New Aluminum Bellhousing for Magnum XL Swaps

[TA28]

I'll take picture and post it. It has a nos bell on it now. Was orignal trans to the fr500 . Yes t56 trans built by rockland gear for ford racing.
Is a t56 trans but not same trans that was used in cobra stangs.

 

[TA28]

Ok 6 inches to face of bellhousing from back of throwout bearing. Input shaft still passes that by 3/8 of an inch.

 

[TA28]

Adapter plate measures 2 inches

 

[TA28]

More

 

[TA28]

More

 

[DipstickMotorsports]

on this topic. I've made a lighter cross mount.

2 Lbs ( identical to cast oem crossmembers )

Steel one that comes with T56 MagXL kits are 7 Lbs

 

[DipstickMotorsports]

On the Spacer progress - no ones willing to send a bolt pattern or CAD of the face - I need this to be dimensionally accurate for the dowels to pass through with tight tolerances ideally. I pulled the dowels out and will be getting longer ones to have it passthrough into the bellhousing.

This is what I've come up with- but hesitant to get this made until I confirm dimensions with a proper engineering document. I already bothered Tick, McLeod, Tremec, MDL - No one is helpful here so might need to shell out for a better 3d scanner or pay some one to come scan it with lidar/laser

 

[DipstickMotorsports]

Some updates on this whole fiasco.


Dowel Extension:



Plate machined out of 6061, my throat is very sore after a lot of reaching out to Tremec people to finally get a technical drawing:


Fitment is perfection with dowel extension:


Fitted in the car, shifter lines up perfect and there is a nice window to see TOB.


SendCutSend cover plate made, will need to bolt it in and find a way to fix it and not rattle:



Made my own clutch line using some real nice fittings from Goodridge and -4 line



Switched to the GT500 Hydraulic CSC bearing this round and had a custom machined spacer made for the airgap after measuring for the Exedy Hyper Single - It ended up needing a 37mm spacer which is a tad thicker than the 32mm KoHR spacer:




Should be able to track test in the coming weeks weather dependent and report back on how it all works!

 

[DaveW]

Did SendCutSend do the CNC? If this works out, will you sell me your file?

DaveW

 

[DipstickMotorsports]

Circling back to this, I did do a shakedown event in late January and everything is working brilliantly! Bigger shakedown in a couple weeks at Ridge - hope the PNW weather can figure it out so I can push the car and really shake it down

 

[TeeLew]

I was planning on doing this swap this winter, glad you are beta testing it for me. Interested in how much the 1" adapter plate ends up weighing. Trying to get 100+ lbs out of my car this winter (fiberglass doors already purchased)

F-ing 4 speed dog ring box is looking better all the time (autocross, I only need 2 gears). 50-60lbs, makes racy noises = good. $5-10k cost = not good.

DaveW

Honestly, this is the move. Find someone in North Carolina to get you a Jericho. They're cheap and strong. You can get any gears you want. They're 1/2 the weight of a modern 6 speed. If you want to go back more street driving, swap back. If you need a taller high gear, change the rear end.

 

[Dave_W]

An idea I've toyed with if I ever do a trailered a/x car is to use a 4-spd and gear it so I can launch in 2nd, then use 3rd & 4th on an open course. Makes it dang near impossible to miss a shift on course. I could get really fancy and machine off 1st gear for lightness if I don't need it to creep onto the trailer.

 

[TeeLew]

Just get a tall enough first that it's usable on track for hairpins, something like 60 mph. This will tighten the rev drops to high gear. People over-estimate how much gears are worth around a lap. You need a lot of gears when you have a narrow powerband. These cars do not have narrow powerbands. Gearing may make life easier or more difficult, but it has an annoyingly small influence on lap time.

 

[Dave_W]

My goal was a straight-line shift for the gears needed mid-course, in an autocross-specific application. In a/x, you're not going that fast (compared to track) and you always start from a dead stop. Normally, that means starting in 1st, shifting to 2nd, and then going to 3rd and back to 2nd once or twice on a fast "open" course like at Nationals.

But those 2-3-2 shifts aren't a straight shot, so they can be hard to make in the heat of battle. If I change gearing so it becomes 3-4-3, it's much easier to hit, especially on a 4-spd where you can just keep a little pressure to the right as you move the shifter. Just an idea. People have won by 1-2 thousandths of a second on a 70 second run, so every bit helps.

 

[TeeLew]

I didn't realize you were a cone guy like me. That 2-3 shift is a proper PITA. I replaced the 3.55 rear in my HPP with a 3.15 so I could stay in second the whole lap. Eco's have plenty of bottom end (I can make 600 lb ft of torque), but about 1000 fewer revs to play with than a coyote. The taller rear has a touch less acceleration on paper, but, on course, it's the right trade.

It's better to drive on the street as well.

 

[DaveW]

I am geared to approx 78mph in 2nd with the T56 (53-ish in 1st). Since it is a stock manifold, we turned off the rev limiter as it won't pull enough air to hurt itself and banging against the limiter is hard on the oil pump gears (per Lund)

Anyway, I have only used 3rd gear once since the T56 conversion and that was on a DriveAutoX/Optima event with a literal 400' straight. Never have needed it on any national tour or nationals course.

I did the ultra high numerical gear thing on both a manual and auto trans on the CP and EM race cars and it works very well. On the manual you got the straight shift and on the auto, it made the ratio split pretty small.

Jericho is on the long term list for no other reason than the weight savings, but it ain't free and I wouldn't mind getting 20lbs out of the car with the aluminum bellhousing in the few years meantime.

DaveW