I BLEW-UP MY GEARBOX, NOW I'M MAKING A STRONGER ONE

[TDK]

Most of you would know about the extent of my turbo conversion (on a 2002 SP20). I am currently running 19psi of boost with 202kw (270hp) at the front wheels.

Unfortunately last Sunday night I blew up my box. Now before people start to accuse my driving style for the big bang I would like to state that I am a very responsible driver that doesn't thrash their car. I never drop the clutch, I only shift in a smooth fashion. About a week before my gearbox died it started to make some noises. I was assured that It probably was nothing, but how wrong they were.

Anyway, let me tell you about what I am doing now. We ended up finding another SP20 gearbox which had only done about 30K KM, which is 30K less then what I had done with my current box. As you would know, getting a second hand gearbox is risky because you don't really know how it was treated and what condition it is inside. I was also worried that the same thing would happen to this box as what happened to the other box. As there isn't any readily available substitutes that fit directly onto the SP20 we had to use the second hand box, but we decided to spend the money and time to strengthen it.

Once we got our hands on the new box we (by 'we' I mean my mechanic) opened it up and pulled the internals apart. I guy from MT&C Engineering came and picked all the parts up on Wednesday. What he will be doing is checking the parts for cracks. Once that is done he will carry out a CRYO treatment and then shot peen all the parts (parts include all gears and shafts). Once this is done he will also dress the gear teeth. He said that I can come around and pick them up on Sunday. I will then take it back to my mechanic and then it will be rebuilt, with all new seals and bearings, my a guy that has been doing rebuilds for 40 years. Once that is done my mechanic will put the tranny back onto the car with some new REDLINE MT90 gearbox oil.

Once this is all done I’m sure that I will never have a gearbox issue again, and I can now shift without being afraid that I might damage something.

So what does everyone think?

If you guys want some more info on the CRYO and shot peen treatment then follow the link below:

http://www.mtce.com.au/autotest.htm

[ABC]

Sorry to hear about the old gearbox TDK but I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later with that much twist going through it.

Sounds like the new one will be pretty much bullet-proof though

[JynX]

Was it just a gear failure? Has anyone done a post mortem on the box.

[TDK]

Thanks ABC, I also agree with what you said. I was pretty upset the night it happened, but that was more for the fact that I had to wait 2.5 hours for a tow truck and the accompanied thoughts of "what the hell do I do now". But I would of been un-realistic to think that once increasing the power to what I have the box would handle it.

Anyway, at least now I will have a box that can handle the more and more.

[TDK]

Originally Posted by JynX

Was it just a gear failure? Has anyone done a post mortem on the box.

I am not sure. I didn't want to waste money by pulling the old box apart. But I am guessing it was the gears because I was accelerating at the time. Mind you I was in traffic so my acceleration wasn't very hard. My mechanic told me that he drove the car into the workshop. This would mean that some of the gears are fine (I was in third gear when it went BANG).

By the way the guy doing the treatments call me on Wednesday night to tell me that all the parts are in perfect condition, which is a huge relief for me.

[JynX]

Pull the box apart yourself once its out. Plenty of fun

[TDK]

If my mechanic got the the new box without exchanging the old one i just might do that. It sounds like a great little project for a Sunday afternoon.

[twilightprotege]

sounds like the new box will be quite strong.

a few ppl in america have done the same thing with good results. also, there's a guy developing totally new gears which will be much much stronger than stock gears (even after cryo'd) with much better gearing ratio's too...a relatively tall 1st, then close 2nd, 3rd and 4th and a tall 5th. another guy is also working on making dog gearing...

[Rupewrecht]

welcome to the world of a turbo astina

basically, you have a development of the G-series gearbox which is the same as the BG SP box/early BA box

you'll face the same troubles (as you have as you blew 3rd) as all the other laser boys.

the biggest problem with these boxes is that the gears are just so small!

good luck tho.

[preeman80]

Damn! Sorry to hear that man.. hope it gets all fixed up soon!

[TDK]

I picked up all the internals today and then dropped them off at my mechanics. He said that the box will be re-built on Monday and then put back onto the car on Tuesday. I will let you all know how it went once I get the car back and drive around for a bit.

[JynX]

What did they charge you for the cryo? $5/kg

[TDK]

I ended up paying $700. The following is what was included.

Treatment on Gearbox internals and DIFF
-Crack testing
-Cryo Treatment
-Shot Peening
-Dressing of gear teeth

I know of a place that does the Cryo for $5/kg, but they only do Cryo Treatment and i wan't the full package.

[tidy protege]

good luck with your car buddy its never good to hear a fellow member is hit with a hard blow I hope it all works out for you.

By the way do you know what happened with Wiredones car he was meant to be at autosalon but I was dissapointed by his absence and this may be a dumb question cause you maybe antishows but do have any plans for magazines or shows, everytime I buy a magazine I eagarely wait seeing either your car or Wiredones as they are a pair of very cool cars but so far no luck.

[BigMal]

You need to read the articles on Fordlaser.com. Strengthening the
gears is not the fix. It will help but not fix and if you are spending
big bucks on cyro treatment it would be a shame all that got wasted
by the shafts seperating and the gears no longer meshing and bang
busted gears again.

Regards

Mal

[TDK]

The shafts that the gears are on were also treated.