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914World.com _ 914World Garage _ 914 tranny in a bug

Posted by: scotty b Mar 31 2006, 09:48 PM

I've been moving some of my sh.....er um parts cars around and scrapping some shi...uh rare race parts lately and got to wondering if anyone has ever taken a 914 tranny flipped the R&P and installed it in a VW?? 5 speed gearbox that could handle a little more power Mounting wouldn't be too much of an issue, fab a cross bar for the front to mount to the VW frame horns and a cradle for the rear to mount to the stock location. Just a crazy idea that I haven't seen done, so I figure there is either a good reason or I just haven't run across one yet........ talk amongst yerselves Me go beddy bye, to many Killians make ums tired yellowsleep[1].gif

Posted by: Aaron Cox Mar 31 2006, 09:49 PM

you use a 901 not a 914...

but yes. Been Done in hot vw's many times. pretty labor intensive from what i recall

Posted by: scotty b Mar 31 2006, 09:54 PM

Figures. I'm always a week late and $20,000 short.........

Posted by: xitspd Mar 31 2006, 10:01 PM

Steve Aven did the first one as I understand and has done several since. He has several extensive magazine articles both domestic and International regarding the work he has done on the project. Give he a call at Steve's in Orange, CA at 714-637-1234. He has he preped my race cars and lead the crew over 10 years. He is also a cool old bug drag racer and teener lover like us!

Dan

Posted by: Aaron Cox Mar 31 2006, 10:04 PM

QUOTE (xitspd @ Mar 31 2006, 09:01 PM)
Steve Aven did the first one as I understand and has done several since. He has several extensive magazine articles both domestic and International regarding the work he has done on the project. Give he a call at Steve's in Orange, CA at 714-637-1234. He has he preped my race cars and lead the crew over 10 years. He is also a cool old bug drag racer and teener lover like us!

Dan

awesome !!!

Posted by: slugmika Mar 31 2006, 10:14 PM

Hi
I did it (901) in my bug back in 1997. It's quite easy. You have to modify the rear support which attach to frame horns. I used the "race" one without rubbers. Then you have to use either Porsche gear stick (which i did) or modify bug's original base plate. Shift rod is much lower than bugs original so you have to make the hole where the shift rod exits bigger. For a front mount we made an simple aluminium plate which bolted to 901's original studs and then welded threated 10mm plate to frame horns. I think that was it. I had that gearbox in my oval and used 1776cc Type1 engine and 2900cc type4 engine with it.
There is some pictures of the car in my blog but if someone needs i can probably find some detailed pictures of the gearbox swap.

Mika

Posted by: Eric_Shea Mar 31 2006, 10:35 PM

I have (2) 911/02's if someone wants to try it...

Posted by: Dave_Darling Mar 31 2006, 10:51 PM

I think you may need to take a hammer to the transmission tunnel for clearance in a couple of spots. Not much if I recall what I read, but... You'd also really want the 911's nosecone because of the mounting ears on ours getting in the way, and the linkage coming out of the nosecone in the wrong spot. (Or out the side of the trans for a side-shifter, which is really the wrong spot!)

--DD

Posted by: dvkk Apr 1 2006, 02:36 AM

Go here to see what the VW guys say about Porsche gearboxes:

http://www.germanlook.com/Forums/forumdisplay.php?f=13

The side shift is no good for a Bug. It needs a 911 tail shift gearbox. Then the problem with a 911's 901 trans is that it is geared too tall for a Beetle.
Finally, you get that "unique" shift pattern, and the slow syncros.

A German tuner offers an installation kit for a 901 into a Beetle. $1800.

Posted by: slugmika Apr 1 2006, 04:36 AM

If you allready have IRS beetle, 901 gearbox and porsche shifter assembly, i'd say you have to invest about 100$ for this conversion. It's really not that difficult. I did grind the original transmission brackets from my oval. It really is tight fit with t4 engine and if i remember right, i had only 3mm gap in front of the gearbox. If you are using rubbers then you really need more clearance.

Mika

Posted by: scotty b Apr 1 2006, 07:58 PM

What got me to thinking about this is a dune buggy I have that I'm going to make into a full blown show car. I also have a 1835 that was in my first show car (baja). I thought having a 5 speed in a dune buggy with 100+ h.p., would be pretty sweet Probably 2 years and 4-5 other projects away though. Prior to this idea I was going to put a thing tranny in it that I already have for some low end fun, but being so light I think I may want more top end

Posted by: ! Apr 1 2006, 08:58 PM

they have been doing 901 upgrades in 356s for many years....requires a relocated torsion tube. 356s don't have the same rear ends as 914s or bugs and more closely resemble 911s......

Anything is doable, just bring money......

Posted by: James Adams Apr 1 2006, 10:18 PM

I did it in a bug using a 912 four-speed and then used 914 trans internals to convert it to 5 speed. This was back in 1985. I made a custom front mount and hammered the tunnel up a bit so the shift rod could enter low in the tunnel. I built a custom shifter based on an aftermarket bug shifter (spring gated in both directions) and modded the VW shift rod with a u-joint.

I used 914 output flanges that mated to the bug CVs after drilling and adding the roll pins in the CVs.

The cluth cable was stock VW, just run down instead of up at the trans and with a modified conduit (I forget what that was, maybe two VW tubes joined together). Stock VW pedals worked fine.

It was a great setup with the mild 1776 I had at the time.