Bluedragon:

Now you get the joke.

If you have the money, you can do anything (within legality) you want to your Mini or within what someone can con you into doing.

I did not see if Jemal said if he bought his 5speed new, but if it was made with modified worn out OEM parts, he was conned.

It is not ethical to claim something is new from a manufacturer if it contains used and/or worn out parts made by some other manufacturer.

If the company who made Jemal's 5speed was modifying OEM transmissions, the company should state that they did so.

They should state if the transmissions they modified were new OEM or used and if used, all worn parts should have been replaced with new or repaired parts.

It comes down to ethics: Was Jemal's 5speed sold as a new product to meet customer demand or as a product to take advantage of customer demand only to make money for the seller?

Should we, as Mini owners, keep our cars as Alex designed them, with the designed in defects, or should we accept the risks and modify our cars however we want?

Russ

I wouldn't go with the Sir Alec litmus test of what belongs on a Mini. He didn't want seatbelts in a Mini or comfortable seats, either.

Sir Alec being an engineer, I'm certain he would have gone for a 5 speed if there had been a suitable one available. 5 speed conversions are hardly a modern Internet Age thing - they've been desirable since the late 50s at least, if there was a practical way to fit one. (many resorting to the tack-on overdrives in those days to gain much the same effect.)

BIG AL

Jemal:

Pardon us for hijacking your post.

Big Al:

Back when Alex was designing the Mini, nothing in your 1380 was considered.

Originally the Mini was to have a 948 (approx) engine but the 850 was decided on because the larger engine had too much power.

I could actually legally run your 1380 in my 1967 MKII in California.  My car was sold with uncontrolled exhaust emissions as none were required on imported cars until Jan1, 1968 and I can modify my engine any way I want and not need to worry about a smog check. What will you take for it?

Russ

I should add that this is a 1996 Fuel Injected Rover engine fully rebuilt by Jack @ Se7en Enterprises in California-

Most parts are racing specific on this car., with no expense spared, set up originally for auto-x-ing

Fully legal in Canada, not so much so in the USA , and as far as California goes forget it-

BIG AL

Willie:

You missed the point.

Jemal's  5speed may have been designed just to get the customers' money, which is the desire of the maker, not to meet the desire of the customer for a good working product.

If some of the parts were actually made by modifying worn out OEM pieces instead of new pieces, whether OEM or not, I would consider that as a product made only to get the customer's money and not meet the customer's desires.

Big Al:

How much of your 1380 (other than the block) is actually BMC/BL/Rover OEM parts?

Russ

Russ

Count me in on being one of the "lot of people frustrated with" the Mini Sport 5-speed gearbox. You've explained why no matter how long I've been driving the 5-speed there are times when I can not shift cleanly into 3rd from 2nd...a problem I never have with the Mini Spares 5-speed. My M Sport one has to come apart. Noise in 5th and 1st is telling me the big, 3rd motion shaft double ball bearing is now failing so everthing has to come apart, anyway.

Are you running a Mini Sport 5-spd? Jemal video concerns a Mini Sport box. Jack Knight, Mini Spares and KAD also made 5-spd gearboxes and their solutions to engaging the 5th gear may be different from Mini Sport's.

That is the way almost ALL products are designed. Find a need/want/desire and make a product to fill it. Otherwise we would not any product development. 

I run one behind a 1380cc lump with a super charger and it really comes in handy at top end speeds-

And no trouble shifting-

BIG AL

Jemal:

If the Mini was supposed to have a five speed transmission, Alex would have put one in.

Sounds like that trans was just designed to get the buyer's money.

Russ

That is very cool. Hope you make follow-up videos on your progress. I would like to follow along. Thanks.

I've been working on this Mini Sport 5-speed, getting it apart to see why it shifts so horribly if at all!  It's a special project in my Cooper Road Mini "R&D Basement" and I've taken some time to get it apart without breaking anything. It contains a multitude of custom-made one-off components, and as I guessed, very little in the way of fine tuning for the specific clearances required to make the thing shift.  Worse, items like the modified shift forks were simply harvested from a used 5626 case and machined precisely for the 5-speed, but were WORN OUT to begin with!!  Here's 5 minutes of me showing what the problem(S) is/are!