ZF 8 HP 70/90 transmissions

[titanium fan]

Surprised not to see any threads on these superb transmissions ,widely available ,reasonably small , reasonably light ,proven performance on track ( drag , drift & roundy ) the only disadvantages that put me off are the inevitable electronics bundles , but there are options to override aspects of this ,in a way ,using override control units ( TCU ) to enable stick shift if required, admittedly the electronics are still present but in my strategy all the electronics are removed from the V8 bar ignition requirement.To maintain a semblance of dignity.
I have made transmission adaptors before in my small machine shop up to 14 litres, but there are companies in USA AUS & NZ that make these off the shelf if required .
I have still to confirm which engine I will use from my (mostly diesel’s) stock ,from the gasolines I have a Toyota 1 UZ FE v8 or a late rover v8 from a 2nd gen Landrover discovery.Both these aluminium V8,s feature EFi which won’t be used .
The rover v8 will be easier to get parts for ,the intake manifold, the exhaust headers, the stand alone ignition are all off the shelf parts here in England , the Toyota parts however will have to come from far away which is off putting and possibly prohibitively expensive.
Still gathering and speccing parts before drawing up layout.
Love to hear opinions or experiences

[stevieturbo]

They are definitely a fantastic gearbox, and going into everything these days. Plenty of control options from simple to elaborate.

I would do a swap myself, other than the fact I'd be concerned about breakage without moving to a properly "built" version. And I just simply don't drive the car much these days anyway to justify the spend.

But there are guys fitting them to old and basic engines ( including simple diesels ) so there is no issue retrofitting to an old carb/dizzy car either.

Although It would be easier to opt for a control setup like Maxxecu or CANTCU where you don't need to open up and rewire the mechatronics inside. But then there is some level of electronic integration needed.

There's a guy in the UK, JDM Garage or something who's has a simple controller, although it's part of an LED display too, but it's simple manual shift only, with either paddles or a stick. No "auto" drive mode.

Would be funny to make an H pattern gate with 8 gears on it lol and operate that way

Plus with a lot of them you can have a virtual clutch too....really, there seem to be few downsides. ( other than gear 7/8 speed limitations which can require a tallish diff as 6th tends to be the max for high power usage and is only a 1:1 )