Getting this 3.0CSi back on the road

[Gransin]

So the other G265/6 arrived from Liuthania a couple weeks after the last post, I installed it and has been driving quite a lot this summer, no problems with the "new" gearbox.
The 5 speed update has to be the best upgrade you can do to a coupe, it's finally relaxing to drive on the highway and those long straight country roads we have alot of.

The 265/6 wasn't exactly perfect to mate with the 3.25 diff, so I was close to buying a 3.45 LSD from Germany, but the seller backed out last minute, and at the same time I saw a cheap local 3.45 non-LSD for sale so I bought that just to try out the gear ratio. The result is pretty good for my driving so now I'm just going to keep my eyes open for a 3.45 LSD.

Quick paint job

Other than that it's just been alot of to-and-from work driving now that it's fun to drive some distances.

05:30am

Stuck at some road work.

Frank can't stop talking about going for a drive in the coupe, so sometimes I do allow him to come with me for a very careful drive since he's still too young to sit facing forward.
He loves it as much as I do

I'm quite bad at taking pictures from everyday driving, so when I'm going for the last drive of the season I always remember that, damn, I need some pictures, so here's some pics I took last weekend when I went to dry it out after the last wash before going into the corner of the garage again.

No major updates planned this coming winter, but you never know?
It's now tucked away in the corner again.

 

[Dan Mooney]

Stunning autumn colors and photography, Robert!

 

[Michael Kaye]

Lovely pics.

@Gransin where did you source the gearbox(es). did you do the work yourself. And what about the speedo cable (I believe that needs adapting). Was it straightforward?

 

[HB Chris]

I agree the 265/6 and 3.45 is a sweet combo. I thought the auto cable reaches the 265/6, no difference in the end of the cable itself.

 

[Gransin]

Lovely pics.

@Gransin where did you source the gearbox(es). did you do the work yourself. And what about the speedo cable (I believe that needs adapting). Was it straightforward?

Thanks Michael,

I found out about this guy in Liuthania from another member:

For sale in Europe: Getrag 265/6 5 speed O/D gearbox

Further to my last post in my wanted thread, the guy I bought one of these plus bellhousing from in Lithuania has another for sale, I said I’d publicise it for him here. His name is Donatas, he was great to deal with over email - sent lots of photos and answered all my questions and is very...

e9coupe.com

Here's his ebay:

| eBay

He's a great guy, very honest and I wouldn't hesitate to buy from him again despite the problem I had, he did all he could to correct the mistake.
Doesn't seem to have any 265's on Ebay at the moment, but you should contact him directly via email, he seems to have more stuff than what he offers on Ebay.
PM me if you want his email.

I did all the work myself except shortening the driveshaft.
The speedo cable is plug&play as long as the G265 has the speedo drive, I took my speedo drive out of the 4-speed Getrag and put it into the G265 but you still need to make sure that a G265 without the speedo drive has the internal gear that drives the speedo drive (photo attached), otherwise you can't simply swap over the speedo drive.
Easiest is to find a G265 with the speedo drive already installed.
I've read that you might need an automatic speedo cable (it's a bit longer) but the manual speedo cable worked well for me.

The work itself was straightforward, but that's because I spent many many hours reading and figuring out what I needed to order, before I even touched the car.
The list of parts I wrote should be pretty complete for a 4 speed to 5 speed swap, but I'm happy to answer any questions that anyone might have

 

[Michael Kaye]

Thanks Michael,

I found out about this guy in Liuthania from another member:

For sale in Europe: Getrag 265/6 5 speed O/D gearbox

Further to my last post in my wanted thread, the guy I bought one of these plus bellhousing from in Lithuania has another for sale, I said I’d publicise it for him here. His name is Donatas, he was great to deal with over email - sent lots of photos and answered all my questions and is very...

e9coupe.com

Here's his ebay:

| eBay

He's a great guy, very honest and I wouldn't hesitate to buy from him again despite the problem I had, he did all he could to correct the mistake.
Doesn't seem to have any 265's on Ebay at the moment, but you should contact him directly via email, he seems to have more stuff than what he offers on Ebay.
PM me if you want his email.

I did all the work myself except shortening the driveshaft.
The speedo cable is plug&play as long as the G265 has the speedo drive, I took my speedo drive out of the 4-speed Getrag and put it into the G265 but you still need to make sure that a G265 without the speedo drive has the internal gear that drives the speedo drive (photo attached), otherwise you can't simply swap over the speedo drive.
Easiest is to find a G265 with the speedo drive already installed.
I've read that you might need an automatic speedo cable (it's a bit longer) but the manual speedo cable worked well for me.

The work itself was straightforward, but that's because I spent many many hours reading and figuring out what I needed to order, before I even touched the car.
The list of parts I wrote should be pretty complete for a 4 speed to 5 speed swap, but I'm happy to answer any questions that anyone might have

View attachment 103404

thanks very much. Really helpful info. Seriously thinking this might be a good winter project!

 

[Bmachine]

Great update and pics, Robert!

 

[Bert Poliakoff]

Don't shy away from a 3.07 as you can swap the gears from the 3:45 into it as long as the ring gear has the same bolt pattern

 

[alprada70]

Excellent work !!
I saw today you work !!

 

[Gransin]

Don't shy away from a 3.07 as you can swap the gears from the 3:45 into it as long as the ring gear has the same bolt pattern

Yes I'm aware of that possibility, however we don't have a local diff shop that could help me with that task. And I'm not comfortable with setting up the backlash and preloads etc. myself, so finding a 3.45 LSD ready-to-go (maybe replace clutches and dogrings) would be so much easier than shipping it across the country back and forth.

 

[Wladek]

Don't shy away from a 3.07 as you can swap the gears from the 3:45 into it as long as the ring gear has the same bolt pattern

Looking at side half shafts mounts bolts, that diff on Robert photo above is an early style 3.45, so it will be 8 bolts crown gear mount, later 3.07 will have 10 bolts mount, so they will not be interchangeable.

 

[Gransin]

Looking at side half shafts mounts bolts, that diff on Robert photo above is an early style 3.45, so it will be 8 bolts crown gear mount, later 3.07 will have 10 bolts mount, so they will not be interchangeable.

Thanks for making that clear, Wladek!

 

[Bert Poliakoff]

I had the last one I did, by a shop that does large tractor gear box/differentials. He did my first one years ago complete with with me furnishing bearings and seals for $300 but was to busy to do the last one I did a year or so ago but let one of his guys do the gear switch and set up on the side. He charged me $200 to switch the 3:45 into a 3:07 and vice a versa and set the lash so maybe that is a an idea

 

[Gransin]

Small update on the coupe, @Wladek has helped me with creating a better driving experience, I've always thought that the steering wheel is a bit too far forward for me, don't know if it's the Scheels or just my body. So he made me a super sweet spacer that goes between the hub and wheel:

As you can see on the last photo, my Petri 38 is a foam version with tapered ends on the spokes.
Then @Wladek had another Petri 38 for sale, with a very nice leather re-wrap and modified ends on the spokes to mimic the CSL Petri.
So I just had to ask if he wanted to give my Petri the same treatment, and that's what happened.
Just got it back, it's Perfect.

 

[Belgiumbarry]

nice solution... but aren't there dished Petri's ?

 

[Gransin]

nice solution... but aren't there dished Petri's ?

Yes, but that's too simple, and they're 40cm