Chris Wilson Posted March 25, 2009 Share Posted March 25, 2009 My RWD gearbox is done, it's a Swedish made Tractive sequential dog box for my R33 GTS-t I used a modded auto box bellhousing and a concentric clutch release cylinder set up, to work on a Giken triple plate clutch and flywheel. Total weight of bellhousing, adaptor, slave cylinder and gear lever, with wiring and indicator box is under 37 kilos, I can get some more weight off the bellhousing, so I am pleased with that. The gearbox also sits low in the chassis, the way I have orientated it, which all helps the C of G. http://www.chriswilson.tv/tractive/tractive.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnny g Posted March 25, 2009 Share Posted March 25, 2009 Jesus ... I'd not even know where to start. Very tempted to drop in for a looksee ... am only working in Telford! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creative Posted March 25, 2009 Share Posted March 25, 2009 I may pop in and accidentally drop that in my R33 gtst when your not looking and too busy playing with your single seater! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveR Posted March 25, 2009 Share Posted March 25, 2009 Too many toys! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wez Posted March 25, 2009 Share Posted March 25, 2009 Very nice Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Wilson Posted April 12, 2009 Author Share Posted April 12, 2009 I managed to do a dry build and see if my measurements for clutch release bearing clearance needed fettling. They do, but it's just a simple matter of turning 1/8 inch off the concentric release bearing spacer and refitting it. Everything else seems spot on, it's low in the bodyshell, and looks tiny compared with the OE Nissan RWD box.http://www.chriswilson.tv/box_on_engine/box.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fessen Posted April 12, 2009 Share Posted April 12, 2009 mate teach me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdMorris Posted April 12, 2009 Share Posted April 12, 2009 Very nice work Chris. Do you know what the road manners will be like? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Wilson Posted April 12, 2009 Author Share Posted April 12, 2009 It's only going to be a track day car, no way would you want a box like that in a road car Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdMorris Posted April 12, 2009 Share Posted April 12, 2009 Thats what I was thinking, too aggressive. Should have known it would be something to play with on the track. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Wilson Posted September 16, 2009 Author Share Posted September 16, 2009 I finally had a couple of days to make the rear mount and dummy up the installation in the shell. I have managed to keep the stock R33 GTS-t gearbox crossmember and the stock rear gearbox mounting, albeit using a Nismo (harder) rubber mount. I now need to make up a propshaft using front and rear C/V joints, and I will probably use one in the middle as well. Finally the gear selector linkage (sequential) needs fitting. It will come from the gearbox through the roof of the tunnel, to a ball bearing quadrant, and then forwards through where the radio might sit, to the new gear lever mounted on the alloy plate over the standard gear lever tunnel hole. I have put a few pics up at IrfanView HTML-Thumbnails There are some new photos of this model gearbox on a test bench showing the internals, plus the selector lever assembly and dash gear position indicator unit at IrfanView HTML-Thumbnails http://www.chriswilson.tv/tractive_sectional/gear lever 001.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdMorris Posted September 16, 2009 Share Posted September 16, 2009 Crikey, thats a piece of kit Chris. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mkirby Posted September 16, 2009 Share Posted September 16, 2009 interesting read chris, a few of the 300zx boys have been looking at gearboxes and the r33 gts is the same manual box so i wouldnt have thought it would be too difficult to match one up. what kind of money are these boxes coming in at?? Cheers Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Wilson Posted September 16, 2009 Author Share Posted September 16, 2009 Oooh err, about £9500 with a bellhousing adaptor, gear lever, linkage kit and electronic indicator But like all proper race boxes you get what you pay for, and they have brilliant re sale value. Tractive are a dynamic and modern company with an English technical sales director for their motorsport division, they have been so helpful as to make some UK race transmission companies look absolutely appalling in their customer service. There's not much English language stuff about Tractive, but here's a lengthy YouTube video. Bear in mind they were initially set up to make high end concrete cutting and masticating equipment, then got into motorsport transmissions. I have no connection other than as a very happy customer. There's also a video of a Millington N/A Cossie Sierra engined Corolla with a tractive box, this one with an optional paddle shift conversion, so you can change from the steering wheel or lever, it gives an idea of how fast a modern race sequential can change. Tractive, the company: Tractive gear box in use: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mkirby Posted September 16, 2009 Share Posted September 16, 2009 i know it sounds alot but your talking around £10k for a hollinger or os giken box and then its not easy to make it fit as i did look into it when i was doing my project but this looks like a better bet as a "bolt on" gearbox solution Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Wilson Posted September 16, 2009 Author Share Posted September 16, 2009 Yes, it's very compact, both height in the tunnel, width in the tunnel, and length wise. With a custom bell housing I could have got it at least 14 inches further back. It's also very light, Jane can pick it up quite easily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustGav Posted September 16, 2009 Share Posted September 16, 2009 Spotted a sup at 1:50 Got to love the sound of those boxes... Was half expecting to see your infamous blue volvo amongst the others there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Wilson Posted September 16, 2009 Author Share Posted September 16, 2009 Spotted a sup at 1:50 Got to love the sound of those boxes... Was half expecting to see your infamous blue volvo amongst the others there Oops, posted the wrong link, this is what I meant to link to, sorry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wez Posted September 17, 2009 Share Posted September 17, 2009 I like the rally vid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Wilson Posted September 19, 2009 Author Share Posted September 19, 2009 Spent the whole day, albeit with a hangover, in the garage making the mount for the gear change quadrant to fasten it atop the transmission tunnel, finalising the rear gearbox mounting bracket, and making the base plate for the gear lever itself and mounting the plate where the old automatic gear lever assembly fastened to the tunnel. I am trying to do the whole install with as little modification to the shell itself as possible. The idea being that if I find a mint shell for very handy money I can send it to have a weld in cage fitted and swap the bits over without having to fiddle about with the shell itself very much. Will take some pics tomorrow. I need to get the sound deadening stuff off the top of the tunnel as I want glue and bolt the quadrant plate to the top of the tunnel stiffening the sheet metal locally. There will be a fair anmount of leverage on this quadrant and I don't want the tunnel sheet metal working and cracking. Access is limited, it's through the radio double DIN aperture plus another 4 inches above that where the heater control panel has been removed temporarily. I MIGHT be able to get the heat gun in there, or I was thinking of sending `er indoors to B&Q tomorrow for a plumbing freezer spray. I am told if you freeze this stuff it will chip off quite easily? To gain total access the whole dash would have to come out, and I am feeling idle I have also ordered a C/V joint and boot from GKN Motorsport, having found Nissan use a 108 mm C/V joint and a GKN type 28 spline prop shaft end. Nissan only sell the propshaft as 2 assemblies, and they are mega money new. I have decided to have a go at making a custom propshaft myself, and just paying for it to be balanced professionally. The stock GTR (4 wd) rear propshaft has gone on my GTS-t (2 wd) with just a swap of the centre support bearing cage. So I have a C/V joint at the diff end, and one in the middle. The GTR front half is about 16 inches too short, and uses a Hardy Spicer (cross type joint) onto the GTR gearbox. This box has a C/V joint flange on it, so I am cannibalising two old GTR front propshaft halves to lathe the splined end caps off, I'll then make a jig and weld the end caps onto a longer tube. I then end up with a longer front propshaft half with a C/V joint on each end, so the prop has 3 C/V's instead of two. It's this sort of stuff that takes a LOT of time and planning! http://www.chriswilson.tv/propshafts/propshafts.html http://www.chriswilson.tv/propshafts/4wd_prop_illustration.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Wilson Posted September 21, 2009 Author Share Posted September 21, 2009 Finished the gear lever and linkage assembly and fitting today. Took from 9.00 AM to 6.15 PM, thanks God I am able to do this stuff in house, the cost of farming this sort of stuff out would be horrific. I'll get some photos up soon, it's worked out quite well, I feel, given my reluctance to butcher the shell any more than is vital. I am now ready to have a go at the prop. Tractive sent me a plain gearbox flange, ordered Friday, here Monday at 8.30 AM, not bad from Sweden, it regularly takes me longer than that to actually speak to anyone in the know at Quaife here in the UK I now have the option of a C/V joint at the gearbox end, or a stock type Hardy Spicer cross joint. The GKN C/V came this morning, too. A bit of a problem, the inner part is perhaps 60 thou inch thicker, so although it fits perfectly on the splines of the Nissan shaft, you can't get the circlip on. I see two options, machine the shaft end to allow the joint to go 60 thou further on, or grind the centre of the joint 60 thou thinner. I prefer the latter option I think. There's a raised area on the centre forging almost 60 thou thick, I can lose that quite easily. It won't affect the kinematics of the joint at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Wilson Posted September 25, 2009 Author Share Posted September 25, 2009 I have bunged a few new photos up at http://www.chriswilson.tv/gearbox_installation/thumbnails.html It may not look much, but it's taken ages, basically I took an auto box bellhousing from an automatic R33 GTS-t and then made an adaptor to mount the Tractive sequential dog box to it. I also made an adaptor to run a concentric clutch release bearing mechanism totally within the bellhousing, as it gives a much lighter pedal (no GTR clutch servo needed even with the triple plate Giken clutch and lightweight (modded) flywheel fitted. I then made a gearbox rear mount from sheet steel that picks up the `box around the propshaft output shaft bearing flange. A 2 piece propshaft is now being dummied up ready for fabrication and balancing next week. I also fitted GTR alloy rear uprights, with the GTR big drive shafts and hub bearings. The diff is an R34 GTR one as it's the only one with a ratio to give a sensible top speed without an over driven top gear in the `box. The rear subframe is solid mounted, and the diff itself is on NISMO HD mounts. The gear lever mounts to a Dural plate that fits the unmodified tunnel aperture. The quadrant that turns gear lever motion through 90 degrees has to be very sturdy, there are serious forces here. I made an alloy tube with a flat milled on one end to take the quadrants 8mm bolt, and this mounts onto the transmission tunnel via 3 6mm bolts coming from underneath the tunnel. I have re inforced the tunnel sheet metal locally with a 16 gauge steel plate that's glued and bolted to spread the load. I may yet triangulate the top of the alloy tube back to the gear lever Dural base plate with a small section tubular support rod to stop ANY flex. I managed to buy a brand new GTR shell from Japan the day before yesterday, the long term aim is to have the new shell fitted with a proper weld in roll cage and just the basics fitted for track usage. I think the stage has come for some proper shell safety and rigidity, for both my protection and to get the suspension working properly. At the moment the shell itself is probably 1/2 of the suspension compliance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorin Posted September 25, 2009 Share Posted September 25, 2009 Looking good! I'd love to have a go in this once finished Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nevins Posted September 25, 2009 Share Posted September 25, 2009 You have some serious skills mate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Wilson Posted September 25, 2009 Author Share Posted September 25, 2009 You have some serious skills mate. Thanks, but I do struggle with some of the fabrication, especially sheet metal work, a guillotine and a bigger folder would be a Godsend, but I am low on floor space now I wish I was a better fabricator really, but patience isn't a virtue I have in abundance, and it's one a good metal worker definitely needs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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