STAG with Rover 3.5 V8 - gearbox advice?

[IanC]

Hi all, ive recently purchased a stag with a rover 3.5l v8, its a car i've allways wanted to own and personal preferance is to have the rover v8 over the stags original one!

At the minute it still has the stags original 4speed manual with overdrive fitted, However i was advised by a guy who also has a stag and owned one or two in the past that I'd get a lot of benefit from fitting a 5 speed rover box.

I tried comparing some ratios and so on but couldnt really see why there would be a benefit! however im still researching into it so if anyone can offer any advice it would be appreciated!

[WedgeWorks1]

Ian-

Are you planning on doing any upgrades for performance to the Rover V8? What has been done to the Rover V8 in your Stag at this time? As far as the Rover LT77 5-Speed a later model from 1981 onwards has a taller 5th gear, .79:1 compared to .81:1. I can not recall what the rear axle ratio is for the Stag. If you have a 3.90:1 rear the Rover 5-Speed 1st gear is very short lived. Hopefully you have a lower gear for les revs. Food for thought.

-Mike

[IanC]

wasnt planning any big power mods as of yet, just wanted a better gearbox but if the advice ive been given is inaccurate then it wont make much differance, cheers anyway!

[StagByTriumph]

Hi Ian,
The LT77 gearbox is nice with the Rover 3.5, but it is not a straight bolt on.
you will need to change the adapter plate, lengthen the driveshaft 4 inches, and shorten the shifter tower by about 4 inches.

The Stag of course has a 3:71 differential.

I put a 3:43 set of gears in the Differential, great top end and highway curise 3000 rpm is almost 90 mph, but  lousy low end acceleration.

Glenn