SER1 Roverdrive Impressions

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Good Morning!

Finally butchered enough of the TT's tunnel to attach the shift linkage; I 
can now provide some first impressions.

First, the TT's tunnel is too tight to the gearbox for the Roverdrive 
shift linkage to clear without significant metal surgery. I do not have a 
Solihull Series I to compare with, so I can't say that this applies to the 
native production (it was designed for II/III's).  It does appear, 
however, that the floor lever provided would interfere with the 3/4 plane 
of the gearbox lever.  I fabricated a new slightly shorter lever and bent 
it until it travels in a vertical plane (about 20 degrees or so); as 
installed the Roverdrive knob is slightly below and travels along side the 
3/4 plane roughly in line with the low range lever.

In practice (only short drives so far) the Roverdrive is very quiet for a 
new gearbox, with only a faint whine on decel.  I have no notion of its 
impact on petrol consumption, but it does noticeably reduce cabin noise 
and engine rpm (overdrive ratio is 0.782).  The shift is a little tricky 
as the box is a synchronized planetary with a very long throw, perhaps 45 
degrees;  don't shift into overdrive when it wouldn't be safe to lean 
forward out of normal driving position!  It is also recommended that 
shifting into overdrive only be attempted at high rpm.  I tried it at rest 
and nothing moved, but that may mean nothing.  As expected, hill-climbing 
in overdrive is leisurely.

On balance, to date I'm satisfied with the product.

George E Sollish	Chief Engineer		Auto Gear Equipment
 			Project Manager		The Payne Lake Project

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