Just wanted to post some feedback on the 916 gearbox conversion kit that I bought from Martin Bott (bugat5speed) for anyone who is thinking of purchasing the kit. The kit is posted for sale in the Member Vendor section of this site. Please keep in mind that I have no affiliation with Martin other than the fact that I bought his kit from him at the full price that he has listed.

First off I would say that Martin is very responsive and eay to deal with. Despite the fact that I'm in Los Angeles and he is in Germany he quickly answered all of my questions and shipped out the kit very quickly.

When I received the kit, it was exactly how he described it in his post and the quality of the parts and welds was very very good. I'll be putting them in my 915 in the coming weeks and can certianly post pics as the project progresses.

It's my understanding that a couple vendors here in the States are selling the kits for Martin, Auto Atlanta being one, but I'm not positive.

I can say that dealing with Martin was as it should be, and I would not hesitate to buy from him again in the future.

Happy to answer any questions if anyone has them.

Have a good one.

Mike

I agree. Quite the gentleman. We do stock his kits although quite expensive, and they work very very well and allow use of the stock muffler unlike the other kit out there. If you install a 915 into your 914 this is the kit to have.

Its good to hear GOOD vendor stories. Thanks for sharing!

Martin also has or had a pretty aluminum short pan for the suby.

I am aware of the muffler issues with Wevo, but I am more curious if it shifts better or worse than a Wevo, vellios or real 916. Any feedback would be great!!

Isn't this the guy who was developing a 4 valve head for type 4's. Anyone know what happened with that?
Tom

@mharmon, dr. 914 and charliew:
thanks for the very positive comments about my new product and myself!

@ Steve: my parts are a reproduction of the original 916 kit (only the nosecone is a new part - even shorter than the original 916 nose). So the shift mechanism works 100% exactly like the original Porsche 916 kit - very precise!

@ Tom: you are right what concerns the 4 valve head. As other projects were more important the 4-valve project did not come forward as I wanted it to. But I think I will have time for it again in the next months.

Thank you all for your interest.

Martin Bott
Bug @ 5-Speed

Gepetto Lives on in all of us.

why did you make the rear tail housing shorter than the original? I look forward to your response. Thank you. Jim

My guess is to leave room for a stock banana muffler ...

Andy

sounds like a good answer to me. If you are going to copy something a good thing is to also make it better. kaizan, the ongoing cycle of improvement. Or what hotrodders like to do.

I am contemplating the same and would be very intereseted in the pictures you post as the project progresses.
One curious question however.What made to decide to chose Martins' conversion vs the WEVO system?...and Martin if you read this post perhaps you can also chime in on the virtues of your system vs the WEVO.
Thanks,
Tom B.

I am also curious which one shifts better, but the 916 kit that he sells would allow a stock muffler, back up light switch and has a mechanical speedometer option, but I would prefer the electronic speedometer option. It's also a duplicate of the original 916 with improvements. With the Wevo there is no backup light switch, you would have to jury rig an exhaust system (extend your heat exchangers for M&K muffler or use special exhaust) and use an electronic speedometer. If you do the math there about the same cost. With WEVO you would need the kit $2k plus special shift linkage $620 plus header extenders $? plus M&K muffler $700 to look stock. If your building a new car, you would have to purchase the headers and muffler anyway, but for me I already have 914-6 heat exchangers and a bursch muffler. For Wevo I would have to extend the headers and replace the muffler with an M&K.

The electronic speedometer is a function of the reluctor in later 915's differential spacer stack, so the choice of a later aluminum 915 to get will give you that... or use a GPS unit for your speedo and odometer.

If you're shootin' for the 7:31 R&P like the early mag-case 915's it would still work in a later case, but use the coarse-splined 108mm or 100mm output flanges. Or you can order the LSD/TBD diff with fine-splines instead if 108mm 930 flanges are not a consideration.

This is a good looking conversion and I like it better in several ways (all of which you mentioned) than the Wevo. I want more user input!

Modding a 911 muffler to work with a wevo is not difficult. Either way you go you still have to buy axles, starter, clutch linkage, mounts, shift tower and linkage, throttle linkage, and flipping and freshening the 915. Assuming this kit works well, maybe a wash overall.

No one wants to run a crappy speedo cable after going thru all this, but it is a sizable expense, maybe $700 once you factor in machining the side cover, the pickup, and a new speedometer. No usable parts on the 914 gauge.

Either kit you choose, I recommend the '74 911 dansk sport exhaust if you want a nice streetable muffler. Louder than stock, but not obtrusive and no drone, even climbing hills. It may not be stainless hyperunobtainium, but who's gonna take their -6 out on salty roads?

Has there been any real world comparison yet of the 916 kit versus the velios or wevo?