turbo V6 rear end question

[DavyZ]

Welcome back Phil! My bro and I were just talking about you & your project the other day. Did you pick up a T5 for a V6 or a T5 for a V8??? They have different input shafts which can be swapped, but the V8 T5 is much stronger. I know this is after the fact, but FYI.

 

Cheers,

Davy

[Scottie-GNZ]

Phil,

 

if you are running the stock roadster diff, the ratio is probably too low for the turbo Buick. The Buick is not a high revver, unless you made mods to make it so. The turbo loves to have time in each gear to spool up. I believe the roadsters might have the R-160, but even if it is an R-180, the ratios will probably be 3.70 or 3.90. You can get R-160 LSDs from any Subaru AWD (not 4WD) but they also have 3.70. I would imagine you are running a short tire which makes it even worse.

 

If you have not already though of it, you might consider a 240Z/260Z manual-shift R-180 with the 3.36. No shortage of those puppies . I do not, however, know how involved that swap would be.

[Guest Anonymous]

Hey Davy - I hope you guys said good things Geez....I got it out of an '89 Firebird V6!!! Man, I had the impression that the only difference was the bell housing between V8 and V6 cars. So, will this thing explode the first time I hit 2nd gear?? Do you know the difference between the two and can I make it strong?

 

Phil the mad one! but not foaming at the mouth yet.

[DavyZ]

Yes, it was only good (juicy) stuff lol

 

Well, the V6 T5 has a torque rating of only 220 lb/ft if I remember correctly (I'm wrong a lot!) or something close to that. Only God knows if it'll frag when you pop the clutch. Let's see, your V6 will have 300 hp and the torque will be about what? If you are around 250 lb/ft of torque I would just use it. If you are around 300 lb/ft, I would look at other options. But you already have this thing in your possession, right? Hmmm.

 

A few years ago I owned a TR7 which I wanted to convert to Chevy V6 power. I did not have this forum to draw knowledge from at the time and I did some research into the trannys. Some advice I got from a local transmission shop was to NOT buy the V6 transmission, but buy a V8 one instead and have it modified with a different input shaft to fit the V6. Now about the bellhousing...well, I'd have to look at that...I thought the V6 block and V8 block had the same back ends, but see I could be wrong there! I never pursued the conversion because I was fed up with the TR7, period. I figured a Datsun conversion was less hassle and would be cheaper in the end--have you priced modifications for TR7s? Not cheap! Anyway, enough babbling, I know you will do the right thing! Good luck.

 

Davy

[Guest Anonymous]

Hey Scotty and Davy -

 

Yep, Scotty you know your Roadsters. The 1600 has the 3.89 and 2000 has the 3.70 rear ends. I was told the RX7 rear end has the same width as the Roadster and can come LSD. I know of a few in the local JY so i will do some investigation on this. The Z rear would be a job to get into a Roadster. Some guys are putting independent rears in Roadsters, but a lot of work.

 

I posted a question on the Gear Zone board on the differences between the V6 and V8 WC T5. From reading some of the posts it looks like the V6 has different ratios. I may be looking for another trans - oh great!

 

The project will move on! This weekend I weld in a new rear panel and trunk floor.

 

Thanks for the information guys!! Even though some news is not so great But, better to learn now and not at the strip!