Quaife ZFQ and RBT

A batch of boxes is underway just a few parts to be manufactured then building of the units can start. Should be available at the year end. Mike Quaife's words not mine. Batches normally 30 units.
As one of the three people who went to Quaife with the original idea of the box and a great deal of money to fund the project I find it frustrating to say the least as to what goes on on this website. We spent a great deal of time and effort in the production of the boxes for people to purchase and enjoy in their cars, many built by themselves and I know what that feels like, 5 years of it. People should try taking on a project like the one we did which included many meetings, design, manufacture, testing and finally manufacture before they belittle a product that came to the market and has been enjoyed by many.
Martin a little disgruntled.
 
The Quaife quote above is three years old and subsequent posts have told you it's available. Have you asked Quaife? Have you asked Olthoff? Have you looked for a used one? How about you do some research on your own and report some useful information back to us?


Yes I asked Olthof.

You are3 shouting at the choir. I even went RHD because I felt the ZF shift was so poor in LHD, so if there is something betetr out there I am asking. But you guys are being nasty.
 
Sean,

For whatever reason the ZFQ has been a bit of a lighting rod ever since introduction. Long before the largest battles on this forum were about politics (see paddock) folks argued about transaxles, that was fun :)

Nevertheless it is good to hear Martin chime in with a few quotes from Quaife and they they are "in production". Martin, sorry you are disgruntled. I like my ZFQ, thanks for putting the time into it!

Sean, at risk of starting a non-intended fire, as commented a few threads earlier, there was a time when it was impossible to get a ZF. The wait periods were 1 year plus which means they were "in production" but you couldn't get one and it was impossible to get a hold of someone at the shop to get a status. Same went with a rebuild.... So ZF's production also had some special considerations with it. I have no idea if RBT fixed their supply issues at this point (although based on the significantly reduced noise level I assume they have) but their reputation for providing parts and new transaxles was not exactly stellar.

Good luck with your decision.

Kevin
 
Speaking of transaxles .. Gentleman I am a new user of this site. I have been quiet and doing much research on the available transaxle options. Has anyone heard any news on the griffin series 900 ss?. How about the txl300?
 

Seymour Snerd

Lifetime Supporter
Speaking of transaxles .. Gentleman I am a new user of this site. I have been quiet and doing much research on the available transaxle options. Has anyone heard any news on the griffin series 900 ss?. How about the txl300?

Not recently, and I've been wondering. Griffin has a website. Have you contacted them?
 
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Seymour Snerd

Lifetime Supporter
I find it frustrating to say the least as to what goes on on this website. We spent a great deal of time and effort in the production of the boxes for people to purchase and enjoy in their cars, many built by themselves and I know what that feels like, 5 years of it. People should try taking on a project like the one we did which included many meetings, design, manufacture, testing and finally manufacture before they belittle a product that came to the market and has been enjoyed by many.
Martin a little disgruntled.

I for one am immensely grateful to all who contributed to the ZFQ project. I never did understand what attracts the negativity to the issue; I suspect at least ignorance, although that's obvious even in this thread, but probably also fear of change and most likely envy and jealousy. Running down "the new thing" is a traditional, if pathetic, way to try to feel better about missing out. Sour gearboxes?
 

Keith

Moderator
I thought that Martin & co did an astonishing job bringing the ZFQ to market in that time frame and I'll bet SPF were too as a log jam was starting to develop. These guys fronted the deal and many people benefitted but there were those who wanted this project to FAIL from the beginning and I have no idea why. The main protagonist got really excited when a SINGLE box failed and nearly had kittens trying to discover why.

Some people try to project their expertise as a black magic art that no one else could possibly understand, so give me your big bucks etc.

There have been multiple attempts to provide a suitable transaxle from people on this forum. In the 10 years I've been a member here, only 1 outfit succeeded and very successfully. 80 boxes , yes 80, from scratch with only one known failure which I understand was never even reported to Quaife although they quickly made suitable adjustments to the design and offered upgrades to existing users.

I think it a remarkable achievement against the odds and I take my hat off to you Martin, the mighty ZFQ and SCREW the naysayers.....
 

Seymour Snerd

Lifetime Supporter
:2thumbsup:!!!

And, just to put a little detail into the failure story, it was in a car with yet another grossly over-powered Windsor that "Car and Driver" magazine had earlier road tested (or toasted?), running slicks on a track, and the failure was predictably caused by a machined fastener for which Quaife was already offering a cheap or free upgrade to a forged part that was easily field-retrofitted. Quaife then went on to offer two further levels of strengthening of the gearbox who's details I have mostly forgotten but they can describe. No one has argued that an RBT would not have failed under the same circumstances. So the "trouble history" of the ZF-Q is a big yawn, except for the mouthings of the reflexive naysayers and the one case of blatant "gelosia professionale" Keith alludes to above.
 
So basicaly the ZFQ is a better shifting transmission, with a better lsd. The hp limitation is not much of a limitation considdering lots of other parts are going to fail with a hi torque windsor engine and if you have a 302 motor its moot.. Its in production, but you cant really buy one till there are ten orders ont he books?
 
Yes I asked Olthof.

You are3 shouting at the choir. I even went RHD because I felt the ZF shift was so poor in LHD, so if there is something betetr out there I am asking. But you guys are being nasty.

When I bought my SPF we had a lot of discussion about the ZF and its poor shifting. I even had a conversation with Dennis about shipping the car to him for conversion to rod shift. He had just done Steve C's car in rod shift and in his words, "I won't do another." That may have changed in time but it was my reality back when. In retrospect I could probably sell my ZF and buy a Quaife, and maybe have a little extra $$$ left over but since then I've kinda gotten used to the shifting of my ZF. Dare I say I actually like it, especially when u get the long 2-3 shift right quickly.

For me the ZF in my 40 is kinda like Cindy Crawford's mole. It's a weakness that's grown into being part of the personality of the car.
 

Seymour Snerd

Lifetime Supporter
When I bought my SPF we had a lot of discussion about the ZF and its poor shifting. I even had a conversation with Dennis about shipping the car to him for conversion to rod shift. He had just done Steve C's car in rod shift and in his words, "I won't do another." .

I don't remember whether Steve C published pictures of his Olthoff-designed shift linkage, but I have them and it is absolutely baroque. I can completely understand why Dennis would not want to repeat that construction experience. When/if I get around to trying that I'm going to attempt to approximate the LHD Mk III mechanism: basically drag the sill shifter over to the center console, letting the front rod run diagonally under the LHS of the passenger seat and through a linear bearing a few inches to the right of center in the firewall. From there back it's pretty much the same as the RHD sill shifter. With an FE it will probably take more acute angles, but it should still work better than cable. "should..."

Or maybe I'll just buy a RHD drive roller and start over....
 
My head just exploded. Hey Martin you have any ibuprofen? Codeine? Hemlock?


Why dont you just chill out. I cant believe the whole thing is such a big deal. I get it, they are available at year end and a better shifting tranny.

I thought this was supposed to be a community of like minded enthisiasts, what with the civil war.
 

Seymour Snerd

Lifetime Supporter
Why dont you just chill out. I cant believe the whole thing is such a big deal. I get it, they are available at year end and a better shifting tranny.

I thought this was supposed to be a community of like minded enthisiasts, what with the civil war.

"Civil War"??? I love it when obviously stressed people tell me to chill out. There's no big deal Sean. It just gets a little old doing other people's homework over and over.

Internet technical forums are kind of like pot lucks. Anybody can show up, most people bring something, but nobody's required to. People who never bring anything, dump globs of 7-later dip into the salsa and hog the imported beer tend to get a chilly reception. So how about you tell the rest of us how much you appreciate the frito casserole and the four bean salad, and maybe consider bringing a dessert.

For example, contact Quaife and find out more on the upcoming run of gearboxes, pricing, shipping costs, import duty, any changes since the last run, etc. etc., and tell us what they say.

Maybe also tell us what Olthoff advised you about using a ZFQ.

It's a two way street.
 
Ok gentleman.. Lets all take a deep breath...me being the new guy on the block..let me say there is a lot of passion here that manifests into arenas that require a professional group therapy session. Lets focus the passion into constructive debate so we can all achieve the common goal.. A bullet proof transaxle that can handle 700 foot pounds of torque...Alan.. I will be calling griffin to get some concrete information. But the 900 series ss five speed seems pretty sick on the surface....will do some homework. Nice to meet all u guys.
 
Ok gentleman.. Lets all take a deep breath...me being the new guy on the block..let me say there is a lot of passion here that manifests into arenas that require a professional group therapy session. Lets focus the passion into constructive debate so we can all achieve the common goal.. A bullet proof transaxle that can handle 700 foot pounds of torque...Alan.. I will be calling griffin to get some concrete information. But the 900 series ss five speed seems pretty sick on the surface....will do some homework. Nice to meet all u guys.

Joseph, you could also look into the T44 that 'apparently' is in occasional or limited production via Mike Teske & others, but I have never seen any data posted in regard to torque capabilities etc, but it is the box fitted to most of the continuation MKIV's & is also fitted to the 'McLaren/Amon' replica that arrived down under a few weeks ago
 
"Civil War"??? I love it when obviously stressed people tell me to chill out. There's no big deal Sean. It just gets a little old doing other people's homework over and over.

Internet technical forums are kind of like pot lucks. Anybody can show up, most people bring something, but nobody's required to. People who never bring anything, dump globs of 7-later dip into the salsa and hog the imported beer tend to get a chilly reception. So how about you tell the rest of us how much you appreciate the frito casserole and the four bean salad, and maybe consider bringing a dessert.

For example, contact Quaife and find out more on the upcoming run of gearboxes, pricing, shipping costs, import duty, any changes since the last run, etc. etc., and tell us what they say.

Maybe also tell us what Olthoff advised you about using a ZFQ.

It's a two way street.

I am pretty sure I have heard all I need to know on this point here.

What I was looking for was not manufacturer claims but actual experience from people who have and DRIVE cars, which seems to be pretty thin.

You know I am looking to learn from those who know. What I find is a whole lot of vinegar and invective, which is telling in and of itself.

When my car is done and on track next summer I will be very happy to post impressions for those who may be interested.

If there is anyine who tracks a GT40 I am very interested in your impressions your build, what you would do differently and why.

Frankly owning a numbe rof other cars, the only place I have ever seen this much arragance is with the ferrari crowd, most other people are happy to lend a helping hand, not blow hard and hurl personal insults over questions.

Good day.
 
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