Which transmission?

[dn010]

The limited info you're providing in this thread is making it difficult to help you. Are you saying you want to use your Nissan engine and your budget for a transmission is ~$300? You realize aside from all the adapters that you'll need to make for mounting, shift cable mounting, etc you'll also need to figure out how to manage all the electronics on the engine in order to adapt it to the rest of the car. Wiring, coolant pipes, ECU, exhaust, air intake and filter, AC etc and then there are the driveshafts to figure out, clutch hydraulics and all that other fun stuff. $$$ and a car that will sit for a long time if you have a low budget.

[link]

The limited info you're providing in this thread is making it difficult to help you. Are you saying you want to use your Nissan engine and your budget for a transmission is ~$300? You realize aside from all the adapters that you'll need to make for mounting, shift cable mounting, etc you'll also need to figure out how to manage all the electronics on the engine in order to adapt it to the rest of the car. Wiring, coolant pipes, ECU, exhaust, air intake and filter, AC etc and then there are the driveshafts to figure out, clutch hydraulics and all that other fun stuff. $$$ and a car that will sit for a long time if you have a low budget.

Im being vague because im just trying to gather info on a potential drivetrain for a car i want to build in the future. Nothing is set in stone apart from that i can make anything i need and im not able to spend a ton of cash. If a usable trans cost me 800 bucks then ill be willing to do it. Regardless if its subaru or porsche or prv. Whatever it takes to have a functioning system.

[Josh]

Stay away from subarugears.

I am putting 314hp and 348 lbft to the wheels and I could not keep them in my car.
Over the course of just over a year the transmission failed three times.

I was in close contact with Todd from subarugears, and he could find no flaws with my rebuild practices. I even had the third rebuild professionally supervised and it still failed in about 1000 miles of easy, careful driving with a break in.
The ring and pinion were essentially disintegrating. I feel they are not hardened properly but I never had the chance to take them to the university to get tested.
I had to custom make shims to get the backlash to setup half-decent (was not possible to make it perfect with the Subaru gears design). I also had to do further machining on the Pinion Subarugears sent me because it simply would not fit otherwise. When I confronted Subaru gears about this they told me I was the only one with this problem, but yet I had a few second opinions on the matter and we all found the once step OD was so large it caused the bearings to bind, and another step was so large it did not allow the proper range of backlash adjustment. This was for the 6 speed kit. Im sure the 5 speeds are better sussed out but this shows poor quality control/design.
Furthermore, how they reverse these gearboxes required removing a lot of the structure of the case half on the one side and promotes flexing, something slit case transmissions are prone to at the best of times.
Another huge oversight with this setup is the ring gear is cut in the wrong direction. After rebuilding with the subarugears parts you are driving off the coast side of the ring gear. This is the weaker side and not common practice.

If you want to repower an old VW, subarugears is great. If you actually want to use it in a performance application you will have long term issues at the very least.

I STRONGLY discourage using a reversed subaru gearbox in our application, I have since moved onto a Porsche G96 which I feel is a great compromise of strength and cost if you are starting from scratch. With that being said, If your car is already a 5 speed, the stock renault transmission with an upgraded coupler can handle 300lb ft with some sensible driving and will not break the bank.

I have run the stock transmission, Subaru TY, and the G96 in my cars and others I have been involved with for many thousands of miles each. I have quite a bit of time and money invested into seeing what works. I hope you find my experiences helpful.
I will be pretty sad if another subaru gearbox finds its way into a delorean.

[Josh]

The limited info you're providing in this thread is making it difficult to help you. Are you saying you want to use your Nissan engine and your budget for a transmission is ~$300? You realize aside from all the adapters that you'll need to make for mounting, shift cable mounting, etc you'll also need to figure out how to manage all the electronics on the engine in order to adapt it to the rest of the car. Wiring, coolant pipes, ECU, exhaust, air intake and filter, AC etc and then there are the driveshafts to figure out, clutch hydraulics and all that other fun stuff. $$$ and a car that will sit for a long time if you have a low budget.

I also second this strongly.

[link]

Thats great, thanks for your input. Seeing as porsche trans are floating around 3k on ebay, i guess a stock trans would probably be my best bet. What would i be looking to spend on one? And why did you decide to not use stock with your LS? Im not looking for anything over 200hp btw. I just want to have a running daily.

[David T]

Say what you will about the Renault 5 speed but in a Lotus they handle over 300 HP and can live a long life as long as you don't flog it to death dropping the clutch to race it like a dragster. While you may pay more than you want to get one, once you do, you are a long way towards powering the car. Fitting any other transaxle will require a LOT of modifications. While you may be able to make a lot of the parts yourself it still takes time. I have seen all too many projects unfinished because it turned out to be a much bigger project then expected.

[dn010]

I dont actually have this hypothetical car

I think the least of your worries is what transmission will fit if this is your case.

[link]

I think the least of your worries is what transmission will fit if this is your case.

How incredibly unhelpful. Thanks.

[dn010]

How incredibly unhelpful. Thanks.

My point is if you don't even have a car to start with yet, you have no idea what you'll need. DeLoreans aren't like old mustangs where you can have your pick from dozens of them without drivetrains. Most times you find a "cheap" project D it will have everything you'll need as far as the drivetrain, just in poor condition or not running. If you don't have the car it is hard to plan ahead when you don't have anything to base your needs off of, nothing to measure, nothing to work with. I'm not trying to be an ass but it's like asking what color to paint your living room but you don't have a house yet.

[link]

Yes i understand. However the first step is to decide what engine and trans are accessible to me because i plan on making a frame from scratch and it would benefit me to know what drivetrain i need to fabricate for.