Type E weird ratios! Or not?!

[mario r h santos]

Hi everyone.

Quick question here.

A friend of mine bought a Ford type E straight cut gearbox from a supposed rally car. Guy couldn't "remember" the ratios. He went ahead feeling confidente it would be ok.

Well... His mechanic (a good friend of ours) tear it down to give it a good check and after figuring out the ratios he started wondering if his wife had put something in his coffee...

First 1.69
Second 1.15
Third 0.82
Fourth 0.68

Checked it over and over again but same result... They didn't want to sound right. Could this be from a custom drag car or something???

Him and I can't seem to find these ratios anywhere rally related. They're so long!!!

Cheers and thanks for any insight,

Mário Santos.

[Graham]

your working the ratios out wrong gears 1,2,3 are a combination of two pairs of gears, the first motion shaft drops the power down to the lay shaft, it then goes back up another gear on the layshaft upto the mainshaft.

4th gear is 1.1 because the first motion shaft and mainshaft are locked together

[mario r h santos]

Thanks Graham.

I'll have my friend try to check this although, watching the photos he sent me, I can only see two shafts but maybe I'm not "seeing" everything.

It'll get back to you with the conclusion of this.

Cheers and thanks,

Mário Santos.

[mario r h santos]

I think I got it Graham. What I think is a shaft, in reality are two independent ones rotating on the exact same axis and what I think are four pairs of gears are in fact three because one of them is (des)multiplying the others as per your explanation. Fourth gear has no gears, simply has synchro hub (???) That locks both shafts together. Am I in the ballpark of your explanation Graham? Conclusion: best way to figure the ratios is to simply rotate input shaft by hand and count how many times the output shaft turns. Cheers and thanks a lot, Mário Santos.

[Graham]

I think I got it Graham. What I think is a shaft, in reality are two independent ones rotating on the exact same axis and what I think are four pairs of gears are in fact three because one of them is (des)multiplying the others as per your explanation. Fourth gear has no gears, simply has synchro hub (???) That locks both shafts together. Am I in the ballpark of your explanation Graham? Conclusion: best way to figure the ratios is to simply rotate input shaft by hand and count how many times the output shaft turns. Cheers and thanks a lot, Mário Santos.

yes you have it

[mario r h santos]

Fascinating!

Thanks a lot Graham!

I can only hope classic cars like our Escort's never get put in danger because of the new ICE laws that are coming because they'll "soon" become the exception.

Cheers,

Mário Santos.

[katana]

Outrageous - new laws against In Car Entertainment ! I know some can be loud but making them illegal is a bit strong !

[mario r h santos]

[Miniliteman]

Mario,

the ratios of your gearbox are: 2.48 / 1.69 / 1.21 / 1.00

[katana]

Mario,

the ratios of your gearbox are: 2.48 / 1.69 / 1.21 / 1.00

Those are 'Rocket' ratio's if i'm not mistaken? Quite desirable!

[rallyrob]

Those are 'Rocket' ratio's if i'm not mistaken? Quite desirable!

Mario,

the ratios of your gearbox are: 2.48 / 1.69 / 1.21 / 1.00

I thought they looked familiar when Miniliteman said that too. Well, 1st an 2nd are the same as my gearbox at least anyway but my 3rd's a bit closer. They work really well with a 4.6:1 crown wheel and pinion.

[Miniliteman]

The ratios might be the same as the proper "Rocket" ratios from years gone by, but the box will be a std Type E box with Quaife Clubman ratios.

[Forest_rallying]

Mario,

the ratios of your gearbox are: 2.48 / 1.69 / 1.21 / 1.00

As Minilite Man has already said they are the original Quaife Clubman ratios. I had one fitted to Road Rally Car in 82. There was a gap in the ratios between second and third gear. The GP1 Ford Rocket ratios were spaced much better.