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Dakota123 Member
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Hello, after asking a couple of folks about their recent experiences with CC, I'm very reluctant to rely on them as a source for a W5X install kit. I haven't seen that there are any other options, though. Does anyone know of any other sources for 5-spd install kits? Doesn't necessarily have to be for a W5X (although that is my preference). Thoughts appreciated, Mike |
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Jensenman Member
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I ran into the same thing, I think Conversion Components has either quit with the J-H kits or has gone out of business. That's why I decided to 'homebrew' mine. The tale of that swap is covered in the club magazine; Parts 1 and 2 have been published already, Part 3 is due in the next issue. AFAIK there were/are no other 'kits' available to swap a 5 speed anything else into a J-H. I *think* a T5 or T56 5 speed (like used in Mustangs and Camaros) have been installed but again that's a 'homebrew', no kit available. |
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Jensenman Member
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Fatfingers, double post. Oops. Last edited on 04-29-2009 06:57 pm by Jensenman |
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Dakota123 Member
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Yeah, after reading Part Two of your home brew article (I joined JHPS too late to receive Part 1) I decided a kit was preferable. I used to have a complete machine shop available, once upon a time, but those days are gone. The item that stops me dead in my tracks is the bellhousing. The rest of it appears to be relatively easy to resolve. *sigh* Mike |
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Steve Johnson Member 
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I am currently doing the w-58 transmission conversion now, check with Mike at http://www.lotusbits.com I got the bellhousing from a late lotus Excel from him and am currently doing a hydraulic clutch conversion, do not have machine shop to be able to do as Jensenman did, i have been in contact with him and he was a big help. Steve |
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dwalls1 Member
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I don't mean to hi jack this thread, but have you considered an overdrive unit? I have one sitting in my garage that I had hoped to be installing by now. But, since I broke my collarbone two weeks ago, I have had to put the install off. I may change my mind as I get into the project as I have zero experience with O/D, let alone installing one, but so far I am pleased with what I got and the cost of the unit. |
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Jensenman Member
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Actually, getting the bellhousing was (for me) one of the easiest parts of the whole project. I got mine from lotusbits as well. Steve, how are you mounting the master cylinder for the clutch? About the only thing I could find which didn't involve massive reworking of the pedal mounts was a 'pull' type master cylinder from a circle track car. Don't remember who made it, I do remember it was pricey and I would have had to do a remote reservoir and all kinds of stuff. Or putting a 'push' type cylinder under the dash, much cutting and nearly inacessible afterwards, or building a hybrid cable to work a remote mounted linkage, lots of fabrication and lost motion in the linkage. In fact, I'm converting the rotary tranny for my other project from a hydraulic to a cable setup. Last edited on 04-30-2009 02:53 am by Jensenman |
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Dakota123 Member
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Steve, the hydraulic actuator is optional, or is it required due to the Excel bellhousing (RH drive or something)? Dale, I had considered an overdrive unit, but from the board posts (most of which I now realize are from 2005 -- 2007) it seemed like the CC kit was the better choice for me. I thought I was all set with a plan and bought a transmission. I'm not commited to this route exactly (it should be fairly easy to unload the transmission on eBay if it comes to that) but I want to exhaust my options before moving on. (Hope there's a good story behind the broken collarbone a least...) |
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jgreen Member
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Guys, I have a 5 speed CC kit installed. It works great, but I will have to go to a specialized shop to get a clutch/pressure plate/ and throwout bearing when the time comes as CC is ridiculous to deal with. I have email them probably 50 times and never received a response. I was offering to buy a few clutches/pressure plates etc. to last the life of the car, so I wouldn't have to worry. No way, Colin never respond to emails/phone calls. I do have a contact who is interested in making kits ( complete with Bellhousing) if anybody is interested. I would "donate" my bellhousing so the computer can measure it. The rest of the kit components can be "borrowed" from my car to manufacture. This would probably be the best way to go if enough people are interested in the conversion. Just some thoughts..... Please email me if interested and if enough people are interested, maybe they will manufacture a few here in the USA. |
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Dakota123 Member
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I'd certainly be interested, if this were to happen in a reasonable time frame. FWIW, Colin popped up this morning with an e-mail to me. Might be a good time to try to reach him! Mike |
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Steve Johnson Member
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Here is a picture of clutch master cylinder, used original clutch cable to the bellcrank for the cylinder, then to the slave on bellhousing, This cable just broke on Tuesday, should have replacement (Delta) today and change it out tomorrow. Steve Attachment: 061309FountainValleyCarShow450-vi.jpg (Downloaded 410 times) |
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Steve Johnson Member
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here is another picture. steve Attachment: 061309FountainValleyCarShow451-vi.jpg (Downloaded 405 times) |
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normv Member 
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Found thi on th net , a JH hydrolic clutch conversion http://www.healeyjournal.com/pages/jensentransmission.html |
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JodyKerr Member 
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I know James from AH circles. It certainly helps to have Martin Shirley nearby. :) |
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StevenD57 Member 
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Steve Johnson wrote: here is another picture.Don't you have these pictures in a higher resolution? It is very difficult to see any details in those dinky photos. |
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StevenD57 Member
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Also I am in the process of doing the engineering to install a W58 with the Lotus bellhousing. I am sticking with the original Jensen-Healey clutch cable. I am working on making the the original JH clutch fork work with the Lotus Excel bellhousing. I am using the clutch pressure plate and disk from a 1984 Toyota Celica with the original JH flywheel. It is a 8 7/8 inch clutch instead of a 8.5 inch. I am having the JH flywheel redrilled to accept the Toyota pressure plate. I still have to work out what to do about the throwout bearing mating with the Toyota input shaft sleeve. I.E. the piece that the throwout bearing slides back and forth on. The Toyota one is slightly smaller diameter than the JH one so the JH throwout bearing sleeve fits rather loose on the Toyota T/O sleeve. |
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superk83 Member
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Sweet, keep us updated...! |
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Frank Schwartz Member
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That is a very nice engine compartment. Where did you get that blue timing belt?? Frank Schwartz |
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StevenD57 Member
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The blue belts are the HTD round tooth enhanced belts from JAE. |
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Jensenman Member
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I went the same route Steve057 did, I mounted a pivot on the opposite side of the bellhousing from the stock Lotus setup and modified a J-H clutch fork to use the Celica release bearing. So far so good. On my rotary powered J-H, I made a bellcrank for the transmission to change the direction of movement and also the leverage. The stock cable was way too long because the Mazda linkage was on the left side of the transmission instead of the right so I used a much shorter 1980's Acura Integra cable. While doing that, I moved the adjuster to the top, easily accessed from under the hood. It works perfect! Somewhere I have a picture of the bellcrank setup, I'll have to dig it up. |
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superk83 Member
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Hey StevenD, any updates/pics? Jensenman, any pics of your setup, mainly of the mods made to the bellhousing and clutch fork? Last edited on 01-26-2012 05:22 am by superk83 |
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Steve Johnson Member
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This Link seems to be not working anymore. any one have info from this or is on another site? I remember seeing this awhile back and thought it was a nice way to do the conversion Steve |
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