I have put smaller wheels to standard on my hillman running 1725 and want to put a 5 speed in it to give it an xtra leg has anyone ever done this or any ideas a good/economical conversion
muzz67,
Apr 18, 8:48am
sundeam rapier overdrive box.
mrfxit,
Apr 18, 9:01am
What wheels have you got on now. They already had 13" rims
rob_man,
Apr 18, 9:03am
My powers of deduction tell me that you must have started off with a car having 15" early model wheels and an engine swap? I now deduce that you have put 13" wheels on the car. The easiest way to sort your undergearing is to put a later model diff in it.
snoopy221,
Apr 18, 9:25am
Yea bo izz got dis ole skool hunta
U fallas rkn im da shizzz?
tamarillo,
Apr 18, 9:35am
As said overdrive unit if you can find one, probably easier to change diff than find an overdrive though. Maybe they were made with different diff ratios over the years in which case they would likely have some identifiers on them to help find different one. Would have thought the later rapiers would have had higher gearing. Five speed box would need an adaptor plate/ housing to join box to engine and it's not very likely such a thing is available. A UK rootes club might know. These old things weren't geared for higher speeds.
tamarillo,
Apr 18, 9:48am
Impressed you remember the year you had it! I know I had a brown wagon but bugger if know when!
tintop,
Apr 18, 10:34am
Wasn't there a car that had the filler behind a tailight ?
rozendaal,
Apr 18, 12:03pm
Peugeot 403s had the filler behind the tail tight
jerichord,
Apr 18, 8:16pm
raced a rapier for a while, the diff that suited it best was out of a hunter station wagon, 4:4 ratio i think
tamarillo,
Apr 18, 8:23pm
Wouldn't the wagon have a lower diff giving less top speed so it handled weight better? Maybe that suited racing. Though op could have a wagon. Op? What you got?
ambo11,
Apr 18, 8:56pm
Humber super Snipes (about 1963 era) had the fuel filler behind left tailight that screwed off. Nice way to help keep the bodyline smooth.
muzz67,
Apr 18, 9:57pm
Mate bought one years ago,, on first time out he pulled into servo to fill up and started pouring the gas in,, wondered why could smell petrol big time. Opened boot to find gallons of fuel pouring out onto the ground! Turned out a previous owner,, worried that hiding the filler cap wasn't thief-proof enough,, had disconnected the pipe to the tank and fitted one inside the boot instead. DOH!
franko171,
Apr 18, 10:01pm
hunter auto
upnorth,
Apr 18, 10:52pm
I can remember several makes and models I've had with OD.
None of these went faster in OD top on a level road as the engine was revving lower on its power band.
But economy was improved and the radio volume could be turned down.
bwg11,
Apr 19, 3:32am
? With a direct (1 to 1, 4th gear) 4 speed box.
elect70,
Apr 19, 3:59am
Toyota supra 5 sp c/w cltuch etc & get adaptor plate made ? Expensive ,but chances of finding a Rapier od are slim to non existant , im sure most Rapiers have been restored
tamarillo,
Apr 19, 4:23am
OP, what model is it and what wheels and tyres have you put on?
serf407,
Apr 19, 5:38am
The 5th gear in a sierra type n manual box is 0.82:1 so you might be aiming for a 0.9:1 at a guess but you would need to Yamaha r1 throttle body the engine to pick the engine up a bit or something. https://youtu.be/L2j6iPDBmeM (R1 throttle bodies on a Lada- innovative mix of Russian and Japanese technology)
ema1,
Apr 19, 5:48am
I was wondering that too as all Hunter's and their derivatives ran 13" wheels from new as did the Super Minx and Humber 90 cars. The earlier Minx and Humber 80 cars ran 15" wheels. 14" wheels were never fitted to any Rootes cars as far as I'm aware. Only thing I'm thinking may have been done here is lower profile tyres being fitted? Some Singer Vogue and Humber Sceptre cars of the Hunter shape as well as the Sunbeam rapier models had over drive units ( the excellent Laycock de Normanville.)
muzz67,
Apr 19, 9:15am
Slim, but there is one on TM,,,,,,,
esky-tastic,
Apr 19, 9:21am
And '56 Chevs - and others
esky-tastic,
Apr 19, 9:23am
Yep, had me puzzled too!
skin1235,
Apr 19, 9:33am
55 Humber also
tamarillo,
Apr 19, 9:33am
I kinda thought it meant a direct drive top gear. I'm harking back to idea if top being direct and overdrive being lower than direct. Recall 5th gear was refered to as an overdriven 5th? Admit I've never know whether a direct was literally that - 1 to 1.
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