Has anyone fitted a G50 into a Tornado?

[Chris Hale]

I have been looking at possibly fitting a Porsche G50/01 into my Tornado TS40 and I was wondering if anyone has already done this as it looks like you have to do a few chassis modifications to make it work and I would appreciate any feedback on this.

The reason I'm looking at doing this is I have managed to break my UN1 gearbox again, and this one was fitted with my own one piece shaft that I had made up, I made a decision not change the first or second gear ratio's like the Quaife version, only to find out that the second gear syncro's are quite weak and consequently these broke off and ended up in the second gears stripping them.

So as far as I see it I only have a few options open to me, I do not have an unlimited budget so the likes of the ZFQ / RBT are out of the question as to costly.

1) - Buy a Quaife one piece shaft and fit this but still have a slow gear change and weak fifth gear.

2) - Upgrade to a Porsche G50/01.

Any ideas would be much appreciated.

Chris.

 

[Terry Oxandale]

Have you considered a 930 box instead? Cheaper than a G50 and I believe stronger.

 

[Chris Hale]

Hi Terry,

I have looked at this and to be honest there is not much in it in price, but I have been told that even though the 930 box is very strong it is a little agricultural in its gear change also the gear set is very tall, I know we all want a car the does 200mph but you’re not going to use that gearing on every day road driving and track driving unless your a Le Mans.

Regards,

Chris.

 

[Terry Oxandale]

All valid concerns. When I looked through the gearing of the 930, I compared it to the Corvette and my current performance car (240Z with a 383 Ford and a close-ratio T-5). With 500 lbs less weight, roughly the same high torque, and slightly higher gear ratio, I feel the overall difference will be negligable. Wished I could get the additional gear though.

 

[Jack]

Ox, Same conclusion with my 930 but I'll live with it! Great gearbox.

 

[Erik Johnson]

If you can find a 930 at a decent price, you could always regear it.

Just a thought. However, to answer your question, yes I think that you will be able to fit the G50 into that car. You may have to modify it a bit, but I am pretty sure that this is a valid option for you. The G50.01 is a nice gearbox, and gives you 5 speeds. It too can be modified in the gearing if you don't like the stock ratios.

Let me know if I can help,

Erik Johnson

 

[Ian Anderson]

Chris

Have you had a look at Elite?
Elite Racing Transmissions : Elite-ZF

Ian

 

[Ian Anderson]

Sorry above link to wrong box

Elite Racing Transmissions : TXL300-6S

Ian

 

[Chris Hale]

Hi Ian,

Yes I have seen these Elite transmissions, but if I had £6000 going spare I would use a ZFQ but I have a budget of around £3000 for the whole thing so pretty tight.

I have looked further into the G50 into a Tornado and so far this is the list of things I will need to do to make it fit.

1) - Buy G50-01 = £2000 and then may need to spend more to replace bearing etc.
2) - Clutch / Flywheel / Starter / Adaptor plate = £500 second hand.
3) - New CV joints and drive shafts 108mm type= £250

Mods.

1) - Move engine mounts 1" forward to make drive shafts parallel.
2) - Lower engine 2", have to cut and move lower cross member.
3) - Move rear cross member to enable bell housing fitment.
4) - Clearance top cross member to allow gearbox to fit.
5) - Possibly redo the rear exhaust as it may hit the end of the gearbox.
6) - remake gear linkage.

So a far bit of work and the box still would not have LSD.

My thinking at present is to stick with the UN1 as it a lot less hassle.

1) - New Quaife one piece shaft £2100 and fit myself.
2) - New clutch plates to fit shaft 1" 23spline = £200
3) - LSD diff = £690

And no modifications.

As far as I can see the UN1 Renault can take a few amount of HP/torque as there are quite a few GTD guy's thrashing then are with 500+ HP, so I would be interested if anyone has broken one.

 

[Jon Briggs]

The Lotus Espri boys use the UN1 and some have had the single piece shaft installed. I have never heard of one braking. Have you spoken to Chris Cole? He seems to be the UK expert when it comes to the UN1.