Carter, I do remember that being an option, although we never had one on
any of our 1500's. Definitely on the Dolomite 1850 and Sprint - much
more popular on those car due to them having more power.
You could see if any of the links on this page turn up something:
http://www.fortunecity.com/silverstone/healey/405/dolomite.html
Alan
Carter Shore wrote:
>Were there ever any Herald or Dolomite auto trans?
>That would seem the easiest swap mechanically, though
>parts and reliability might be dodgy.
>Otherwise, there are a wealth of used auto trans in
>the right sizes for a Spitfire; Toyota, Nissan, Mazda,
>etc. all built RWD cars in the 1.2 - 1.8 L range.
>The configuration of the Spit chassis, along with it's
>'soft' (fiberboard!) trans cover could make this a
>fairly easy swap, as such things go.
>The biggest hurdles will probably involve adapting the
>bellhousing to the Spit motor. Often, this can be
>accomplished with an adaptor plate. You can get such
>things custom fabricated using abrasive jet machining
>for a reasonable sum.
>The flywheel can be easily drilled for the torque
>converter to bolt on (once it's removed from the car
>of course).
>Several of the Spit motor swaps use auto trans. The
>damping effect of the torque coverter helps reduce the
>shock loads into the driveline due to gearchanges,
>etc.
>
>For anyone that attempts this, good luck (sincerely),
>I think it could work well.
>
>Carter
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