Gear Box

[TAYZ]

Whilst at my mates place the other evening installing dummy spots my gear linkages stuffed up on me.  After close inspection I actually broke some mounts in the column.  After getting a bit intoxicated I have pulled my poor ol FC to bits.  I have already started to smooth out the honey pot so i can install a floor shift.  What i want to know is this,
(a)  What 4 speeds(apart from shity opels) can be installed in the original tunnels, possibly datsun etc
(b) If I stick with original crunch box do i need to modify bench seat to fit a side mount possibly speco shifter.

If I dont have to i dont want to modify my gear box tunnel as my floor apart from left passenger rear side is in A1 condition.  Also If I install a floor shift im going to stick in a BIG gear stick.  Any comments appreciated (no smart ones!!)

                                                      TAYZ

[craiga]

Hi Tayz,

I'm sure the Datsun 4 speed fits with no mods to the floor, but other guys will confirm for you. There was one on ePay a little while back that went reasonably cheaply - about $200.00 from memory.

By the way, if anyone has one of those "shity" Opel's sitting around (especially one including an original shifter) I need some more parts to make up a good one for my XU1.

Thanks,

Craig.

[TAYZ]

Thanks for the reply craig.  I had a Opel once in  an ek back in the good ol 80's, it was bloody terrible!!!!  but fitted in without mods.  I was sure the XU1's ran M21's?? as they had a bigger shaft??

                                                              TAYZ
                                         

[nicko]

your kidding are'nt you, there was two Opel 4 speeds and one for the red motors is fairly strong and will stand up to a worked grey motor quite well and even a warm red . especially in a light car like an FC, with the added advantage of being cheap and most bolting straight up to your grey or red with no custom parts needed except the gearbox crossmember which is very simple to make up and the lovely looking shifter being in a spot that requires no seat mods as reverse is across and up towards speaker grill.
very nice conversion that is fine if you dont want to do big line lockers and thrash the guts out of them.they are easy to pick the two apart as one has a tin plate cover and the other is a cast alloy plate ,i forget which is the weaker of the two .

[craiga]

Tayz,

My XU1 is 8/70, one of the first batch, and definitely had an OPEL.

M21's didn't arrive until around Sept 71 in the 'Bathurst' LC XU1's. Opels were dropped after this time.

M21's are considered and acceptable modification in early LC XU1's even in concourse judging, but I would like to rebuild one for my car if possible.

Parts are impossible to find, hence my interest in any boxes, but specifically shifters.

Cheers,

Craig.

[TorqueFC]

Craig that same box was used in early monaros with a red 6 yeh? got offered one a while back, if yr interested ill go ask the bloke what he wants for it.

[nicko]

Hi Craig i was keeping this for a rainy day as my ute runs an Opel behind mild red and as you have the real deal car, i would let it go for a sensible offer,post message me as i dont want to take up posts ,
by the way HK Monaro GTS 186's have the same box and quite a few still survive with original gearbox so must be ok as in good condition they will do 110mph which shows they took a bit of punishment.
dont get me wrong you could deliberatly blow one up in 5 minutes as i have done more than once many years ago.the pic was taken 20 minutes ago by me and is what you think it is a genuine nos full opel rebuild kit.

[craiga]

Darcy,

Same box as my XU1, there was a ratio change made to the OPEL gearbox at some stage but pretty much the same.

Thanks, if its got a shifter I'm interested.

Nicko, very interesting!!! I still need to find a good shifter, but if you are interested in selling P.M me a price. I am chasing a correct 3100X engine and head at the moment and if I get that I will definitely be putting an OPEL box back in it. As you know I've got some but no shifter.

If the engine falls through I'll be building a 235 and will have to revert to the M20. because as you point out the OPEL will become a meccano set first time I floor it :-)

Tayz, sorry I inadvertantly hijacked your thread  

Cheers,

Craig.

[TAYZ]

No worries Craig.  ( I will ask my meckanic if hw knows of any, he has an original XU1 sitting in his shed and it hasnt been touched since 1991)

Nicko,
           mate i was 16 and line lockers were a specialty!!  On a serious note though I was always of the opinion Opels were not a real good box, i always got negative feed back on them.  It is true though, a box is only strong enough to take whatever is dished out................

                                                             TAYZ

[RET]

Back to the original question....

(a) Datsun 1600 4 speed fits under the standard tunnel, but not compatible with bench seat unless you take a huge notch out of it.

(b) Speco floor-shift fits on a grey crashbox without seat mods.  The blue/white race car of John & Alex has this set-up.  I can't find a photo of the interior though: maybe Alex could post one?

cheers
RET

[customFC]

The 'race car' is running a EJ crashbox with Speco shifter. These boxes are different to the original cast crashboxes, as are the shifters.
I used to run a floorshift in my car when it had the grey and original box. The shifter cleared the seat with ease. I think my shifter may have been a 'Dior' brand.
Regards
Alex

[normd]

Hey TAYZ
   If you go the Datsun G/box way , I'm sure I've got all the info of how to fit one in a magazine ,  let me know if you would like a copy   (also have copy of fitting a "cillycar" 5 sp to red 6)

  Norm