Toyota 5 speed conversions

[roymck]

I have been given a unused kit of parts for a 5 Speed conversion to fit a Toyota box to a Morris 1000 . I think this was bought from the Morris Minor Centre at Bath many years ago .Was this the same kit offered by Rooster racing? I have been told they stopped making the kit as Toyota boxes were hard to find so the Ford box was offered instead .
I don't know if I have all the parts to complete this conversion , so I am putting out a plea. Does anybody have any info , fitting instructions or magazine articles , I remember at the time it was featured a bit in magazines , or perhaps you have one in your car. Need particularly info on clutch and thrust.

Help

Thanks Roy

[IslipMinor]

Roy,

I have one in our Minor and it is an excellent conversion, so long as you have all the unique parts that are required.

Yes, it is the Rooster kit from Australia and is based on the Toyota T50 5-spd box fitted in the 1600 Corolla. There are 2 types, one with the gear lever housing angled backwards slightly and the other that is flat - ours is the latter one.

Originally there were 4 different clutch driven plate versions, one for each of the in-line A-Series engines - 948,1098 and 1275 and Marina 1275. The only one that should still be available now is the 1275, it is an AP Racing part.

What parts do you have for it? You will need all the special parts - bellhousing, clutch fork mounting bracket inside the bellhousing, clutch relay shaft bracket that fits on to outside of the gearbox, modified propshaft (or at least a Toyota yoke to adapt a Minor one, which will require machining, welding and balancing), gearbox crossmember to replace the standard Minor one, clutch plate with Toyota splines, crankshaft spigot bush, Toyota gearbox rear mounting, Toyota gear lever, Toyota speedo cable and speedo cable end thread adaptor to convert the Toyota cable to fit the Minor speedo head.

Standard Minor parts are the clutch operating lever and carbon thrust bearing.

Fitting it requires the chassis legs to be drilled to fit the new crossmember and the gearbox cover has to be significantly modified to allow the gear lever to come out further back. I have heard, but have no confirmation, that the 'angled' remote housing does not need very much alteration to the cover - ours did need to be modified, a lot! The gearbox cover also needs reshaping at the front to clear the top of the gearbox.

Where do you live? If you live anywhere near Oxford or are in the area and would like to see one 'in the flesh', please let me know.

I have the fitting instructions - if you let me know your email address I will forward them to you.

Finally you will need some metric spanners for the gearbox, in particular a 17mm ring spanner for the drain and filler plugs. The oil required is an 80, non-EP, gear oil. EP oils must not be used as they damage the bronze metal components inside the box.

[glaughton]

Yes indeed, it is an excellent conversion - if only I knew what oil to put in it!

There has been much debate over the correct oil to use - specifically about damage to bronze components caused by active sulphur EP additives. It seems that about 20 years ago most oil companies changed the chemistry to use inactive or buffered sulphur/phosphorous EP additives which are not corrosive to yellow metals. The following article gives useful info and some interesting photos including one of worn-away Toyota synchros:

http://www.widman.biz/uploads/Transaxle_oil.pdf

So if you believe what you read it seems that despite the 'safe' additives, GL5 oils can still cause damage to the synchros. More importantly, so can oils labeled "GL4 GL5"! I was about to use one of these when I read the above article.

It seems the only really safe way to go is to use a semi-synthetic 75W/90 GL4 with the modern safer sulphur/phosphorous additives. GL4 oils will typically contain half the amount of the EP additives and this will not be enough to cause damage. Question is which oils fit the bill? There is a Comma 75W/90 semi-synthetic GL4 oil but I read in another post that Comma technical staff were not sure what additives were used. The only other oil I have found is a Valvoline Durablend semi-synthetic 75W/90 GL4 which has the modern sulphur/phosphorous EP additives - sounds good.

On the other hand .. what's a few microns of brass between friends! When I had the conversion done 22 years ago, the garage put in Castrol EP90 and that's what I've been using ever since and it doesn't seem to have done any harm ...

(Now what about the diff ...!)

[IslipMinor]

The oil required is an 80, non-EP, gear oil. EP oils must not be used as they damage the bronze metal components inside the box.

When I installed our T50 15+ year ago the Toyota spec at the time was a straight SAE80 'non-EP' oil. Castrol Syntrans 75W-90 Semi-Synthetic fits the bill perfectly. That is what I use in ours.

Looking at a current Toyota manual for the T50 is says either API Service GL4 or GL5, grade either straight 90 or 75W-90, so it looks like a 'modern' EP oil is 'now OK'? The box does have some brass/bronze parts, so I think I will stick with a non-EP oil, just to be sure.

[glaughton]

When I installed our T50 15+ year ago the Toyota spec at the time was a straight SAE80 'non-EP' oil. Castrol Syntrans 75W-90 Semi-Synthetic fits the bill perfectly.

Interesting that Toyota oringinally recommended straight SAE80.

Castrol Syntrans 75W/90 is a fully synthetic oil and is GL4 spec so will have some EP additives. Not sure I want to use a fully synthetic oil.

Castrol Universal 75W/90 (formerly Castrol Syntrax (not Syntrans) Universal 75W/90) is a semi-synthetic 'combi' oil - i.e. it meets both GL4 & GL5 standards and thus also has EP additives.

I guess you are using the latter ..?

I'm going to use a semi-synthetic 75W/90 GL4 without GL5 on the label (as advised in the article) - but as I said they are few and far between - looks like the Valvoline product I mentioned has been discontinued.

[Jefftav]

PM me your email address as I have a pdf file with fitting instructions.

[LaughingBoy]

roymck

You requested specific info re clutch etc. This is what I have fitted along with the T50 box behind a 1275 A+ block:

Modified Minor flywheel
1098 Spridget Clutch cover
Toyota Carina etc Clutch friction/driven plate (190mm diameter, 132mm centre, 21 spline)
1275 Spridget Thrust bearing

I think this is the configuration that Bath MMC used and believe they still have the parts - you can confirm with them and also get the specific Toyota clutch plate part number.

[don58van]

An Australian company, by the name Dellow, manufactures kits for adapting the T50 to A-series motors. A new bell-housing and all the bits and pieces are supplied.

Cheers
Don

[bmcecosse]

Hmm - but at what cost??

[philthehill]

Minor Mania Ltd were the main UK agent/stockist for the Rooster Racing gearbox conversion.
They may still have parts etc. still on the shelf.
see: www.minor-mania.co.uk
They also go under the following gdk-garage@hotmail.co.uk
The contact is Alex Feigenbaum
tel: 020895590818