I am looking at a second hand Rover V8 from an SD1, complete with gearbox. Is the SD1 gearbox suitable for use in a locost style car ??

John,

I have one in mine, and Craig1410 has one in his.

So, I guess the answer is yes

ATB

Simon

Yup, Simon speaks the truth...

If you do decide to use the LT77 gearbox (or the R380 later type), try to get hold of the SD1 gearbox mount as it makes life much easier when you come to fit it. All you need is the mount and a couple of short lengths of 1" square section and you can make a perfect mount. See my website for details by searching my gallery for "gearbox mount"

One thing to be aware of is that "good" LT77 gearboxes are thin on the ground these days although "V8Kid" on this forum had a couple for sale recently although I don't know what condition they are in. Make sure you get the bellhousing as well as these are getting rare too. To give you an idea, I paid £140 (IIRC) for a late Vitesse gearbox with bellhousing which was reputed to have been rebuilt 6000 miles ago. I gather that was quite a good deal.


Any questions, give me a shout.
Cheers,
Craig.

I had trouble locating a manual box for a conversion I was doing (and moreover, a flywheel), so I opted for an alloy Supra 5-speed box and aftermarket alloy belhousing (the bellhousings are actually made in Sydney, Australia, but are available in the UK). The Celica box can take over 700 horsepower in standard form. It's quite light and compact too. There are 4 or 5 gear levers from different models too which are interchangeable which makes siting the lever in the car a lot simpler.
Another alternative box is the BW T5, though they may be expensive.

Update: This is the link to Dellow Automotive in Australia. They can probably tell you who your nearest distributor is.

[Edited on 5/5/05 by Rorty]