Lotus Europa Community
Lotus Europa Forums => Garage => Topic started by: HelpMyLotus on Thursday,January 26, 2017, 03:24:33 AM
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Can anyone shed light on when Lotus started putting 5 speeds in the cars? Was it a blanket change? Was it an option? I've been told by Andy at the registry that my car was a 4 speed build based on the number but it has a 5 speed. Curious if it could be an option added later or if something else is up.
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4spd:
Early TC had the 336 transaxle.
72.02...2150R (federal), 72..3...020Q (export) and 72.03...1444P (UK) and up have 352 transaxle.
5 spd:
72.08...1101Q (export), 72.08...1783P (UK), and 72.16...268R (federal) and up had the option of having the 365 transaxle.
AFAIK, and according to period press reports, you could get specials with 4 spd transaxles. It may have depended (speculation alert!) on the market.
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It probably depended on how many 4 speed boxes Chunky had lying around in Hethel that he could get rid of before the 5 speed boxes started arriving in sufficient quantities to put in all the TCS.
His credit with Renault must have been better than his credit with Weber/Dell-Orto and Ford.
Never missed a bargain ! Most of the parts were cheap and plentiful coming from large volume built European cars. Only the head was expensive to produce and no doubt he did a deal with Ford on the R&D costs so they could use the engine in the Lotus Cortina and the Twin Cam Escort, both very fine motorsport cars in their day. .
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Maybe I should clarify. My car is 2735R and the trans number 22807. It was built October of 72. It has a 5 speed trans (including the shift knob) but Lotus is saying it was a 4 speed build. I don't doubt cars could change but I sort of doubt the effort was put forth so early on. OR I'm mistaken and that's exactly what happened.
Where do I find the number on the trans?
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I think the 5-speed was introduced with TC. As 4129R says the confusion could easily be poor record keeping by Lotus. On the other hand, a PO could have swapped trannies.
I think you need to find out which tranny and which frame was supposed to have come with your car. According to the parts manual: The 352 (4 speed) and the 365 (5 speed) both used the same frame. The 352 was also installed in a unique frame. The 336 (4 speed) was installed in another unique frame.
If your car really came with a 352 in a 352/365 frame, it would be a pretty simple job to swap the 352 for a 365. If it came with a 352 in a 352 frame, it would require either modifications to the rear hoop of the frame or a 352/365 frame fitted. I believe this 336 used a different shift linkage and besides the modification to the rear hoop, the 352/365 linkage would have to be procured (it could have come with a 365) and I'm not sure but it may require pulling the engine to change out the linkage.
Who knows. I think you need to have a basic assumption and go from there.
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I think your car would have the 352/365 frame. I expect some one swapped the 352 for a 365, some time in the last 43 years.
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Is there only one 5 speed box? The 365? Where is the ID for it. I just looked ALL over the place and couldn't find any tag or 5 digit number.
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The only 5 spd from the factory was the 365. Many people put in other 5 speeds, usually a 395 or one from the NG series.
The number is a on a small round tag under one of the tail housing bolts.
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my tag must be gone then. I looked high and low on that thing. No tag. I shifts 5 gears though, that much is sure.
I recall a collar between the engine and the trans (from output to input). When I was young I took off from a stop light and it felt like it jumped out of gear. I later found out (from a very pissed dad) that the collar stripped out. They had to weld it to either the engine or trans. Anyone else know of this issue?