RG Super Street shifter too high??

[Grubby]

I am starting to think about my next build. The Richmond Gear Super Street 5 speed OD looks interesting. Gear ratios are nice, 600 ft/lb and pretty good reviews. It looks like the shifter is mounted higher than the older Doug Nash (Richmond Gear) 4+1 transmissions.

Do any of you have first hand experience putting the Super Street in a Cobra? Can the shifter be mounted lower by modifying the linkage? Is the shifter height even an issue in Cobras?

TKO is low on my list. Two that shifted poorly is enough for me, but they do fit nicely in Cobras.

John

[cycleguy55]

Originally Posted by Grubby

I am starting to think about my next build. The Richmond Gear Super Street 5 speed OD looks interesting. Gear ratios are nice, 600 ft/lb and pretty good reviews. It looks like the shifter is mounted higher than the older Doug Nash (Richmond Gear) 4+1 transmissions.

Do any of you have first hand experience putting the Super Street in a Cobra? Can the shifter be mounted lower by modifying the linkage? Is the shifter height even an issue in Cobras?

TKO is low on my list. Two that shifted poorly is enough for me, but they do fit nicely in Cobras.

John

I have an older model of this transmission (1:1 5th gear) in my West Coast Cobra and it fits fine, though previous owner replaced the Long shifter with a Hurst. I'll be going back to Long at some point, as I prefer the spring-loaded reverse.

Regardless, I looked at the shifter mounting positions on the tail shaft of my transmission vs the new one with OD, and they both look to be centred on the output shaft. See the illustrations on pages 56 and 61 of this: https://www.mdwparts.com/documents/RICHMOND_CAT.pdf

Now, on to the shifters themselves. I note Long has a specific model for Cobra Kit Cars. It's HN-1001C, and may be a lower profile / lower mounting than the standard HN-1000 commonly supplied with the Richmond transmission. There are also other shift levers available, but perhaps the HN-1001C shifter already has the appropriate lever - page 1 of this document: https://www.gforcetransmissions.com/...%20pricing.pdf

You may have to contact Long directly to get the correct shifter and lever.

Long Shifters
150 N. Grant Street
Cleona, PA 17042
(717) 202.8374 / Fax (717) 202.8372
G-Force Transmissions and Long Shifters

Good luck!

p.s. I note Long also sells G-Force Racing Transmissions, which appear to be their brand for the Richmond boxes.

[Grubby]

Brian,

The links gave me some good information. It looks like the older 1-1 trans and the Super Streets w/OD use different shifters.

The old trans has 3 shift rods and the Super Street has 4 shift rods.

When you install a Long shifter I would really like to see pictures and hear the report. The things I have read indicate the Long is mounted higher.

Also, do you like your trans? Can you bang thru the gears and hit the gear you want?

John

[GjC]

I have the Richmond street racer 5 speed (5th is 1-1), do you have problems shifting from 5th-4th and grinding reverse? the gear box does not have the reverse lockout

[C5GTO]

I too have a older Richmond 5 speed (5th is 1-1) with a Hurst shifter in my Cobra. I've had it in the car for close to 25 years now. If you asked me what's the #1 thing I'd change out on the car, I'd say it's the Richmond trans. I haven't done that yet just because I drive the car frequently and my garage time is focused on 2 other car projects (home built Ferrari GTO and Lambo Miura). I really like my Cobra and now enjoy driving it more than working on it.

Shifting on the Richmond is terrible. Some of that maybe the the Hurst shifter, but some is surely the trans. I've adjusted the shifter many times to get it to "best adjustment" which still leaves a lot to be desired. I do grind the reverse gear on 5th to 4th downshifts about 10% of the time even though I have many, many years of practice.

On high RPM up shifts from 2nd to 3rd, sometimes the trans gets into a state where it's basically locked up (I think maybe in 2 gears at the same time). If I let the clutch out when in this state, rear tires are locked which tells me the trans is locked up. I don't know what it is about high RPMs that triggers this but the issue doesn't happen on lower RPM shifts. The only way to get it out of this state is to bring car to complete stop, wiggle the shifter until it goes into reverse, and that must clear the other gear engagements. It's very dangerous (and embarrassing) to have to bring your car to a complete stop in moving traffic just to clear a faulty trans issue. If anyone else has had this same issue and found a permanent fix, I'd love to hear about it.

In addition to the poor shifting, I think the trans internals are of marginal quality. I've had to replace the output shaft bushing and a couple of syncros in about 40K miles of driving. I expect a much longer life from a trans than that. My Cobra is powered by a 300HP SBF so it's not like I'm throwing a bunch of HP and torque at the trans. I now regret fixing it versus swapping it out for a different trans now.

Oh well, it's the trans I have until I have the time and energy to replace it. It works good enough to get by I just thought I'd share my experience with others so they have some insight when thinking about using the Richmond 4+1 in their Cobra.

[Grubby]

Joe,

I have not driven a car with a Richmond 5 speed trans, but my research seems to indicate the Hurst shifter is a problem on them. ERA and other experts say the only shifter is a Long shifter.

The current Richmond Super Street is supposed to be an improvement on the old 4+1 models. It is rated for 600 ft/lbs. The older 4+1 Richmonds are only rated for about 450 ft/lbs. And yes they are OD (.77).

The after market 5 speed market needs some new choices. The T5 can't stand up to big or even moderate HP numbers. The TKO shifts poorly unless modified and some say they still shift poorly (I have had two of those). The Richmond Super Street is expensive and gets mixed reviews.

I guess you pick your poison.

John