auto type gearbox for griff - Can anyone help please?
Discussion
Hello all, this is my first time on Pistonheads!
I am wondering if there is an easy (read cheap) way of putting an auto type gearbox in a griff. I have a back condition which stops me being able to use stiff clutch pedals (my 1989 S2 with Cologne engine got too much), due to the strain they put on the lower back, and currently drive an automatic eurobox, , but would like to get back into tvr land! (it's grim turning up to the car club meets without a tvr). I would also need p.a.s.
Apart from seeing an italian system option of having an infra red sensor installed on the gear lever, which then activated (when it sensed the hand), a mechanical motor method of depressing the clutch (versions cost between £2-3k installed), I'm not sure what else to try. At shows I've seen drivers who have had hand operated controls, but i want to try and keep things as 'standard' as possible. If I ever did have to sell, I wouldn't want people to be put off, or have to spend loads converting things back again.
A couple of garages have mentioned installing a standard auto box, but that would mean altering the transmission tunnel and dashboard.
Is it possible to introduce some sort of very light hydraulic clutch to an existing system?
I'm hoping that I'll either get a good tried and tested method, or if there isn't one, at least be put out of my misery! Thanks for any help you might be able to give!
Regards,
Eric
I am wondering if there is an easy (read cheap) way of putting an auto type gearbox in a griff. I have a back condition which stops me being able to use stiff clutch pedals (my 1989 S2 with Cologne engine got too much), due to the strain they put on the lower back, and currently drive an automatic eurobox, , but would like to get back into tvr land! (it's grim turning up to the car club meets without a tvr). I would also need p.a.s.
Apart from seeing an italian system option of having an infra red sensor installed on the gear lever, which then activated (when it sensed the hand), a mechanical motor method of depressing the clutch (versions cost between £2-3k installed), I'm not sure what else to try. At shows I've seen drivers who have had hand operated controls, but i want to try and keep things as 'standard' as possible. If I ever did have to sell, I wouldn't want people to be put off, or have to spend loads converting things back again.
A couple of garages have mentioned installing a standard auto box, but that would mean altering the transmission tunnel and dashboard.
Is it possible to introduce some sort of very light hydraulic clutch to an existing system?
I'm hoping that I'll either get a good tried and tested method, or if there isn't one, at least be put out of my misery! Thanks for any help you might be able to give!
Regards,
Eric
a griff with an f1 type paddle shift now thats sounds interesting!!
failing that and obviously i don't know exactly what is wrong with your back
but i know of a woman in canterbury that can only be described as a miracle
worker, she fixed me when the surgeons were already sharpening their knives
i could not recommend her enough.
let me know if you think it will help,and remember you have nothing to loose by trying it out!
cheers
tim.
failing that and obviously i don't know exactly what is wrong with your back
but i know of a woman in canterbury that can only be described as a miracle
worker, she fixed me when the surgeons were already sharpening their knives
i could not recommend her enough.
let me know if you think it will help,and remember you have nothing to loose by trying it out!
cheers
tim.
As a fellow back-pain sufferer (auto Mondeo) I too experience a bit of a problem with my Chim clutch. I spoke with one of the companies that had a stand at Rockingham about getting a power-assisted clutch but they said it was not required. All that was needed was a different master/slave set-up.
I've got the name of the company in my notes. I'm happy to dig them out if you'd like but it will take a couple of days.
The clutch pedal can be adjusted independantly of the other two so you can arrange it so that you don't have to extend your left leg fully (which alleviates my problem to an extent). Mind you, the contortions I had to force myself into when adjusting it gave my back a bit of stick.
I've got the name of the company in my notes. I'm happy to dig them out if you'd like but it will take a couple of days.
The clutch pedal can be adjusted independantly of the other two so you can arrange it so that you don't have to extend your left leg fully (which alleviates my problem to an extent). Mind you, the contortions I had to force myself into when adjusting it gave my back a bit of stick.
A Toyota Yaris Freetronic system would be interesting if you could adapt it to the Griff running gear(senses movement of the gearstick)it works perfectly and it cant be tricked or beaten(very intelligent)it uses an ABS type pump and accumulator system to operate the slave cylinder,i have a feeling the electronics side may be the grind in this suggestion though,just thinking out loud and giving you another avenue,good luck.
Psychobert said:
I'm pretty sure this has been done on a Griff. Haven't got the details to hand and a quick search here hasn't revealed anything though..
IIRC Podie did it on his Chim. The Griff clutch seems fairly light as standard (I've got a well knackered knee and it doesn't give me any trouble) but if you changed the master/slave cylinder ratios you could have it light enough to operate with a finger.TheGriffalo said:
Psychobert said:
I'm pretty sure this has been done on a Griff. Haven't got the details to hand and a quick search here hasn't revealed anything though..
IIRC Podie did it on his Chim. The Griff clutch seems fairly light as standard (I've got a well knackered knee and it doesn't give me any trouble) but if you changed the master/slave cylinder ratios you could have it light enough to operate with a finger.Had a larger slave and smaller master cylinder fitted to my old S to make the clutch lighter, as back then I was having serious problems with my knees.
Podie said:
Had a larger slave and smaller master cylinder fitted to my old S to make the clutch lighter, as back then I was having serious problems with my knees.
This is what I was told was the simple (but not particularly cheap) way of lightening the clutch. So it works then? Did you do it yourself?And the manufacturers of Titanic never said it was unsinkable.
Hello again,
May I first thank everyone for taking the time and trouble to reply so quickly, and giving me the opportunity to think there may be life in the old dog yet!
If the slave cylinder idea can be made to work and the clutch operation can be made 'finger light', then perhaps one day my dream will come true. We all have our favourite tiv's, mine has always been the griff, one of the few great looking cars that can also take my 6ft 3" frame.
The back operation I had is called a spinal fusion which basically means taking out a failed disc and sticking some metal 'scaffolding' in, not quite the 6 million dollar man for those of you old enough to remember, but enough in its own way. I can still use my left foot ok, but like a lot of back sufferers, depressing the clutch pedal puts a strain on the whole of that side of the body (it's suprising you only notice it when you can't do what you used to take for granted!)
If you have any details of the slave cylinder 'conversion', please can you send them to me if easy to do, or let me know how I can get from you.
Thanks again everyone, maybe I'll see a few of you at Le Mans this year!
Eric
May I first thank everyone for taking the time and trouble to reply so quickly, and giving me the opportunity to think there may be life in the old dog yet!
If the slave cylinder idea can be made to work and the clutch operation can be made 'finger light', then perhaps one day my dream will come true. We all have our favourite tiv's, mine has always been the griff, one of the few great looking cars that can also take my 6ft 3" frame.
The back operation I had is called a spinal fusion which basically means taking out a failed disc and sticking some metal 'scaffolding' in, not quite the 6 million dollar man for those of you old enough to remember, but enough in its own way. I can still use my left foot ok, but like a lot of back sufferers, depressing the clutch pedal puts a strain on the whole of that side of the body (it's suprising you only notice it when you can't do what you used to take for granted!)
If you have any details of the slave cylinder 'conversion', please can you send them to me if easy to do, or let me know how I can get from you.
Thanks again everyone, maybe I'll see a few of you at Le Mans this year!
Eric
Psychobert said:
I'm pretty sure this has been done on a Griff. Haven't got the details to hand and a quick search here hasn't revealed anything though..
I can remember someone having this done before too...iN fact I am sure I have heard of a couple of them..will dig the PH archieves.BB
Apparently an owner has one on this page...went down it myelf but couldnt see it.. goggle link saying about it and link to page linky
BB
Edited by Ballistic Banana on Friday 7th March 23:07
I looked at a concentric hydraulic release bearing for mine. The idea being to have a featherweight clutch. The minor snag is that it only works with a thin race type clutch, and that didn't sound all that town-friendly to me. I think the company that made the parts was Tilton (or something like that)
There was some talk of the zeroshift gearbox some time ago. I guess it died off, which is a shame because it would have suited your needs quite well.
PAS is quite easy - TVR made this as an option, and mine has it. You'd never really know it's a PAS car unless you look for the PAS fluid leaks...
I've got a Vauxhall Corsa electric PAS steering column sat in my garage, and it looks like it might bolt straight on to the Griff... 
There was some talk of the zeroshift gearbox some time ago. I guess it died off, which is a shame because it would have suited your needs quite well.
PAS is quite easy - TVR made this as an option, and mine has it. You'd never really know it's a PAS car unless you look for the PAS fluid leaks...
I've got a Vauxhall Corsa electric PAS steering column sat in my garage, and it looks like it might bolt straight on to the Griff... For an auto, evidently what you need is a ZFHP24 from a jag or bmw(which gives you the 2wd rear output) and the bellhousing from the 4WD ZF HP24 used in the 90's range rovers. (or the auto from a riot van or ambulance, which is rearwheel drive and has the rover bell housing)
The HP24 is electronically controlled, so you will also need a shift computer - but at least you can then map shift points and even have tiptronic style changes: http://www.powertraincontrolsolutions.com/content-...
or the HP22 which is mechanical shift points, but might get tricky to map for a lighter and more poweful car.
Some discussion here:
http://www.v-8.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=412&am...
The HP24 is electronically controlled, so you will also need a shift computer - but at least you can then map shift points and even have tiptronic style changes: http://www.powertraincontrolsolutions.com/content-...
or the HP22 which is mechanical shift points, but might get tricky to map for a lighter and more poweful car.
Some discussion here:
http://www.v-8.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=412&am...
Changing master and slave cylinders to give a light clutch pedal may also give a longer travel pedal.
Adapting a remote brake servo to the existing setup would give a light, servo assisted clutch with normal travel.
I have seen adverts for kits to modernise old braking systems in classic car mags that should be adaptable.
If you put an air valve to close the vacuum supply then it can be turned off. If you want to sell the car this should be much less of an issue than an auto.
Adapting a remote brake servo to the existing setup would give a light, servo assisted clutch with normal travel.
I have seen adverts for kits to modernise old braking systems in classic car mags that should be adaptable.
If you put an air valve to close the vacuum supply then it can be turned off. If you want to sell the car this should be much less of an issue than an auto.
I've checked through my notes.
My memory was a little off. I discussed the possibility of changing master and slave cylinders with a mechanic at Fernhurst and also at Dream Machines. Both said no problems. For price of the parts I've written £100+, this from 4 years ago. As noted above, this will increase pedal travel noticeably but only from stationary. Once under way the increase is marginal.
The chap I spoke with at Rockingham was Clever (Clevor?) Trevor. They had a display of an RV8 with different induction which increased power somewhat. Stuck on the back, and unheralded, was a multiplate clutch, two plates if memory serves. It looked rather nice and when I spoke with the chap he said that it had generated a lot of interest which had suprised him. He said that one of the advanatages was a 'much lighter' according to my notes, clutch pedal but the same length of throw. There are other advantages with the two-plate set-up that are not really relevant. No price I'm afraid.
My memory was a little off. I discussed the possibility of changing master and slave cylinders with a mechanic at Fernhurst and also at Dream Machines. Both said no problems. For price of the parts I've written £100+, this from 4 years ago. As noted above, this will increase pedal travel noticeably but only from stationary. Once under way the increase is marginal.
The chap I spoke with at Rockingham was Clever (Clevor?) Trevor. They had a display of an RV8 with different induction which increased power somewhat. Stuck on the back, and unheralded, was a multiplate clutch, two plates if memory serves. It looked rather nice and when I spoke with the chap he said that it had generated a lot of interest which had suprised him. He said that one of the advanatages was a 'much lighter' according to my notes, clutch pedal but the same length of throw. There are other advantages with the two-plate set-up that are not really relevant. No price I'm afraid.
You could always approach Russel at Raceproved.He has made a lighter diaphragm for my AJP clutch so that hopefully my wife will be able to enjoy driving it.I cant recall if he was going to do one for the RV8 clutch or not,but he'd be well worth asking.If you could get a lighter diaphragm along with a different slave/master ratio then you could crack it i reckon.It's a lot to do with leverage as well though,for instance,the same clutch is used in both AJP Cerbs and S6 Tuscans,yet the Tuscan has a featherlight clutch compared to the Cerb.
The AJP Griff said:
You could always approach Russel at Raceproved.He has made a lighter diaphragm for my AJP clutch so that hopefully my wife will be able to enjoy driving it.....................................It's a lot to do with leverage as well though,for instance,the same clutch is used in both AJP Cerbs and S6 Tuscans,yet the Tuscan has a featherlight clutch compared to the Cerb.
I can see how playing around with leverage, bores etc can reduce the effort needed to push the pedal down, no problem.But, surely a clutch needs a certain clamping pressure for it to not slip/last, how can you reduce the diapragm pressure without compromising clutch life?
Gassing Station | General TVR Stuff & Gossip | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff