Mitsubishi Galant VR4 RS transmission gears

[Canadian_CD9A]

Tim @twicks69 has talked a couple of times over the years about a very early Evo I gearbox, which had the Galant & 1990 DSM-style 3rd & 4th gear pieces instead of the 93-99 DSM style that regular Evo Is come with. ASA/CAPS told me that no Evos ever got the early style 3rd & 4th gears, so I assumed someone had thrown together a Frankenstein transmission and fooled him with it. Due to the super oddball combination, I dismissed the thought of ever running into something like that.

After thinking I had an Evo I transmission in pieces, I've got what I believe to be most of a gear cluster from one of those mystery transmissions that Tim talked about. Some basic facts about it:

• It has the same gear ratios as the Evo I (2.571 - 1.600 - 1.162 - 0.862 - 0.617), meaning it's either out of an Evo 1, or some type of Galant VR4 RS derivative (there were many, but the last one was built March 1992 according to ASA/CAPS).
• It has the thick, small-diameter hub & sleeve on 3rd & 4th gear. I had it side-by-side with an Evo I gear cluster, which is similar in design to the 93-99 DSM, and it definitely doesn't match.
• It had single synchros on 3rd & 4th gears. Can't be an Evo II/III hub & sleeve. It also doesn't fit an Evo III 4th gear.
• I put its 1st gear side-by-side with a NOS Galant VR4 RS 1st gear, it does not match. The mystery 1st gear is also the same as another Evo I 1st gear I have (same "79" casting).
• The intermediate shaft was unfortunately not with the gear set.

Immediately, this assembly is not like the usual Evo I stuff. It also doesn't appear to be the same as an early (1988-1990) Galant VR4 RS due to the difference in first gear.

I have nothing to suggest that these pieces came out of an Evo I transmission, but they don't fit the combination of any documented transmission out there. So, I think Tim's oddball early transmission did really exist, and the best match for it is the WQFK/WQYK out of the 1990/08 to 1992/03 Galant VR4 RS. It's possible that a few were leftover and made their way to the Evo assembly line, or were used as service replacements by Mitsubishi, or were installed later on in life to fix a broken Evo transmission. Strength-wise, I think these gears are on par with the Evo II/III at best. I compared the mystery 4th gear to an Evo III RS 4th gear and found that the tooth profile is very similar, though the mystery gear has a bit less of a back cut, and the Evo gear has better finishing. The back cut difference may be attributed to the Evo III RS gear getting larger oil clearances, and I suspect an Evo III GSR 4th gear would be the same as the Galant gear back cut.

So, here's some details on what a late Galant VR4 RS gearset looks like.

Mystery cluster (left) vs Evo I (right). Note the difference in sleeve.

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Mystery transmission 1st gear (left) vs NOS MD740202 Galant VR4 RS 1st gear (right). Note the size of the synchro teeth. Mystery trans has the exact same 1st gear as Evo I, and is different from a 1990 Galant VR4 RS.

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Mystery 2nd gear (left) vs Evo I 2nd gear (right). Both are double synchro and they look the same from the side, but the drilled holes DO NOT line up. They are not the same!

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Mystery transmission 4th gear, 29-tooth.

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A pair of early-style 3rd/4th gear sleeves, mystery trans on the right. The machining and finish on them does look different - the provenance of both of these is unknown.

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NOS MD747376 Evo III RS 4th gear to the left, mystery 4th gear to the right.

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So there you have it, finally some photos of Galant VR4 RS internals here. I'll likely be selling the 'mystery' Galant VR4 RS gearset. The input shaft is too pitted to use in my opinion, but it still has what appears to be useable 1st, 2nd, 3rd & 4th gears, a 1/2 hub & sleeve and 3/4 hub & sleeve. If this is something that you need for your Galant VR4 RS gearbox, drop me a message.

 

[twicks69]

The intermediate shaft that matched up with those gears had 2 notches on 3rd gear teeth. I had a couple at the shop that were lost, one was for sure from a Galant VR4 Monte Carlo edition (Evo 1 gearset w/ earlier intermediate shaft and a 90 style center diff housing), and I know I had one from a Galant VR4 RS (Evo 0).

I am actually looking for an Evo 1 input shaft, Evo 1 1st/2nd gearset, and the Evo 1 large diameter forged hub 3/4 hub and slider, and then Evo 1 shift rails. I wanted to slap those parts into my Chariot transmission with a 4 spider center diff and a Quaife.

 

[Canadian_CD9A]

The intermediate shaft that matched up with those gears had 2 notches on 3rd gear teeth. I had a couple at the shop that were lost, one was for sure from a Galant VR4 Monte Carlo edition (Evo 1 gearset w/ earlier intermediate shaft and a 90 style center diff housing), and I know I had one from a Galant VR4 RS (Evo 0).

I am actually looking for an Evo 1 input shaft, Evo 1 1st/2nd gearset, and the Evo 1 large diameter forged hub 3/4 hub and slider, and then Evo 1 shift rails. I wanted to slap those parts into my Chariot transmission with a 4 spider center diff and a Quaife.

Oh no. I just sold a nice Evo 1 set, I wish I had known. I know this input isn't good enough, but if you can use anything from this set, I can ship it all down to you. No charge.
I can also let go of the NOS Galant VR4 1st gear and I have a good spare Evo I 2nd gear, but only one good input shaft for my own.

 

[bastarddsm]

Tim did the evo1 stuff use the late type rails? I got the early chromo 3/4 done. I'll have the others soon

 

[twicks69]

Oh no. I just sold a nice Evo 1 set, I wish I had known. I know this input isn't good enough, but if you can use anything from this set, I can ship it all down to you. No charge.
I can also let go of the NOS Galant VR4 1st gear and I have a good spare Evo I 2nd gear, but only one good input shaft for my own.

Yeah it totally sucks, I had 5x Evo 1 input shafts, and a few 1st/2nd gearsets in my toolbox, and a couple more sets on one of my stock shelves, so everything of that is gone...

Tim did the evo1 stuff use the late type rails? I got the early chromo 3/4 done. I'll have the others soon

The JDM GVR4 RS and Monte Carlo boxes with the early style 3/4 hub and slider used forged rails like the Evo 2/3, but I have seen a couple over the years that were earlier year ones that had 90 style stubby FORGED shift rails for 1/2, 3/4 and 5/R with a 90 style selector tab. The gearsets that had the super early gear tooth profile for 3rd/4th and the intermediate shaft were the ones that used the early style shift rail ends that were forged and had 90-style shift detents (big, small neutral, big). The gearsets that had the later year profiles like the Evo 1, used the 91.6+ selector tab and shift rails.

The Evo 1 used forged rails like the Evo 2/3 as well, but it used the aluminum 3-hole 3rd/4th shift fork and 91.6-99 style rail with the forged rail end. Kinda goofy, but yeah, it did the job.

Kurt, I think it could be beneficial to make the shift selector tab, along with 1/2 rail ends for the 91.6-99 style selector tab. We really need to make shift rails as well for the 1/2 and 3/4 sooner or later. Would be worth making your own 3rd/4th 3-hole shift fork and a FWD 1/2 fork too as I think both went obsolete.