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Type 9 gear ratios
peter_m7uk - 7/3/21 at 06:57 PM

Hi all, I'm about to whip my engine out as I think the spigot bearing may have gone.   Not 100% about that, it could be gearbox related instead.   So I was thinking, while I'm doing a major job, should I change the gearbox as well..    It came out of a 100,000 mile donor Sierra, all I did was clean and paint it, change the oil and output shaft seal.  I thought it was okay, but it would be good to have a box that I can trust completely.

Anyway, I looked at my options and found this company - https://www.firstmotion.co.uk/ford-type-9-close-ratio-2/ - who will do an exchange or rebuilt gearbox, with options for different ratios.   The standard Type 9 has a 3.65:1 first gear and 1.97:1 second gear, which are obviously very different!   Have any of you tried the 2.98:1 first gear?   That is an option from First Motion.   The idea is that you can hold first for longer when you accelerate, as the standard box means you have to go into 2nd quickly and then it's much higher than 1st, so it isn't so smooth through the gears.   First Motion do other options, but it gets expensive pretty quickly!

Opinions welcomed ​​​​​​​

RussH - 7/3/21 at 07:17 PM

I’ve got their 2.83 box. Transforms the driving experience. Good service from Paul, would heartily recommend.

cliftyhanger - 7/3/21 at 07:31 PM

Heard very good things about Firstmotion.

Actually picking my gearbox up tomorrow after a refresh plus a few odds and ends (still ouch) from BGH. Nice chaps, but it has taken 4 months. They have had supply issues though, but I gather they are not usually described as rapid. BGH are not too far from me...

rusty nuts - 7/3/21 at 08:01 PM

One of the best mods I’ve done was to fit a high 1 st box from BGH. At the time I rang early in the week and picked the box up on the Saturday . Gear change was a little stiff for the first 50 miles or so but then eased. With hindsite I should have gone for a lower 5th gear
.

procomp - 8/3/21 at 12:13 PM

If going to the expense of doing the box my advice would be, just do it properly 1st time saves money in long run.

SPC transmissions. https://www.tracsport.com/

snapper - 8/3/21 at 08:22 PM

Use a V6 type 9 as the base (the one with the bigger lay shaft bearing) and you will have better ratios all round. The shorter 1st gear option will give 2.72 if you upgrade that.
Original V6 ratios are 3.36, 1.81, 1.21, 1
The 1.81 2nd gear was the one that allowed the V6 Sierra get to 60 in 2nd gear with a 3.6 diff

peter_m7uk - 8/3/21 at 10:46 PM

quote:
Originally posted by RussH
I’ve got their 2.83 box. Transforms the driving experience. Good service from Paul, would heartily recommend.


Thanks, Russ. My reservation is that the 2.83 box costs £1500 for these ratios

2.83 1.81 1.26 1.0 0.82 or 0.85

but the 2.98 box costs £950 for these ratios

2.98 1.97 1.37 1.0 0.82

I struggle to believe that it's worth paying almost 60% more for slightly higher ratios in 1st to 3rd gear?? My car has the 3.9:1 Sierra diff, which is the lower geared one (rather than 3.6) for good acceleration. I could have had a very similar effect to the 2.83 box by just choosing the 3.6 diff, but surely that would reduce acceleration?

I realise that it's about how you use the gears against the torque curve of the engine as well, but I have a 2.0i Pinto with a high lift cam - It's not going to be as torquey as the modern engines, so I believe it suits lower ratios. It generates about 160Nm/118ftlb torque at 4000rpm and 85kW/115bhp at 5500rpm, I would be interested to know what engines you're using with the higher ratios. Also, I would be interested to hear from anyone else on here with a 2.0 Pinto how they feel about different gear ratios.

Cheers



[Edited on 8/3/21 by peter_m7uk]

peter_m7uk - 8/3/21 at 10:51 PM

quote:
Originally posted by rusty nuts
One of the best mods I’ve done was to fit a high 1 st box from BGH. At the time I rang early in the week and picked the box up on the Saturday . Gear change was a little stiff for the first 50 miles or so but then eased. With hindsite I should have gone for a lower 5th gear
.


I will give BGH a call to see how they compare to First Motion. If it's a long wait, though, I won't bother! No way am I missing Spring and Summer driving waiting on them to finish

[Edited on 8/3/21 by peter_m7uk]

peter_m7uk - 8/3/21 at 11:05 PM

quote:
Originally posted by snapper
Use a V6 type 9 as the base (the one with the bigger lay shaft bearing) and you will have better ratios all round. The shorter 1st gear option will give 2.72 if you upgrade that.
Original V6 ratios are 3.36, 1.81, 1.21, 1
The 1.81 2nd gear was the one that allowed the V6 Sierra get to 60 in 2nd gear with a 3.6 diff


Hi Snapper, thanks. See my reply to Russ, though. I'm running an older 4 cylinder engine, I'm not sure if it makes sense to go for higher gear ratios when I have less torque? I suspect those ratios were better matched to the bigger Cologne engine.

Having said that, I suppose an argument for higher gears is that you can change up later, so you're in a lower gear for a particular speed of the car. So I dunno, I suppose the best way to find out would be to try different gearboxes with my 2.0i Pinto and 3.9:1 diff. Bit expensive and time-consuming, though!! I'm inclined just to go for the 2.98 first gear on an otherwise standard refurbed box. If the prices of the options were all similar and I knew higher gears matched my engine and diff, I suppose I would have gone for that instead.

Cheers