Toying with idea of taller Metro 5th gear (to go with the already taller final drive)

[ZeroFuel]

We're putting together our trans now. I will let you know if this can be done.

[ZeroFuel]

OK D

Unfortunately the 1st & 2nd gears are permanent gears on the main shaft, so you can't remove them.

If you want to have custom gears built & they can be done quickly I'll go for 3 sets.

Let me know.

[MetroMPG]

dcb: one project at a time! Also, the ForkenSwift doesn't really have enough power to use just 2 gears.

ZeroFuel: yes, one shaft would have to be sacrificed by cutting the gear off, then modifying it fit the splined end of the shaft where 5th lives. So you definitely need a "spare" transmission to do this.

(PS: you should fill out your garage info so we know what project vehicle you're working on.)

The Ford ZX2 custom 5th gear thread mentioned above used a sacrificial shaft as the source of his small 2nd gear cog as well.

[Christ]

Darin, why limit yourself to only the gear ratios afforded by the transmission you already have?

It would only be slightly more difficult to just pick a ratio you'd like to have, find out what transmission/transaxles have shaft spacing like yours, and then dig through and flip the gear ratios in those transmissions to find the ratio closest to your "ideal" ratio (that you created from some thought in your head.)

I can understand if you don't want to do this, but I don't see why you should be limited to only selecting a gear ratio based on what you already know will work, when you could easily (maybe?) find out about other options as well.

Especially if you have access to a salvage yard that will let you play around inside... you can pull covers and check gear spacing to your heart's content!

[cfg83]

Christ -

Originally Posted by Christ

Darin, why limit yourself to only the gear ratios afforded by the transmission you already have?

It would only be slightly more difficult to just pick a ratio you'd like to have, find out what transmission/transaxles have shaft spacing like yours, and then dig through and flip the gear ratios in those transmissions to find the ratio closest to your "ideal" ratio (that you created from some thought in your head.)

...

I wish we had a compatibility database for stuff like this.

CarloSW2

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by Christ

Especially if you have access to a salvage yard that will let you play around inside... you can pull covers and check gear spacing to your heart's content!

That's the thing for me - no handy salvage yard that would let me poke around. They used to be flexible like that but aren't as friendly to the idea of "spejunking" any more. Legal worries, I guess.

I was just talking to Ben last night about not having much luck even finding another dead Suzukiclone in driveways/fields (thinking: parts car). Seems even those are getting to be long gone around here.

I went about 1200 km round trip on the weekend, and only saw one other 3 cylinder clone on the entire journey: a well preserved convertible (I'm guessing only summer driven).

[Christ]

Ask Will, our local junkyards have a ton of 'em. Problem is, I don't think either yard would sell a whole car, even a Metro. (They don't usually get parted out too well around here, unless we start paying more for gas than they do in Britain.)

[MetroMPG]

I tried that once - asked to buy a whole Metro with a really good body from a wrecker. They said "nope"!

---

I visited my machinist friend this morning to see if he's interested in this project. He's up for the challenge... pending a review of the actual parts and discussion about price.

So I started tearing apart my near-virgin OEM Blackfly transaxle this afternoon. Might as well use it for something. I'll be able to bring him the bits and pieces tomorrow morning.

Worst case scenario in the end is I will have my taller 5th gear, and will still have most of the lightly used, low miles parts should I ever need them, minus the shaft(s) that get sacrificed.

[ZeroFuel]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

I tried that once - asked to buy a whole Metro with a really good body from a wrecker. They said "nope"!

---

I visited my machinist friend this morning to see if he's interested in this project. He's up for the challenge... pending a review of the actual parts and discussion about price.

So I started tearing apart my near-virgin OEM Blackfly transaxle this afternoon. Might as well use it for something. I'll be able to bring him the bits and pieces tomorrow morning.

Worst case scenario in the end is I will have my taller 5th gear, and will still have most of the lightly used, low miles parts should I ever need them, minus the shaft(s) that get sacrificed.

Hey D

That's good news, be sure to bring both 5th gears & all their accompanying parts, as I don't think he will be able to use the 2nd gear set. You will notice when you have the box apart that the 2nd gear setup is much different then the 5th gear setup. Even if the 2nd gear set was removable you could not use them in the 5th gear location because of shift cog issues. Your shop should be able to copy those 5th gears in any ratio you want. I would suggest not going any higher then what you presented in your graph.

By doing it this way you don't have the cost of another box & trying to find donor boxes as they get rarer. Others can update very easily in the car by just removing the end cover & changing out the 5th gear set.

If the price & time frame are right I will take 3 sets. Thx

[MetroMPG]

Well, I got the spare, youthful gearbox apart. The 5th gear set is off, and the input & output shafts are free.

Took longer than I thought it would, but these things always do the first time. I probably missed some crucial step that would have simplified things, something like leaving it in neutral or some other gear to enable things to slide apart easier. Also, I don't have c-clip pliers and could have used them.

On the plus side, I learned a few things about transmissions today.

So tomorrow morning I'll pile the loot in a box and head back up to the machinist. I'll report back on what he thinks.

FYI: having gotten this far, I don't think a straight-up 5th gear swap would qualify as a "very easy" job - it would be even harder doing it in the car. Of course that's subjective depending on your skill, experience and tools/facilities (mine being: average, zero when it comes to transmissions, and average).

ZeroFuel - could you let me know what you'd consider to be a good price for a taller 5th gear set? (PM is fine if you don't want to post publicly.) It could help in my conversation with my machinist if he's interested in producing multiple sets.