T-5 alternatives

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trevor91773

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I was looking at possible alternatives to a T-5 transplant. One possible solution was a Gear Vendors splitter or overdrive unit. Does anyone know if this will fit in a Tiger. It gives 2 sizes for a Toploader; one for a 14" tailhousing and another for a 17". I am not sure what the stock tailhousing length is for a Tiger and whether this will fit in the X-frame enclosure that surrounds the end of the Toploader.

At close to $3000, this is a not a cheap unit. I am not sure that this would be a less expensive alternative to a transplant. I believe Tom Halls kit is over $2000 plus the cost of aT-5. Does anyone know of other overdrive units that are less expensive? Thanks


Link: http://www.gearvendors.com/hrford4sm.html
 
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michael-king

michael-king

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That trans was discussed a little while back.. I know guys in the UK have used ZF 5 speeds from BMW's.. but cant imagine that wouldbe a cheap option.

Down here several people have used Toyota Supra Turbo boxes... very strong, very easy to get hold of and not to pricey. I think there is a guy in NZ offering a kit.. or can at least give you lots of good instruction.
 
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Duke Mk1a

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There will be news soon on a new and VERY nice alternative to the T-5.

I am in the know group but won't spill the beans. I'll just tip the can an bit ;)
 
michael-king

michael-king

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2 Questions Duke:

1. Will it come out the stock Tiger shifter hole?
2. Does it require beating/cutting on the tunnel?
 
TigerBlue

TigerBlue

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Trevor's Q

Welcome to the Forum!

"I am not sure what the stock tailhousing length is for a Tiger and whether this will fit in the X-frame enclosure that surrounds the end of the Toploader. "

Most certainly to fit an OD unit to the stock transmission... a major rework of the structural components would be required. You could not just cut it for clearance because with the floor of the uni-body it is the "frame" of the Sunbeam.

Rick
 
66TigerMK1A

66TigerMK1A

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Duke Mk1a said:
There will be news soon on a new and VERY nice alternative to the T-5.

I am in the know group but won't spill the beans. I'll just tip the can an bit ;)
Click to expand...

I thought having it on display at the Tigers United pretty much made it public ...

Great setup but the question was looking for a 'cheaper' alternative to the Tremecs ! I don't know any ... My T5 setup was reasonable but I did my own fabrication and managed to find a cheap AMC tail housing
Jim
 
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Moondoggie

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Duke Mk1a said:
There will be news soon on a new and VERY nice alternative to the T-5.


This year at Tigers United Bill Martin displayed the proto type of the Tremec TKO 600 road race transmission with a low profile side shifter that is going to be installed in my Tiger in the coming few weeks. THis has been the culmination of about 9 months of engineering with the objective of providing
a five speed that will take the kind of torque a modern 289/302/347 can easily develop. THe TKO 600 can easily handle up to 600 Ft/Lbs. The design objective was to make this a straight up installation that would require no modifications to the Tiger body and would allow the transmission to position
in a normal straight up configuration with the shifter located per stock location. Soon to be available in kit form complete with transmission,rear cross member and drive shaft for under $4000.00. I have some pitures from Tu that I can post if I can remember how to down size them so bear with me

Moondoggie
Click to expand...
 
michael-king

michael-king

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Moondoggie said:
Duke Mk1a said:
There will be news soon on a new and VERY nice alternative to the T-5.


This year at Tigers United Bill Martin displayed the proto type of the Tremec TKO 600 road race transmission with a low profile side shifter that is going to be installed in my Tiger in the coming few weeks. THis has been the culmination of about 9 months of engineering with the objective of providing
a five speed that will take the kind of torque a modern 289/302/347 can easily develop. THe TKO 600 can easily handle up to 600 Ft/Lbs. The design objective was to make this a straight up installation that would require no modifications to the Tiger body and would allow the transmission to position
in a normal straight up configuration with the shifter located per stock location. Soon to be available in kit form complete with transmission,rear cross member and drive shaft for under $4000.00. I have some pitures from Tu that I can post if I can remember how to down size them so bear with me

Moondoggie
Click to expand...


I would love to see the pics... an interesting project indeed.
Click to expand...
 
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Moondoggie

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Here are a couple of pictures of the tail shaft area. As you can see the rear and last shift location has been stepped and the side shifter has moved forward and to the left side with new covers fabricated. This is similiar to what has been done on the Tremec by the Corvette guys for the C2 & C3 appplicationfor the last several years. Gearing for the TKO is 2.87/1.89/1.28/1.00 and over drive can be either .64 or .82. The transmission comes complete set up per your specifications with the side shifter installed
so there is no modifications that need to be done by the installer. In the next few weeks a video showing the installation will be available online

This Kit is available from Bill Martin at Rootes Depot 650-364-1965 or email Bill at Tigerfixer@yahoo.com

Moondoggie
 
at the beach

at the beach

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A couple comments:

1) Has anyone ever broken (not worn out) a T-5 in a Tiger?
I've never heard of one.

I once designed a torque arm to withstand the torque that an engine could produce and ended up with something that looked like it could have been off a diesel truck. When I mentioned it to a chassis engineer he chuckled and pointed out that the torque an engine can produce has nothing to do with the torque the tire patch can absorb. With a light weight Tiger with it's tiny tire and tire radius the tires break loose easily. The tire patch limits the force on the system. Too much torque causes a tire to break loose and burn rubber. At that point a T-5 would be fine behind an engine with a thousand pounds of torque.

2) I have done a lot more prototype work on Tigers than most. I've tried ideas that are pretty far "out there". Sometimes they don't work. Sometimes they work immediately. Others require refinement. I'm used to not having things work out right away. I've come to expect teething pains.

The TKO 600 is much larger than a T-5. (Probably heavier too.) Since I have a T-5 in one of our Tigers, I know it's a tight fit. The TKO 600 will be a really tight fit. I have trouble imagining how the shifterbox added to the TKO's original box will fit into the Tiger's shifter hole.

The trany on display was a mock-up, an empty shell that did not have an operating shift mechanism. I imagine designing and building the new shifter is not trivial. I don't know how long until we'll see a unit installed in a Tiger and de-bugged.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the first customer who expects to have the TKO 600 installed in his newly restored Tiger in time to display it at Monterey in August.
 
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Moondoggie

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Buck......

#1.... The T-5 sitting in the box under the table in the hospitality room
was the T-5 that came out of my Tiger. I had a mild 289 behind that T-5 and the mainshaft bearings and syncro's for 3 rd gear are shot !! That box makes
lot's of noise and will require a full rebuild before going back into operation.
So Yes I have worn one out !!!

#2 THis design has been refined by professional engineers that have had many years of design experiance with both the T-5 and Tremec transmissions
and the transmission is being modified for Bill by the largest supplier of tremec & T-5 transmissions in the US and is backed by their warrentee.

#3 The TKO is 31" long and the T-5 is 31.6" and by the time you add an adapter plate to the T-5 to fit a bellhousing you are over 32". The bare case of both tranmissions weight approx the same give or take a few onces. THe internals of a TKO are way more robust than the T-5 since they will take twice the torque of the T-5 but only weight more than a few pounds.

#4 The trans on display was a prototype for the purpose of showing the design. THis is not new technology as I stated in my previous post it has been
used to replace muncie tranmissions in Corvettes for sometime. This design just simply moves the mechanism forward 3" and provides clearance in the tail shaft area to fit the xframe.

#5 My Tiger will be at the Concours on the Avenue in Carmel on August 14th
with the TKO 600 installed ready to go........see you there

Moondoggie
 
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chirodoc

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5 SPEED TRANSMISSIONS

KEISLER ENGINEERING RS 5 SPEED CONVERSION OF A T-45 TRANSMISSION IS BILLED AS A NO CUT BOLT IN INSTALATION USING A STOCK FORD 6 BOLT BELLHOUSING THAT OFFERS 15 DIFFERENT GEAR SHIFT POSITIONS FOR
ABOUT $2600 BIG ONES
 
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Moondoggie

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Kiesler was actually considered very early in the development but they could not deliver a product and have since gone chapter 11 as they had not paid their suppliers. Some customers have waited more than a year for a standard
transmission. The moral of that story is you get what you pay for....!!!
The TKO 500 or 600 are bullet proof transmissions and have been out there in the performance market for a long time. I had a TKO 600 in my Cobra behind 600 hp and it performed flawlessly

Moondoggie.
 
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steven

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Yippee, today I was successful in buying a wide ratio 28 spline toploader. It will have the tiger rear housing etc added to provide a good ride behind a 289 with standard bore, edelbrok heads, edelbrok inlet and either a 450 Holley or a 600 carby. coupled with SS headers all you really need in a small wheel base.

And it will look origional, to surprise the big bore Cobra clones.:cool:

Just got to finish the body:)
 
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Moondoggie

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michael-king said:
Moondoggie...

how has the install gone on the trans.. is it running yet?
Click to expand...

Micheal,

We are getting very close !! My Tiger moved over to Bill's last week late
from the body shop ( see picture ) and there is a fair amount of work
to do...give us another two weeks

Moondoggie
 
michael-king

michael-king

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nice looking project, is that a replica of the HSC55 bonnet?

Just to clarify.. there are no mods you are doing to the body to fit the new box right?
 
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