Ke38 Panel Van Now Has 5 Speed

[teza40]

HI 2 All,

Well on holidays, and after going to get the 1957 vauxhall ute from out near warwick in queensland. and the fun of getting back to a friends place at booval in ipswich ( big job this one will be), i thought i better get around to the 5 speed conversion in the panel van.

 

SO Sick of the 4 speed and the engine sounding like it will blow up at 100 km/h over long distances up and down the bruce highway,gateway and ipswich motorway,( yes i drive this car hard and very often,cheaper on fuel than the four wheel drive ).

 

well today ( friday 15th june,it was D day to do it ).so out came the 5 speed first from the ke38 wagon i purchased earlier this year,then put the panel van up on ramps and stands. out came the 4 speed gearbox that has lived and got this car around for 28 yrs nearly (yep factory box.lol),

cut the new hole for the 5 speed box changed over the thrust bearing from the 4 speed to the 5 speed (the other one was dry and noisy) and put the gearbox to driving heaven in.the only thing i found trouble with was the gearbox mount ( the guy who did the conversion in the ke38 wagon,didnt use one.BUGGER THAT) i had one and had to redrill holes in the gear box cross member to line everything up eg tailshaft.

other than that it all went very well and the whole job from start to end was only 4 and a half hours from the time i pulled the 5 speed out of the wagon and had it the panel van and test driven,other people may do it quicker but hey I'm 42 now and don't like the ground as much as i did 20 years ago.

So now on those long trips i can cruise with ease and not fear the 4k going bang...lol,

some pics

enjoy

Teza

 

[corolla-ute]

WELL DONE

Edited June 15, 2007 by corolla-ute

[corolla-ute]

WELLL DONE SIR,,, Do you notice much difference with the shifter being back an extra 2-3 inches..??? does it interfere with the handbrake at all..... reason for asking is that i will be doing the same shortly myself to my vehicle..

 

 

cheers

[SLO83]

I did the same in my ke55. had to cut a new hole. made it alot more vertical(the shifter) makes it easier in my opinion to change gears

 

 

Jae

 

 

Looking good by the way terry, Justneed to get one of your wild paint schemes onto her

[teza40]

WELLL DONE SIR,,, Do you notice much difference with the shifter being back an extra 2-3 inches..??? does it interfere with the handbrake at all..... reason for asking is that i will be doing the same shortly myself to my vehicle..

cheers

 

HI YA.

Firstly thank you,well so far i have only test driven it around the block.personally ithink the shifter position is much better now and i have no troubles with fouling the handbrake at all. i have had the car up too 80 km/h so far and found no wobbles,shakes or strange noisies.the gearbox may be a bit noisy but hey, beggers can't be chosers.

 

i sure hope your conversion goes as good as this did,all the best.

cheers

[teza40]

I did the same in my ke55. had to cut a new hole. made it alot more vertical(the shifter) makes it easier in my opinion to change gears

Jae

Looking good by the way terry, Justneed to get one of your wild paint schemes onto her

 

HI Ya Jae,thank you.well yes paint scheme would be good next and still to come, just too busy driving the panel van as a daily driver.

also with the recent purchase of a 1957 vauxhall ute for $61.00 ( and yes it looks like $61.00 car ),time only goes so far on 2 weeks holidays.

don't hold your breath but i will get around to a neat paint scheme on the van.

cheers

teza

[aidaniel[RL]]

ive done the same cut job but mines gone from an auto to a 4 speed to a 5 speed and the holes about a foot long lol

[teza40]

Hi 2 all.

ok took the panel van on the run out to ipswich too work on the vauxhall ute,I'm impressed by the difference the extra gear makes.it doesnt wheeze to 120 km/h now.

although don't seem to have as much wind out power in first gear as the 4 speed(gear ratios in the box i guess),5th gear is noisy as i was told.

should check and top up oil in the box i guess,one of those things i didnt worry about the other day.now i need to quiet down the exhaust (sounds like a stock car)oh well another day..lol

as for the hole around the shifter,i now have a piece of sheet metal nicely cut and the shifter hole a neat fit with it sealed up from exhaust gases etc. with a good rubber boot and the celica console finally secured properly.

cheers

Teza

[Raven]

Its fun doing gearbox swaps hey. haha.

 

I got a KE70 5 speed, but had another 5 Speed here that i just swapped the gearbox extension housings over with to keep the factory position (I like to keep everything in stock locations, but thats just me).

 

I will agree that the ratio's arent the same with you as mine runs outta puff quicker than it used to in 1st gear.