BBlue wrote:
After considerable discussion, Barb and I have decided it is time to ditch the five speed and go with automatic transmission. Our declining physical abilities are at odds with the desire to continue driving and the manual trans complicates driving, especially under stressful conditions, such in traffic in cities we are not familiar with.
My wife and I are in the same boat. I've been looking at some of the Japanese and Euro market light trucks which had vacuum-over-hydraulic power clutches. They look like repurposed Girling remote power brake mechanisms out of older British cars. I've also considered using a honking big stepper motor and a thumbwheel on the shifter... it'll be a while before I have to make a final decision.
Quote:
This is in the Duratec powered Alpine. It pretty well limits our transmission choices to a Duratec bell housing equipped A4LD or a stock 5R55. The 5R trannys are computer controlled, which means an after market computer controller. I Have difficulty with computers, especially the installation phase.
For that motor in such a light car, why not just go to an ordinary non-electronic three speed auto?
The Ford C4 is actually lighter than a T5 and clutch, and smaller. There were bellhousings for the 2.3 Pinto and Cologne V6 bolt patterns. Aftermarket support for the C4 is huge. The only electrical components are switches for the back-up lights and neutral safety.
The little Borg/Warner box was used by a zillion Japanese and British cars, and is about the same size as the C4. If it was a small foreign car with an automatic in the 1960s or 1970s, there was a 75% chance it was made by Borg/Warner or a licensee. (Aisin, for example) Way more bolt patterns than the C4, parts still reasonably available.
There are adapter plates for the Duratec; surely *something* would cross to a non-electronic box you could use.