I have read a lot of different things about the tunnel modifications required to fit different 5 speed transmissions like the T5, LT77, R380, W58, R154 but I have found very few actual photos showing what modifications people had to do to get each box to fit.
While the Roger Williams book indicates that all the transmission options will require significant tunnel modifications I am constantly hearing people say that the T5 and W58 transmissions can be fitted with "almost" no modifications to the tunnel.
I feel like there is a lot of room for subjectivity in the descriptions of how much the tunnel needs to be modified, and I thought I would ask people to post some close up photos of their tunnel modifications in this thread, so that the different transmission options can be compared side by side.
Thanks
Fair enough... but keep in mind some of the other variables: What year model car you starting with? How far back will you locate the engine? How high will you locate the engine?
Here are a couple gallery pages that come to mind as showing tunnel mods:
Jim Stuart's latest: http://www.britishv8.org/MG/JimStuart4.htm
Robert Milks' car: http://www.britishv8.org/MG/RobertMilks.htm
Ed Greene's GT: http://www.britishv8.org/MG/EdGreene.htm
Pete Mantell's car: http://www.britishv8.org/MG/PeteMantell.htm
Paul Schils' GT: http://www.britishv8.org/MG/PaulSchils.htm
(I know there are more...)
I like to include in-process photos with How-It-Was-Done articles whenever I can get them. By all means folks - send them in! I can always update gallery pages too.
Good point I just assumed most people were starting with RB cars and using the off the shelf engine mounting brackets from D&D or Glen Towery, but it would still be nice to see some close up shots that may not have been pretty enough to make it into the how it was done articles.
It might be even better if people describe the set up they are using.
Here's a few of the mod I did in my 3.5 with the LT77. Dimensions are out of the book "How to give your MGB V8 power. Stock RB frame mounts with Clive Wheatly's bushings and engine mounts.
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Although the cutting of the tunnel and boxing for the LT77 is the "official" way to do it, it's not the easiest.
If you remove engine and box from car and dash centre console you have access to the area you need to modify. On the rubber bumper car you need to rasie the ridge that protrudes down from the main dash supporting pannel and the area of tunnel slightly back from this. It's clearly visible under the car. I found a 14lb sledge hammer and some accurately placed blows allowed plenty of room for the LT77 and no need to cut and weld a structural part of the car....Remove the access plate that covers the top of the gearbox where the gearlever exits to make it easier to bend. I cleaned it all up after and repainted it.
I'm not saying it's the best way, it's just the way I did it.
Here's all I had to do to fit a T5/302 combination... The piece on the left afforded about 1 1/2" of extra room. On the right I used the BFH approach to gain about 1/2" of room...
TransTunnelModifications.jpg
I modified the tunnel as Simon did his and it was not that difficult to fit a ford t5 and d&d bellhousing. To me it seemed preferable to beating it to death with a bfh
I put my V6 in a 64 which had a narrow tunnel. All I did was drop in the motor/trans and cut out where it hit. I did this several times till it was clearances then welded on a wider area tying in the holes:
http://www.rc-tech.net/MGB/Prep/prep.htm
Rob, those pieces you put in look like they were necessary for the bellhousing, not necessarily the transmission. Did you have to clearance anything further back?
When we put the Zetec and T5 into our 79 we didn't have to do anything to the tunnel but we were using a 2.3 bellhousing which is a lot smaller. But the transmission clears well.
We had to be careful that the driveshaft didn't foul the ebrake.
Good point Jack. Mods I highlighted were for the bell housing. The only tunnel mod I had to do was to cut an access hole and make a cover plate for it. Access hole was needed to install my VSS (and remove it if/when it needs to be replaced). The 94/95 Mustang T5 I used has the VSS at a point too close to the tunnel to install/remove it without that access hole.