Overview

UPDATE: UNFORTUNATELY, THIS COMPANY, AND IT'S PRINCIPAL IS NO LONGER RECOMMENDED. WE SUGGEST YOU DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THIS VENDOR, AS THERE HAVE BEEN NUMEROUS COMPLAINTS.

The Griffin transaxle could be considered a second-generation transaxle built by DeLynn Mason, the owner of Griffin Gearboxes.  In the early 90s he built a transaxle with a custom case incorporating a Doug Nash transmission for a kit car project he was building.  It turned out that others were interested in what he had done, and a small run of these was done.  Many are still in operation today, and internals are still readily available. 20 years later, he is doing it again- a custom case, with proven, off-the-shelf gears and internals for a wide range of ratios, and long-term support.

The transaxles are still in development, and none have been delivered yet, so their reliability, availability and cost are not yet known. These are proprietary gearboxes based on a custom case, using gears and other internals from Richmond Gear and others.  More data may be on their web site, referenced above.

Sources

These transaxles will be available direct from Griffin when they are ready.

Technical

The range is expected to include 5,6 and 7-speed transaxles, in both H-pattern and sequential shift.  Multiple LSDs are expected to be available from different vendors.  The weights are expected to be between the lighter Porsche G50s, and the heavier Ricardos, so figure something in the 170-185 lb range.

The beginning final drive ratio will be 3.73.  Others will be available, but will require a minimum quantity commitment and will incur an additional cost.  Eventually others will be available. The final drives are based on the popular 8.8" rear end, so many possible ratios are available.  However, the pinions need to be broached and re-splined, so their availability is limited, as discussed above. More technical info will be updated when it is known.

Issues

The transaxles are so new that there isn't much data about issues. As they are discovered, this section can be updated.

Ancillaries

The plan is to be able to use off the shelf bell housings, so the transaxles can be easily adapted to any engine without the need for an adapter plate- at least for the engines which have these bell housings available in standard manual transmission flavors.  Clutches and starters are not yet finalized, but the expectation is that standard parts will be used.

Visuals

None are available yet except those on the web site liked above.