Re: 1971 Turbo Gremlin

[adh@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Sandwich Maker)]

" From: "Clarence Milstead" <cmilstead@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
" 
" Ten years ago I added a Garrett turbo to my 1971 Gremlin. It was featured in
" the Jan/Feb  1996 issue of Dick Datson's 21st Century Turbo newsletter and
" also on the Turboforce web site. I still have it and it's running fine but I
" have a few questions I'd like your opinion on. I have the aluminum case
" air-cooled BW transmission, model M-43. It's been a good transmission and I
" had it rebuilt at 250K miles. In normal driving it shifts OK but won't shift
" out of low gear unless I lift for a second during hard acceleration. I think
" it's probably the governor, what do you think?

dunno.

when i got my marlin [232/m37], it could be shifted by hand [d1/d2] but
wouldn't shift by itself.  turned out it was the vac kickdown, busted.
it was pegged in full-throttle kickdown all the time.

iirc the m40s have electric kickdown instead.

" I have the TSM and have read
" the procedure for checking the governor, can I do it with the car up on
" jackstands or will I have a problem? I have the 7 9/16 axle with the 2.73
" ratio. I'd like to go to a lower (higher) ratio, maybe 3.15 or 3.31 for
" better performance.

they never made a 3.15 for the small axle.  for the cars it was 2.73,
3.08, 3.31, 3.58, 3.78, 4.10 [with some taller gears]; in jeeps [as the
dana 35] it's 3.07, 3.54, 3.73, 4.10.

" What's the best way to do this, try to find an axle in a
" salvage yard or buy new gears for my differential? I'm an engine man not an
" axle man, can I do the work myself? I've read the procedure but never done
" it.

gear lash setup is quite a trick.  if i was in your shoes i'd look for
a complete axle.  i'd think about a v8 axle too, depending on how hard
i drove.

" Mileage isn't a problem, I drive the car in town only. A couple of final
" questions, if the BW breaks what is the best and easiest replacement?

that's a loaded question.

there are only two replacements that don't need custom fabrication, and
both are easy if you have the parts, but -finding- the parts is
something else - they're very rare.

first is the iron warner, cousin to the ford fmx.  used behind the 196
before about '62 when the aluminum tranny appeared; converter housing
the same except for dowel holes but dunno about flexplate or converter.
you could presumably use a v8 converter somehow.  you'd probably have
better luck finding a postal jeep with the setup; iirc they made a run
of them in the mid '70s with the old-style 232 and iron tranny.  i
learned that from postaljeep.com, but it doesn't seem to exist any more.

second is the th400.  you won't break this one with a six!  but you
need the setup from a '65-'71 fullsize jeep with 232.  if you can find
that, converting it to 2wd is trivial.

if you're heading toward rebuilding your m43 again, i have some notes
from australia on beefing the aluminum warner family i can send you.
i think just about everything they call for was used on foreign cars
here.  they used it behind smallish v8s down under.

in another approach, you could get a '72-9 258 longblock and transfer
all your stuff to it.  then you could switch to a tf998 or 999, easily
built and quite strong for a six.  also, a '77-'80 74cc head combined
with earlier 232/258 pistons would drop your compression a bit, letting
you crank the boost up to match...

from there, it's only a short step to finding a 4.0 motor and building
a 'stroker' with your 258 crank...  you'd need custom slugs to run much
of a turbo though.

" And,
" how much horsepower is my turbo 258 making? I have the Garrett turbo, a Comp
" Cam 260, Mallory ignition, Holley 500cfm carb, 2 1/4" exhaust and don't turn
" it much over 4500 RPM. Thanks for your advice.  I have about 7-8 lbs of
" boost at 4500RPM.  

dunno.  with your rpm though, i think torque is more of a factor, and i
think it could be well over 300 ft-lbs.
________________________________________________________________________
Andrew Hay                                  the genius nature
internet rambler                            is to see what all have seen
adh@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx                       and think what none thought