short answer, but it is quite involved.

 

You will need:-

1) New clutch friction plate to suit type 9 'box

2) Speedo angle drive and new cable

3) Spacer between bellhousing and gearbox.

4) Shortened propshaft

5) Type 9 'box with long input shaft.

 

You will then need to cut out the floor in the tunnel as far back as the existing steel panel including the semi circular square tube chassis section at the front and the old 4 speed gearbox mounting. Then cut out the old 4 speed gearlever mounting in the tunnel and remove the rear web on the passenger side of this mounting.

Then you need to fabricate a new 3 sided 16G steel section complete with gearbox mounting to slip into the tunnel and rivet through the aluminium side sheets.

Dead easy really *eek* 😬

 

Very time consuming but can be done with patience and access to some basic tools.

 

Brent

 

[rjc]

You can spend thousands on modifying the car for sprints and Hill climbs. If its a four speed live axle with 140 BHP you've probably got the ideal starter car as it is. Adding a fifth is pointless for hillclimbs you'll be lucky to use third.

 

Get a FIA roll bar, battery master cut off switch, and a six point harness (if not already fitted) and drive it. You can modify it later when you know a bit more about what suits the tracks. The first upgrade is usually a set of 13" rims and ACB 10's or whatever is allowed in your particular series (if not already fitted).

 

You don't necessarily need to change the box to get a high 1st and racing ratio's. Quaife do ratio's for four speeders, get one of their brochures. Meanwhile enjoy the car.

 

A fifth is for cruising and touring. If you plan to do a lot of that, sell one you've got now and buy a De Dion 5 speeder straight up. Cut, chopped and 'modified' cars can loose significant amounts of value depending upon the professionalism of the mod. By the time you cost the mod and take into account the 'non standard upgrade?!?' cut in price, you may actually have lost more than changing the car.

 

 

[Steve Kirk]

Would echo the advice to stick with 4-speeder. I changed the 4 speeder in my old XF car to a 5, and regretted it. It's true that 5th does make things quieter at motorway speeds, but only useful if you do a fair bit of that sort of driving. The (much more significant) downside of the 5 speeder is that first and second in particular are far too low for a 7, even if you do get the "right" version of box (the one from the V6 Fords). A secondary issue is that 3rd gear in these boxes known to break when the car is driven enthusiastically. Not sure that that is a problem in the 4 speeders.

 

My current car (VXi) was a 5 speed De Dion originally but I've now got closer ratios in mine (after breaking 3rd in the standard box). The 5th is shorter then standard which I thought might be a problem on motorways but I've found it really doesn't matter. The closer 1-4 ratios are what are far more important and I suspect this would be the case in your car too.

 

 

 

[Nigel Riches]

Steve there are some changes necessary in the transmission tunnel and chassis around the front of the footboxes to accomadate a Ford 5 speed gearbox, I had all that work, and some other, undertaken by Arch Motors, who did a top rate job, and didn't charge ridiculous money, as for the question of suitable ratios, these can usually be sorted by the gearbox gurus out there, Steve Perks of S.P.C. components, or Road and Race Transmissions, or as I did Brian Hill at B.G.H. Gearboxes, have a search around the site, sure to be some useful stuff here, have fun, and welcome to 7 ownership. Regards Nigel.

 

1982. 5 speed, clamshells. B.R.G / Ali. The True Colours.

[steve hinde]

Cheers for that I am now convinced to leave things as they are. I also have a Suzuki Bandit 1200 street-fighter that I'll compete with as well. I thought that bikers were the tops when it comes to camaraderie and helping one another but Seveners are in another league. Total strangers have helped and advised on what to buy you can even trust dealers *eek* Paul Matty nad his team were ACE *thumbup* . I carn't wait to burn rubber.

 

S,Hinde

[Cliff Richard]

steve

if you fancy doing a hillclimb this year why dont you come down and do longleat (sept)its a great day out run by woolbridge motor club who run a slick event. i can get you an entry form sent if you want.

 

Bibba

[Chelspeed]

Are you sure it's this complicated? I know a bit as I started with the 5 speed box in a 93 de dion chassis, converted to 4 speed Quaife dog box then converted back to sequential based on the 5 speed casing.

 

I'm assuming it's a de dion chassis and currently runs the 4 speed box based on the rocket casing. It's a 91 chassis and I think by this time they only had one chassis for all models so you shouldn't need to do much if any mods to the chassis.

 

This four speed box has the same clutch, the same prop shaft, the same bellhousing, the same alloy spacer, the same speedo drive angle gearbox, the same gearlever location. All you need to do is move the gearbox mount a couple of inches back in the tunnel, 5 minutes with an angle grinder and mig welder.

 

Of course if it's the other four speed box, the one with the integral bellhousing then no doubt you're right.