new gearbox is in!

MRJLB84D

Well-known member
Hey everyone, sorry i havent been here for awhile but i thought id better give ya's an update on the XA!



As the heading says, i got my celica 5 spd in!

All up the conversion cost me just over $600, $250 for the gearbox and all the conversion gear inc tailshaft and all nuts and bolts, clutch etc, $220 in fuel driving from newcastle to mullumbimby and back, $65 for a motel at ballina, $40 spigot bearing, $27 throwout bearing, gear oil $22.50, $14.50 for ultra blue gasket sealer and $55 for a carton of bundy!

Had a couple of little issues i had to over come such as spigot bearing (special thanks to dellow for their fast service on that one! They are the only people who make a special bush for this conversion and were the 1st people i rang so hows that for luck! $40 it cost but that inc C.O.D)
The next issue was the throw out bearing, std ford item cost about $11, this bugger i needed was hard as to get and i had to get it out of a clutch kit from repco and for a price of $27 i was kinda hurt in the pocket for that one too!

Other than that the conversion went really well, little bit of a hassle due to the 32spline and getting the box to line up.
My bellhousing was actually a modified std item and to make it hard, the top 2 bolts that hold the box on had to be done up on the inside of the bell so the bell and box had to be lifted together and doing so with the car on stands and not super high off the ground made it for some awesome swearing to be thrown!

One bonus of it all was that the flywheel is a std item and the pressure plate also, and with the clutch plate, its just a toyota spline centre to a ford outter so should be an easy and cheap replacement when the new motor goes in!

On the test drive i find you can rev the crap out of her in 1st and 2nd and not make a lot of speed, its not til u hit 3rd that you start making some decent speed but im also going off my speedo which is now out by some huge number cause in 5th and sittin on 60mph, im passing people on the freeway like they sittin still!

Anyone know the ratio's of the gearbox and how i work my speed out? if anyones knows the ratios, can someone possibly work out my speed? i run 16in wheels with 245/45/16 tyres all round and my diff ratio is 3:23.1... any help would be great for that one!

Well its back to the $$$ saving for the 2V rebuild but as usual will keep everyone posted and with pics too....have pics of the gearbox conversion too if anyones interested

take it easy and drive safe

cheers
 
My mate Richard has had one in his TE Cortina for many moons. Runs same bell, same flywheel, but a Toyota clutch plate and alloy case throwout bearing and manual clutch.

The steel case ratios found in the Hilux (so called SR5 boxes, found behind ohv 3M, 4M, and ohc 18R, 21R, 24R's) and early front engined, forward controlled Tarago were really wide spaced. The 18R and 21R items, found behind imported Toyotas without local AMI bits, were closer ratio. The Celica 21R and 5M Supra XX (Pre86) version was closer still. Unless it is a Supra or Celica gearbox, the first gear is way to low for a 250. You are forced to raise the diff ratio to make up for it.

Early RWD Toyota T18 boxes were alloy case, so were the HiCam Corolla 1.3 and 1.6SR engines. Not a strong box.

The early Crowns were all steel case 4-speed manual, and then the over drive got added in the mid 70's. The Celica had been using it since the 1971 Twin Cam.

The SR-5 is not a good choice unless you have a very tall diff ratio. Richards EFI TE has over 175 hp form his stock XE engine, with the old 2.92:1 diff. He never needs to use first, and tells me all the time it needs a 2.54:1 Falcon diff ratio.

I can't remember the code name or ratios exactly.

Basically, with your 3.23:1 gears and 245/45/16 it has 35.8 km/h per 1000 rpm in 4th. Running the 2V to 5300 rpm, the approx speeds are given for three types of steel case. Cruise rpm is 3070 rpm at 110 km/h in fourth, and either 2703, 2640 or 2450 rpm in the overdriven 5th gear. Not very high. *Toyota overdrives should never, ever use the 5th as anything other than an over drive. Its far better to find some 2.77 or 2.54:1 gears from an XE 4.1, and use 4 th mostly, and 5th only as a cruise gear. The size of the gears prevents them taking anymore than 240 Newton meters under load. Even old 283 2-bbls in FB Holdens strip 5 th gears when used under load

Torago/Hilux Gearbox

4.25, 8.4 kmh per 1000 rpm, 45 km/h at 5300 rpm
2.1, 17.0 kmh per 1000 rpm, 90 km/h at 5300 rpm
1.4, 25.6 kmh per 1000 rpm, 136 km/h at 5300 rpm
1.0, 35.8 kmh per 1000 rpm, 190 km/h at 5300 rpm
0.86, 41.6 kmh per 1000 rpm, 190 km/h at 4600 rpm


Corona Liftback import Gearbox
3.75, 9.5 kmh per 1000 rpm, 51 km/h at 5300 rpm
2.1, 17.0 kmh per 1000 rpm, 90 km/h at 5300 rpm
1.4, 25.6 kmh per 1000 rpm, 136 km/h at 5300 rpm
1.0, 35.8 kmh per 1000 rpm, 190 km/h at 5300 rpm
0.8, 44.7 kmh per 1000 rpm, 190 km/h at 4200 rpm


Celica/Supra (rareTwin Cams versions had 2.98:1 1st gears)
3.20, 11.2 kmh per 1000 rpm, 59 km/h at 5300 rpm
1.93, 18.5 kmh per 1000 rpm, 98 km/h at 5300 rpm
1.34, 26.7 kmh per 1000 rpm, 141 km/h at 5300 rpm
1.0, 35.8 kmh per 1000 rpm, 190 km/h at 5300 rpm
0.88, 40.7 kmh per 1000 rpm, 190 km/h at 4700 rpm


My suggestion is to keep the gearbox and look for an XD Falcon 4.1 sedan diff (econo pack alloy head with no a/c ran 2.77:1 gears) and add the XD ute five leaf springs. The stabilizer bar is rather stiff with a 5 leaf rear end.

With the 2.77 diff ratio, the 4 th gear is equal to the 5th gear with the 3.23:1 ratio, about 41.7 kmh per 1000 rpm. Fifth is then a lopeing 48.5 or so, and you are at 2250 rpm or so at 110 km/h. Best of all, you can really use the 1 st, 2nd and 3rd ratios. Third becomes a great over taking gear, and 5 th is only needed for ultra economical cruises. A horribly illegal 145 km/h cruise can be done with less than 3000 rpm, and the old XA is a very clean through the air beast.
 
If you follow the above advice, you end up with a car that drives like a Charger 265 with a 3.89:1 diff, and a 3-speed close ratio gearbox with two overdrives.

The XR6's ran a 3.47:1 1st, and 3.45:1 diff (3.47*3.45). An overall first gear of 11.97, very, very low. Even with a set of 2.77:1's, first is 11.77:1, even lower.

Stock 250 XA's had an overall 9.5:1 first (2.95*3.23). You could go for a set of 2.25:1 gears with your new 5-speed if they existed, and still drag off Jappers!
 
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