Conversion trans?, What the heck do the V8 guys have to use Options

[alpha434]

What are the V8 guys using. I know a guy locally who runs a Hewland 5 sp. What does everyone else run?

And do you guys all align your engines laterally?

[neo914-6]

Hewland, modified 930/915, Mendeola, or ZF are not "cost prohibitive" (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/wink.gif)

ZF soon to be tested with 700 + hp, talk about rare European boxes. One or two suppliers who set their own prices. $500 was a deal "before" they were desireable.

Renault:
Not readily available in the states...hundreds of them used in GT40 and other race replicas. You can still find used for a few hundred or rebuilt for $1500 in UK and Germany. If a UK supplier can ship them cheaply you can have a 5 speed gearbox comparable to a 915 made for mid-engine. See pic attached. A $5k Lotus new gear upgrade will get you to 500hp and cost less than the high end boxes.

Audi:
No one has adapted a manual yet but they are being considered in Europe and Australia to replace the out of production Renaults.

901:
my last survey had a few running 350-400hp with a stock 901, makes great economical sense if you don't mind operating at it's limits. The tall gearing and plate mods add a couple thousand to the price. BTW, Alpha, check my signature link on tall geared 901

Boxster:
Alan makes a good case considering the availability and reasonable price. Still no adapters on the market so you need to be a fabricator type. Here's a response from a guys who is selling a Boxster 5 speed he originally purchased for a V8 application:

QUOTE

It all depends? Torque is what kills transmissions. That is why most sports cars are small bore short stroke motors. Rev high to the horsepower with out the killing torque. But keep in mind that when engineering gear sectional width a 4 and 6 cylinder engine would have to have wider gear teeth due to a higher requirement from Moment to Shear relation. This is because the fewer the cylinder the harsher the pulse torsions stress is on a rotating mass. The v8 has a smoother pulse rotational stress. Thus the 4 cyl and 6 cyl transmissions like this have wider gears and bearings for this reason . The problem lies in the fact they still use small input and out put shafts based on the engines out put torque. (shaft that you attach your clutch to ) Most transmissions die from gear tooth breakage and pinion tooth breakage and not shaft twisting. But again these units have a bigger tooth contact patch due to the above v6 pulse issue. Bottom line is actual test usage. The Porsche transmission guy in California has told me he has had many high horse power small block v8 s put behind them without failure. So that is my 2 cents on this issue.

I am still awaiting the identity of this "Porsche transmission guy in CA"...

If you want to consider transverse, check out the Fiero or MR2 V8 conversion sites...