The man at the garage had been saying for some time that the gear box in my MR2 (pre-facelift 5-speed) is 'very noisy', whatever that means. And it was definitely on its last legs, gear changes were crunchy and painful, so if possible I'd start in 2nd, get up to 40 mph and then shift straight to 5th (it is very short ratios!).
I finally got organised a month ago, went up to Carlisle to collect a new-ish box (the later facelift version 6-speed) from Dick Sloan (£650), the local garage faffed about for three-and-a-half weeks (£614 incl. new clutch, incl. VAT) and I picked it up again yesterday.
It's like having a new car! I've had clutches replaced before, but they were just incremental improvements - this is a world apart, and it was a great car before anyway. Combined with the new-ish 6-speed, it is quieter (he was right about the noise); gear changes are buttery smooth; the ratios are the same as the 5-speed with a longer 6th, so you can do 70 mph at 3,000 revs not 3,500 (so doubly quiet on the motorway and better fuel economy); it seems to accelerate better (although this is possibly illusory, bugger all happens in 6th of course); etc etc.
£1,300 all in (incl. petrol to Carlisle and back) seems a lot if you say it like that, but nowadays that's 20 visits to the petrol station, and it will extend the car's life by five or ten years. So worth every penny.
Saturday, 6 August 2022
It's like having a new car!
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7 comments:
I've always liked the MR2. There is a nice looking one round here, but I've only seen it a couple of times so I'm not sure who owns it. A sixth gear would be useful on our MX5 when we go anywhere via the A38.
AKH, I have an automatic MX5 2.5 (old lady cruiser car) and a manual MR2 (boy racer idiot car) for balance.
Some of the 2.5's and 3's had 6-speed, but opinions on the forums differ which is "better". I think all the 4's have it, but the cabin is so bloody cramped (and the boot so awkward) I wouldn't want one. And there's a weird bump under your left foot on the driver's side, making it even less comfy.
Mr Smug here rebuilt the Ford 2000E 'box in the racer. Transformed from a crunchy change 2->3 / 3-> 4 into slick and swift. That's was at least 10 years ago...
L, well done! This is all far beyond me, so I get the garage to do it.
It's actually quite fun working on gearboxes. They have a 'logic'. And as long as there are no, or very few, special tools required, it's not difficult. Just time consuming if you don't do it regularly.
I only tried once: as I was dismantling the gearbox, some ball bearings shot out and disappeared into the corners of the workshop, so I gave up. It was easier to get another one from the scrappie.
Thinking about it, that 3000 revs in 6th is still pretty short gearing. Mrs L's petrol auto E Pace is pulling about 2000 revs at 70mph (indicated).
Mind you the racer (4 speed Ford 2000E) was pulling 8500 ish at about 130...
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