5 Speed Conversion Day

[Grin-a-lot]

After almost 3 years of deliberating, I finally took the plunge with converting my 4 speed crossflow powered narrow bodied Westfield to a Type 9 five speed gearbox that I got from Camber Dave.  Well before I go on any further when I say "I" I actually mean Bulldog Bri - without his help the gearbox would've continued to be an ornament in my garage.

So, a tasty cup of coffee and quick chat meant we decided the best thing to do was to angle the engine down and slide the gearbox and associated bits out the back.

So, up went the car and down went Bri's new multi-purpose DIY carpet.



The first job was undoing the prop-shaft bolts which we couldn't get to due to the location of the speed sensor.  Whipped it off and out came the bolts, shortly followed by the propshaft itself.



The first snag was the mounting plate for the existing gearbox stopped removal so out came the angle grinder and Bri had that off in a jiffy.

Next step was to angle the engine down - a simple case of removing the engine mount bolts.  Oh and the intake manfold.  Oh and the exhaust.  Along with most of the contents of the water system.



With the engine down and bellhousing bolts off the gearbox sicked-up most of its oil onto Bri's new carpet and the healthy application of brute force encouraged the engine and bellhousing to part.



With the gearboxes side-by side we could confirm that the prop shaft did indeed fit the new 'box so good news all round.

The new box was topped up, bolted to the bellhousing (despite the release bearing putting up a fight) and effortlessly (well sort of) slid back onto the engine.  That was a great opportunity for yet more coffee and a tasty bacon and egg butty courtesy of Anna (thank you once again)!

My lack of a gearstick (thought the existing one would fit) meant Bri's Locost ended up as a temporary donor and, as our fears expected, the lever was just a bit too long.  So technically speaking i've gone from a 4 speed box to a 2 speed as i've only got access to 2nd and 4th!  I just need to get online to buy my own lever and I can butcher it to my heart's content.



With reassembly completed in the fading light, the car eventually started (still having cold start issues) and the journey home completed in time for a home-made chilli and tonight's Top Gear.  So i've now got a 2 speed box with no speedo (as we didn't have time to refit the sensor) but it's all progress!

Thanks again to Bri and Anna for the help, coffee, food and hospitality - it was an interesting and enjoyable opportunity to do something I never thought i'd do and Bri's experience when things got a bit tricky was invaluable.

So all thats left is a new gearlever, refit my speedo and all done so a great day all things considered!

['The Gaffer']

Excellent post and nice to see camaraderie this club is famous for.

[Hairy Santa]

Thumbs up all round on this thread

[YellaBelly]

As Phil and Pete said, it's good to see the club pulls together in an hour of need

Well done chaps (and chappess )]

[robp]

Nice work!  Good post with some great photos.  Hope you get the full 5 speeds soon!

[Lucky Ed]

Well done guys, a good job done all in one day - it must have been bloody freezing though

[Moleman]

Nice one.  I gess you managed to get it home ok with only the two gears then? 

[Grin-a-lot]

Yeah it wasn't the warmest day for playing on the driveway but it stayed dry which was good.

The Ringroad was nice and quiet so I got the car home with no dramas - she's tucked up in the garage now waiting for me to find some time to sort out the remaining few bits.