Change of day job?

[VeeDubMan2]

With the other thread going ('Whats your day job!'), it got me thinking that I may have a choice on my hands in just under a year.

We're expecting another baby in Nov (so that'll be 2 in total), but there's no way we can afford to put them both into nursery. We're both thinking of doing something part-time (or one of us full-time, the other part-time)...which got me thinking about something part-time veedub related.

Initial thought was an early bay/all bay gearbox builder (e.g. building 'boxes to cruise better on modern motorways) as when you think about gearbox specialists in the UK, there's only one that springs to most peoples mind (Peter at Cogbox) and he must be inundated with work. I know there's things to learn and tools to get, but it's just an idea at the moment.

Thoughts?

 

[easy]

There is actually 3 really good gearbox builders, that I can think of straight away.

Cog Box, Bears and Cool air have an old dood who builds nothing but gearboxes and is very good and cheaper than the other 2. I had a box rebuilt, better 1st gear, longer 4th and all strengthened and painted for £500 :mrgreen: can recomend them for sure. :mrgreen:

There is still room for a decent builder tho as these guys must be flat out an remember none of them really do any advertising apart from the odd link on VZI :wink:

 

[Guest]

i was told it requires a particular jig which is pretty rare and hard to find. Its a great idea though GL with it.

 

[VeeDubMan]

(posting a post here so I can track what topics I posted to with my other usernames - VDM2 and VDM3)

 

[andewilson]

can you actually build a gbox? because it doesnt sound like the best route into self employment. i'd like to be a brain surgeon (do you know what they're on) but dont have the tools. if you can build a gearbox, i have actually got one for you to build. i want 70mph at 2.5k revs whats it gona cost?

 

[VeeDubMan]

can you actually build a gbox? because it doesnt sound like the best route into self employment. i'd like to be a brain surgeon (do you know what they're on) but dont have the tools. if you can build a gearbox, i have actually got one for you to build. i want 70mph at 2.5k revs whats it gona cost?

No, can't build a gearbox yet, but I couldn't build engines, weld or do a Rubik's Cube until I learned. Brain surgery is a little more complex than a bunch of cogs though! I'd rather be able to physically see how things worked than make (very) educated decisions on incisions!

From what I've been reading about gearboxes and veedubs though, 2.5K revs/70mph is fine in a normal water-cooled vehicle, but in an aircooled engine, you're relying on the speed of the van to cool the engine. Too fewer revs and the cooling doesn't work as well.

Look at tyre size on the rear too for a better top-end. If you're running too low a profile tyre (55's for example), it may look great but your rolling circumference is smaller so you get a lower top speed.

 

[Guest]

you could change to a porsche style fan kit and cowl which puts out 3 times the air of a standard 1600 fan :wink:

 

[Trikky2]

Well if the demand is there then why not? Essentially its a case of starting as almost a hobby and seeing if you can build up the business.
I think the hard bit is having ensure that at the beginning you can cope financially without the income, so that any income you generate is a bonus, rather than vital to your everyday living costs.

 

[Loxy]

There is actually 3 really good gearbox builders, that I can think of straight away.

Cog Box, Bears and Cool air have an old dood who builds nothing but gearboxes and is very good and cheaper than the other 2. I had a box rebuilt, better 1st gear, longer 4th and all strengthened and painted for £500 :mrgreen: can recomend them for sure. :mrgreen:

There is still room for a decent builder tho as these guys must be flat out an remember none of them really do any advertising apart from the odd link on VZI :wink:

Was this based on a type 2 box or type 1? - would I need to adapt anything to get one to fit in my crossover van? cool air website only mentions type 1 close ratio boxes & stock t2s.

 

[andewilson]

can you actually build a gbox? because it doesnt sound like the best route into self employment. i'd like to be a brain surgeon (do you know what they're on) but dont have the tools. if you can build a gearbox, i have actually got one for you to build. i want 70mph at 2.5k revs whats it gona cost?

No, can't build a gearbox yet, but I couldn't build engines, weld or do a Rubik's Cube until I learned. Brain surgery is a little more complex than a bunch of cogs though! I'd rather be able to physically see how things worked than make (very) educated decisions on incisions!

From what I've been reading about gearboxes and veedubs though, 2.5K revs/70mph is fine in a normal water-cooled vehicle, but in an aircooled engine, you're relying on the speed of the van to cool the engine. Too fewer revs and the cooling doesn't work as well.

Look at tyre size on the rear too for a better top-end. If you're running too low a profile tyre (55's for example), it may look great but your rolling circuference is smaller so you get a lower top speed.

i will actually be running a water cooled aaz tuned tdi lump in my van so low revs is key. 2.5k is the optimum revs and the turbo will just be spooling up so intant torque at 70mph would make it great for motorway cruising