[MikeR]

Hi ya'll,

Maybe I can provide a little history.

The original Ford GT40's production race cars primarily used one of two gearboxes.

The GT40's were powered by 289 cid engine and used a Colotti 4 speed transaxle. Colotti's were the only viable and available gearbox in the early production days. A few ZF transaxles were used when they first became available in 1965. The small block cars were not competitive and had a tendency to tear up the gears.

The MK II's, "J" car, Mirage and MK IV's used the T44 4 speed transaxle. These gear boxes were especially fabricated to accommodate the 427 cid big block engine.

Several of the "J" cars used a Ford torque converter/2-speed manual gearbox.

The ZF transaxle could not handle the torque of big engine. This is because the ZF gears are helically cut (synchromesh) which makes for easy shifting and low noise but they have poor power transfer.

The GT40 MK III's were specially made for street use. They used the ZF 5DS25 transaxle attached to the 289 cid engine. Only seven MK III's were built by Ford.

Of the original Ford GT40's production race cars, eleven were converted to "GT40 road cars" these also used the ZF 5DS25 transaxle mated to the 289 cid engine (chassis numbers 1013, 1014, 1021, 1023, 1025, 1028, 1030, 1033, 1035, 1036 & 1049 - 1049 was subsequently re-converted back to a race car).

I can't say with absolute certainty which ZF variant (0, -1, or 2) was used in the MK III's or "road cars" but I strongly believe they were ZF 5DS25-1's.

Holman & Moody was assembling the GT40's during its heydays. Ford made a business decision to get out of the racing business. Holman & Moody maintained the cars for a while but as the GT40's became less competitive they eventually discontinued their support. When Holman & Moody dropped out they sold their remaining spares, including T44 and ZF gearboxes.

I purchased a rebuilt ZF 5DS25-1 from Holman & Moody in 1973 for $500. This gearbox went into a hand fabricated car of my design (see attached).

I knew that maintenance/repair of the ZF could be problematic so I bought spare for $800 in the late 1980's. It came out of a Lola T70 and is a ZF 5DS25. Since there is no versioning number on this transaxle I assume it's a -0.

Both of my transaxles are held to the bell housing with four bolts. They also have two mounting tabs on the top of the gearbox case.

I have a ZF factory service manual for the ZF 5DS25-2. It shows seven bolts are used to hold the gearbox to the bell housing. Otherwise the -2 appears to be identical to the -1 except that its orientation is rotated about the drive shaft axis by 180 degrees.

Hope this info helps!

Dr. Mike