LastDeadLast
Jedi Knight
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Well folks, after about 6 months of parts collecting and another two of installation, I did my first test run of the HVDA install.
As sort of a purist, not for originality, but for period-style modifications, and not to mention a pure unadulterated hatred of the Toyota automobile company, I struggled for a couple years on the purchase of the kit. But after spending a small fortune on getting two Triumph gearboxes rebuilt (one twice) and still not working to my satisfaction, I was faced with three choices; One, remove my J-type overdrive gearbox again and purchase really good parts from Revington and have it rebuilt again..Two, bite the bullet and get the HVDA kit. Or three, live with the grinding and popping out of gear. I chose door number two, the HVDA kit.
My impressions of the kit: First class all the way. All the parts fit, the rear gearbox mount is made of thick steel and uses Triumph mounts, and the best part; there's no way to tell the conversion has been done unless you drive it. The only thing that I might change.. and this would be ONLY if I had the Goodparts Nissan diff upgrade, would be to get a solid drive shaft made. I can't say enough about Herman van den Akker, his support through this project has been awesome. I would email him with a questions and have an answer, either by phone or return email, in a matter of hours.
Driving Impressions: The big gamble in this, is of course, the gearbox. Purchased from eBay out of a 1985 Supra with 98,000 miles on it, I did all the checks that Herman instructed me to do and it appeared to be OK. Looks like my luck finally held out: The gearbox shifts butter smooth and doesn't grind. Much much smoother than the stock gearbox, although with a very positive feel when you change the gears.
One bad thing: The Toyota gearbox is a little deeper than the Triumph unit, so one of the intermediate pipes for my custom exhaust will need to be bent a little to accommodate. Other than that, a perfect fit.
My car has no more leaks!!!!!!!!!!!
I still have to reinstall the interior and stuff.. but that's the easy part.
Next project: Factory hardtop!!!
Take care all,
-s
As sort of a purist, not for originality, but for period-style modifications, and not to mention a pure unadulterated hatred of the Toyota automobile company, I struggled for a couple years on the purchase of the kit. But after spending a small fortune on getting two Triumph gearboxes rebuilt (one twice) and still not working to my satisfaction, I was faced with three choices; One, remove my J-type overdrive gearbox again and purchase really good parts from Revington and have it rebuilt again..Two, bite the bullet and get the HVDA kit. Or three, live with the grinding and popping out of gear. I chose door number two, the HVDA kit.
My impressions of the kit: First class all the way. All the parts fit, the rear gearbox mount is made of thick steel and uses Triumph mounts, and the best part; there's no way to tell the conversion has been done unless you drive it. The only thing that I might change.. and this would be ONLY if I had the Goodparts Nissan diff upgrade, would be to get a solid drive shaft made. I can't say enough about Herman van den Akker, his support through this project has been awesome. I would email him with a questions and have an answer, either by phone or return email, in a matter of hours.
Driving Impressions: The big gamble in this, is of course, the gearbox. Purchased from eBay out of a 1985 Supra with 98,000 miles on it, I did all the checks that Herman instructed me to do and it appeared to be OK. Looks like my luck finally held out: The gearbox shifts butter smooth and doesn't grind. Much much smoother than the stock gearbox, although with a very positive feel when you change the gears.
One bad thing: The Toyota gearbox is a little deeper than the Triumph unit, so one of the intermediate pipes for my custom exhaust will need to be bent a little to accommodate. Other than that, a perfect fit.
My car has no more leaks!!!!!!!!!!!
I still have to reinstall the interior and stuff.. but that's the easy part.
Next project: Factory hardtop!!!
Take care all,
-s