Hi all, building a rover v8 Haynes roadster and am wondering what gearbox to use. From what I can see I can use the LTT77, R380 or Borg Warner T5. Now I know the T5 feels frat to use as my old man has a Tvr with one and its great, problem is they tend to cost a lot. R380 then is the next best from what I can see as it more refined and stronger but I can't find a remote style gear stick for one so it will fit the car, they all seem to be the 4x4 types.

So this Leeds me to the LTT77 which seems a lot easier and cheaper to get hold of. The last thing I was is a gear change that feels like a bag of spanners and is difficult to actually find the gear, the only reason I think this is that's what's in lands over defender and the gear change is terrible. I have never tried one in a car with a short stick so can anyone advise me on what they feel like to use etc


Thanks for you help.

Lt77 in a v8 sd1 rover I had felt fine, quite a long throw which you could easily sort, filled with synthetic oil and it was lovely.

Make sure you get the right one, they went into other things as well.

A tired one in a landrover is not a good comparison, the r380's feel fine as well IMHO

Regards Mark

Iv'e got an early 4.0 chimaera which has the LT77 box, it's ok but not the fastest shifting box, although you don't really need it to be with the v8.

If you read piston heads the LT77 gearbox is just as good as the T5. I have one in my TVR which is fine. I had it reconned a while ago for £375

I had a Marlin fitted with a Rover V8 and LT77 gearbox from an SD1 Rover and it was fine. The only thing I did to the gearbox was change the oil and I did 18k miles with no problems.

I had one in my toy car and it was fine (did kill the one in our old SD1 though - on the night before I got married!!!!!). To get over the long throw, I chopped approx 6" off the top Measure before you cut, I'd hate to see you cut it too short to come through the trans tunnel !

ATB

Simon

Hi,
I've got an LT77 in my RV8 powered locost and it's great. I'm not 100% sure of the history of my 'box but I was told that it had been rebuilt less than 10k miles before I bought it. I've got no idea if that was true but it certainly seems good. There is a possibility it might have come from a Vitesse in which case I think it has some stronger bearings I think. If it is of interest, I paid £150 for the LT77 around 7 or 8 years ago. I had to buy a gear lever for £20 though as it didn't come with one.

Here's a link to my build diary showing the gearbox early in the build. http://www.meerkats.uk.com/meerkat-rv8-build/2003/5/25/final-may-progress

Here's another of the engine being fitted to the gearbox: http://www.meerkats.uk.com/meerkat-rv8-build/2004/7/25/engine-final-fitting

In terms of feel, the gearbox is very positive, leaving you in little doubt about which gear you are selecting which is handy as it goes through the gears very rapidly in such a light car. Reverse is a bit notchy perhaps but that's not unusual.

Give me a shout if you have any questions.

Cheers,
Craig.

An Lt77 did come with stronger bearings, the lt77s, the casing has more webbing on the outside.

They also stuck them in v8 ambulances etc.

From memory, range rover = long bell housing
SD1 = medium length bell housing
2.5 diesel Sherpa with v8 adaptor plate = shortest bell housing

[Edited on 2/1/14 by mark chandler]

Cheers guys, sounds like the ltt7 could be ok after all. All I have to do now is find a suitable one for a reasonable amounts. Thanks all

Send Robo a message over on the Haynes forum or Here he's putting a v8 into a roadster and I'm sure would know what GB would suit.

Nobody has mentioned ratios
It would be worth looking at the differend gearbox ratios available and putting them in a gear calculator with diff ratio and tyre size
I believe the T5 has the longest 1st gear and closer ratios for the rest

Best source is from a TR7 they are very lightlyloaded in this application.

As Mark said using synthetic oil helps a lot but you would never describe these boxes as slick - they are not in the same league as a MX5 for example.

Cheers!