5 speed in a bay

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How does it feel on a steep hillstart with 1st being somewhere between the stock 1st and 2nd?
 
easy said:
Good work dooder 8)

Cheers Ez 8)

Zebedee said:
How does it feel on a steep hillstart with 1st being somewhere between the stock 1st and 2nd?

Only on the steepest hills do you have to slip the clutch a little to get going. It's very rare that I wish for a much lower 1st gear.

With the 1600, I reckon my bus is marginally slower than with the standard gearbox to about 30mph due to the longer gearing... but faster thereafter :)
 
So, we've recently taken the camper on holiday...

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It behaved faultlessly even in temperatures of up to 38 Deg C. And ran cooler than my friend's '70 Bay with standard engine and gearbox, although I was cheating and running a Porsche top alternator pulley to keep the fan speed up a bit.

The gearbox conversion has also improved the van's MPG a little too - it averaged 31.3MPG over the last 1500 miles or so, up from the 25MPG I got in similar terrain/conditions last time - though it has also had an engine rebuild inbetween... I reckon 31.3MPG isn't bad for a moderately heavily laden van over hilly terrain!

More pics here: http://forum.earlybay.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=74455&p=593560
 
A friend of mine named him Nijinsky fairly soon after purchase... more than 10 years ago now!
 
I kept on meaning to mention to you, that I think I saw you as I was coming out of St Paul's one Saturday and heading for the Gloucester Road just after lunch, you was going the opposite way and heading towards the centre of St Paul's. We passed where the traffic backs up. Reckon it was a couple of months back.

Ozziedog,,,,,,, looked like your bus.
 
Was probably me! :) Sorry if I didn't spot you :)

Just a quick note to add that the 5 speed conversion is still performing well.

The only downside is that with the lower engine RPMs, the heating is slightly less effective. We've just got back from a 150+ mile round trip to the Brecon Beacons and it was icy and cold out, and the heating was a bit poor, especially with the rear heater vents open and at lower speeds. I might have to look into the possibility of fitting an electric fan to boost the heating.

That said, my van still cruises very happily at an indicated 65mph, with an occasional increase in speed to 70mph to overtake things. Not bad for a little 1600 :)

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