Hs anyone ever converted from the 901 to an automatic ? If they are available and work ok I could see myself being shiftless in Seattle. This is a dicussion topic so don't flame me for being blasphemes. Sometimes I hate to shift it's that simple.

I wonder if a Sport-O-Matic could be adapted?

Better yet how about a fully auto manual like the F1 style boxes showing up in many new cars.

What about a 944 auto trans.?

i heard about someone knowing someone who actually has a original Sport-O-Matic 914 ...
i also know someone who has a oil-tank from a original /6 sport-o-matic.

i wonder if porsche still has some of those on the shelf somewhere. they didn't sell very good, they must have some spares ...

Andy

it seems like it wouldn't be too hard to convert a 901 to a sport-a-matic, all it really is is a 5-speed with a torque converter and a clutch.....you still have to shift the car, it's just that now you don't have to push in the clutch with a pedal

Gary Emory @ PartsObsolete had a few sitting on the shelf if you want a Sport O matic tranny.

Geoff

yeah, but wasn't the original sport-o-matic 4 speed (or 3 even?) ...

looked like a 5-speed to me....maybe I'll get to scanning the pictures tonight

The VW 411 and 412 with type4 engines used 3- speed automatics designed by Borg Warner. The ring and pinion would need to be flipped to give 3 gears in the forward direction. A rear mount would require fabrication. I have not done this however rumors suggest it is possible. The same transmission was used on the VW type3 cars, much easier to find than 411 or 412's. The flex plate differs. The transmission is fairly heavy with a cast iron case, however rumors say it is reliable to 200HP.

Charles from LN has one and it did the fun run in Nashville with us yesterday.
If he reads this I'm sure he'll chime in.

4-speed. internal (bellhousing) vacuum-servo-operated clutch. separate oil pump, driven from the left camshaft, for the torque convertor. not a trivial project.

We discussed using the 411/412 auto tranny... it appears you cant flip the diff without serious tranny mods.

I have been asked 8-10 times to do this in a 914.

The 411/412's where 3 speeds... and bolted stock to a type4 engine.

From what I gather... they used Audi parts..


B

Why not use an Audi automatic transaxle?

I'd say anything from the 5000 models to the 80 or 90 series cars all the way to the newest would work. The tiptronics would be nice, but the electronic controls might be too much to work around.

I'm not too sure if a transaxle from a quattro would gain you any additional advantage or not, they might have used different gear ratios than the normal FWD cars.

With an automatic transaxle, everything is built in, so it just a matter of figureing out how to mate the engine to the transaxle.

If you at the same time wanted to do an engine swap, this would be a good setup as well. Use an Audi motor (anything except the straight 5 cyl, nothing wrong with them except for the length) or use a Chevy/Ford V6 or V8 since Kennedy Engineering makes adapter plates for the Audi transaxle.