WHICH GEARBOX??

[xtrmjks]

Which gearboxes will fit B230 engines (bellhousings), I'm after "conventional gearbox..

[SteveP]

M90 5 speed from a late 940

[filthyjohn]

Yeah they're supposed to be good for 400bhp in a big 7/9, so they should hold 500 or more in a 360 as it's lighter.

[SteveP]

Yep very strong gearbox

[340 Nate]

I'd be pretty interested to see how different it handles with the gearbox at the front , maybe not much of a difference?

nathan

[Ozbrick]

I'd be pretty interested to see how different it handles with the gearbox at the front , maybe not much of a difference?

nathan

HOPEFULLY not much of a difference! What would happen with the rear axle??? can we just sub in a whole 960 unit with shortened driveshaft??

[Frits]

I think yes

But that is easy said

[jollemkay]

What about m47 and m46?
Doesn't these fit?

[Fuse]

What about m47 and m46?
Doesn't these fit?

Yes but those won't handle the power xtrmjks is after.

Another good gearboxes are the Getrag boxes. 260, 262/262cr (cr has five gears, fifth one is 1:1) and 265 from BMWs have been widely used in Sweden and here at Finland in high powered Volvos.

260 is with a solid bellhousing so it requires some aluminium welding to modify the bellhousing, 262 and 265 are with separate bellhousings and there are adapter plates for sale with which you can fit the Volvo bellhousing to the Getrag box.

http://www.klracing.se/?subpage=vara&vara=11

Some Volvos also had the same boxes, named M50 and M51. Volvo 264s yearmodels '75-76 had those boxes. M50 is pretty much same box as the 262 and M51 is the 262cr. But those Volvo ones are very rare and hard to find.

BMW boxes are common, at least in here those are.

It's not a bolt on job and it requires more than just the adapter plate but nothing which isn't doable. It's mostly about modifying the throw out bearing setup etc... suitable and centering the getrag box with the bellhousing by using a self made sleeve/bushing with appropriate measurements. There's a full FAQ about the conversion at this Finnish site with all the needed measurements for the parts needed but it's quite long article so I won't translate it now. But if you'd choose to go the Getrag route or would like to know more about it otherwise I can translate it later, just let me know.

I don't know whats the situation with gearboxes there but in here BMW Getrags are much more cheaper than M90 boxes for which btw there are no new parts available anymore.

Of course there are other boxes too. American Jerico and Tremec are probably some of the best available and can be fitted to redblocks too with similiar modifications as the Getrags but are more expensive.
Expensive but bullet proof (and cool ) though, for example here's a Jerico mated with a B20 bellhousing.

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn31 ... 082008.jpg
http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn31 ... 008001.jpg

For total bolt-on besides the M90, there are the special made racing/rally boxes for Volvos, for example Sellholm boxes (http://www.sellholm.se/) but again those are very expensive. Sellholm MPG fully sequential gearbox with a Volvo bellhousing. http://img2.putfile.com/main/11/31314510469.jpg That's probably the ultimate gearbox for Volvo.. but prices new are around ~10000 euros... http://www.ofiengineering.se/Historia/SellholmMPG1.jpg So, who is going to buy me one?

HOPEFULLY not much of a difference! What would happen with the rear axle??? can we just sub in a whole 960 unit with shortened driveshaft??

I think it doesn't make too much of a difference. After all it's not like the gearbox would be behind the rear axle stock. 300-series has quite short wheelbase so if you move the gearbox to front it's not that long distance, overall affect on to the weight distribution isn't massive. Probably 1 or 2 % or similiar. Keep in mind that the only reason why Volvo wen't with the transaxle solution is because it was more easier way than modifying the whole base of the car for the front mounted gearbox when the manual gearbox was fitted.