So I figured with all the tranny parts and broken transmissions I had laying around, I knew I had enough to build a few good transmissions. I have started reading the FSM and been doing a lot of research as I want to start building my own trannies

At the Peckerhead shootout my tranny felt a little stiff from 1st to 2nd, so I pulled that off last weekend, and threw in a decent spare for the time being.

I pulled apart that tranny (JDM switchable 2WD/4WD). After I tore it down the problem was clear. A broken 1 to 2 fork. All the gears and synchros looked perfectly fine, didn't see any wear at all.

I have been stocking up on wrong final drive W5M332WQ.. tranny parts for some time, as I knew this day would eventually come
I pulled apart those trannies to find some cool parts.

First I noticed the heavy duty EVO steel shift forks, that look way better than any US spec one I've seen. From the research I've done, its a Evo 1 RS ralliart trans. It has the taller 1st gear. I noticed the steel 5th/reverse fork, and the slider for it and synchros are just huge compared to the normal trans I have seen. I haven't counted the gear tooth on it yet, but I suspect that this is a taller 5th gear.

Anyone know about this 5th gear, WQYK trans ? Also from a little research I've done I think these nickel plated steel shift forks are no longer available from Mitsu . Anyone confirm ? I have two sets of these with rails

The haven't counted any tooth on the gears last night, will do that tonight. Anyone know if the Evo1 trans has a closer ratio 3rd and 4th ? Or was it just the Evo3's ?

Anyways I put the Evo steel rails and forks 1-2 and 3-4 in the switchable trans, put in a different 23 spline output shaft for the t case, removed the switchable fork and VC, changed the nut as the clearance is different for the end case, added a reverse synchro to the end and got rid of the little plate, and bolted up a regular end case on. Trans feels good now and I believe it is ready to be pounded on again ! I will toss it in this weekend.

I have enough front diff ring and pinion gears to make the correct final drive and a good trans. I just wanted to know about the EVO 1 trans and the gear ratios for 3rd 4th and 5th, and I think I will be on my way to building a strong transmission ?

I know I can find out if I dig into it more, just thought a few of you guys have done this already.

If it was the one I unbuttoned I counted teeth and the 3-4 were not the same as the evo.

I did a lot of research and EVO 1 info is pretty sparse (especially in english). From what I could tell I think pretty much all of the gears are different. I think 2nd might have a little less meat on it or something. If I remember correctly 5th was a little bigger than our stock, not as big as the EVO3 5th. Can't remember details about first, I can't remember if it was the same as the EVO3 or the galant style.

I'll try to dig up some of the info I found (at one point I had a gear ratio/final drive chart).

I thought you had a shep coming?

Nope its not that same trans that you took apart. I will still get a shep trans, but theres no harm in trying to fix them up sice I have soo many.

I just did some gear tooth count and comparing and I got the following:

Stock 5th gear is 33/22, and this one is a 34/21. Confirmed evo3 10% taller fifth gear.
Stock 3rd gear is 26 tooth counts, this one is 25, confirmed evo3 3rd gear.
Stock 4th gear is 30 tooth count, this one is 29, confirmed evo3 4th gear.
2nd gear is the exact same.

1st gear had one less tooth count than the stock GVR4 taller first. I didn't write down the #'s but I will go back in the garage and double check. Think I may have screwed up with the 1st gear count.

I would assume this has dual cone synchros as well. I have not taken apart the gear clusters yet. Forget my newbieness but is there any way just by looking at the cluster to see if it has double synchros?

I'm gonna grab a press and bearing separators soon so I can pull them apart, doesn't seem too hard. Will probably toss that cluster into a better case (original one was cracked) with correct final drive, and re shim it, and I hope it will be good to go

Couple more calculations and now we know what a W5M332WQYK trans is:

Stock ratios :
Evo1 Evo2-3 USDSM
2.571 2.750 3.083(2.846 GVR4)
1.600 1.684 1.684
1.160 1.160 1.115
0.862 0.862 0.833
0.617 0.617 0.666

I did another proper gear count on this trans and got the following:

1st 36/14=2.571
2nd 32/20=1.600
3rd 29/25=1.160
4th 25/29=0.862
5th 21/34=0.617

So basically this trans has a taller 1st gear than the GVR4 and the Evo 3. They say the evo3 is 10% taller than stock. That would make this one 16% taller than stock! Seems like ralliart alright Just wonder how strong they are, though 1st looks the same strength as the GVR4 one.

2nd gear is about 0.5% taller. 3rd, 4th and 5th are the same as Evo3 spec.

I wonder if that tallest first gear is as weak as the G-VR4 first gear.

Just edited, it looks the exact same thickness/weakness as the GVR4. I've been running on the same gear though for the last 2 years, and did shatter it once last year(took out the whole trans).

I'd be willing to test it out though.

If it's a taller gear with the same strength as the VR4 one, I wouldn't be willing to test it out.

Yea I think you got a point. Could destroy the whole gearset. Hmm...

Humm, I have the WQNK tranny that came in my car when I bought it, now removed of course -wrong ratio, but it was poping out of 1st gear as well. I saved it for spare parts just incase, never tore it down yet cause the C51PH tranny works so well for this long in my car, but have been thinking about it for a while, I 'm sure it would have similar forks & rails as the one you have. I did rebiuld my FWD tranny that still works today, maybe I should try it again on a AWD, I'll let you know what I find in my WQNK tranny if I get time.

I had to take my FWD gear sets in to have them pressed apart, quite the assembly all say, and you need a bottle jack press & special good quality bearing separators or they break, the guy that pressed my FWD gear set apart broke one half of a separator, said it will cost more to replace that the what I paid him for the job.

Edit: you do have to match gear syncro hub assembly and shift fork to swap gears right?

I have a C50PH as well. This is/was the switchable one that I broke the fork in. It has a taller/weaker GVR4 1st in it. I've been using it since last summer and so far so good.

If the hub assembly is different, yes I would assume. I don't know about the forks though as they seem to be the same size and interchangeable on the early trans.

Ya, I could be wrong, I just thought the fork would have to be the match so it rides on the groove of the hub/syncro which matches the gears syncro teeth, but if the goove on the hubs are all the same dia then you could interchange forsure.

Question for you about your C50PH tranny?, do the gears have the solid syncro teeth or are they cut at the base where they meet the gear body. My C51PH seems like an early model, it is not switchable, but it takes the studder box lanches well with a 6-puck sprung clutch.

I am not sure, I would have to open it up and take a look. I know for a fact that it is an early trans as well from 89 to 90, probably just like yours. It had the light aluminum coloured cheapo shift forks.

There was also no reverse brake synchro. Just a small plate at the end of the 5th gear hub. I added the synchro and wave spring and changed the end case and nut.

The only difference in a switchable trans is the end case, viscous coupling and fork for the viscous coupling. There is an extra set of teeth at the base of the VC. You unbolt the plunger at the end case, and it engages the teeth, effectively locking the VC. Just like a welded diff, or 4x4. Remove t-case or add a switchable one and you are fwd.
Anybody want these switchable components, make an offer

I broke the gvr4 1st when I was running low 11's, trapping 134 to 136 mph. I was spinning excessively and doing back to back runs with hot tranny fluid on a really hot day. That matters.

I have the C51PH as well. Until I shipped it to Shep I was never aware that it had the taller/weaker 1st gear. I was just going to have him freshen up the transmission as is but he strongly suggested that I went back to a shorter 1st gear with a double synchro 2nd with the power level I was at.

The taller first really makes launching easier. Without the double synchro second and twin disc I don't think I could manage with the shorter 1st gear.

Ah, I guess my memory switched up the differences between 1st and 2nd. I thought there was something different about 5th as well, guess not though. Sounds like you have nearly a best of all worlds tranny but I wouldn't trust that 1st gear, its just not worth it!

I ended up opening that tranny to do a hybrid evo build. Figured might as well build a nice trans to test instead of just tossing the same thing back in. The gears ARE cut at the base where they meet the body. Intermediate shaft is early 88-90, so evo gears won't just drop on that. Anyways took that clusters out for now.

I reused the evo1 input and intermediate. I threw back in the super tall 1st gear. (Not racing till next season so I'm not worried about breaking it as I don't launch on the street anyways). Upon closer inspection it is actually stronger than the GVR4, but not as strong as a stocker.

Taller 2nd is by far physically the strongest gear I have seen. Much thicker than the stock 2nd. I replaced all hubs and sliders with nice condition ones from the spares I have. Shorter 3rd and 4th I believe are the exact same as the evo 3 strength, with stronger smaller hub and slider, but no dual cone synchros on any gears.

The evo1 trans has organic lining cheap sychros with the teeth on only 3 sides of it as opposed to all around it. I replaced all those with the newer style brass ones with teeth all around, measured them and all is in spec.

All bearings and races have been reused from the C50PH trans, as they were in excellent condition. Just the intermediate one has to be destroyed to take it off, so thats the only one I need replaced. You can't pull that sucker off without it getting fucked.

Reused 23 spline t case shaft. Matching correct final drive, front diff and pinion gear were reused 58/15 tooth. Evo 1,2, and 3 use the 62/15 I believe. I figured if I reused the races and bearings, end play and preloads would be in spec. I was right, front diff end play and output shaft preload was right in spec.

Matching center diff 91+ to match the intermediate was reused with matching races. Had to reshim the preload on that with a different shim. Luckily I had that exact one (Its nice to have 5-6 trannies laying around to pick at )

Input shaft end play was exactly in spec, on the low side. All bearings and races were reused for that as well. Only thing I need to set the preload on is the intermediate shaft bearing. I didn't want to destroy it so I left the original bearing on that cluster. It looks worn out and I didn't have a shim for the preload on that one, so figured might as well replace the bearing and remeasure. I have 5 of those shims so hopefully one of them will work once the bearing comes in.

Steel shifter forks had to be swapped over to the rails from the CP05H to be used. Taller 10% 5th will be going back in.

Bought a nice 12 tonne shop press and some bearing separators to do all the work. Definately a good investment. Other than that, I bought the RS trans from someone for $30, and I need one bearing that cost another $30.

So this is my poor man's $60 hybrid evo ratio build, and for some odd reason I am pretty confident its going to work like a charm . Only thing it doesn't have is a 4 spider center diff, but with my driving style I haven't broken one since I was running low 13's . Too bad I don't have a front mitsu lsd or I would have tossed that in too, and modded the axle cups.

Will I ever buy a built trans now from the top builders ? I really don't think so anymore if this is all they do, and if my build will hold up to the abuse. Afterall people still do break stage 3 and 4 transmissions. I find it more convenient to rebuild whatever I break myself now. Time will tell
I still have lots of good spare tranny parts if anything needs replacing.

I do however find the price of the evo clusters from jack trans quite appealing to install them yourself, instead of paying more than double for the same thing in a transmission.

From what I hear tranny end play and preloads are some guarded secrets from top builders that make or break a trans. I guess I will start experimenting myself with lower and higher sides of specs.

Can't go wrong with the evo clusters if you really mess up a gear set, other wise replacing one gear at a time is obviously cheaper. I did a LOT of reading on the shimming of DSM tranmissions. Every number I found from people building big power transmissions was at the extreme tight end, and in many cases even TIGHTER than OEM spec. Basically as long as it shifts well enogh for you, I don't think you can go too tight (bearing life will suffer the tighter you go).

I've heard that the trick is that you should measure each shaft individually after shiming all of the ones 'before' it. The reason being that if you have a couple of thou preload on one shaft it may throw the preload/play off by a bit on the next shaft. It makes it an iterative process but if you really want to get it right then that is probably the best way to go.

I tried it both ways and it was pretty much the exact same within my measuring tolerance (maybe .00075...solder is difficult to measure accurately).

That being said I didn't have the guts to go tighter than stock, so I just aimed for the tighter side of the OEM specs. I'm not putting the power down you are so I doubt I'll ever have a problem. Even with everything at the tight end it shifts better than it ever did.

Good point. Funny thing is I ended up doing that as well and then did them individually and I came up with the same tolerance as well
Input shaft end play was just about 0.0001. Figured it would loosen up with expansion of the aluminum case under heat, and still be well within spec.
Center diff was right in the middle of the range, and just picked up a perfect size shim from Tim G to bring the intermediate to about 0.005 preload.

Sounds like its similar to what you have yours set to Bradley.

Yep, sound like. For your power you could consider going tighter, but if it's already done...bah!

Make sure you test shifting before you put it on the car. That will be your best indication that something is too tight.

Good luck, sounds like a nice tranny!

Well I got it in today and got test out my build. It definately feels nice, tight and strong. Went for some high rpm shifts, and they felt even smoother , no issues at all.

First feels nice and tall, hammered 2nd and I was at about 100km/h above redline. 3rd and 4th feel funny when you down shift on the highway, as I'm not use to the rpm going high and in the power zone.
Tall 5th is just nice, I think I was around 100km/h just above 2500rpm

One cool tranny

, Reza,

Good job man!

Yep you get my vote:

Reza Mirza

... Tranny of The Year 2009...

My vote is in too!

Just to add to the topic, I have a WQNK this is the tooth count I got and the visual differences I found worth noting and may be repeat compared to a NPXV usdsm 93'+tranny without pulling the gear sets yet.

WQNK this tranny was driven with wrong final drive in a usdsm
-Filter or screen on the centre case(transaxle case) where it meets the frt diff,
-All shift forks are Steel (3/4th steel fork is mounted on 2 rails)
-All syncros teeth are slotted into groups of 3's 90 style
-All gears are 90 style, the groove where the mesh with the 3 slotted synchro
1st 36-?? couldn't get a count installed,.. will assume 14 like above
2nd 32-20
3rd 25-29
4th 29-25
5th 34-21
Front diff ring gear 64
VC appears different externally in design, but is garbage now

NPXV 93'+ this trannys end cover was opened once before i got it.
-No mesh filter
-Aluminum shift forks (3/4th alum fork is mounted on 3 rails, 5th gear shift fork was steel)
-All synchro's where also slotted in groups 3's except 5th/rev syncro's
-1/2nd gear have solid synchro teeth 92+ gears style, and appear thicker.
1st 37-??
2nd 32-19
3rd 25-29
4th 30-25
5th 33-22
Frt diff ring gear 58 and its mate 15(frt output shaft assembly)
A good VC, center diff and frt diff ring gear for the WQNK.

is it kosher to double up spacers to take up end play mainly on the int shaft end cover, the WQNK had excessive play on the int shaft upon dissambly and i believe the combined shims may work after sizing things up, or do I have to measure and order accordingly, and any advive or links on the measuring process and suggested measuring tools.

Does anyone have part #s for the sychro's, bearings and the many different shims for the WQNK tranny.

Any torque #'s for trannies
Case bolts 25-30 ft lbs

You'll need the service manual, it gives a list of shims and part #'s. I thought you already had this ? It will help and give you the specs for everything when needed. Yes all case bolts are b/w 25 to 30.

Shim the transmission properly using the FSM, with the proper solder technique to measure out the preloads and endplay required. It seems like your doing it by feel and want to double up shims to take out the play. Not a good idea at all. Shimming is what makes or breaks the tranny, and the range is usually between 0.003 to 0.005 preloads for most of the shafts.
Excessive play most likely indicates worn parts or bearings.

Don't just slap it together as is, shimming is important. Part #'s can be found in caps. I use a micrometer for the shimming process.

No Reza I have neither, the service manual or the caps so i will do some searching because i do not plan on slapping this tranny together, and will have it brought in to someone if unsure after some reading and assembly, which is not a rush since I'm pulling my car soon for the season and re n' re.

As Reza said, calculate the shim thickness using the proper procedure. I've done many trans and I cannot recall EVER using or being tempted to double up shims. Most times the shim you need it toward the middle of the range available (which makes sense really).

Another tip: use rosin core solder, not solid!

I understand now, but will have to read it again. Can you put the whole thing together at once and get all your shim specs?.

And I have to use the WQNK center diff housing and gear as well as everything else minus the ring gear and matching 15 tooth output,.. is it ok to stuff all 4 of the NPXV spider gears inside of the WQNK housing(once i figure out how to remove the inner spider gear)?, and i plan to have this turned into a 4 spider center diff.

I also noticed that the machining on the WQNK Center diff housing has holes in it where the threads for the cap are tapped into it, where as the NPXV center diff seems much more refined which concerned me regarding swaping gears inside of it, ect.

Malcolm, there are only two style of center diffs, 90, and 91+. Both the WQNK and NPXV trans are 91+, the gear pitch and tooth count should be identical.

In other words you can just toss in the center diff out of the NPXV trans with no issues. It will mesh with the intermediate shaft. You don't need to use the WQNK center diff housing, unless your using it because the NPXV one is damaged. I've swapped center diffs over from trans to trans with no issues at all.

If both center diff housings are perfectly fine and you don't know which one to use, you can open them up to find the one with the least amount of wear. Look inside the housing where the spider gears sit. The back side of the spider gears where the washers are, start wearing into the center diff housing. Choose the one with the least amount of wear

If you do swap parts around and you plan on reusing the bearings, make sure to also swap in the matching bearing races.

Whoever does the 4-spider center diff, make sure to get the "Torrington" bearing mod done too. I wouldn't build a center diff without it.

The Npxv tranny center diff housing-gear tooth is damaged, and the spider gears in the wqnk are worn one one side on one spider gear, so I plan to put the npxv spider gears n guts in the wqnk center diff housing that I had to pry out :S, but it looks like it will work out., just gotta get the lower spider gear out, does't seem to just fall out like the other 3, but I haven't played with it much yet, lol., I don't wanna send both c-diff's out to make one, would rather separate and send what worth sending.

I am looking for someone to do the 4 spider c-diff mod still, but it looks like it might take awhile till the nexted batch, but I'm in no rush as long as its done properly, it is for a winter project ready for next summer.

I am also planning on replacing most seals, and most bearings, and I am looking for the part # for new synchro's and 1/2 gears/ hub assembly with double synchros that will fit and match the wqnk tranny, considering a new 1/2 complete gear set with the tall 1st,