type 9 gearbox "shortening"

The engine and gearbox was removed again in preparation for the engine mounts being welded in place. I forgot to remove the gearlever..!

A few measurement were taken, The main measurement for the shortening is 11" from front of tail housing to the front of gear lever casting.

With the gearbox removed from the engine the tail housing was removed.
Beware the layshaft can stick to the housing and pull out with it.. potentially leaving all the cogs and gears rattling around the bottom of the case.. I think I saved it in time.

Now the tail housing is in the ultrasonic cleaner. ready for the hacksaw..!

Tacho conversion from Mechanical to Electronic

Converting the mechanical Tacho to electronic.
And swapping the bezel so it looks the same as it was.


I used an RVI guage from another machine and added the Spiyda converter.
Set it up for a 6 cyl system using the audio files.

Later I used a signal generator at the office to test the gauge on the main circuit. I added a switch to swap the input lines between the two options the electronic system operates on.

Will it work? When tested later on the car it seemed to be OK but the needle settled at 500 rpm when all powered off.
This was due to the mechanical pointer being balanced so the needle is effectively "weightless" and wont assist the return to zero.

I ground down the tiny brass counter-balance weight and now it falls to zero correctly and still works on the bench and in the car .

Trial fit of propshaft with new type 9 adapter and new bearings all-round.

With everything in the right place - it now looks like I will need to add 1" to the propshaft length for a final solution.

Engine swap -finalising position.

The old gearbox was an Borg Warner 35 automatic, The original was a standard manual with overdrive so I had both sets of gearbox mounts to potentially use.

Remarkably the Auto box mount fitted just right and only needs the addition of a M12 hole and a small reinforcement.

The gear lever protrudes directly through the ashtray! But it does feel as if its in the right place when sat in the seat.

The plan was to shorten the linkage as per this series of photos.

This being a Right hand drive Alpine and a cologne two port head - the passenger side rear outlet is very close to the steering linkage. The exhaust stud was fowling on the grease nipple.

Some adjustments have been made to the position and it will be possible to fit a bespoke set of headers in there now.

But the linkage will need protection from heat.

Checking the Radiator alignment.

Top hose port is good and will use a standard Granada hose (shortened)

The bottom hose outlet needs to be readjusted.

Engine swap (part two)

Busy few days.

The engine mounts were cut out.
Nice to see some of the original colour. It will return to that colour one day.
Steering bar replaced. Awkward to fit.

 Trial hanging of the engine.

Will the engine go in with gearbox as well?

Annie wont be impressed with the state of the carpet!

Lots of things get in the way.
A few extra dents and chipped paint.

The oil filter was still on in this pic.. it gets in the way.
The remote filter will be fitted shortly.

Ready for takeoff captain...

Its not in the right place yet but it doesn't look so big now it's in.

I need to cut the transmission tunnel at the gear lever end to be able to push the engine back further.

Then the mounting position can be finalised.

And then pull out the engine again.. :-(