1982 Transmission

[bertengineer]

Hello all. I recently purchased an awesome 1982 Fiat Pinn 2000 here in Cordova, Tn. 2 previous owners, with first owner having car for 25 years...I have all maintenance history to prove it. Rebuilt engine, new interior, only 16,000 miles on new engine (116,000 total). Some slight body blisters...but overall a beautiful car. So I get on the road for a drive to the airport, and 5th gear feels like 4th gear, only slightly lower. I was told when I bought the car that it had a 5th gear ratio of 4.3:1. Sound familiar?
Is the gearing different on most 1982's. I do not know if this was a special deal when the tranny was rebuilt, but I don't like it. any info is appreciated. I will post pic's in a bit.

Thanks,

Rick

[ga.spyder]

Hey Rick,
Welcome to the forum.Where is Cordova?I am in Blairsville,Ga. which is on the borders of Ga,NC,and Tn.(about an hour from Chattanooga).The 5th gear is really high 4th,not at all an overdrive.That is the way all the cars are,has nothing to do with the rebuild.I rarely get into 5th up here in the mountains,only on a trip to Atlanta.These motors are not very 'torquey' so there would be no p/u at all with a true overdrive.If you get a chance,post some pics in the Introduction section.Nice to see another Southern car and another fine 82 model...we are taking over! Here is a link to a great Fiat event in a couple weeks in N.C.
http://www.flu.org/carolinaflu/

[kmead]

Due to the relatively low power of the twin cam in full emissions guise, Fiat never had a very overdriven fifth gear, unlike the more modern cars you may be used to.

Fourth is usually nearly a one to one ratio and fifth is somewhat overdriven at .88 to 1 with a final drive of 4.1 or 3.9 to one depending on the year. I don't recall any having a 4.3 to 1 final drive but one never knows...

I have always yearned for a longer (.76 to 1) fifth gear to make highway cruising a bit more pleasant, but the engine running at 4k to maintain 75 has never bothered the engine. I don't know of a gear being available unfortunately.

[Europa]

Here are the ratios for the 1981 and newer 5-Speed:

First - 3.667:1
Second - 2.100:1
Third - 1.361:1
Fourth - 1.000:1
Fifth - 0.881:1
Reverse - 3.244:1

As you can see, not much of a difference between 4th & 5th.

[lanciahf]

Maybe what the PO meant was that the car has an early rear with a ratio of 4.30 instead of the stock 3.90. The only 4.3 rears that will work on a 2000 without switching panhard rods is the late 78 1800 rear. 1978 Spiders had later style rear ends but with the 4.30 gears instead of 3.90. This rear would create a buzzy high rev feel at cruise on a 2 litre.

Ralph

[kmead]

I suspect the OP is referring to the minor drop in RPM when shifting from 4th to 5th which is very noticeable compared to many other cars where there is a large rpm drop/change with each shift.

The final drive ratio is a factor but is not a particularly notable issue on a single car with no other car as reference.

Do you know what years came with a 4.3 final drive? My '70 has a 4.1 which I thought was on all the US cars until 1975 and then the later change to the new rear axle assembly. The automatic cars had the 3.63 as I recall but its not something I have ever paid much attention to.

Ahh, I have just looked at an old R&T article that has a '75 with a 4.3 so clearly they were out there. How many years had them I wonder?