frp transmission info & help (gearbox & driveshafts)

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jacko

New member
Joined
Nov 24, 2007
Messages
2,840
as usual pm me anything to be added please or post at the end

1; gearbox

2; driveshafts

3; linkage

4; spare
 
gearbox is the ford ib5 which is in itself an evolution of the 'bc' box which started life as a 4 speed in the first fiesta.....ib5's were introduced with the fiesta mk4, puma etc and used in low power focus', all ib5's (and bc)have a bolt on 5th gear (an after-thought), bc parts should fit but its all or nothing....the differences are subtle but many so basically you could use gears from an older car etc or vice versa. the ib5 has a focus bearing on the end of the main shaft and a thicker final drive as well as being 'top mounted' rather than 'under slung' with a cradle. to use the ib5 in an older car requires about 5 longer bolts & the mounts from the older car. to use an older bc box in an frp etc you'd have to start welding things or use an ib5 casing etc... ib5 is also hydraulic clutch, bc isnt


ib5 is only good to about 150bhp and with the frp being over this and more importantly 162nm the shafts had to be strengthened;
1st gear is shot peened to reduce stress fractures
(1.7 pumas have a torque limiter in 1st gear as even 125ps is a struggle for the ib5 over a lifetime)
frp final drive is a very respectable 4.25:1 (same as the 1.4.....!!!)
(you can beat that by using a final drive from an orion 1.4 (iirc) at 4.29:1 & if you find one let me know so i can swear at you!)

80 cars were bought as 'track' frp's (lsd fitted; viscous) has a sticker on the gearbox end cover (jack up car; rotate a wheel (out of gear) if other wheel goes SAME direction youv got an lsd)

escort rs turbo lsd's should be a direct swap but be careful; most will be completely toast by now. (car will have heavy steering; REPLACE lsd or risk snapping very rare frp drive shafts!)
update; rst S2 lsd is a swap, S1 requires mods as casing is bigger apparently

ford lsd's (wellman??) arent brilliant. their viscious which is ok but can require maintenance (and remember its not just £50 labour & £30 parts for a diff.....its £100 labour just to remove & refit a gearbox....£250 to strip the gearbox & rebuild and then the cost of anything to the diff....)(these are all old prices too; last time i paid anyone to do a gearbox for me was years ago!!)
other than the frp lsd's were fitted years ago to the rst (NOT THE FRST) and there gonna be knackered by now (unless your very lucky but ford fans arent the most honest of enthusiasts)

viscious diffs are ok, £300 new from ford but your better off with a quaife in the frp (£500). the frp is a road going racer so put the road going racer of a diff in it. quaife can be a bit twitchy for a month or too but awesome after this.

in a corner....
an open diff (standard) will force you wide
a viscious lsd will control this but still push you wide
a quaife torque biasing diff will sense the outside wheel has more grip and throw power to that wheel; it forces the car into the corner!
a proper plated diff (ie setup for individual tracks) is the best but harsh on the road

iv tried all bar the plated & will admit i only bought frp / puma because it had an ib5 and i knew the quaife diff from my bc fiesta mk3 would fit! otherwise id have never bought a ford again! but there was no-way i was selling my quaife diff; worth every penny. some can seem to take a while to bed in and be harsh, mine was but one day that was it & drives like your going through butter.


more power vicar? your going to need to change the gearbox!

people are running nos in frp's and with anything if your gentle you may be lucky but ford motorsport know the gearbox is at its limit (shot peening aint cheap!) and id be inclined to go with their thinking. for a reliable power build your going to want to;

1; uprate the box. talk to cts (competition transmission services)
2; change bits in the box (see above / quaife etc for gear kits)
3; use a different box. anything with a transverse (powerful) engine in the ford stable is using an mtx box (altho some newer cars ie 6 speed have an even newer box). the problem is that the mtx box is a good inch or 2 longer.....now go look at the engine bay.....not gonna fit!
To fit a 5 speed in an old 4 speed fiesta people do sell kits to cut the chassis member and then add the strength back with braces.....so anythings possible but id leave it upto an engineer to design such a kit (unless you want to kill your passenger if you have a good frontal crash cos the chassis member will more than likely collapse forcing the gearbox into there legs.)

leaks? 3 main areas all in 'middle' (ish) of car

1&2; diff/driveshaft seals; can get old. couple of quid & an hour plus some oil or £80ish at a garage
3; gear selector linkage seal; £5 & 30mins or......?

top up with 75w90 transmission oil using 8mm allen key plug on front of box. (i use an old hose trimmed to push just into the hole & a funnel)
fill unto 1cm from the hole (use bent end of allen key as dipstick)
you should never need to top it up; when the clutch is changed the box loses most of its oil so they top it up.....(unless you do it yourself; see my other guides)

next to fill plug is a sensor....reverse light switch

back of box (next to exhaust) and ontop of the diff is the tacho sensor for speed and mileage (not rev counter)

2 lumpy bolts on front / angled down are gear index's


CLUTCH
frp is same as std (125ps!!!!!!) and is basically crap! the focus 1.8 is the biggest engine iv found that uses the ib5 and as such has a bigger clutch. 220mm vs the frp's 210mm. most importantly its inner diameter is a touch smaller too; making it a mega surface are. its a direct swap, cheap as chips, even a little easier to press down and a hell of a lot nicer to drive than a helix etc whilst bearing pretty much as powerful. iv had mine in for nearly half a year already & its solid. def a keeper.

think thats about it.....
 
driveshafts

shafts seem to be quite fragile however when they snap its very close to the hardened splines so i reckon its down to how well the hardening process has been applied & whether a good job was done 'blending' to the rest of the softer shaft.....if not then it will just snap on the 'join'.
due to the low number of cars & hand built nature id say it was down to luck whether yours will snap...if they havent by now & you havent got a lead foot id say your going to be fine tho......

quite hard to get hold of;
ford (er!)
pumabuild
or have them made / remade at....

''Shaftec Automotive Components Ltd
2 Cato Street, Nechells, Birmingham, West Midlands, B7 4TS
0121 333 3555
They only operate via Distributors. But have many so you should be able to find one local to you''
(thanks red!)

update; broken passenger side shaft at gearbox end!

[albumimg]1538[/albumimg]

finis is 9087844, its 443mm long

gonna see if i can have a stronger one made up......

shaftec have done me an oem strength one from a std shaft machined to suit (ie prob slightly longer & machined down a tad...). took them 4 days; day one was phonecall & post mine, day 4 was new one turning up....in theory should be 2 days for anyone else as they know what to make now just by talking over the phone....

total price with vat & delivery was £64!!!!!!! vs £174 for a ford one!!!!!

found a company (recoprop) who do uprated shafts. its either 'upto 150bhp' or 'upto 800bhp'!!!!!!! nothing inbetween & the latter cost £325 with a 4 week wait!

work in progress
 
gear selector linkage

2 rods that run from the knob (oooer!) to the box (phnaaar!)

one is a stabiliser and simply bolts the the box

t'other does the work. left & right movement tilts / twists the rod, front & back movement, er, moves it front & back or 'in & out' of the box

3 things to go wrong;

your knob becomes worn (!) (at the bottom end under the car & in a box hidden under the heatshield) & this makes it sloppy (replace or upgrade)

the join at the gearbox selector shaft (13mm nut) comes loose or shifts. incidently undoing and playing with this is how to adjust the knob (remember that once your under the car its reversed so first gear is actually pull back & twist left)

or most likely the 'universal joint' (HA; sorry, its so crappy i hate having to call it that) just behind the adjusting nut wears out & feels like your stirring soup instead of changing gears.....typical fix is to replace....however i have fixed them in the past with some ingenuity and a few stainless steel bolts to replace the mechanism. ideally buy a good stainless universal joint from a kit car supplier & weld it on....i will be sooner or later

upgrades;
rally design one is tried & tested & crap! (altho ok if you figure out the instructions are wrong!)
b&m kit looks a lot better but have you seen the price! £130 quid last time i looked....might be the way ahead tho for a good shorter shift and a solid knob that wont wear out (cnc aluminium rather than plastic on a steel stick)
 

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