is it more a problem of not being good to downshift into 1st from 2nd or is it more of a dead stop start in 1st - could destroy tranny and why ??

thanks

jim

1. It's the weakest gear and many have blown it.

2. 901's are geared for a 4/6 cyl. engine and is very low. Too low for a V8. Have you noticed that it is "etchy" when applying the throttle. So much torque comes on so quickly and causes a surge/jerk forwards and back and forward and back. It's controllable but ...

Yes - I have only driven my car about 100 feet so far in 1st gear only - as I have no shift linkage yet : )

It seems to me that 1st might be good for only up to - what - 10 mph ??

For next short joy ride - I plan to manually put it in 2nd gear : ))

Jim

first gear hangs off teh end of the cluster supported by teh shaft on one side only. torque of a v8 is a bit much for it there. you can use 1st to move around teh yard or to put it on teh trailer...and what teh good DR said

its cantaleverd off the intermediate plate with only a bearing on one side.....

Dude. First gear is fine.

If you need to do any rock crawling, it'll be there!

me and ROOT rebuilt a side shift for my v8 conversion that we finally got moving under its own power - sort of - yesterday. i know i could have blocked off first gear but figured - what the hell - fix it up too - must have had rock climbing in the back of my mind : ))

so anyway ...

ratio not much use with v8
canterlevered = weakness

thanks guys

jim

It's not a good idea to use the 901 tranny with a motor with that much hp.

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?sho...=66161&st=0

thanks for link - i will keep all posted on my experiences - jim

no hard clutch dropped launches are planned - my v8 is mostly for a bit of added hustle and reliability.

easy - gradual - peddle depressions are my intention : )

can you say BOOM!

actually gavel gravel gravel [the sound of nuts and bolt in a coffee can when stired]

from downshifting in to 1st from 2nd ??

from dropping clutch at 3000 rpm ??

from simply mashing the gas in 2nd ??

jim

anything involving first gear above idle.

then anything that would break the tires loose in the wet.

no clutch drops [300-400 ft lbs torque + small gears,syncros and thin shafts= boom!]

I guess the issue is that if you block it off you probably won't break it, but if you do break it off - you're not going to be able to use the broken shaft anymore... you'll have to find another one. It's not going to break in the right place such that you can keep using it - so you might as well set it up so you can't break it and save yourself the issue later.

It's not necessarily going to be something intentional... you might have wet feet and your foot slip off the clutch or something.

While you're in there - you'll probably want a taller 5th. I only have a subie motor and I want a taller 5th...

taller 5th - i will cross that bridge when I get to it.

can't imagine needing it for as sub - max rpm is higher than type4 - isn't it ??


don't really want to spend any more bucks if I can help it.

i am cool with running 65 mph at 3500 - i think - except maybe for mpg's : )

i'll let you know though ??

jim

ahhh a V8 at 3k on the freeway for an hour is against the Geneva convention for cruel and unusual punishment.

now that is funny - i will confirm or refute this to be true as soon as i can - within 30 days I hope - thks - jim

--

just "ask the man who owns one"!

[old packard sales line]

If you floor it in first, you can twist the end of the shaft right off. I've seen one. That's the short term- the long term is the cantilever problem, mauling it in first all the time will blow out the bearing or worse. If you baby it in first you'll be fine, until something else goes.

i would think first would be good to have to idle it up on a trailer if thats your thing.

Yeah, that's my thinking. I have a long steep dirt 1st gear
driveway and some very tight turns to get into the
garage. I know my 2.4cis motor was fairly happy starting
in 2nd, and I figure my very mellow 327 makes much more
torque at idle, but for getting from the road to my garage the
six was not AT ALL happy in 2nd.

Hopefully I'll find out soon.

patrick

I had 914 with a 283 Chevy and a mild cam. With 901 trans. Nothing to radical. The car never needed 1ST gear. When I got on it too much at the red light it popped the CV joint. It needed to be driven mellow from the light because I was scared I would break something before it sold. I only got the car to resell it. I made a bunch of money on it and learned a lot from it. This was 26 years ago. It was a running car at one time and the guy I got it from pulled all the good stuff off and gave me the parts to refinish it. I was driving a 1973 914 4 cylinder 2 .L Turbo built by Galen Bieker that was fast. Now the Chevy was quick but the turbo was fast.

Bob

Joyrides are much better done in 3rd gear. (trust me.. I've done single gear drives..)

Plenty of tq.

1st isnt needed.. often.. Cant get it in second? try third.. No go? Go for 1st Does it work? No worries, dont put more power to it than the stock 4 cylander gives it, it'll be fine.

Andrew

3rd gear - got it

*note to self - add brake fuild and bleed brakes before 3rd gear joyride : )

so v8 has enough torque to pull easily from a dead stop in 2nd gear thus making 1st gear essentially useless.

type4 could not get going decently from a dead stop without 1st gear due to lack of power/torque.

jim

I use 1st gear more or less as a roller to get going, sometimes I start in 2nd, as long as you dont beat on it it's fine. The 901 is not the transmission for drag racing so dont use it for that unless you dont mind breaking it, if driven carefully it should hold up.
I am using the 901 with my 3.1 turbo engine so I plan on rolling on the throttle instead of jumping on it to prolong it's life. I am also using a trans cooler to keep the temps down.

I'll be keeping my 205x15x50 - not as tall as stock - so this too will raise rpm's at highway speeds : (

But having skinnish tires should reduce stress on transaxle, axles, cvs, suspension parts - is my hope.

note to self - no drag racing : )

note to self - get 930 tranny - kidding : )