AE86 Gearbox Conversion Options

[ae86trueno]

Rebulds as in Bearings and syncros, but ive only done it once in 3 seasons, and the provious owner of the car had done it once as well.
Gears appear to be of a semi Helical tpye of gear (inbetween straight, and helical) ie there is more surface area contact between the gears,

I am using 5.1 final drive but its not streatable.
I still use 2nd during rally's for slow corners but it will still do about 80 in second.
With the TRD your speed in 2nd will be greater
STD 2.022
TRD 1.891

Ben.

[Garth AE86]

ben,

whats the approx cost of your rebuilds?
do you use genuine parts?
do you do the work yourself? if not where do you get them overhauled?

sorry for the questions, but you're a wealth of knowledge on this kinda stuff

[Celica RA45]

well to give you an idea had my TA63 trd box done and just to replace syncros and bearings plus 2 selector shafts and some springs was 830 dollars and thats me pulling it out and putting it back

[ae86trueno]

It cost me $700 to rebuild the box using genuine syncros (only did 1 to 4) and aftermarket bearings, did all the work myself except change the new bearings, wich only cost me a couple of $$ to get done from a gearbox place because i just took both shafts to them and didnt take them long to do. A road gearbox isnt going to be abused like the racecar gearbox, and should last you a long time if maintained.

but you're a wealth of knowledge on this kinda stuff

I know, now update my reputation

[Garth AE86]

i will

but it wont do shit..

[mc68]

three thousand POUNDS??? *dies*

observe.

http://www.quaife.co.uk/catalogue/page63.htm

doesnt surprise me really, as holinger sets cost around 11-12k Aust...and quaife is pretty top notch (hence why its believed that trd gearsets are quaife sets themselves)

[Dom-AE71]

a W58 has a longer 5th ratio than the other W series boxes.

Even for a turbo setup a W55 out of a RT142 corona or RA60 celica would do the job and the ratio's are very similar to a T50 (the closest to the T50 out of all the W* series boxes anyway)

[mrshin]

I've got 4.3 gears for my 4AG, and it's fine for highway work. I had 4.88 for a little while, and that was a bit much, but I'd imagine 4.5 would be quite liveable. As said, with a W58's taller 5th (as opposed to 55 and 57 or T50 5th gear), you should be laughing. I'd definately be going the W box for what you want - cheaper than a custom gearset, and will put up with what you want just fine. The other thing is that 'standard' T50s always seem to chew out synchros fairly quickly when treated with disrespect, and don't shift so well then. W boxes seem to be at least a bit more tolerant in this area, at least from what I've owned.

[Big T]

Well going off cost value then:

$400: 4a to W bellhousing
$250-$500: W5* box (normally w58's go in the upper range)
$150-200??: New clutch disk (you could just use the pressure plate you have now and change the disk only)
$150-200: Modify Tailshaft with W yoke OR $500: if you want an entirely new one.
$100: New clutch master/slave cylinders (always a good idea on a 2nd hand box)
$100??: Modify gearbox xmember.

So that gives a total of around $1400ish. You probably could do it for as little as 1k if you could settle for a non w58. I've got a w55 so there's no shame in it!

So it still works out cheaper than new gearsets and you could probably do the W conversion yourself with a few mates. I wouldn't want to take apart a gearbox due to my uncanny ability to simply throw every bolt/part into a box with no reference.

Eddie.

[takai]

Always remember that the "right" shifter position (i.e. factory AE86) with the W58 is also the rarest position.

[Rex_Kelway]

Rex has the 58 from the clan 'W' in his Tarboo Spoonter.

The 'box is actually from a GA70 and the stock shifter position winds up fouling the rear of the shifter opening by about 5mm or so.

Being the ever massive tight-arse perfectionist He is, he swapped the shifter to one position forwards. These can generally be sourced from Dellow, If memory serves Rex correctly they are known as the 19inch position, whereas the GA70 W58 uses a '20inch position'

These are as measured from the front of the box, not the bellhousing to the centreline of the shifter opening.

The positions are easy enough to change but you need all the bits, just search the old threads.

Now the only thing with this setup and its very minor is the shifter is far more upright than the T50's which angles back nicely so is has to be heated and bent slightly to feel more comfortable.


Note that this is all using the stock 1GGTE bellhousing (-10mm) and Super Kelway adaptor plate. The results may be different for these aftermarket adaptor housings as their heights may be different.


Rex

[SeptemberSquall]

i was thinking about completely rebuilding my T50 with new bearings/synchros/gaskets/shifter, straight ('dogbox') cut 1st, 2nd and 3rd gears

and TRD sounds about right, but they arent dog cut are they?

FYI these two terms "straight cut" and "dogbox" are not synonymous as you infer, nor are they necessarily required to go together. Nothing is "dog cut".

[mc68]

dog refers to the type of engagement when selecting gears, they dont have syncro's.

imo dogbox are just too much for a street car, sure the only thing they love it flatshifts, but i dont know about you, but u really dont want to be doing that all the time.
The limited time ive had driving a dogbox, it wasnt driving it like what it was made for, ie i couldnt get a swift smooth change without being so unsympathetic to what ive learnt .

besides, the dogs generally wear out quicker than synchro's. (in day to day driving, yes synchros wont take flatshifts as easy)

[AE86slut]

dog refers to the type of engagement when selecting gears, they dont have syncro's.

imo dogbox are just too much for a street car, sure the only thing they love it flatshifts, but i dont know about you, but u really dont want to be doing that all the time.
The limited time ive had driving a dogbox, it wasnt driving it like what it was made for, ie i couldnt get a swift smooth change without being so unsympathetic to what ive learnt .

besides, the dogs generally wear out quicker than synchro's. (in day to day driving, yes synchros wont take flatshifts as easy)

Absolutely. Cars fitted with straight cut gears or using a dog engagement generally do so for a reason. The sound and user un-freindliness (unless you never want every gear shift to be smooth ever again) will shit you to tears after a while.
If it's a dedicated track car, you can't go wrong, but if it's going on the street, just put in a W58. You'll have all the strength you'll ever need for that engine and still have syncros, smooth shifts, no noise and the ability to possibly still enjoy driving the thing on the road semi regularly!

[craigy]

There are always hidden costs and compromises when you are trying to fit something where its not suppose to go.

I've spoken to a few rally guys about different gearbox options for sprinters and they reccomend that the best thing to do when you eventually blow up your T50 is to rebuild it and use good oils.

I think the dogbox option is far too extreme if you plan on any road use, very impracticle.