Gearbox ratios

[VeeDubMan2]

OK, so I've rebuilt engines, done plenty of welding and due to financial limitations (the wife wants an eternity ring!), I'm going to take a look at our '71 bay gearbox and do things to it myself.

So, where do I start? Quick flick through the Haynes manual gives me some idea of what's what internally, but I've no idea about ratios, final drive etc. etc. For the engine rebuilds I've done in the past, 'How to Rebuild Your Aircooled Volkswagen Engine' was a bible. Is there anything similar for gearboxes?

The engine is 1641cc, external oil cooler, filter and (soon to have) deep sump. What would be nice is to cruise at modern motorway speeds without thinking something's going to blow at any point. We want to do a lot of (hopefully) European cruising in it too, so it would need to do well up those Alpine passes.

Am I expecting too much or should I save and get something more powerful?

 

[Guest]

If you have a standard 1600 gearbox and want to cruise at 75 on the motorway, get a 1303s AT code box and a Bay adapter kit (£295) from Tim at roadhouse retro http://rhrco.forumotion.com/rhr-news-and-new-products-f1/type-1-irs-to-early-bay-transmission-adapter-kit-t96.htm.

I got an AT box last week for £50 (they are pretty common), with final ratio 3.85. Hoping to get the adapter sometime soon when i have the cash.

 

[froggy]

Can you buyt the internals of a box (gears) new and maybe rebuild a bay box but with the 1303 final drive ratios?
Would this work out cheaper than buying a 1303 box and then having to buy the adapter kit?

 

[Guest]

you can buy rebuild kits here

http://www.longenterprises.com/parts_list/rebuildkits.htm

and individual parts...

http://www.longenterprises.com/parts_list/partslist_2700.html

 

[VeeDubMan2]

you can buy rebuild kits here

http://www.longenterprises.com/parts_list/rebuildkits.htm

and individual parts...

http://www.longenterprises.com/parts_list/partslist_2700.html

Great links! Cheers Johnnyâ„¢. Some bed-time reading for me there.

 

[Clarkson46]

The fun part will be all the specialist tools you're gonna need.

 

[Guest]

I was chatting to a guy who builds rally gearboxes (mainly fords, but he has worked on a few VWs), he said that VW boxes are as simple as you can get. If he had the parts it would cost about £150-200 to rebuild. It might be a cheaper way to go.

 

[sparkywig]

Didn't there used to be somebody in the States who built a five speed box for a type 2?

 

[Araon]

There used to be someone in the UK, but for the life of me I havent been able to remember, it was back in the late eighties/early nineties....I'm sure if he was still going the name would be prominent....

 

[froggy]

How much did / would a fifth gear affect the ratios

 

[alikat]

Check out Gene Berg in the not too distant future. The Berg 5 Bus Box for bugs has been rolled out. The next step is to figure out the nose cone configuration for bus application. It will enable you to spread your gearing out more. Probably not for a 1600cc motor as the kit will be $1500-$2000.

 

[Guest]

Alikat thats really nice! are you affiliated with gene berg by any chance?

i was chatting to my vw mechanic at the weekend and he says that you need a special jig for vw gearbox and you cant get them anywhere. Basically he was saying dont even think about an overhaul without it as it will give you no end of bother.

 

[alikat]

Yes, I work at Gene Berg. We use a cut-away trans as a test fixture for the gear stacks etc. I had always heard that a VW trans was not for the inexperienced, and would confirm this from watching our trans builder at work. I will shortly be going through my bug 5 speed that has sat idle for about 15 years since built. I hope to either post a video on our site, or sell it through the business as a help tool for trans builders attempting a 5 speed conversion.

 

[Guest]

thats a sweet box.

On the subject of gears, is there still a backlog of orders on locking shifters for buses? i desparately want to order and have a friend who lives close to you but the lead times are putting me off

 

[VeeDubMan]

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