D.I.Y. Mk IV
- Thread starter jac mac
- Start date
Jac expensive piece of fire wood.
I would love to do a transaxle project one day.
You said you had gear options(don't believe you)but undecided.
You must have decided on internals way back as the case is governed buy the gearset?.
Love your work.
Watching with interest
Jim
I would love to do a transaxle project one day.
You said you had gear options(don't believe you)but undecided.
You must have decided on internals way back as the case is governed buy the gearset?.
Love your work.
Watching with interest
Jim
Jim, If you compare these pics you will see that Final Drive section has 'shrunk' & changed to a 'top load' case. this was due to my dislike of having the crownwheel cover sandwiched between Bell housing & final drive section while being subject to engine torque & having to be 'oil tight' as well. While it allowed those castings to be a simple type requiring no cores, these possible flaws plus the fact it would require special 'read expensive' drop gears kept bugging me. A rethink was in order & after considerable mental visualisation I have ended up with this latest setup which allows conventional QC gears. As a result overall height & length have been reduced which will help with room for muffler in particular.
However the exercise has not been a total loss as I keep thinking by the time I get all this done I might need an Auto version & the early Final Drive housing unit would be great to make that happen due the larger drop gear dimension, a set of which with the required center distance & helical cut I just happened to find in a FWD auto trans a while back..at least those ones didnt cost anything.
The trans section has enough 'Fat' in the casting to allow the use of several 'donor' transmissions for gearsets.
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Very impressive Jac Mac!
You've obviously been quietly beavering away during the snow! Using the woodburner as a workshop bench sort of kills two birds with one stone, eh! Just watch you don't scorch anything strategic!!!
Looking at the photos, I note a sideshift boss on both sides. Have you decided to leave your options open at this stage? I take it that you think there will be sufficient strength in the gearhousing with these largish apparently bolt on panels in each side? Or will they be confined to only one in the final product?
How does the weight and dimensions of this refined version compare with the estimates in your first post?
Great stuff Jac Mac!
You've obviously been quietly beavering away during the snow! Using the woodburner as a workshop bench sort of kills two birds with one stone, eh! Just watch you don't scorch anything strategic!!!
Looking at the photos, I note a sideshift boss on both sides. Have you decided to leave your options open at this stage? I take it that you think there will be sufficient strength in the gearhousing with these largish apparently bolt on panels in each side? Or will they be confined to only one in the final product?
How does the weight and dimensions of this refined version compare with the estimates in your first post?
Great stuff Jac Mac!
Russ, I figured if I made the trans case so shifter can be fitted to either side I would be saving myself the hassle of making two seperate versions of that housing for both cars.
The housing will only ever be machined for left or right, not both at once as this would reduce housing strength. No real change anticipated in dimensions or weight other than input/output shaft center dimension has been reduced to approx 2" from the earlier 2.75".
Keith, Looks that way doesnt it! Guess thats the price I have to pay for being a slow woodcarver.
The housing will only ever be machined for left or right, not both at once as this would reduce housing strength. No real change anticipated in dimensions or weight other than input/output shaft center dimension has been reduced to approx 2" from the earlier 2.75".
Keith, Looks that way doesnt it! Guess thats the price I have to pay for being a slow woodcarver.
Hi Dave, No all the gears etc are 'off the shelf' production items, some of the shafts require mods to make them work in this application. The input shaft could be specially made if reqd, but it doesnt need to be.
The number of 'special' parts I have to make has been kept to the minimum possible. So far the output shafts & associated brg carrier, clutch release cross shaft, selector shaft, drop gear/to pinion shaft plus castings are the major parts I will have to make, none of which have a great deal of complexity about them. This is a MISS & KISS project...
Actually a great deal of inspiration for this goes to those that said it couldnt be done.... I sometimes wish people wouldnt say that to me......
The number of 'special' parts I have to make has been kept to the minimum possible. So far the output shafts & associated brg carrier, clutch release cross shaft, selector shaft, drop gear/to pinion shaft plus castings are the major parts I will have to make, none of which have a great deal of complexity about them. This is a MISS & KISS project...
Actually a great deal of inspiration for this goes to those that said it couldnt be done.... I sometimes wish people wouldnt say that to me......
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The budget one is a hard one to answer since I already have most of the internals from stuff left over from years of twisting spanners. Disregarding the cost in time etc for developing these castings/patterns I guess it would cost me around NZ$8k to buy all the internals new today, add whatever the castings, machining & other special bits would cost.
Big advantage for me the way I look at it, the internals are of known strength & availability, now as Russ has suggested..why not buy a 930...fair enough & I might get lucky & get one locally for what?? 3k..4k, then if it breaks I would be faced with the same $$ figure again ... plus your locked in to a fixed set of ratios & or expensive gearsets from aftermarket suppliers.... and you have to deal with the shaft dimension factor.
This way, no single part is going to cost huge $$ and can be bought from several sources... Ratio changes can be made in a matter of minutes...Plus I get to keep my Ford ALL Ford .... no P car stuff.
However, this is all pie in the sky, its gotta become a large piece of assorted parts & prove itself yet.. I just hope its similar to when I built the Diff for the TVR... lots of anxiety prior to first drive... big smiles all round 3 laps later.
Howard Jones
Supporter
"Why not just put a PBox in it?"...............Because it's a hobby mate! Nice work buddy. This is one I will really enjoy watching develop. Good on ya Jac!
Keith, I am ever so grateful that you could tear yourself away from your thigh rolling pleasures for those inspirational thoughts. Really appreciate it mate!
Howard, spot on, we tend to forget that all these cars etc are just hobbies, best we enjoy the journey, just in case the destination isnt as colourful as the brochure made it out to be.
Howard, spot on, we tend to forget that all these cars etc are just hobbies, best we enjoy the journey, just in case the destination isnt as colourful as the brochure made it out to be.
Ron Earp
Admin
This way, no single part is going to cost huge $$ and can be bought from several sources... Ratio changes can be made in a matter of minutes...Plus I get to keep my Ford ALL Ford .... no P car stuff.
That might be good enough right there!
Very impressive construction techniques. Are you concerned about termites and possible case strength reduction? :clown:
Will this box use Toploader parts? Just curious as yesterday I sent my toploader off to this rebuild specialist, Dan Williams:
toploader02
Really nice fellow and in speaking with him he'd mentioned that he'd done a couple of road race Toploaders and sent them to NZ to be used in a pair of road race Falcons. Not sure if he's blowing smoke or not but figured you might have heard if they went bang! He's local to me in North Carolina so I don't figure I'll have any troubles.
Looking forward to seeing how this project turns out. Really is a testament to your do it yourself attitude!
Ron, we dont have or need Termites in NZ... we do have a lot of fairly shonky home builders/designers who collectively have created a Termite like problem in what is called the 'leaky homes' issue over here..resulted in a whole lot of legislation that really only stops the individual from attempting to address the problem themselves & forces them to go back to the people who initially allowed the building work thru process etc in the first place, all of which puts $$ back in the local body coffers. I know we have issues with our house, the dickhead who was site boss & major offender in all the stuff that was fitted incorrectly is now one of the local building inspectors....do you think I would want to have him or the local council involved in any repairs... no way.
Top Loader is one of several donor prospects for trans section. I have another slightly longer trans case pattern partly fabricated for the 5 speed & as I mentioned earlier the Auto thing is also a possiblity.
I live down south, most likely the two trans went to the North Island, a South Islander would have been a DIY guy!!
That said I see Dan has a couple of items I might be interested in, will have to contact him & check those out. BTW, if your going the Big Block way make sure you get the 1 3/8" input shaft.
Top Loader is one of several donor prospects for trans section. I have another slightly longer trans case pattern partly fabricated for the 5 speed & as I mentioned earlier the Auto thing is also a possiblity.
I live down south, most likely the two trans went to the North Island, a South Islander would have been a DIY guy!!
That said I see Dan has a couple of items I might be interested in, will have to contact him & check those out. BTW, if your going the Big Block way make sure you get the 1 3/8" input shaft.
Ron Earp
Admin
If you need some help with some Toploader pieces let me know. I might have some left over or can help you get what you need. I mulled over the five speed conversion quite a bit but when I added up the cost it seemed prohibitive for one extra gear. My Toploader was a long one but had the small shaft. So Dan is going to covert it to a large shaft, close ratio box, and rebuild my shifter mechanism better than new. Definitely the most ecomonmical path and from what I'm told these transmissions are hard to break.
BTW, what do you know about old fashion "direct" clutch acuation? How did these work back in the day, were they smooth? The one in my car was henious - incredibly hard to push and not much modulation was possible. Any tips on getting that back together with the big block would be welcome.
Sorry for the digression, back to the MKIV build!
BTW, what do you know about old fashion "direct" clutch acuation? How did these work back in the day, were they smooth? The one in my car was henious - incredibly hard to push and not much modulation was possible. Any tips on getting that back together with the big block would be welcome.
Sorry for the digression, back to the MKIV build!
Jac Mac.
WTF!!!???
Despite your assertions, you obviously have a latent North Island/Rest Of World mentality. YOU of all people should know if you want something done properly then you D.I.Y. Let some other bugger build your house?? You could get killed in your sleep as it collapses around you!!There are times when you astound and disappoint me......
The best way round this problem is to keep your trap shut and the authorities out of it and DIY (no permits!) the way it should have been to start with. At least where you are, hidden out in the stix you're not likely to attract the attention of all and sundry when you're carrying out the repairs. Unless of course you've done something in a previous life to upset your local officials and they've got you on their hassle list...... But I know you won't have done that......
You make your bed and you lie in it. The fact that it's got water dripping onto it will help reinforce the point!!
Sorry, but it would pay to put the D.I.Y. MkIV on hold until you've done the D.I.Y. house repairs. Perhaps you could start a D.I.Y House build thread in The Paddock.:lol:
BTW, what's the latest schedule for bringing those five engines up here to balance?
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