[slusher]

G'day everyone

Just bought my first zook and love it, I travel quite a few kms in the old girl though and would like to put a 5 speed into her to make highway travel a bit more comfortable. It is an 84 model sierra with the metal dash and green 4wd light.

Anyone have some suggestions?

[Gwagensteve]

It's apparently possible to build a hybrid 5 speed out of a carry van 5 speed and the tailshaft housing from your 4 speed. It's not really a bolt in though, and carry 5 speeds aren't exactly common.

Steve.

[joeblow]

you need a maruti 4 speed and then swap the gears from a sierra 5 speed into it, and it will bolt straight up. but you may not have the torque to run 5th gear. forget the the super carry gearbox.....way too hard......

[eldo]

may as well get a 1.3 and 5 speed and do the conversion

[joeblow]

eldo wrote:

may as well get a 1.3 and 5 speed and do the conversion

what he said!................

[Gwagensteve]

I'd agree that 1.0's probably don't have enough torque to handle an overdrive- mine never felt like it did.

I'm sure suzuki would have geared the car taller or run a 5 speed in the 1.0 if the motor would pull it - manufacturers rarely ever gear their cars shorter than necessary.

Steve.

[303zuke]

I had a 5 speed in my old 1.0 Sierra. It was a Type 3, so it already had the "Maruti" style box that Joeblow mentioned. The 1.3 5 speed gears dropped straight in.

The ratios in the 1.0 are:
1st gear: 3.136
2nd: 1.946
3rd: 1.422
4th: 1.00
Rev: 3.463

while the 5 speed has:
1st gear: 3.652
2nd: 1.946
3rd: 1.422
4th: 1.00
5th: 0.865
Rev: 3.463

So in addition to the extra 5th, you also get a lower 1st! I had extractors on the F10A and was running 30" BFGs, LJ80 diffs (4.55) and 4.16 trans gears and it was not too much for the engine to cruise in 5th.

[303zuke]

Another option is to consider another gearset between the Gearbox and Trans case. In the early 80's I had a type 1 1.0 litre. This was before the 1.3 5 speed had even been released and there was no Super Carrys to pilfer.

I used a Laycock Overdrive from an MG Sports Car to replace the jackshaft. These are an electrically operated, planetary geared OD of around 0.8:1. It was operated by an electric pushbutton on the dash and could be used in all 4 gears, and Hi or Lo, giving me a total of 16 forward gears! It was smooth shifting and did not require use of the clutch to engage or disengage, just hit that button. No other Zuke could keep up with me on hills.

Here's about the only pic I have of the unit ( ). You can see it between the box and trans case:

[303zuke]

Trying to find a pic of a Laycock unit on the web, I found This site. No text, but some interesting pics. They have set their unit up differently to mine, but you get the idea.

[slusher]

303zuke wrote:

So in addition to the extra 5th, you also get a lower 1st! I had extractors on the F10A and was running 30" BFGs, LJ80 diffs (4.55) and 4.16 trans gears and it was not too much for the engine to cruise in 5th.

All I am after is for the zook to cruise on the high way a bit easier, would this be achievable????

[2stroker]

Early toyota crowns had a similar remote electic overdrive unit, they may be easier to get.

[PJ.zook]

Interesting setup, like split in truck boxes.

[eldo]

slusher wrote:

303zuke wrote:

So in addition to the extra 5th, you also get a lower 1st! I had extractors on the F10A and was running 30" BFGs, LJ80 diffs (4.55) and 4.16 trans gears and it was not too much for the engine to cruise in 5th.

All I am after is for the zook to cruise on the high way a bit easier, would this be achievable????

what size tyres do you have? may i suggest a slightly taller tyre, it will give you longer legs on the freeway, its both an upgrade in gearing and in traction

[Highway-Star]

oooooh, 303zuke has given me an idea for something somewhat different. Thanks heaps


I think the way to make a 5spd work in a 1L, would be to install the 4.5 or 4.8 diff gears (depending on your tyres of course )

[303zuke]

2stroker wrote:

Early toyota crowns had a similar remote electic overdrive unit, they may be easier to get.

E-bay.UK has a couple of Laycock gearboxes listed at the moment for well under a hundred pounds. If the sellers were happy to unbolt the OD and just ship that over, you could get a unit here for anywhere between AU$150-$250. These were used in all sorts of british cars of the 50's, 60's and 70's like MG, Triumph, Austin-Healy, Rover and even early Volvos, so perhaps asking around at some Bristish Car restoration suppliers here might find something locally.