Caterham 7 Gearbox Upgrade - Ford T9 to BGH-E7

Gear ratio's in the Type 9 Ford Sierra gearbox are good, except for 1st gear. The 3.36 ratio is designed to work with the much heavier Ford
Sierra car and is unsuitable for a Seven: With engines with > 110..120ftlbs of torque, it's difficult to take off without spinning the wheels.
Second, the 1st to 2nd gap is too large, which with a tuned engine causes it to drop off the cam. BGH transmission specialists, but also
Quaife offer alternate ratio's for this Ford Type 9 box. Regarding horsepower, torque and rpm capacity of the T9.. it's fine up to
Main Page 160..180ftlbs, and a taller 1st gear (lower ratio), will reduce internal stresses as well as the load on the differential. Lubrication is a critical
point and Brian Hill and team have developed several modifications to improve this. At a minimum I'd suggest to switch to Redline MTL,
which I've used now for some time with great result - great synchromesh action (no more 2-3 crunching during track days).
What's a Seven? Brian Hill's recommended E7 set includes a layshaft with a different input gear. This changes all the gears on the layshaft (not 4th) and in
order to get practical ratio's both 1st and 5th on the output shaft are also changed to suit. 1st is intended to get to the 2.75 ratio, whereas 5th
Driving is intended to return to a ratio close to .85. If not, the resultant 5th would be .79, which is too tall for track work, but could be fine for long
trips.
Build page story

Build page pics For my own car, the motivation for changing ratio's became clear when I put the 200HP Zetec in. Also, during spirited driving and track day
running, 3rd gear shifts had become a bit crunchy, indicating wear on the 3rd gear baulk ring. These reasons provided ample justification to
Zetec vs. X-Flow go ahead and open that gearbox!

Conversion to Zetec September 2005, my wife and I made a sightseeing tour to England and Scotland, starting from Gatwick. I had spoken with the BGH team
before over the phone, but Wisconsin is just too far away, so I concluded an in-person visit would be better and if anything more
Maintenance Log entertaining. Hence the first stop on our tour was BGH Geartech in Cranbrook, Kent. The country side in South Eastern England is always
one of our favorite areas for touring and we somehow have always been lucky with the weather there, at least this is how I sold it to my
USA7-777 wife, who's a very good sport! The roads themselves are absolutely fantastic. We had rented a Ford Focus, but I kept thinking 7...
Gallery
Brian's shop is composed of several workspaces. Suspended off the ceiling of one of these, is the original prototype of the 6 speed
Anecdotes Caterham gearbox, that he developed for them. During the tour through Brian's shop it became clear that his team can do anything with
gears, from specifying and cutting special profiles to creating custom solutions. Their world wide reputation as gearbox experts is very
Registration much justified!

Books Andy, one of the BGH team members was kind enough to walk me through the disassembly process. For my own reference, I video taped
the dismantling of a T9 box, which took him only 20 minutes, pointing out potential pitfalls. There are some differences between the older
Links and newer Type 9 gearboxes, that require some attention, such as the layshaft stub shaft, vs. the full countershaft that is deployed in the
older boxes. The shifter mechanism (half of which is housed in the tail), is different as well. E.g. there is no pin / spring under the 5th gear
e-Mail shifter location cover.
Later, back in Wisconsin when I disassembled my own box, I first thought this pin was missing, but it's absence it's one of those remnants
of the earlier design.

We left BGH with a suit case full of parts, rings, layshaft, bearings etc. The return trip back to the US was interesting to say the least. We
should have flown non-stop, but either way, the stop over in Philly was "special". One of the guards freaked out upon seeing the layshaft in
my hand luggage. I had kept it there as I was concerned it'd work it's way through a checked suitcase, just because of it's mass. So, she was
prancing it around claiming it to be a "blungeoning tool"... good grief... fortunately one of her more sane colleges was a carguy and
recognized that it wasn't. An hour later we were let go with our stuff, but the delay forced us to take another flight to make it back to
Wisconsin. The following week I started the swap, as the driving season was getting short and I wanted to at least experience the improved
ratio's before parking it for the annual "Wisconsin ice-season".

Gear ratio's 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th General notes on the Type 9:
Standard 3 shaft design, with an input (clutch) shaft containing the
common or input gear.
Standard Layshaft with the matching input counter gear and 3rd, 2nd, reverse 1st
range = 4.07 : 1 3.36 1.81 1.26 1.00 .825 and 5th
Output or mainshaft with 3rd, 2nd, Reverse, 1st and 5th gear. The end
of this shaft spins in a needle bearing in the input shaft. The other side is
supported by a bearing in a sandwich plate , between the main case and
Modified (E7)
the tail housing, and at the far end by a sleeve bearing that is formed by
range = 3.23 : 1 2.75 1.75 1.21 1.00 .85
the outer surface of the drive shaft that is spline fitted onto the mainshaft.
Note: in this design, when the clutch is engaged, even in neutral, all gears are
rotating. However, when (lift front) towing this car, no gears are rotating, i.e. no
lubrication, but the output shaft will be rotating inside the stationary gears (1,2,3 & 5)
and the pilot inside the input shaft.
Not recommended for long distance lift-front towing.

Lia's relaxing at a road stop in Kent, September 2005. Back home in Wisconsin, it's winter and Tail housing off, showing on the mainshaft
but... we both went to BGH! Brian Hill and the 6speed March '06 and at last it's time to take from L to R : 4-3 gears / shift-selector main /
gearbox Caterham prototype the box out of the car 2-1 gears / bearings in sandwhich plate /
5th gear / shift selector secondary

T9 (Scorpio) Gearbox disassembly and re-assembly

As mentioned above, the 3.36:1 1st gear ratio replacement was something I had been wanting to do for a long time, esp. because of the 2.0ltr Zetec's torque.
As far as a do-it-at-home project, this is quite doable without major tools. Some key items you'll need are a clean place to work (I use a small wooden
platform on wheels), and lots of trays for parts. Be careful of the sychromesh assemblies and keep them "in-tact" if you can. If the springs and keys do come
out, clean and dry your hands otherwise on reinsertion the keys may fly all over the place. Note they are gear specific.You will be greatly helped by having an
air compressor and airwrench - 70..80psi / 1/2". Get the best snap ring tool(s) you can get, the box is designed around these, inside, outside, eyed, they are all
there and there are many of them.

For the friction fitted speedo gear removal, you'll need to modify a standard
gear puller with some extensions - I used four strips to extend the puller arms.
Make sure to note the exact gear location, as it's a friction fit, and it needs to go
back exactly where you found it.
To get the bearing / sandwhich plate to come off, after removing the snapring
(!), you will need two fabricated 3/16" rods, shaped as shown. Flatten the ends
like blades as shown, as well as the small Z-bends. Dimensions are about 8..9 inches per side.
To replace the Torrington bearing (layshaft / output side), the outer ring just slips off, once the large nut has
been removed from 5th gear. Engage 2 & 3th gear or 1st and 3rd and use a 1/2" air wrench for this, 70..80psi. Then a heavy duty puller will be needed to get
5th gear to come off. I used a little stub (see pic) under the puller to insert into the hollow layshaft with .780" diameter on the small end, but a 3/4" socket
extension will work as well. Remove the synchromesh before removing the 5th gear nut to avoid damage to the synchro. The 5th gear nut requires a 12pt
socket. The gear will likely have hammered in a bit onto the splines. When using the airwrench to remove it go easy, as 12pt sockets are never robust. To get
the gear off, properly place the puller hooks, but avoid the gear teeth to avoid burring. It'll take some force.

For lubrication, I've tried a number of different brands and viscosities, but settled on Redline MTL, which is a special blend of lightweight oil with
synchromesh action promoting behaviour! This is critical, and really helps in a 7 where you'd be likely to shift quick. It stops the notorious 2-3 crunches when
the box gets hot (Mobile 75/90 synthetic gear-oil lets go here) on the track. I also put this in my old '84 Esprit and it transformed that gearbox. It's well worth
the added cost (about 2x that of regular synthetic gear oil).

Anything I'd do different: I'd certainly avoid machining past the end of the case like I did. In retrospect Brian Hill's notes were clear, but I misinterpreted his
drawing. Of course after it's all done, it's all clear as always. No problem really, as my alternate solution with the oilite thrust washer has been working fine for
thousands of miles and some track time. Meanwhile, it's winter of '06/'07 now and BGH was good enough to sell me another T9 Scorpio case and I'll be
putting that in, as soon as it warms up here a bit. We've been below -15C for over a month now, and working in the non-heated garage is challenging. Once it
get's warm here, like anything above -5C, I'll go back in there and replace the case, to make it all proper again. Nevertheless, the upgrade has been excellent
and it's well worth the time and $ spent on it.

The pictorial log for my 2005 winter upgrade

speedo gear, and 5th gear/synchro are lockout when other gears are
located in the tail section
5th gear pair & Shift mechanism. Complete shifter mechanism.
- Top shaft left-of-center, the brass
disc/disc-arm & coil spring Left to Right:
arrangement provide the left-right - Far-left on-shaft - indentations for:
location of the shift lever for the [2-4], [Neutral], [R-1-3-5]
for-aft planes for Reverse / 1-2 / 3-4 - 4-3 shift fork, lockout disc
/ 5th. The brass arm straddles or (disc is located by the cover
forks a pin in the tail housing. plate)
- 2-1 shift fork, 5th shift fork
- The steel sleeve and disc on the - 5th gear lockout disc
top shaft, right-of-center allows for - L/R plane springload fork (far right)
selection of 5th gear and provides (the spring reference is located by a
pin in the tailhousing)
engaged.
Lower-left in the pie-tin: Mainshaft ( = output shaft):
pin&spring for locating shifter- Left to Right:
shaft. - Synchro slider 3-4 gear
Center-right: speedo gear (194mm - baulk ring 3rd gear - 3rd gear
from gear back to sandwich plate - 2nd gear - baulk ring 2nd
face). Pull off with extended - 1-2 shift ring (accepts shift fork) /
(fabricated) puller. Rev. gear teeth
- baulk ring 1st - 1st gear
Low-center: get the best clip/snap - Sandwich plate (holds bearings)
ring pliers you can find!! This box - cleaned off output shaft (5th &
has many external and internal snap speedo removed)
rings.
Note: 5th gear shift cone engages
by moving away from 5th gear, as
it's plane is with gears 1/3/5. The
cuff rides on an extension of 5th
gear.
First the layshaft stub shaft must Input shaft (left).
be removed, by pounding it out Showing the input shaft, main bearing
through the hollow layshaft. I used and input gear, and 4th gear synchro
a 10" 1/2" socket wrench teeth & cone.
extension. Note: the 4th gear synchro connects
To remove the layshaft (center / the input shaft with the output shaft,
vertical), the outer race and rollers for a 1:1 ratio.
of the torrington bearing in the s.w.
plate have to be pushed out. With Also, in the left tray are synchro
two L-shaped 1/4" steel rods spring, blocker pins and a baulk ring.
(Brian's suggestion), with the ends
about 1" long and the "handles" In the right tray, some snap rings and
about 9" long, the bearing outer the layshaft stub shaft. A roller
race edge can be pushed out bearing in the layshaft runs on that.

Ok,
so now I'm making it right again -
following a couple pics of the new
thrust washer solution. Better would The main difference between these
have probably been, not to machine out boxes is that the older style has a
the whole opening, but this is certainly support shaft running through the
a lot more fun!
Also note that late(r) model T9
(Scorpio) gearboxes are very hard to the layshaft hangs on a small stub
come by in the US.
between the s.w. plate and the case.
The s.w. plate can be moved out,
about 1/2" inch. Then the layshaft
can be lowered and the input shaft
removed. Up to this point it's been
caught behind the layshaft input
gear.
Showing the old 3.36 1st gear and
layshaft meshed. Note the input
shaft is on the left, then the
common (input) gear pair drives the
layshaft permanently, as the output
shaft is referenced via a pilot
bearing right next to the common
gear.
The 1st gear pair is on the right.
Gears on layshaft:
Common - 3 - 2 - R - 1 (5th is
removed).
This side mates with the sandwich
(bearing) plate, and requires some
machining: The larger 1st gear on
the layshaft (bottom opening)
interferes with the edge of the lower
opening, as well as with some ribs
on the inside just below the reverse
gear stop.
I used a boring bar set to 2.5"
diameter. as suggested by BGH,
and then cut material side to side by
.15"
After machining.
After washing the box, it's ready for
test fitting and reassembly.
---- Ok, something went wrong here, as I
machined out the thrust surface for the
torrington bearing, the one that sits on the
layshaft in the sandwhich plate. It is held
captive by the snapring in the sandwhich
plate and the case on the other side. But
since I machined it out to the full thickness,
no edge remains for the bearing to rest
against - my solution is a new thrust
surface made with a bronze washer and
stainless shim at the other end of the
layshaft - pics to follow below - yup, I
screwed up, but it's fixed ....(see below)
Another testfit view from the top,
showing the input shaft more
clearly.
Mainshaft shown in the top of the
picture.
Reassembled, new 1st and 5th gear,
overall slightly closer ratio's for 2
and 3 as well, due to the changed
input gear on the layshaft.
New synchro rings (brass baulk
rings) as well as fresh bearings.
Turned out the bearings were like
new. I wasn't sure what state they
would be in as at the point of
dissassembly I had put 60k miles on
the box (and the car :-).
I tried to find another gear case,
but in the US no-one appears to
have one.
layshaft, which then runs on that. In
the newer (Ford Scorpio style) box,
shaft (see below).
- 1/07 - Got another case - I'll swap
The layshaft input side bearing in the
older case is a set of roller pins, which
have to be temporarily glued into the
layshaft with some thick bearing
grease. The newer vesion uses a caged
roller bearing that is pressed into the
end of the layshaft. I believe this
bearing actually works both for the
newer as well as the older boxes. Then,
the other big difference is the 5th gear
selector blocker which is much
simplified in the newer box.
Main case (cast iron).
Note round disc magnet at the bottom
of the case.
The reverse idler gear has not been
removed yet.
Case inside view after machining.
Note material removal at the bottom
(low-center in pic).
Need to be careful with the small
reverse gear stop, that can easily be
nicked during the grinding process.
The spring on the reverse idler gear
fork, keeps the idler gear located
towards the rear of the box, against
the stop.
Test fit of the layshaft. I used teflon
tape to protect the inner race of the
Torrington bearing which was heat
shrunk onto the layshaft (thanks to
John H. for calculating the correct
temperature, and use of his oven!).
Note the rear side of the input shaft
on top.
The layshaft stub shaft is used on the
other side, to position the layshaft
more or less in the correct location.
Main shaft cluster, left to right:
3/4 shifter cuff hub then 3rd gear,
2nd gear
Reverse on top of 1/2 shift cuff
note: engaging R is accomplished by sliding
the
Reverse idler gear, not this 2/3 cuff.
Next is the new 1st gear.
New brass baulk rings are in place for
1/2/3rd. The 4th and 5th showed no
measurable wear and mated well.
New alloy cover with top filler and
oil level dipstick (see threaded entry
top right of the cover in this pic).
Note the slotted guide for the shift
mechanism disc in the center of the
top plate, which means test shifting
without the cover in place, requires
some care.
I would think (I need to test this some
day) that a later style tail and
sandwhich plate should fit with an
older case. So, if my thrust bearing
solution wears out prematurely, that's
what I'll try do.
it in sometime in the coming
months. Right. Way way too busy. I
really should retire sometime.
note: it's almost 2011 and that fresh
case still sits under a desk.
meanwhile the gearbox is still fine.
Left to Right: Same as on the left, but showing the
relative position of the washers. The
a. Layshaft with inserted caged .010" stainless shim / washer will rest
roller bearing against the raised area on the case that
b. bronze oillite .062" washer exists where the stub shaft protrudes
- with it's ID milled out to .950" the front panel of the gearcase inside
c. stainless shim washer .010" the box.
d. stub shaft that bolts to the front The gap is where the case wall will be
of the case. (ok, that sounds confusing...). Note
the three bolts will be outside on the
front face of the gearbox.
Purpose of the .010" washer is to
provide a smooth running surface for
Note: the plate with the three holes will
the bronze washer. The oil feed is
be shimmed on the outside, to allow for
from the opposite end of the hollow
the slight laternal shift created by the
layshaft and thus these washers will
washers. The longitudinal force is run semi-submerged in oil.
taken between the layshaft / washers /
inside gearbox wall, instead of the
torrington bearing, which resting-edge
I accidentially machined away..