Listers;
Thanks for all the great responses to my posting. Just thought I'd add a few
comments to those still "on the fence" on the dogbox issue.
I can only speak for Cortina gearboxes here, which are used in numerous cars,
from Cortina's, to Elan's/26Rs, Elva's, Lotus 7's, Morgans' and more??? This
argument is limited to this box only and may not hold water for other
marques.
Stock, close ratio, or semi-close ratio Cortina boxes are getting in very
short supply. Replacement gear sets are available from numerous sources in a
variety of ratios for both straight and bevel cut gears for synchro and
non-synchro boxes, as well as dog engagement boxes. Synchro rings are
sometimes
available in the stock brass, and some pricey fabricated steel ones are also
available. But the slider-collars, clips, springs, shift forks/levers, and
other
misc. necessary bits are impossible to find. Further, case wear from the lay
shaft is a common failure mode on the boxes, so cases are also in short supply,
but repro alloy cases are available.
As one who's tried all of the above, I can state that a stock synchro box is
guaranteed to fail in short order...usually a split synchro ring is the
initial culprit. When this happened to me I then went to a dog box (first
rented,
then purchased from Gil Nickel who was kind enough to help me out with his 26R
spare while up at the Seattle races yearas ago). The dog box lasted YEARS
before it finally gave up to my abuse. After hearing the rumblings and
grumblings of my competitors about it, I succummed to building a straight cut
synchro
box, which lasted only a season with many problems. Its now a pile of parts in
the shop. I'm completely convinced that the dog box is the only reliable
solution (and using a stock close ratio gearset). I've discussed this matter
at
length with Dave Bean and we have both concluded that we're running dog boxes
and if they won't have us, then we won't be spending our money in their town.
(Dave may be lurking out there...if you are Dave, please stick your 2 cents
worth in on this...nobody knows more about Lotus/Cortina parts availability
than
you).
I would reluctantly admit that a dogbox could be a slight performance
advantage (especially if your car has one and its running, while your
competitor is
laying under his car changing transmissions), but it just ain't worth the
trouble to bother running synchro boxes. I know of more Cortina's with dog
boxes
than synchro's and have no problem with them using them.
Regards,
Myles H. Kitchen
1965 Lotus (Woof - dogbox again) Cortina Mk1 #128
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