Getrag 265 - 5 Speed Conversion

[roberhofer]

Hi PagodaMafia...

Please keep reporting on your 6-speed conversion and experience.
My Automatic is due for an overhaul (leaking fluid etc) and I am dancing around whether instead to do the conversion to the 6-speed transmission (which is supported for an additional ~1500 Euro).

Wife acceptance factor plays a big role here as well :-).

Robert

[Jimbo1907]

We have now progressed to the point where we have the car running and driving. We were not sure what oil to put in the Getrag gearbox so we started with 85-90 gear oil. Big mistake. Transmission was nearly impossible to shift. Drained that out and put in Dexron- much better.

The flex coupling supplied with the kit lasted about one mile- literally. It tore apart immediately. We ended up having the driveshaft modified by an outfit in TX who welded a BMW front section onto the Mercedes driveshaft. That way, it can used a standard BMW flex coupling. All that has worked fine.

Latest problem: the speedo cable. I would like to just get a cable that will mate the Getrag gearbox, the 265/5, to the VDO speedometer in the 113 SL. We have the original cable out and have measured it for length, but we can't figure out which BMW speedo cable is the right one to go on the Getrag transmission. I ordered a cable from a 528e BMW but it doesn't seem to be the right end. My transmission is NOT the dog-leg transmission, it is the one with the OD fifth gear.

When the dust settles on this project, I will have a rebuildable MB rear axle set from a 4.5 sedan, with the 3.27 axle ratio, for sale. It is in Manchester, MD, which is near Westminster. It drives okay, it was in the car for years, but has an occasional clunk in it and should be gone through before use in a car. Again, this is NOT a drop-in item!! It will need some service work before it can be put in a car and forgotten about.

Any help on the speedo cable would be very much appreciated. Our plan is to get the speedo cable made up, and then count the turns on the cable and send the speedometer off to Palo Alto to get recalibrated. I could care less about the odo, at this point I just want to drive the car again.

[450sl]

got mine from :    http://www.speedycables.com/

mark

[Jimbo1907]

Thank you. What did you specify to them in order to get the right cable ends and length? We can measure the length, but I don't know what end to ask for on the Getrag end. The instrument end would be a 113 Mercedes VDO, right?

[450sl]

just contact them and order the same one earlier shipped to the netherlands , or recent to peter in finland.

[Jimbo1907]

Thank you. I will call them. I emailed them but didn't hear back. Thanks for your help.

[Jimbo1907]

I called Speedy Cable and they advised me that they make up thousands of cable and that unless they have more precise information about this cable, they can't make me one. I'm going to try them again Monday, but in the meantime, an appeal: if ANYONE has precise information about what ends go on this cable and how long it needs to be, could they PLEASE post it here or PM or email me with that information? The essential piece of information that I do not have is what end goes on the transmission end to connect to the Getrag 265 transmission. PLEASE help if you can. I am so close to having this project done at long last. Please help.

[450sl]

jimbo see email speedy below

The cable we have supplied to Mark Turnbull is 1685mm long, our pt no
211650.  Price is £25.50 plus p&c and VAT.  Delivery 7-10 working days from
order.  Await your instructions.

Regards

Mike Howes
DIRECTOR

[Jimbo1907]

Thank you! I will call this fellow tomorrow. Very much appreciated.

[Jimbo1907]

Called them and talked with Andy- the order is in, I hope- Mike is no longer with them, but they have the part number. It is for a RHD car, so should be adequately long for a LHD 280SL, what I have. Stay tuned. Full report to follow, for better or worse.

[Jimbo1907]

STILL trying to order the speedo cable from Speedy. They DO have a part number, I have placed the order either two or three times, never got an acknowledgement, called them 3 or 4 times. Very frustrating. I can't see how they can stay in business like this.

[Jimbo1907]

Called Speedy Cable (possibly the most ironic or imappropriate name for this company, who ought to be called Abbott & Costello Cables Ltd)  and put the order in a FOURTH time, this time by phone. The lady with whom I spoke pretended we'd never talked before- entirely false as I clearly recall talking with her at least five times in the past. Anyway, I hope this gets the order in and that they don't (further) screw it up.

Maybe "Cables by Fawlty Towers"?

[stickandrudderman]

It is sadly true that Speedy Cables' service has deteriorated somewhat over the years but if you keep on their case you will get what you need eventually.

[Jimbo1907]

You're right. As a matter of fact, there was a hilarious episode where I called them, and asked for Tracey, whom I had spoken with, and asked her about the order, and she told me she had never spoken with me, ever. Pretty funny. However, they did finally make up the cable and send it to me, on the fourth order, and it seems to fit fine and will work. The cable, which is actually for a RHD car, is a bit longer than the one which came out of my car, which is LHD. This is not a problem.

On other news, another forum member sold me a set of leather seat covers in cognac that he had had sitting around for years. I picked up the seats yesterday and they look very good- they are a close match to the door panels and dash (we did only the seats) and I hope to have them back in the car this week. The floors and all look in good shape.

The technician doing the transmission transplant, who also rebuilt the rear axle, plans to have the axle out again to redo the pinion seal which leaks a bit. But we are (slowly) closing in on the completion of this project and then, with any luck, I will get to actually drive the car a bit.

[GGR]

You can replace the pinion seal without taking the axle out, which will save you quite some labor.

[Jimbo1907]

Right. I think he has to drop the driveshaft and maybe the carrier bearing. It's an old seal, maybe the original, and it weeps a bit.

[Jimbo1907]

Another update, of sorts: fitted the reupholstered seats back into the 280SL. They look terrific and FEEL new, which is brilliant. Pinion seal work in process- he had to order a socket to get the nut off it, which supplier sent the wrong one, so back to the order book... The cable DOES fit, but we have not driven the car very much yet. My plan is to snug up everything and then drive the car and clock it with a GPS and figure out how far off the speedometer is- then send it to a VDO shop and have it corrected. Getting the odometer right would require changing the drive gear, I think, and at this point I just want the car running and driving.

I hope it turns out well. It has taken so long that I am worn out with all of it, and just want it done. No one's fault, it has just been a lengthy process.

[450sl]

good to hear the cable fits; not to long afterall?

Did the tuning of the speedoo myself by using  a gps markerpoint  at 100km/h , now i find a very small deviation from speedo to gps in the lower range.

I should have used a lowerspeed markerpoint like 80 Km/h or 50miles/hour , so the deviation is in its best possible range.

[Jimbo1907]

Right. The leaking pinion seal turned out to be pitting on the yoke shaft. There is a fix kit from Bud's Benz, but we elected to have a local machinist turn the shaft down a bit and fit a steel sleeve to it, to restore the original diameter. After that, it goes back in and (I hope) I get to drive it some. At that point we'll figure out the speedometer and send the unit in to VDO for a rebuild and calibration. The cable appears to fit fine- probably an inch or so longer than needed but that is far better than the alternative.

[Shvegel]

Anyone following that also has a pitted yoke there is a product called a speedy sleeve that is a very thin stainless sleeve that is installed over the worn surface of the yoke.  No machining needed. 

http://www.skf.com/binary/26-128020/11337_2-EN-SKF-Speedi-Sleeve.pdf

[Jimbo1907]

That is what I had done. They turned the yoke a bit and fitted the sleeve. Works a treat, as they say. Hoping to get more seat time in the car in the next few days- I was away at a concours with another car for the weekend. Still left to do- fix the rattle in the exhaust system, and drive it more to complete any sorting out.

I am interested to know what other owners who have Getrag transmissions are using for gearbox lube. I posted that we started with 85-90 and the box was unshiftable, pretty much. Drained that out as best we could and put in Dexron. Much better. What is everyone else running? I am thinking about synthetic Dexron, also- has anyone tried that?

Speedo seems to work fine, have to check with GPS. I am sending a bunch of Mercedes instruments to PAS this winter- the speedo from my 3.5, the 3.5 clock, for a conversion, and I think the tach from the 280SL- jumps around. That is, if none of these are caused by the cables.

I'm pretty sure the clock has nothing to do with cables.

[stickandrudderman]

Dexron is indeed the correct oil.

[GGR]

Metric Mechanic recommends ATF for the Getrag 265 they rebuild. I also like redline MTL. You can blend it with MT90 or run full MT 90 if your transmission is noisy.

[stickandrudderman]

Dexron is ATF!

[Jimbo1907]

Progress report, of a sort. I went up to Manchester today, dropped off my 500E, and drove the 280SL home. Overall, the engine seems to like these ratios. Shifting is still rather tight and requires more effort than I would expect from a used gearbox which presumably was already broken in. There is a bit more noise from the Getrag than the original gearbox made, but not excessive. We have two rattles: the first, a low-pitched bang on bumps, seems to be from the exhaust system hitting a bolt which I think is part of the transmission mount. We will probably have to either put high-temp padding between them, or dimple the exhaust system in that area to give it more room.

The second, which is far more annoying, is a higher-pitched rattling which seems to come from the area of the glovebox. It is most noticeable at highway speed in either 4th or 5th. Not sure what that is. I really hope it isn't the speedo cable- getting the cable in the first place was a huge pain, If I had to replace it I would not be happy.

I'm going to drive the car for a few more days and see what else turns up. Overall, it isn't perfect, but it's better than what came out of the car, and I hope that we can sort out the rattles and complete things.

At 3000 revs the speedo indicated 60mph, which is handy since I'm terrible at math, but I suspect she's going faster. I'm going to check it tomorrow with a GPS navigator and see how close we are. We just connected the speedo to the trans with a cable and no adapter, so it would be too much to hope for that it would be accurate. Plan is to get an idea of the error and this winter send the unit to Palo Alto and get it recalibrated.

Stay tuned!!! GGR, if you want to come out here and drive the car, I'd be delighted to show it to you!! the impression of an expert would be most welcome.