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I was in the UK in early July and visited with Tuthill's. Richard Tuthill and I went over to see Gemini in Brackley and go through the features of the recent design work by Andre. I also saw the first example torn down after a tarmac event.
The work is of the highest quality and it is a complete departure from the OE architecture of the 915 (except for the 76mm shaft spacing). The Gemini kit is housed in an outwardly complete 915 casing - no special hosuings, although various modifications are performed to package the Gemini architecture, shift rails, detents, interlock, gates, etc.
WEVO have cooperated with Tuthill from the outset of their 915 dog box projects, in an effort to help them avoid the steep learning curve that we jumped onto in 1997 with the Modena Kit (AKA GT and/or XT kit).
The PPG kit unfortunately had many of the same initial issues, some of them very avoidable. In my estimation it never reached the reliability of the old XT kit, of which WEVO assembled 25 units between 1998 and 2004. It is one of these older - no longer supported - units that started this thread.
I am sure the Gemini kit is the end game on this 915 Dog Box topic. It will be honed to perfection and will be both competitive and reliable for the service it is intended for. Part of our discussions in July included the adaptation of the Rally box for the Road Racing market draw from the USA. That will follow the full deployment of the Rally version to Tuthill and their immediate market - which is also global.
It will be expensive and for good reason - there is a high parts count and very high quality, low volume components. The transmissions will have to be built in the first case by Gemini or other experts of their allocation. However - once the conversion is completed, the transmission will be easy to service by any capable technician. I expect the price will be about $20K, but given that the last XT-915 WEVO built in 2004 was in the low $14K's I think the Gemini version represents great value.
I have not followed the fate of the PPG kits after Tuthill canned them and switched to Gemini - who are very local to their facility. But I sense that at the right price point, the kit may find some who are tolerant of the advantages - in couple with the reliability question marks.
Hayden
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