what are peoples thoughts on these gearboxs built by various builders in sydney? probably should have asked this before I ordered mine , but I am happy with questions and answers that I got .what do others think?
200kw m21 box
#1
Posted 21 February 2014 - 06:41 PM
#2 _LS2 Hatch_
Posted 21 February 2014 - 07:38 PM
Depends how you treat it I guess.
#3
Posted 22 February 2014 - 09:22 AM
thanks grant. I offered this to the forum as I couldn't find any independent information on this subject . I hope other forum members can contribute any information good or bad or even just personal thoughts on whether these gearboxs are an economic choice between standard and American options. mick
#4 _LHSL308_
Posted 22 February 2014 - 09:42 AM
Edited by LHSL308, 22 February 2014 - 09:43 AM.
#5
Posted 22 February 2014 - 10:35 AM
i bought a race pepped one from ATC to fit in my Yellow LX daily driver. its a warm 308, with a salisbury. I wanted to keep an all gmh drivetrain just because.
ATC were recommended by some group C racers and some forum members.
I also bought one of those rebuilt aussie 4 speed specialists m21's from a forum member here , for my young blokes car.
now the ATC box is quality plus just sitting there, the other one looked like it had been under a house for a year. and i needed to wash it out for all of the dust and swarf that was in it,
neither are a running yet so i can't comment further, but the forum has a number of threads on the quality and service of these two.
as to their ability to withstand the heat in the kitchen, i'm happy to give stick with the original driveline. It worked ok in its day and i'm just an average driver.
(enter Colin with his thoughts here ……)
#7
Posted 22 February 2014 - 11:47 AM
Welby, that looks very much like the work of Peter Zitis of Aussie 4 Speed Specialists: http://www.freewebs....speeds/home.htm
He was on here just a few weeks ago: http://www.gmh-toran...et-a-tough-box/
I have one myself but I can't comment as to performance/reliability as my car is yet to turn a wheel under its own steam.
I can however comment to 'appearances, recycled excuses and dishonesty', and in fact I did so to Welby back in August 2012; http://www.gmh-toran...ussie-4-speeds/
Your call Slack, but I remind you of the saying 'caveat emptor' - Based on my experience, I for one don't expect to ever gain anything out of the warranty offered should things go awry.
I just hope the thing is well built and won't put me in a place where I'd ever have to contemplate warranty repair.
Cheers, TB
#8
Posted 22 February 2014 - 03:02 PM
#9 _Dustings_
Posted 22 February 2014 - 06:36 PM
#10 _76S.L.R_
Posted 22 February 2014 - 09:09 PM
Im contemplating buying one myself?,Ive had enough of the Turbo 350 and hope to go back to Manual as soon as money permits me to do so, My car is only Mild really But having previously blown up 2 x M21 boxes and 2 x Ford Single Rail Boxes Im hesitant to trust an M21 again. at $1500 + I would hope they are strong enough.
Im running a 9" diff ,still don't know the Ratio!?( nothing stamped on the Diff) but its geared TALL,maybe why I kept blowing up Gearboxes
#11 _LHSL308_
Posted 23 February 2014 - 07:01 AM
Im contemplating buying one myself?,Ive had enough of the Turbo 350 and hope to go back to Manual as soon as money permits me to do so, My car is only Mild really But having previously blown up 2 x M21 boxes and 2 x Ford Single Rail Boxes Im hesitant to trust an M21 again. at $1500 + I would hope they are strong enough.
Im running a 9" diff ,still don't know the Ratio!?( nothing stamped on the Diff) but its geared TALL,maybe why I kept blowing up Gearboxes
Scott, if you want to know what ratio diff you have just follow these easy instructions.
Put the rear on some stands. Put a mark on the tail shaft with chalk and on the wheel your going to turn. Rotate the back wheel 10 times and count how many times the tail shaft turns, divide that by 10 which is what you turned the rear wheel and there is your ratio. Get someone to turn the back wheel while you lie under the car counting the tail shaft, makes things a bit easier. Good luck.
Edited by LHSL308, 23 February 2014 - 07:02 AM.
#12 _76S.L.R_
Posted 23 February 2014 - 11:59 AM
I tried that before and the results didn't make sense,my brother tried too ,cant recall specifics but some reason,didnt give an accurate assessment of whats in there
#13
Posted 23 February 2014 - 12:25 PM
Yes, TB did give me a heads up and that's why i went with ATC, amongst other good reports.
I bought the zitis one only because the cost of the combined components was attractive and it was not going in a performance application.
Plenty of good reports here if you search
#14
Posted 23 February 2014 - 12:40 PM
and Aussie4speeds,
uses Mitsubishi Bearings in the Aussie 4 speed, having a bit of machining done in them, which makes them tougher, also a Modified Ford main shaft or something. Dave I
#15 _Agent 34_
Posted 23 February 2014 - 03:47 PM
Ok so the gig is the following mods;
spiral main shaft for oiling
larger main lay shaft to prevent flexing under power - close to 21mm - this is the top loader thing
board out cluster to take in the new layshaft
large circlip - i think from memory
the rest should be new;
bearings - the Mitsubishi thing
new gears as requested
mines in and running however i would check all boxes out prior to buying and get a list of what's new and what's not. check the raitos and you may have to " count teeth " in order to check this.
there are plenty of old boxes around whereby they strip the parts out of and re use " no surprise there EH " so check out what you are getting.
#16
Posted 23 February 2014 - 06:28 PM
so there you go, if you read all the specs from the assemblers they all read pretty much the same.
all the above mods listed by grant.
so as I read it , it comes down to who has recommended them or who your comfortable with or pricing.
thanks mick
#17 _Agent 34_
Posted 24 February 2014 - 06:52 AM
when i talked to one of the operators when getting my box done he stated that the machining alone was $500 , put a new cluster on this $225 + bearings $30 + new input shaft $100 + gasket set +
there is not much left to buy new parts for under $1K .
So whilst I'm no gearbox expert most of the boxes are reconditioned and where possible " old box parts are used " to re build the boxes but the best is put in.
having said this I hope that this put some clarity on what your buying , I know that one guy cannot now build them for under $1500 for the 200kw and the other guy is selling them on ebay for about 1 K .
I would take the ebay one subject to taking off the Saturday off and watching them build it in front of you. it only takes about 1.5 hours with all the parts there.
most of the NOS clusters are now not available and most of the guys buy off the kingswood country who is on ebay for the clusters and stuff.
good luck
again, you had better check with both guys on what is new and whats not as i would not want to get accused of telling porkies on who builds what and when, but use the above as a guideline
G
#18
Posted 24 February 2014 - 04:26 PM
Agent, I hear what you are saying and so I say to all, go see Peter Zitis and his Aussie 4Speed Specialist 'operation' at his house.
I could say that his continual change of E-Bay names is evidence enough of the dodgy goings on. But as more considered evidence/opinion, I will say that my boy couldn't even use his toilet for the eight feet of soiled washing stacked on top of it and so went down the back amongst the even taller weeds and multiple wrecks just to have a pee.
To look behind the gate and see the shit lying about the pavement and the state of his shed is... well... gob smacking really.
I have attended workshops in the third world and seen a better, cleaner and more professional operation - Phillip Limahado in Auki on Malita Island (Solomon Islands) comes to mind - simple mechanicing but with a notable degree of pride despite the dirt floor under his house.
On top of this, you get a bloke requiring payment up front and then (like I have said in threads previously including this one) issues you with recycled excuses, out and out lies and sheer skull-duggery for not providing the gearbox to you as undertaken by him - the bloke can't meet his own deadlines - time and time again FFS! In the end I told this bloke about a week out that I was coming to visit him at a certain time and on a certain day in order to get mine, and he was still working on the darned thing when I turned up. Like Welby said - it looked like it has been dragged out from under a house.
I have heard around the traps that he actually builds a pretty good gearbox, but in the case of mine, I am left wondering if I got the 'gold plated' build or the 'wood veneer' build - time will tell I guess. God knows the supposed 'warranty' he issues is absolutely useless.
Again I say; caveat emptor (buyer beware) - you go with this guy and what happens happens - if it is good, then bloody good on you. If not, you can't say you were not warned.
I will say however, if you visit his place first, there is no way on God's green earth you will part with your hard earned - he and his place is frankly, disgusting - in my more than a quarter of a century on the beat this place is right up there with the worst I have encountered.
Despite appearances I have no axe to grind - jeepers I bought one from him. But what I steadfastly wish to do is to 'put it out there' - folks should rightfully satisfy themselves as Agent suggests - but like I said, a visit should let one make up their own mind to look elsewhere. Like the Chris deBurgh song went: 'don't pay the ferryman, don't even fix a price, don't pay the ferryman, until he gets you to the other side'.
Cheers, TB
Edited by Tyre biter, 24 February 2014 - 04:30 PM.
#19
Posted 24 February 2014 - 05:09 PM
^^^^ LOL what he said... are you secretly living my life.
#20 _Agent 34_
Posted 25 February 2014 - 07:09 AM
Craig, that's too funny , you summed up my experience as well.
i could not believe that someone could run a business like this AT ALL..
you should;
check the number on the cluster , count the gears , check " second " as this is the only one they really replace as it wears, the rest will be second hand.
the only real difference from the xu1 cluster is some change in the gearing and there has been a really good thread on cluster identification here on GMH.
don't get too worried about the cluster numbers as this only relates to ratio's . who gives a shit if it's a xu1 cluster or not, there are far too many other variables in the driveline equation that will make a difference - tyre size , diff ratio , cam etc .
the 1 tonner cluster has the shortest ratio and then up from there.
I don't know , but $1500 for a box off pete is too much now in my opinion for the service he provides.
any person who is buying is entitled to inspect the product prior to buying and if i was buying off ebay i would be careful , there is another guy round the granville area who is in competition with pete and they know each other and i suspect it's the other guy on ebay.
call either of them and arrange a meeting with him to run through the box.
As i have said, put aside a day go to the workshop and watch them put it together then hand over the money, all the parts are there to see.
i'm still laughing at craig's description of the house, it's so true, Don't take the kids lol BAHHHH
#21 _76S.L.R_
Posted 25 February 2014 - 09:16 PM
After reading recent posts on here,I wont be going anywhere near one of those" Peter Zitis" made boxes!!
#22
Posted 26 February 2014 - 07:04 PM
well the gearbox arrived toddy via tnt. after unpacking it plus my other spares I opened up the side cover just to check every thing was as it is supposed to be. Yes all new gears ,syncros and shafts. even a billet bearing retainer. at this point in time im very happy with what I see . next job is to finish painting chassis black underneath and then fit everything back in place and then test drive . thanks mick
#23 _aussie4speeds_
Posted 26 February 2014 - 11:37 PM
guys I am no shonk I am an honest gearbox builder and I have not lived at that house in 3 years and my place in the back yard was not like what they say it was and I have never ripped any one off I always state what you get in the box I build and I stand by my warranty 150 percent buying a box from me is safe and you get your moneys worth and when have you ever heard a box from me shitting its self I have pride in my work ok and since my divorce I am working in a new work shop fully organised and set up to do the aussie 4 speed boxes and the T 5 5 speed boxes as well the place is clean and no dog shit and I use good second hand parts and new parts in my boxes hey every body copies me I started the 200k boxes years ago all the others follow me and always under cut me but my prices haven't changed in years on my web site but there will be a price rise soon as input shafts and clusters have gone up heaps but the race boxes will not be affected they wont go up if you want to watch me build your box I don't care you can watch me for I have nothing to hide I don't cheat on my boxes like most of then do I wont name who they are but they know who im talking about selling boxes with gears that should not be even used and they cut back the detent cam to make them not jump out of gear look sometimes its ok to do that on a standard box but give the customer gears that at least have reasonable dog teeth on the gears not worn out any way we don't build standard boxes so we don't do this to our 120 kw or our 200kw race boxes I hope I have cleared up any miss conceptions of the quality of my work if you have any complaints to bitch about my business ask me any questions and I will answer them honestly and truthfully guys I have nothing to hide peter zitis of Australian 4 speed Specialists DL:28003
#24
Posted 27 February 2014 - 12:07 AM
Great Speech Peter
#25
Posted 27 February 2014 - 07:48 AM
Peter,
Ordinarily I'd give you the benefit of the doubt but - indeed I said as recently as a three days ago that I have heard around the traps that you build a pretty good product.
But you are fibbing mate, out-and-out fibbing: You were there in July 2011, the place was an absolute tip and you padded me off time and time again with excuses; so many that you recycled them without being aware of doing so, meaning they were not excuses, they were lies.
This dragged on for months didn't it?
And then you will remember that I had to force your hand by coming up to get it - even then it wasn't finished and on top of this, parts like the reverse switch were broken and the cable you undertook to include in the purchase was as well.
It took me another few months to get a replacement switch out of you.
Like I said, typically I'd give the benefit of the doubt but you mate, through your own conduct displayed that you don't deserve it as evidenced by your contining fibbing rather than just falling on your sword and admitting things were as you and I know them to have been.
I genuinely say best of luck and I hope you have turned your operation around, but nevertheless I will remain a stalwart of warning folk about your conduct.
Your workmanship might well be totally the opposite - indeed I have a vested interest to hope that it is; but this is about how your treat your customers mate - deceitful conduct is not something that invites return customers nor glowing reviews, especially when you perpetuate the lies as you have just done.
TB
Edited by Tyre biter, 27 February 2014 - 07:48 AM.
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