It all depends on how you use your TR6. In my case I love driving the
six on long trips through the Rocky mountains etc. My car was a
non-overdrive stock 4speed and at cruise 70 mph on the highway the
engine was wailing at around 4,000 rpm. Multiply that by about 8 hours
and you have a car that isn't well suited to chewing up highway mileage.
I researched the overdrive conversion from a economics and maintenance
perspective and decided to modernize the car with a Toyota 5 speed
conversion.
The 5 speed doesn't change the character, feel and appearance of the car
one bit and makes the TR6 a roadworthy machine capable of handling long
distance travel.
Disadvantages of the overdrive conversion include: 1. more complexity in
a J Type electro / hydraulic system and 2.) difficult to find people who
are qualified to service the Laycock units. 3.) High cost of spare and
replacement parts for the Laycocks.
Also wanted to build a drive train capable of handling higher horsepower
as part of a future plan for supercharging the engine etc.
Don't get me wrong - If I had a high value classic such as Jaguar or
Ferrari where there are financial consequences for installing
modifications I would leave the car alone. The higher value classics
tend to have "longer legs" to start with and don't typically require
modernizing while the TR6 needs all the help it can get.
John Parfitt
Calgary, Canada
73 TR6
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