Option Gear boxes

[Zedrally]

One of our fellow rallyists is searching for a 1st Gear for an option 1 Gearbox.

Willing to either buy outright or swap for one from an option 2.

I don't have the book with me at present, however I thought all 1st gear ratios where the same in these boxes, with the 2, 3,and 4 beigh the variables?

Can someone set me straight on this before I leave for home tonight?

MOM

[HKSZ]

I've just about given up on ever finding an option and pricey :stupid:

Mike option 1 is 2.8 1st

option 2 is 2.4 1st

option 3 is 2.2 1st

Steve

[HS30-H]

I doubt this will help, seeing as I'm on the other side of the World, but I have a couple of Option boxes that I could do with selling;

One is an Option 1, and one is the Rally Option box. Both have the 'Dogleg' shift pattern and direct ( 1:1 ) 5th gear.

Both are in excellent condition. The Rally Option has had a FULL rebuild ( and I mean FULL ) just recently.

Both very pricey though, and as I say, the wrong side of the World.

Alan T.

[Zedrally]

Hi Alan,

Still jet lagged I see....

There was a ex works box that sold here recently.

I suspect this gear is needed for it?

Pricey, yes which reminds me that I still have to investigate those 3 boxes that I inherited.

Where the option boxes a flange fitting or sleeve?

[HS30-H]

Hi Zedrally,

Not too bad with the Jetlag now. I'm just working late and dropping in here ocassionally for a tea break:classic:

The 'B' type were splined - not flange type.

There were earlier ( 'A' type ) Option boxes, and they were flange type. He's going to have to confirm exactly what he's got, as the parts are not interchangeable.

Didn't Nissan Motorsports USA have a small stock of parts for the F5C71-B Option boxes earlier this year? They were having a bit of a clearout as far as I remember, and there were some Option ratios being sold. Maybe its worth asking them?

Don't forget he's going to need the gear AND the countergear - so that's two items, and they are usually sold separately. Good idea to be careful of that.

I had a brand new Option 1 first gear and countergear set up until just a couple of months ago. I sold an Option 2 box to a friend in Japan and he wanted the Option 1 first gear to put into it. The gears are not 'in stock' anywhere that I know of in Japan, I'm afraid.

There was a thread a while back where I remember posting a lot of the part numbers for these transmissions. Might be worth a look too.

Cheers,

Alan T.

[260DET]

What some are doing with late model (stronger) gearboxes is to have new gears made up in the ratios of their choice. Not cheap, somewhere around $1000 for each gear (pair of gears) IIRC.

[Zedrally]

Any idea who is actually engineering these?

[Ben]

Don't forget that you can get Hollinger internals stuffed into the Nissan boxes (with the ratios of your choosing). It could end up cheaper than new genuine Option gears....

[Victor Laury]

Ben Beat me to it. I was serching the web for Gear manufacturers. We have a shop here in the states, Houseman Autosports , that specializes in one-off manufacture of gear sets and in Nissan Direct Drive gearboxes. While in my search I found the website for Holinger Engineering , in Victoria

[HS30-H]

Originally posted by Ben

Don't forget that you can get Hollinger internals stuffed into the Nissan boxes (with the ratios of your choosing). It could end up cheaper than new genuine Option gears....

Ben,

Are the Holinger internals 'legal' to use in the Rally and Circuit races in Australia?

In the UK, the classes that the early Z competes in have fairly strict rules. I believe that the Holinger internals can only be used if they can be proved to have been used 'in period'.

That 'in period' bit is difficult to prove, and in the Historic Rally ( Post Historic ) classes of the MSA here in the UK the cut-off is 1976 as far as I remember.

I think that some competitors over here have wanted to use the Holinger internals in the past, but proving that they were used 'in period' is a little tricky.

What's the situation over there?

Alan T.

[HKSZ]

Ratios are free in historic racing/rally but the number of gears must be original ie in my 1600 I can only use a four speed.

I recently bought a two gear Hollinger 5 speed, it was rebuilt six years ago with brand new gears and never used. At half the price of a used/unknown option I feel a little more confident slamming gears :cheeky:

Hollinger are in Ballarat Vic but from my understanding they won't make anymore gears for Nissan boxes as they only produce gearboxes for the Holden V8 Supercars

Steve

[HS30-H]

Hi meakin,

Well - I've got a couple of spare FS5C71-B boxes too if you want one. Have you got a 4-speed at present then? You might need a 3.9 ratio R180 to go with it?

These spare boxes are the type that was fitted as standard equipment to UK-market HS30 models around the late 1971 period. Previous to that they had the 'A' type 5 speed. I have a spare 3.9 R180 too if you need it.

Both of them could probably do with a partial strip-down to ensure that the synchros and bearings are all OK. They are both spare units that have never been opened up as far as I know. There's no point going to the trouble of sourcing a transmission and then installing it in the car without checking it out internally.

I'll PM you with thoughts on how you could get one from London to Denmark. That's probably going to be more expensive than buying the things in the first place.

I'll PM you with prices for the Option 1 and the Rally Option direct-drive 5-speeds too. Have a chair and some smelling salts handy, as they are not cheap.

Alan T.