Aussie 4 speed on a Grey conversion....

[Sputzwagon]

Here's a little gem from the workshop of Paul Kelly (Smooth Kustoms)..
His mate Bill wanted an Aussie 4 speed behind his Grey in his EK sedan, but wanted the stick (an Impala) moved forward so he did'nt have to change his seat..
this is what they came up with






.....very clever those Queenslanders!!!

[FB wannabe]

I appreciate the work involved, but why oh why would you use the aussie 4 speed ??? I had one in a LH SL/R 202 Torana years ago. I really hated that gearbox, it let the rest of the car down. After it blew up I looked into putting a toyota variant in it but was going to be too costly, so I put in a recon aussie 4 speed with a recon shifter. It was still a crap gearbox, just a poor design. I would always have to get the linkages adjusted as it would periodacly get jammed in a random gear, it would sometimes get stuck in limbo when you went from reverse to first. My mate had a hx gts monaro with a 253 and aussie 4 speed and he was always having problems as well.

A gearbox which is better left in the past if you ask me !

[FB MAD]

Yes, correct to some extent, crap if you subject them to more power than they were designed for and/or abuse them.

Were designed for your Joe Average who drove a car normally and were never really designed for high performance applications in standard form.

Had quite a few of them in various cars both 6 cyl and V8's over the years and never treated them bad and never ever had a problem.A standard 308 is about their limit if not abused.

Any gearbox will break if subjected to stresses beyond the engineered capability.

If the Aussie 4 speed box box is regularly jamming in gears the fix is to reco the shifter and rebush.No more jamming in gears after that.linkage adjustment is only fixing part of the problem.

I like them for a standard or lightly modified car and have used them wthout abusing them with no problems.

My thoughts,

Terry.

[rosco]

Very clever!

Does this mean that reverse in this application is across to the left and down?
Love the fulcrum bellcrank arrangement.............
You may wish to consider fitting a small metal box to the reverse spring bolt - I fitted a micro-switch into one and then connected that to a relay for reverse lights - works fine - micro-switch cost about $3 but had to modify it to provide a "leg or tang" which makes contact with the reverse selector lever - can send a pic if you would like to see my efforts...........

I have had my aussie part re-conditioned twice - for a fairly docile red six it seems to fit in quite nicely - I still have issues with second gear- especially when cold but otherwise find it quite appropriate with a 3:08 diff.

The factory gear linkage system is fine when it is correctly adjusted and slack taken up - it can get very clumbsy when there is slack involved.

I love what has been done to get the stick forward - wish I'd thought of it instead of spending years changing gears from the side of my lap.........

frats,
Rosco

[Smooth customs]

I see Scotty my PR department has posted some photos of the conversion I have been working on.

I hate to think what the comments would have been like if I had used an Opel 4 speed, but I know several people who have had them in their Holdens for almost twenty years and have never had a problem.

There is nothing wrong with an OZ 4 speed if it is driven the way it was designed for and the shifter is oiled and the linkages are checked and adjusted when needed ( as they were designed to be)

This type of conversion was used in early model Holden almost as soon as these gearbox's were available in the wrecking yards, initially behind red motors.

I made several adapters of this design shown to suit grey motors in the 70's and Trimatic conversions as well.

Later others made similar conversions.

This box will soon find a new home in a mild custom EK that belongs to a friend of mine.

We used it because he had it under the bench in his garage and will work fine for him. The one stipulation he asked for was that his bench seat could be kept unmodified.
So i moved the shifter and reworked the linkages

ROSCO

Reverse is across to the left and back! something different. The photos posted are of the test linkages I made, the final ones are much neater.
Thanks for the tip on the reverse switch.

After fitting, I am going to replace the late model shifter stick with an Impala stick for that 60's look.

If there is any interest, I will photograph the instalation and post (Scotty might) the photos.

[mrs ratbox]

do the pics and remember how you made everything else may come in handy, nothing wrong with an aussie if you treat 'em right and should have no probs behind a gray, mate of mine had one in a low 11 second torana just no dropping the clutch

[black57]

Thinking of doing this same setup. Any chance of seeing the pics?

Pinky.

[rosco]

Smooth, I expect you can place reverse anywhere you want if you make the "gate" and have the linkages "lever" the rod to push out the selector lever....... hmmmmmmm left and back - by golly, that would be an "alternative" position.... if you parked it facing a wall - no one would ever steal it...... they'd never find reverse over there........ providing you didn't "engrave" an "R" on the knob to show them where it was.........

My Aussie has "lived" behind the 179 HP - which is actually a 192....... I put a kit through it when I got it, and another ten years later..... it "grumbles" a bit in first and is very, very hard to get into second from first when cold.
I did the "tranny fluid" cocktail and this fixed a lot of the difficult shift.... Nulon G-70 also helped a bit - TWO tubes of it.
I learned to "double clutch" when coming back from 3rd many years ago.... and usually do this even without thinking about it.

First to second is the only issue.... I have taught two of my kids to drive in this old bus with the Aussie.... they hated it.... but now love it and tell all their friends with an aire of being hard trodden "I had to learn to drive in dad's EK - man, that clutch - that gearbox, those brakes, that steering......" but they learned well - and all of them can "double clutch"....

Mrs Ratbox - yes, the box is a strong box - compared to many. It is most certainly not a "Muncie" or a "Supra" - but it is a good box if treated with respect.

The BIG advantage that I realised with my old bus - was that there was a gear between a three speed grey first and second.... this allowed me to fit a taller diff..... and also made towing a bit easier - by having another gear..... not to mention having syncro on first.....

The grey gearbox ratios (and early reds) are different to the three speed all synchro box........ second in the grey box has a ratio of 1.59:1 which is very slightly lower than 3rd in the Aussie (1.51:1 - in the M20... I think, or is that the M21?).
The all synchro box has a second gear ratio of 1.68:1 which is very low......

I actually believe the "Celica" box is a better proposition for red motors.. possibly even more so for grey...... the ratios are better spread out and third allows considerable speed with a slight drop into 4th....... AND it has 5th 0.82:1.

I ahve a celica 5 speed in my FJ ute behind a very hot 192 with triple dual throat Webbers.... it has a "Dallow" bellhousing...
If I ever get my finger out and find some time - the FJ should indeed be an impressive beast...... but retirement prevents this - far too much "work".....'


frats,
Rosco