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MG parts spares and accessories are available for MG T Series (TA, MG TB, MG TC, MG TD, MG TF), Magnette, MGA, Twin cam, MGB, MGBGT, MGC, MGC GT, MG Midget, Sprite and other MG models from British car spares company LBCarCo.

MG TD TF 1500 - For those who have the Hi-Gear Engineering 5 speed

For those in the USA who have installed the Hi-Gear engineering 5-speed Ford Sierra conversion, did any of you import the kit and transmission direct from Hi-Gear in England? If so, what was your experience and would you do it that way again? I am seriously considering doing this and it looks like some significant money could be saved if they will ship to the USA.
Jack Long

Unquestionably the right way to do it - a significant savings. Fast service, if they have the parts in stock.

Tom Lange
MGT Repair
t lange

I agree with Tom. I haven’t personally, but two of our local club members did. Savings over a second party vendor was substantial. I was told by both that the Shipping to the US took only a weeks time.

NOTE; Do not rely on your vin number or engine tag to determine which bell housing you require... measure the clutch shaft size to confirm which housing you will require. Parts get changed over the years by POs and what your car may have been manufactured with may indeed not be how it is currently configured. One of the members had this issue pop up after he ordered the kit and had a bit of frustration with a timely swap. Also the rumor mill has it that the gentleman who owns Hi Gear is wanting to retire and has been trying to find someone to take over the business. How much longer before he closes the doors is anyone’s guess. I would like to buy several kits for future use but I’m not financially in a position to do so and may very well miss out.

Bill Chasser
TD-4834
W A Chasser

I ordered directly from them and have nothing but good things to say. I recommended the modified high 1st gear as well.


Jim
J Barry

I am one of Bill Chasser "mentions" and I totally agree with him. It's a quality unit and I only wished that I had done it sooner. The PO had a different bell housing installed which I did not realize until after the fact. Peter made it all good but it did cost me a little more and I made it work. Bill was a good friend to help me out with my problems as he is very knowledgeable regarding the rebuild of these cars. I'm lucky to have him close by to bounce these problems by.
Keith Yarbrough(TD 1275)

Hi Jack.

I imported a kit and gearbox directly from Hi-Gear about 6 months ago and there were significant savings. Peter is good to work with; but, he does not/won't answer emails. You have to call him.

The kit and parts are very well designed and manufactured and we were very happy with the quality of parts and over all purchase (wife's TD). We ordered the modified first gear ratio with heavy duty layshaft/gears.

The downside is U.S. Customs. The kit/gearbox were shipped in 4 boxes. The lightest box arrived first. The rest were held hostage somewhere in Customs for 8 days and no one could (or would) let me know what was going on. They slowly arrived one by one.

Lastly, you can buy the recommended oil for the gearbox here and I would not have Peter include it with the kit. Peter sent two quarts with the kit and the EPA flipped out. I had to find and complete forms saying it wasn't a health hazard before they would make delivery. Otherwise, they would have shipped everything back to the UK.

Good luck. Regards, Bill
WHT

Hi Jack.

One last comment since I am installing the gearbox this week.

When you get your kit, trial fit just the aluminum bellhousing to the engine block first (before bolting the bellhousing to the gearbox) to make sure the block dowel pins are in good shape. I had one missing pin and one damaged/bent pin that needed to be replaced. And sometimes, owners/mechanics replace the dowels with slightly different diameter pins.

Two good, accurately sized pins will (i) help prevent block and sump bolt hole thread damage and (ii) you can make sure everything centers correctly. This is a lot more difficult after the bellhousing is bolted to the gearbox. I ordered new pins from Abingdon Spares and they were undersized.

As mentioned previously, Peter and his wife are in their eighties. They won't be doing this forever.


WHT

A comment from another happy customer. The level plug on the side of the Type 9 is just about accessible from under the car using a hex key. However, this cast iron plug is notorious for becoming difficult to remove should you wish to check or top-up the oil. Make sure it is not too tight and / or coat with something that will ease removal. Better still - replace with a brass plug.
Dave H
Dave Hill

Peter Gamble is actually up to his eye balls in work at the moment. His lead time is approx. 6 weeks. I spoke to him during the week and he has 60 orders for kits and has just ordered 100 bell housings from the foundry. This could have to do with the unknown equation known as "Brexit".My mates will visit him this afternoon to pick up some kits and hand over 2 of my speedo head corrector gearboxes to Peter.
Regards
Declan
Declan Burns

Declan's speedo head corrector gearboxes are easy to fit and work really well.
If Peter Gamble is unable to supply, an alternative is Frontline Developments. For gearboxes try BGH Geartech.
Dave H
Dave Hill

I did it about 4 years ago. I have a video on youtube. Only warning I would give is test shifting into 1st BEFORE you install the thing. Mine is still hard to shift into first at times. Peter offered me a replacement but I don't have the strength or desire to start over!
Ed
efh Haskell

I should add that my speedo was about 5mph off before 5 speed and is not spot on with 5 speed and no corrector needed!
Ed
efh Haskell

As a Frontline customer I'd very strongly recommend that you do yourself a big favour and buy from elsewhere.

Nigel Atkins

Worth knowing - any particular issue?
Dave H
Dave Hill

Many, whole catalogue - clutch issues, leaks, quality of work on g/box and installation and their honesty and even knowledge (q/s gear lever). There'll be loads of info about, some of, it in the Midget Archives. I also have their front and rear suspension conversions, installed by them. After I had the work done I dicovered a lot about them from a few Midget posters here.

On the other side a mate of mine thinks they're fine to deal with - but he didn't buy his conversions from them and done the installations himself. And FL are very good at marketing and presenting themselves.

Wot'd think of example below from a professional specialist expert company, and done so that 5th gear selection is juuust off, making it a specialist knack for the driver to engage.


Nigel Atkins

Oh, dear! Thanks,
Dave H
Dave Hill

How about the first time I took the car back after a couple of months use, or less, because the gearbox leaked and the cheap but (expensive from them) q/s gear lever tizzed.

I left the car with them whilst we went for lunch returned much later after a walk to find the box extender plates were wrapped with some sort of plasticised tape which despite my understanding and belief of how this would stop the leak I was assured it would. The q/s gear lever was dissembled and packed with grease (and I found later shimmed with very rough cut piece of metal). The lever tizzed within a couple of miles as soon as we got to 70mph dual-carriage way. I found all the q/s can tizz as they're for racing use and don't have the Ford lever's damping rubber.

The gearbox continued to leak obvious, from the holes in their work and from the usual places like real seal and speedo cable seal (plus they can leak from the top plate but I'm not sure if mine does) - both have been replaced twice but the curse of piss-poor rubber continues.

Good thing is all the oil protects the chassis :) - and to be fair the red fluid is a small coolant leak on the heater tap (literally, on the cylinder head) which I didn't know I had until I took the photo.


Nigel Atkins

This might help some with T9 boxes (and to end on a more positive note) the black gear lever saddles soon wear, even the genuine Ford stock, which leads to slop in the lever movement and feel. I've found the red saddles much more positive but still pleasant and not noticed any wear with it.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FORD-TYPE-9-GEARBOX-ESCORT-CORTINA-CAPRI-SIERRA-H-DUTY-GEAR-LEVER-SADDLE-CLIP/152915422682?hash=item239a782dda:g:DrwAAOSwlpZai98P:rk:4:pf:0



Nigel Atkins

One little point
If you're fitting a T9---Before you fit the box in the car maybe consider drilling a drain hole so the lube can be changed easily
There is an ideal spot on the bottom of the sandwich plate between the box and rear housing--It can be drilled with the box in the car but much easier out on the bench while it's empty--
willy
William Revit

If you buy from Hi Gear, I think it will come with a drain plug.
Dave H
Dave Hill

Dave,
I think you are right with the drain plug.
My mates visited Peter Gamble yesterday so perhaps they discussed the issue of the drain plug as I did mention the issue to one mate before he left for UK.

Nigel,
Thanks for the tip on the gear saddle. We also installed a Frontline kit in a Midget about two years ago. It took the most of three days and there is extra drilling required which could have been incorporated in the kit. It is definitely not as good as the Hi-Gear kit installed in my TD.
Regards
Declan
Declan Burns

I got my 5 speed directly from Hi-Gear in the UK, saved money, the transmission arrived in a timely fashion and the instruction sheet was complete and easy to follow...back then (2004) there was a good exchange rate and the shipping to US was not too bad...They were easy to work with, I recommend them completely...
Bob Dougherty

Excellent point Willy - how I wish, too many times, that my T9 had a drain.

I forget where Arie got his T9 box from but it looks like what I paid for but didn't get and shows the drain plug they fitted.


Nigel Atkins

If anyone is interested I can give recommendations for better quality oils for the T9 from personal experience and research but please note -
. I'm not technical or an expert in anything
. if you want to stick with the builder's recommended oil that's fine
. if you want to stick to your own personal oil beliefs that's fine.

I could also put up a thread about the Ford gear oil (obviously Ford don't blend oils so it's just their bottles and labels but you know what I mean).
Nigel Atkins

Declan,
if you have an aftermarket quickshift lever I may have another improvement for you.


Nigel Atkins

Nigel
I drilled closer to the centre than that but it does have to be in the rear half of the housing to clear the internal casting
The drainthrough hole in the housing to let oil flow from the box to the rear is just to the left of centre so drilling just to the right is a good spot and in the rear half of the plate---It could be drilled with the box in the car, just a bit messier
Here's a pic of the plate showing the drain passage through the plate and you can see where I drilled just to the right and behind the vertical casting
Second pic is from below-this is an 1/8 gas bung, roughly 3/8"od


William Revit

#2

William Revit

#3
As you can see there is plenty of metal in this area for a bung

William Revit

Nigel,
Although I have no problems shifting what improvement are you suggesting? Ears always open to suggestions.

William,
I would be hesitant drilling in situ as I would fear swarf getting into the box.
I did add a filler plug on the top (which is easy to do) for checking the oil level and topping when necessary as I do have a slight weep that I haven't yet located.

Regards
Declan

Declan Burns

Ford 5 Speed boxes are now scarce and very expensive. I can remember a few years ago every scrap yard would have had a dozen of them at £10 each! There aren't even any "proper" scrap yards left. I note that MGBs are being converted to five cogs using a Mazda MX5 gear box. Has anyone seen one fitted to a T Series.

Jan T
J Targosz

Jan,
According to Peter Gamble, there is a company in the UK who are working on new Ford type 9 gearboxes and they are due to be available this year. I have no idea who is involved or what the pricing will be like.

Regards
Declan
Declan Burns

Apologies Declan (and Willy) I missed the thread and posts.

And I forgot the the Igus igubal spherical plastic bearing improvement for the q/s levers (probably) don't apply to the Hi-Gear levers. See the plastic bearing in the middle of the photo to replace the metal bearing (top left).

And I hope the company making the new T9 boxes isn't the one that was raided for making firearms.


Nigel Atkins

Thanks to all for the helpful comments and recommendations. My conversion is finally complete and I love it. My TF-1500 already had the MGA 4.3 rear conversion, so 5th gear is pretty tall. However, I now live in very flat southern Delaware so it is still useful for keeping engine RPMs low, at the risk of having to downshift frequently. And the T9 is so much nicer to use, even in the lower 4 gears - all synchro, and no howling first gear.
The Gambles were a joy to deal with, and with the current low exchange rate, even with shipping from England I saved at least $1500 by importing it directly. Peter did insist on shipping it with his oil, in order to keep his warranty in effect, so I had to fill out some Customs and EPA forms. As a result I am now an official EPA-certified hazardous materials importer :-).
Jack
Jack Long

Jack,
great news.

Did you deal with Peter recently as a USA MGA owner on here was recently unable to contact him to do the same as you.

Does Peter insist on Comma SX75W-90 GL4 or Ford 75w90 Transmission Oil – 1790199 by any chance, if so and you need better cold weather shifting (out of warranty of course) then I can recommend you an alternative oil and prove its lineage back to the original T9 oil - but Castrol don't list it in USA, in fact they don't list any "stick-shift" transmission oil but there are alternatives to the Castrol too.
Nigel Atkins

Made my own kit and made it a bit shorter. Thus the engine has not to be moved forward. But the front end of the gear shaft has to be removed and reshaped. However, the clutch plate was a bit worn, so I have to take it out and fix that, to eliminate slip. Total cost including gearbox EUR 400 plus cost for drive shaft which I can´t remember.

YS Strom

This is another gearbox conversion. Very compact and made for over 200 hp. Trouble is there is no connection for a speedo. It can be solved with an inductive probe and a small servo motor behind the meter, plus a bit of soldering and programming. But then you get a proper reading which is usually difficult with a T5.
I have not tried it yet, but if you are interested you can have it for EUR 1000 + fright. If it does not work well you will be refunded.


YS Strom

This thread was discussed between 08/02/2019 and 20/10/2019

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