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| Moderated by: Greg Fletcher |
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| sunbeam gearbox | Rate Topic |
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| Posted: 06-12-2013 01:28 pm |
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1st Post |
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patrick lovering Member
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Hi all, just notice there is a Sunbeam Rapier gearbox with a laycock overdrive on ebay uk at the momment, I realise this might be not much use to you in the States, but just thought I'd mention that I have made this conversion to my Mk2 and it works well, the extra gears really relax the engine on motorways and effect quite a saving in fuel. The gearknob mounted overdrive switch from a Triumph Stag works a treat and looks pretty cool too. Patrick
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| Posted: 06-14-2013 10:35 pm |
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2nd Post |
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Frank Schwartz Member
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Too bad such things never appear here in the US....
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| Posted: 06-15-2013 10:53 am |
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3rd Post |
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patrick lovering Member
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they're pretty rare over here too, I think the Laycock overdrive units were also fitted to Jaguar, Austin Healy, Alpine, Hillman, Triumph, MG.
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| Posted: 06-19-2013 04:19 pm |
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4th Post |
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Greg Fletcher Administrator 
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Ages ago, Richard Appleyard in the UK did an article for our club newsletter on how to do this conversion. I'll have to dig that out. Sounds worthwhile, but I remember it being expensive back then and some of the parts where already hard to get. It did require a fair amount of fiddly work and fabrication.
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| Posted: 06-19-2013 05:57 pm |
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5th Post |
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patrick lovering Member
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The overdrive is just a bolt on affair and electrically activated via the stag gearknob switch, the cables running up a supplementary metal pipe I braised onto the gear stick. you are also supposed to drill and tap a cut out switch that stops you selecting reverse whilst in overdrive. I did'nt do this out of laziness and as a result made the gearbox make some horrible noises a few times!
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| Posted: 03-25-2021 10:57 pm |
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6th Post |
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Spaceman Member 
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So do you still have that article, I just bought a Sunbeam Rapier OD, and wonder what parts I need to get with it? Do I need the long shaft sticking out of the Rapier 4 speed?
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| Posted: 03-26-2021 02:51 pm |
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7th Post |
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noomg Member
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Unless your J/H is a 4sp I'm not sure why you'd want to try to adapt what sounds like a very rare gearbox which is going to require a lot of engineering and fabrication to make it work. The Getrag 5sp is a very nice gearbox and works really well in the J/H. If you do have a 4sp I think it would be much easier to find a Getrag and do a swap, I think you'd be pleased with the results.
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| Posted: 03-26-2021 07:16 pm |
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8th Post |
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subwoofer Member
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The Getrag has a taller rear end, so effectively it already has an overdrive compared to the 4-speed. Top is 1:1 for both boxes. -- Joachim
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