Just wondering what peoples experiance/opinons are of the P.A.R boxes. As in reliability and the amount of power/torque they can take

Cheers

 

sorry Dave, but what/who is a PAR gearbox?
911

 

Mine dropped a tooth off 4th gear after three weeks of running at up to 395 lbft in road use with the best oil and sympathetic use, kit was guaranteed for 400 lbft, I got the cost of the kit back after a lot of fighting, but lost a lot of incidental expenses. My independent opinion who was not involved in the build or fit of the box said that the metal was overhardened and it was material failure.

Several other failures are well documented here and abroad, and the reputation of PAR boxes is quite poor as a result, not at all undeservedly IMHO.

I understand that PAR are now building the boxes rather than supplying kits. They assert that the build is the crucial thing in terms of reliability. At least there won't be the problem of the builder and kit supplier pointing fingers at each other if there is an end product supplied rather than a kit.

Subsequently I fitted a standard UK six speed box and it has been flawless 10000 miles (ie over three times longer than the PAR kit lasted) later at probably a little more than 400 lbft along with 10 dragstrip launches. It is a lot quieter and sweeter shifting than the PAR 5 speed synchro kit, which sounded like a Morris Minor in reverse when pulling away in 1st gear (you could put up with it if the box was actually strong) although the ratios are a bit short for a torquey motor and my car is slower on the drag strip than it was because of an extra gearchange. Taller tyre profile and rev limit help a bit to offset this.

 

avoid PAR

PPG do better kits IMHO at same or similar price. My 4th gear went exactly the same as John's did, and to my mind they left 4th too std in design with near stock sized teeth and helical cut.

Bollox to the build excuse, when I stripped mine it was fine build wise.

Paul

 

Do the 6speed swap. You will be much happier unless all you are doing is dedicated drag racing. I have heard that the stock 6spd is capable of taking 550ftlbs torque without too much troubles as long as the trans cooler is hooked up.

There are numerous stories of broken PAR gearsets here in the states. I personally know of one where one trans was rebuilt 3 times before the owner went with a different gearset. Gearbox each time was put together by probably the best Subaru gearbox builder on the west coast.

Ron