Originally Posted by DirtyBalt09

Risk for reward. Happens all the time. Like I said I hope it works out. He's the one who stands to make the money off this. He knows there IS interest. But he has no proven results on this platform. Im sure many more would purchase if he had something to prove it was worth the money. I myself am not opposed to advancing the platform and would even likely buy one when or if I got big turbo but I defiantly wouldn't spend the money without results. I'm sure more than a few people feel the same. That's why after this long we have only 6 people. I don't remember a ZZP thread asking for money up front for ZFR housings. They knew there was a market for a bolt on upgrade and went for it...same with BNR and Hahn. I hope it works out I really do I just think the reality is proven results make sales. I'd hate for you guys to drop this money and it doesn't even live up to expectations. But it's not my money in the end so how you spend it isn't my business.

Originally Posted by Stamina

Alright, I'm a bit confused, so I'm just going to throw out what's on my mind here:

-How many ZZP 4.45s have failed so far, and what failed on them? What setup were they running?
-Is Powell doing/offering any solutions for the stock F35s or additions/alternatives to the 4.45s?

If the ones that failed were at power levels beyond my goal, then I/others could possibly still consider ourselves covered by the added security that the 4.45 offers. If common failure modes become apparent, then that would be notable, and possibly avoidable (i.e. side stepping a 6262 with slicks).

Originally Posted by FF_ace

well theres only 2 people working on a solution for our tranny issues. 1. this shepard trans if we get enough people to go in on this. we still dont know what it would be capable of but we know he has done great things with other platforms. 2. as stated earlier in this thread zzp could do a 6spd swap but i believe he stated that would be 4.5k+

Originally Posted by Powell Race Parts

Tremec used to be BW? or someone cant remember right now. iirc they have plants all over do the trans for corvettes and mustangs and camaros...
okay pieces.

Originally Posted by 06blackg85ss

and we're (a few friends and myself) working on a 4th option, already tested the 3rd option which was a built auto swap, which is now in another member in this threads car (if he wants to state it I'll leave it to him).
and the f40 6 speed isn't rated much higher than the f35 (maybe 15ftlbs more if I remember correctly).
gearing might help, but for the serious car (500+whp) a complete custom gearset and trans strengthening looks like the only thing to keep the f35 alive, that or just drive it like a girl (like I did lol)

Originally Posted by terry11

The past 3 or 4 weeks I have been talking with John Shepherd from Sheptrans.com about building us upgraded gear sets. After talking with him on the phone and sending him some pictures of how out transmissions are configures he said it looks very promising and would like me to send him my spare trans for engineering and development.

If you guys don't know much about sheptrans you should probably just click on his website once or youtube john shepherd and see what his transmissions are capable of holding. The evo gears he just did were breaking around 400whp, and it was always 4th gear, similar to our 3rd gear situation. He now has the stock transmission on his upgraded gear set holding over 650 awhp.

I know some guys are blaming our 3rd gear breakage issue on "case flex", John and I talked briefly about that as well and he said the evo guys were claiming the same thing. He thinks it is simply the size of the gear. The gears themselves get smaller as you upshift so there is less mass=strength.

There is more than one good thing about this option, one is that we are getting a huge aftermarket vendor to support our platform with the highest quality parts available, two sheptrans specializes in this area so you know the gears will be as good as they come, three you don't have to run the same vendor for all of your mods, NOTHING BAD ON ZZP AT ALL THATS ALL I RUN RIGHT NOW, four the price he quoted me was ridiculously cheaper than ANY of the gear sets I have seen for other cars.

We also spoke about cryo treating and straight cuts. As far as cryo treating John said that would reap little to no benefits and the cost of finding the pullers to disassemble the tranny, get them heat treated, and find someone to reassemble it for you, would far outweigh the strength benefits. The straight cuts are basically a last ditch effort and he sees no reason to consider that at this point. if it comes down to that, and by the way he was talking it won't, you would be able to select which gears you want straight cut and which you wanted the stock helical cut. 1-3 1-4 etc...

So anyways guys this whole process will take about 6-8 months and I need your help here. He had a list of 100 guys that said they would buy gears from him when he did the evo's. He expected about half of them would actually buy so he only ordered 50 sets to be made. At this point ten guys have actually bought the gears from him. Some are waiting for good sold results before they spend the money which is expected, but we need a list of guys that would consider this, or will buy, once the developmental process and testing is done.

Price is yet to be released, but I will be updating this page quite often. All I can tell you is that it's more reasonable than I would have ever imagined. I hope we have a lot of interest because I know i'm not the only guy out there that is having trans issues with the power levels I would like to be running. For me, if this works out i'll build the motor and look for big numbers. And I would like to keep the 5 speed. I just can't stand the thought of looking down and seeing P,R,N,D,3,2,1

Let me know what you guys think about all of this and if you have interest just post it and i'll keep your name for my list. This will take some time so you all have ample time to save those pennies

UPDATES:

The transmission is apart and has been for 2 weeks now. The gears have been sent out to the 2 manufactures that John deals with on a daily basis to see what sort of power they can be made to hold and also to see who has the best pricing. That is where we stand right now. Price has not yet been released. There may be a slight ratio change due to the change in pitch necessary for more holding power. This, however, will be slight and barely noticable.

Some have inquired about a longer first gear and different ratios all around. These options are not feasable at this time simply because of the huge price difference that would be. our goal right now is to solve the major problem we have and work off of that. John did mention a possible change in final drive down the road. Thanks guys!

Update. The one company John used has promised a him a quote by tomorrow. This means our price should be released in the coming weeks!

Price Released! The 3rd and 4th gear set, both gears (primary and secondary shaft), is $1650 and install is $250.

Quote from John Sheperd:
These gears may have a slight whine due to the tooth profile we will need to use.
This can be helped by surface grinding the gear ar $30 per gear (x4 gears)
We would need to do at least half of the batch to get this done.

The first order is ten gear sets guys. If we sell all ten and order a bigger run the price will go down $250! Any other questions or inquiries about pre ordering please feel free to let me know.

Originally Posted by Powell Race Parts

This poor thread. I am not sure where folks like Shep, very well regarded in his field, can get gears made for 1650 for two sets, and 250 to install ? I cant get gears made for that anywhere, and my machinist acutally specializes in gear and spline cutting; EMCO prices I already quoted here. As for additional parts, synchro rings etc, when the crush spacer, gaskets anerobic sealer etc cost about 100 and thats the must haves, well this is not enough money.

I think its significant that John Shep is quoted that he built for the Evo crowd, interest from 100, built enough sets for 50 peeps but only 10 stepped up. Far larger gene pool than the SS Cobalt pool I am thinking.

And the labor for 250? out of the car ? a good man working no issues ( and there are always issues installing new gears) has to be at least 4 hours... cant see a labor rate less than 80 dollars an hour...

Originally Posted by Powell Race Parts

This poor thread. I am not sure where folks like Shep, very well regarded in his field, can get gears made for 1650 for two sets, and 250 to install ? I cant get gears made for that anywhere, and my machinist acutally specializes in gear and spline cutting; EMCO prices I already quoted here. As for additional parts, synchro rings etc, when the crush spacer, gaskets anerobic sealer etc cost about 100 and thats the must haves, well this is not enough money.

I think its significant that John Shep is quoted that he built for the Evo crowd, interest from 100, built enough sets for 50 peeps but only 10 stepped up. Far larger gene pool than the SS Cobalt pool I am thinking.

And the labor for 250? out of the car ? a good man working no issues ( and there are always issues installing new gears) has to be at least 4 hours... cant see a labor rate less than 80 dollars an hour...

Originally Posted by dcrep06

how much do you guys charge to build the F35? PM me? lol. i just want something to hold up to the torque, as most of us all know these things are torque monsters. and im not trying to replace the transmission often. i have the axles done and the mounts, now the transmission is the last weak point, but i cant seem to find a place to build it

Originally Posted by raver0789

All you guys who said back a few pages blah blah blah nobody blows a second gear can take that back. A hhr ss up here in Canada blew 2nd out on the track on a shitty trifecta tune...ie...not much power...on stock clutch...2nd gear needs to be included in this. I will pay money for a trans i can beat on day in and day out at the track...

Originally Posted by FF_ace

i believe powell stated earlier he can build one but it would be 6k plus labor and shipping

Originally Posted by FasterIsBetter

I still say its luck of the draw with anything on these cars. Look at CMiller at the track. His 4.45 trans suffered dozens of passes and burnouts at the track making more power than most everyone else here, including me. I'm running the 4.45 now so we'll see how long it lasts. I think the quick spooling stock turbo's and efrs have a lot to do with the trans breakage...look how long Exsoccer's has lasted past 400 and his is a stock 4.05 trans with open diff!

Originally Posted by FasterIsBetter

I still say its luck of the draw with anything on these cars. Look at CMiller at the track. His 4.45 trans suffered dozens of passes and burnouts at the track making more power than most everyone else here, including me. I'm running the 4.45 now so we'll see how long it lasts. I think the quick spooling stock turbo's and efrs have a lot to do with the trans breakage...look how long Exsoccer's has lasted past 400 and his is a stock 4.05 trans with open diff!

Originally Posted by INFE

I'm running a pte 6262 at 25-26 psi on a lsj with a 4.45 trans how do you explain my 3rd gear explosion and my Turbo don't spool up fast.