Automatic Griff

[lestag]

Have any griffs been converted to an auto?

[JonRB]

I would imagine it would be a feasible proposition. The Rover SD1 was available as an auto as I recall, so for an older Griff with a Rover gearbox you would hope that it would be a fairly easy conversion.

You could kiss goodbye to the residuals though as very few people would want an automatic TVR.

Presumably you're enquiring from the point of view of being unable to use a manual due to a leg injury / disability?

[shpub]

No. There are a couple of cars that have auto clutches on them to allow gear changes to be made. Dave Peck has a 4.3BV that has been modded so he could drive it. Despite his limitations he is damn quick in it.

Steve

[PlenumPete]

Have any griffs been converted to an auto?

I've seen some TR7s (sorry Wedgies) with auto boxes but Griffiths, no.

There's a company down in Oz doing a semi-auto gearbox, might be worth looking into:

www.rev-lite.com/semi.html

Steve, you've got such a nice way with words! Which reminds me, must order my copy of the Griff&Chimp Bible, 2nd Edition.

BTW does anybody know where I can get hold of some Magnecor plug leads and Silicon hoses for a Griffith?

Dave 'Limited' Peck

[david beer]

Iam almost pretty sure, ready to be proved wrong, that i follwed a Swiss Griff with an autobox through Barnes. It was an autobox or the guy had a very strange clutch action!
ACT sell leads etc. Iam surprised you have not seen Tims message, they are all over the place!

>> Edited by david beer on Tuesday 17th December 18:21

[dans]

Pete

According to their site ACT do both the hoses and leads. Full set of hoses for a Griff seems to be a reasonable £115..

[lestag]

shpub said: No. There are a couple of cars that have auto clutches on them to allow gear changes to be made. Dave Peck has a 4.3BV that has been modded so he could drive it. Despite his limitations he is damn quick in it.

Steve

Can you explain these clutches a bit more, brand etc, for the 400 or 500??

[shpub]

PlenumPete is your man for this info.

Steve

[PlenumPete]

lestag said:
Can you explain these clutches a bit more, brand etc, for the 400 or 500??

If there are 'limitations' with the 'clutch' leg, rather than opt for an autobox you can retain the manual gearbox and fit a clutch hand control system. There are a number of companies that supply and fit hand controlled clutch systems: Guidosimplex (DAFRI)and Kempf (Kmatic system) are the most well known:

www.guidosimplex.it/

www.katalavox.com/kempfeq1.htm#paraplegic

RUF Porsche have also offered similar systems.

These systems can be installed on most cars.

In simple terms, Clutch Control systems allow the engagement of the clutch via the normal action of gripping and releasing the gear shift knob when changing gear instead of engaging the clutch via the foot pedal.

Gripping the knob activates an internally mounted tilt micro-switch in the knob assembly or an infrared switch. This event is processed as an input by an ECU, which issues the respective control signals to various parts of a ram/hydraulic system to activate the clutch.

In fact there is a detailed article (including schematics) in the September 1997 issue of TVR Sprint, no: 261 (TVRCC magazine).

The only drawback with the clutch/throttle/brake setup on my Griffith is it's very difficult to achieve full heel and toeing, so the brakes get a bit of a caning on track days. And they tend to be expensive.

Also the system doesn't allow a lot time to avoid crash helmets rolling around in the middle of a track.


Dave

[jellison]

This is obviously a Joke - Auo and TVR should never be said in the same sentence. I think maybe you should be looking for a nice Vauxhall Calton.

[GreenV8S]

jellison said: This is obviously a Joke - Auo and TVR should never be said in the same sentence. I think maybe you should be looking for a nice Vauxhall Calton.

Nonsense! Other things being equal purists will obviously prefer the manual, but other things aren't always equal. For some people, manual is not an option.

[jamer]

I once sold a new Chimaera 5000cc in 1999 that had this system detailed below by Porsche on it - the owner had one leg and still wanted to use a TVR - Top man - he had had it previously fitted to his Griffith before the Chimaera - I think it was around £3-4 from memory - had the Chimaera 6 months and went back to a porsche he had two cars back.