MX5 gearbox into my Vitesse

[johny]

Those were the days! I bet he did all that without even swearing, well not out loud anyway😊

[Pete Lewis]

 Heck  more memory lane stuff  apart from the toll road there is also a steep toll road that winds its way from Culbone 

my dad used that garage pre war when a stalled  car rolled back and caused the sidecar mounting on his NUT/or was it BSA   to break when avoiding  

there was a caravan park behind which we used a few times in the 70/80s 

Dad got fined by the local plod 5shilling for making too much noise through the village 

Pete

 

 

[cliff.b]

22 minutes ago, johny said:

Those were the days! I bet he did all that without even swearing, well not out loud anyway😊

Mum didn't allow swearing in front of the children lol. I think he may have muttered "oh dear" or such like 🤬

[PeteH]

Porlock, was part of my Area, as was Lynton/Lynmouth, fortunately by the time I did it, 1980`s, I had a "Modern". If that is what you could call a Mk3 Escort. 😁 The Peugeot 303 diesel was the best on that one, as was the BX, the Later Astra (Automatic), was quite poor.

Been up, and down, Sutton Bank quite a few times. Anything over about 30ft is going to have a hard time getting round the hairpin, especially if something equally as big is coming down. On the lorries, I was glad of the "jake" brake. The R-V (6.5Chevy) made a fist of it Ok, albeit slowly.

Pete

[Bruce Raybould]

On 26/02/2023 at 17:12, KevinR said:

Nick Jones has tried it, his attempt is documented on another forum :

https://sideways-technologies.co.uk/forums/index.php?/topic/8925-mazda-gearboxes-some-bstard-told-me-it-was-impossible-so-i-had-to-do-it/

 

Thank you. I shall pass on the information. 

[djn]

I think "Vitesse Engineering" are currently developing an MX5 gearbox conversion for the GT6, which would also suit the Vitesse. I am thinking of going down that road if it comes off. https://www.vitesse-ltd.com/  (Spitfire 2.5 efi with 3.63 diff)

[Nick Jones]

On 23/02/2023 at 09:21, Ian Foster said:

Bruce

Nick Jones will be along any minute to explain how easy it isn't!

Ian

Fixed that for you......

Kevin has already linked to my thread on Sideways, which covers the process of getting an MX5 NA gearbox into my Mk3 GT6; a substantially similar process to putting one in a Vitesse.  I have also previously put a Toyota W58 5 speed in my Vitesse - but that was 20 years ago when they were cheap.  That was easier, though still tricky enough.

Bottom line - it can be done.  I've done a couple of thousand miles in my GT6 with box now and it works fine.  It's really not very easy to do though. You could make it a bit easier by not re-inventing the selector mechanism and modifying the tunnel cover instead, but that isn't actually the hardest part.  I didn't spend much money but I did spend many, many hours of my time.  As others have commented, there are several easier ways to lower your cruising rpm.

As for the Vitesse Transmissions conversion, yes, maybe one day.  I've had various conversations with them and they do say they are working on a conversion kit for the Vitesse/GT6 but I was never able to extract an availability date from the them.  Even that would be a fairly heavy duty DIY install though, as you'll either have to pull the engine to get it in or chop a big chunk of the tunnel out.  No other way.  Won't be cheap either.