It's possible to mate any transmission with any engine. It's just a question
of how much time and $$ you want to invest in it. There are lots of
instances currently of folks putting Orient based boxes into British iron,
some vintage sanctioning bodies now even allow it. (unfortunately) A company
called Advanced Adapters manufactures conversion parts for some of the more
widely done conversions, ie Chevy and Ford V-8s into Jeep CJs and even many
of the imported 4x4s.
Making a modification on an input shaft is a simple task along with the nose
housing and custom built clutch disks with matching centers are also
available.. Adapter plates can be fashioned for bell housings and drive
shafts can be custom built. A corvette box is a pretty heavy lump, but I
suppose if you wanted more ballast, one could do such a conversion. Perhaps
it had straight cut gears and was desirable.
Anything is possible, the question is, is it practical? One magazine in the
past featured someone dropping a Cat diesel engine into a Spitfire. All that
comes to mind is "Why?" Remember it's stuff like this that allowed Ripley
the "Believe it or Not" books.
I have a 1984 C4 Corvette that has the Doug Nash 7 speed in it, I suppose
there are some who would like that in a Triumph, I am not among them. As a
result it still lives in the plastic pig. Possibilities are endless with
some creative machining, (and deep pockets). Likely the story had some
factual basis to it.
Russ Moore
Spitfire #49
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-fot@autox.team.net [mailto:owner-fot@autox.team.net]On
Behalf Of Chris Kantarjiev
Sent: Tuesday, May 27, 2003 3:35 PM
To: fot@autox.team.net
Subject: corvette tranny in GT6?
Got this in my email today. Anyone have a clue of just how much
this guy's leg was being stretched?
> Its probably been 14 or 15 years ago now, but I was walking through
> the pits at the Sebring 12-hour and someone had a GT-6 entered.
> Since I owned one, my brother (the mechanic) and I stopped for a
> look and a chat. Imagine our surprise to see a Hurst shifter. We
> asked how theyd made it fit and they said they had a Corvette
> transmission in the car! Of course, we found this incredulous, but
> we looked again in the engine bay and sure enough, it was the
> standard Triumph 6-banger. They insisted that a Corvette transmission
> would bolt right up to a GT-6/TR-6 bell housing and that the only
> thing you had to work out was the input shaft. However, they were
> equally insistent that a good machine shop could make short work
> of adapting one to the other.
>
> Now, I cant vouch for this information as my brother was subsequently
> disabled and we didnt continue with our participation in motorsports
> beyond the level of spectators. However, it sure would solve a lot
> of problems for many a Triumph racer if this turned out to be
> worthwhile information.
I can imagine that a new rear plate would be necessary, at least.
Or an adapter for the bellhousing. But if the length were about right...
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