Re: [DML] trans question

[William T Wilson <fluffy@xxxx>]

On Sat, 7 Apr 2001, sk1pper wrote:

> how much hp/ torque can a D's 5 manual trans safely handle?

The conventional wisdom is about 250 to 300 ft.lbs of torque. It's plenty
tough for any reasonable adaptation of the PRV. There are setups on
DeLoreans with more than this much power and I know of two which have had
transmission problems (and none which haven't), however, one of them is
used for drag racing and the other might have been weak to begin with. 
The common Island Turbo PRV's producing around 200 ft.lbs of torque don't
cause any trouble for the transmission.

Torque stresses on a transmission are increased in lower gears. If you
can control yourself in first gear, and especially if you shift smoothly,
probably you can use the existing transmission unless you are planning on
Silly Power (tm). Clutch stresses on the other hand are worse in higher
gears. Be sure to get a heavy duty clutch, there is a Centerforce model
for the DeLorean.

If you still need more power, you can adapt a transaxle from a 911 Turbo;
adapters are readily available for most engines and the axles are close to
a fit. You get to figure out how to mount it. :}