<VV> FW: 5 speed transmission

[kevin nash]

From: wrokit at hotmail.com
To: airvair at earthlink.net
Subject: RE: <VV> 5 speed transmission
Date: Sun, 5 Sep 2010 14:06:47 -0700




Mark- I know that Lin did not consider the upside down mounting untill much later, after he found problems with the linkage binding. The binding
problem had to do with the multiple u-joints being not precisely "clocked" with one another, and also the extra friction caused by the bushings and
what not used to keep the selector shaft lined up properly. The original prototype, that I got to drive, did not seem to have these problems to nearly the 
same degree as the production one. I believe that the difference in shift feel (prototype vs production) had to do with the sloppier fits that the u-joints
that the prototype had ( as I remember, the u-joints were common u-joints for tools, puchased at the hardware store!). Once he discovered how weak
these u-joints were (they broke after a short while), he started searching for more robust alternatives. As far as I'm aware, the much cleaner installation
possibilities afforded by the upside down arrangement simply were not a consideration (unfortunately) until the deficiencys with the production linkage
system became more obvious.
 
 Also, there were some problems with flipping the transmission upside down, as the oiling is all screwed up. If I remember, both gear sets would then be above
the mainshaft, and to garrantee good oiling, the oil level must be above the mainshaft (or nearly so) also. This created some sort of an oil leak ( I cant remember
right now exactly where it was) that needed to be dealt with, and there was some additional seals that needed to be made to fit. Heck of a project
for someone like me to take on, but given all the chaos associated with trying to get all of the production transmissions done, was much more than
Lin wanted to take on, except for creating the one and only upside down case for me.
 Kevin Nash
 
> From: airvair at earthlink.net
> To: wrokit at hotmail.com; virtualvairs at corvair.org
> Subject: Re: <VV> 5 speed transmission
> Date: Sun, 5 Sep 2010 13:22:41 -0400
> 
> That was my objection to the conversion, because it required severely
> modifying the body shell. Any reason he didn't do that from the start?
> 
> In making ANY "custom" part, it's always best to try to make it as bolt-in
> as possible. Many potential customers simply aren't capable of or desire to
> modify their cars to accomodate.
> 
> -Mark
> 
> > [Original Message]
> > From: kevin nash <wrokit at hotmail.com>
> > Subject: Re: <VV> 5 speed transmission
> >
> > Also,
> > because I wasn't very impressed (neither was Lin) with the funky shift
> linkage, we decided to modifiy my transmission case so that it could
> > be mounted upside down, so as to put the t-5 transmission selector shaft
> nearly in the same spot as it would have been with a stock transmission,
> > greatly simplifying the shift linkage, and greatly improving the shift
> feel.
> > 
> > Oh what could have been!!
> > Kevin Nash 
> 
>