So I get the car all buttoned up New transaxle is all clean and purdy. Set the car on the ground and fired it up. Slid it into gear and Oh man that was smooth. eased the clutch out and moved backwards. WTF????? So I put it in reverse and yup moved forward. All gears 1 thru 5 move the car backwards and reverse moves it forwards.

I'm such a dumb ass. Anybody got an idea of what I did wrong? Things I know I didn't do. Never took the pinion gear off. Diff went in the same way it came out Ring gear facing in.
Happy frigging Birthday.

hahahhahahhahahaha

well, it's not April 1st...so lets get that out of the way

sounds like you have a 911 transmission

Yup, for a mid engined car the ring gear has to go on the driver's side of the car, teeth facing the passenger side. What trans do you have?

Well, you're in good company! I've made one like that.

Even Jake made one like that. Course _he_ took it out and drove it 60 mph in reverse!!!

Differential. It can go in 2 ways. For the 914, the differential goes in with the ring gear away from the opening. You cannot install the differential after the gear stack is installed.

So, the repair involves pulling the gear stack and then installing the differential the other way...Ring gear side in first!!!

Son of a bitch. You mean I got to pull Diff and then the frigging gear stack again?
Then put the diff in and then the gear stack? Yea I bet that's what I did.

But did I mention it shifts REALLY smooth?

So, I have to know......

How fast did you drive it and how far did you go?

I'd have to run it through a few gears!!!

You should go mess with some valets before you fix it

QUOTE (Joe Ricard @ Aug 3 2005, 10:15 PM)

Son of a bitch. You mean I got to pull Diff and then the frigging gear stack again?

No...but if you want to got forward you do...

That's great

QUOTE (Bleyseng @ Aug 3 2005, 08:04 PM)

hahahhahahhahahaha

i nominate this thread for "classic" status !!!

Hey, is your avar there a picture of you going down the road? I only ask because it's the rear end!

Sorry, I know that even you realize that this is humorous..... It sucks, but it is funny. This is one of those things that you will never forget isn't it?

Were you a little hesitant to post this one? I would have been, but you have to throw it out there to get the input from the experienced guys. By experienced I mean the people who have done this EXACT same thing. From earlier posts it looks like you are in good company! BTW... I'm speaking from the position of not being brave enough to tackle the transaxle yet, so you are a better man than me!

we need to bring back the dummkopf* award....who last had it, Jeff Shyu????

*
Main Entry: dumm·kopf
Pronunciation: 'dum-"kopf
Function: noun
Etymology: German, from dumm stupid + Kopf head
: BLOCKHEAD

It happens to the best of us!!!!

I have two stories for ya!

Red Beard posted that I had done the same thing, and I did, but not with a 914.. It has HAPPENED TO me with a 914, but I didn't build the tranny..

So......... 2 years ago I sent the 901 out for a rebuild.. I don't have Porsche tranny toolsor know a hell of a lot about them so I sent it to a HIGHLY reputable Porsche trans builder... I get the tranny back, in stall it and have the same luck... The builder told me that he forgot it was going into a 914 and thought it was a 911/912 (never seen a damn side shift 912 before, have you) so anyway- I did take it down the road in reverse at 60 MPH for the hell of it... Got home, pulled the tranny, did the sneaky with the gear stack and flipped the diff back the way it was supposed to be.... I did this in less than 2 hours and had it back together again and driving- wasn't bad at all.


The other incident I had with this was many years ago as a kid.. I had a 67 Ghia that I drove daily... It was equipped with a 2180 TI Stroker that made about 150 ponies. I had lowered the front end and decided I wanted to swap the tranny to a different R&P ratio so I did that at the same time. I had been inside a lot of trannys but never really paid attention to the fact that the diff could go in backward and still function.

I had just gotten my drivers license and had been up all night working to get the car so I could drive it to school. By this time its about 15 till 8 in the AM and I was going to be late if I didn't finish up quick...

The car was positioned at the very end of the shop and it was winter so I had the doors closed. In the old shop (where we do machining now) the doors were on each end so you could drive right through easily, this time the Ghia was all the way at the end of the shop almost right against the closed back doors pointing forward.

So I drop the car off the jackstands, move all the crap out of the way in the shop and decided I was going to do a big burnout on the way through the 60 foot length of the shop......... Revved her up to 7K and dumped the clutch(being a dumbass I never even checked to see if it was in gear)- Car rockets BACKWARDS completely through the doors and rips them off their hinges before I could stop it and ends up against the scrape blade of a Ford 8N Tractor.........

Still today you can see the damage and tell those doors have been replaced!

The moral of the story is ALWAYS do an ops check before dumping the clutch at 7K!!!!!!!!

New logo for your auto-x team:

1 step forward, 5 steps backwards

done that with a 61 VW Bug when a teenager, rebuilt my tranny and engine, fired up, four backwards, one forward.

My explaination for the screw up? I had two manuals to work from, one for the 61 Bug, that manual lacked the many photos of tranny rebuilds that the 63 VW Bus manual had, so I followed the Bus manual, same tranny in both cars (back then they were the same) EXCEPT the Bus had reduction gears at the rear wheels, hence everything turns opposite, so the ring gear goes in the otherside!

A big OPPS. By the way, that question was possed in a college auto class, how a car could end up with the gears messed up like that. I was the only one with the right answer (ring gear flipped on wrong side), right from experience, the hardway.

sorry to laugh, it isn't personal, its the situation, I look back and laugh at my mistake. guess it makes me feel better that i am not alone in this.

Good Luck, and hope the re-re-build on the tranny goes smooth for you.

Of all the shit that I have F'd up and broken I have to admit that the diff thing tops them all.... There is just something about doing that----

Sure am glad this is the last day of my work week. Should be the longest day in history waiting to get home and get fixed.

Yea just had to share because it is hillarious. I was kinda tired last night so wasn't thinking straight about what I did wrong. Makes perfect sense and Yup, I'll probably live long enought to do it right next time.

Got to build a drive train for the stripper

"Bore it stroke it. just don't flip it."