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Volvo T5 engined locost - M90 box....
alistairolsen - 17/3/08 at 11:50 AM

Has anyone had any success with getting the M90 box from a volvo 960 to fit into a book locost tunnel? or a modified one?

I have a T5 engine and this seems the obvious choice for the box, however going BWT5 might be a better solution if there is NO hope of the volvo box and my feet both fitting

cheers

matt_claydon - 17/3/08 at 12:05 PM

Benzine on here is putting one in a modified Indy chassis, I'm sure he'll be along shortly. I decided it was too much chopping for my tastes so went for a BMW getrag box instead with an adapter plate from KLRacing.

It'll never fit unmodified, and in a narrow locost you're going to lose a lot of the driver's footwell. Unfortunately the M90 is asymmetrical with more bulk on the driver's side than the passenger's.

M90s are quite pricey and unless you already have the Volvo box you'll get a good Getrag and adapter plate for about the same money.

[Edited on 17/3/08 by matt_claydon]

[Edited on 17/3/08 by matt_claydon]

alistairolsen - 17/3/08 at 12:25 PM

which getrag from which car?

The M90H1 box on a sierra 3.62 diff runs 30mph/gear on a 6800 limiter which is nice

whats the ratios in the beemer box like?

How much are the adaptors?

Do you have a T5 in your car at the moment? Whats it like power delivery wise? quick enough

Volvorsport - 17/3/08 at 12:37 PM

ive got a whiteblock m90 on the way .

ive got a an adapter to a t5/t9 being developed already , getrag adapters are available from sweden .

the t9 derivative for NA use , some throttle bodies on a 2.5 equals 230 hp .

Benzine - 17/3/08 at 01:06 PM

quote:
Originally posted by matt_claydon
Benzine on here is putting one in a modified Indy chassis, I'm sure he'll be along shortly.


I've made the M90 fit nicely into my indy. I've lost a little room in the drivers pedal area but nothing drastic, most of the space was lost on the passenger side as that's where the clutch is. It required a fair amount of chopping and re-welding but I'm pretty much there now. I've managed to get it really far back too which gives a nice gearstick position.

matt_claydon - 17/3/08 at 01:14 PM

quote:
Originally posted by alistairolsen
which getrag from which car?
The M90H1 box on a sierra 3.62 diff runs 30mph/gear on a 6800 limiter which is nice
whats the ratios in the beemer box like?
How much are the adaptors?
Do you have a T5 in your car at the moment? Whats it like power delivery wise? quick enough


I'm only part way through the conversion I'm afraid, so can't answer all of that!

The box I'm using is from an E30 3-series, it's the box fitted to beemers with engines up to 2.5l. It's officially rated at 300Nm torque capacity so should be fine for the engine in standard tune. The adapters are also available for the bigger 'boxes which seem to be more popular due to the increased torque capacity. I went for the small one because a) I knew it would fit and b) there was one for sale locally for a tenner!

The adapters are fairly pricey: 2000 krona plus 300 krona for delivery, that's a bit under 200 pounds. Advantage is that the boxes are cheap and readily available, but if you blow up an M90 you are in for a big bill.

The m90 is probably the easiest option if you can re-work the chassis, and they are generally regarded as pretty strong. If you don't want to do chassis mods then the getrag or the T5 with Volvorsport's adapter are the way to go.

alistairolsen - 17/3/08 at 01:18 PM

the shift in the t5 is agricultural at best, and Im told the ratios arent great but I havent checked.

The getrag youre talking about is the 265 I think, which by comparison has a fantastic gearshift!

The M90 seems easiest as you say, but certinly open minded.

Any pics of your chassis mods Benzine...?

EDIT: Dont suppose either of you have weighed your boxes and adaptors etc?

[Edited on 17/3/08 by alistairolsen]

Benzine - 17/3/08 at 01:23 PM

quote:
Originally posted by alistairolsen

Any pics of your chassis mods Benzine...?

EDIT: Dont suppose either of you have weighed your boxes and adaptors etc?


I've not weighed the M90, from picking it up it feels similar in weight to a ford type 9. I've not sorted my pics out yet/downloaded them onto my pc yet. I'll try and remember to post some, U2U me to remind me if I forget!

alistairolsen - 17/3/08 at 01:43 PM

Surprised it isnt heavier :O

If I havent seen pics Ill drop you a PM,cheers

matt_claydon - 17/3/08 at 02:23 PM

The getrag I have is the 260; the more popular, larger one I described is the 265. When I say larger I mean in torque capacity, I have no idea if it's physically bigger.

It's certainly a lot lighter than the type 9, I was quite surprised when I first lifted it. No idea of the actual weight though.

philw - 17/3/08 at 04:17 PM

The other good thing with the 265 is you can get a gearkit for them if you can afford one.

Volvorsport - 17/3/08 at 05:59 PM

££££ for a getrag CR kit .

t5 borg warners come with a 2.9 1st in this country anyway .

theres nothing outwardly differnt between the 260/265 apart from an integral bellhousing .

in a light car - the smaller box will be more than adequate - even the M47 would probably last quite well .

having now got somrthing off to the machinist im having a getrag one for myself personally - but the ford boxes are the way to go , a quaife type 9 CR are relatively cheap second hand .

i even thought about using the MT75 but it has crap ratios , and getrags can be cheaper .

for anything that has a 3.5 and up 1st gear - you should be looking for a 3.3:1 back end - 1st gear is non existent otherwise .

im glad to see that my hard worked volvo marketing program is finally opening a few eyes !!!

alistairolsen - 17/3/08 at 07:31 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Volvorsport
££££ for a getrag CR kit .

t5 borg warners come with a 2.9 1st in this country anyway .

theres nothing outwardly differnt between the 260/265 apart from an integral bellhousing .

in a light car - the smaller box will be more than adequate - even the M47 would probably last quite well .

having now got somrthing off to the machinist im having a getrag one for myself personally - but the ford boxes are the way to go , a quaife type 9 CR are relatively cheap second hand .

i even thought about using the MT75 but it has crap ratios , and getrags can be cheaper .

for anything that has a 3.5 and up 1st gear - you should be looking for a 3.3:1 back end - 1st gear is non existent otherwise .

im glad to see that my hard worked volvo marketing program is finally opening a few eyes !!!


Type 9 isnt really strong enough for 300bhp is it?

And the synchros/gearchange on the T5 is rubbish

Getrag box is a lovely drive, dont know what the ratios are like?

Volvorsport - 17/3/08 at 07:58 PM

type 9 (quaife ) CR would be ok on an NA engine - if your shooting at 300 then a getrag or T5 box would be needed . the getrags , even the dog leg ones have pretty wide spaced ratios and a low first - hence needing the 3.3:1 rear which BMW use with the dogleg box .

quaife rate theres too 275 hp , so you could do a std t5 on it , and of course a light car means it has an easier time of it .

ill see if i can dig the getrag ratios up .

alistairolsen - 17/3/08 at 08:33 PM

Im going forced induction ;-)

300bhp will be as far as I go tho, so Ill be running a standard sierra 7 inch diff.

these are the M90 ratios:

Gear M90H1 M90H2 M90L1 M90L2
1 3.54:1 3.54:1 3.91:1 3.91:1
2 2.05:1 2.05:1 2.20:1 2.20:1
3 1.38:1 1.38:1 1.38:1 1.38:1
4 1.00:1 1.00:1 1.00:1 1.00:1
5 0.81:1 0.70:1 0.81:1 0.70:1

on a 3.62 and 185/55/13 the M90H1 gives 30mph per gear pretty much spot on.

for comparison these are the getrag 260s:
3.83 / 2.20 / 1.40 / 1.00 / 0.81

which isnt ideal, theyre quite wide spaced low down

Volvorsport - 17/3/08 at 11:39 PM

exactly why you need a 3.3 diff .

its no worse than theM47 volvo box tho , which is 3.9 1 st gear . just start in second !!

alistairolsen - 24/3/08 at 03:29 PM

5 properly spaced gears would be better tho, starting from a useable first to a short 5th!