i'm using a 914 tranny only because theyre easier to find around here than bus trannys i still havent found an engine to use for a conversion yet, but i'm working on it. in the meantime i'll use the porsche engine my poreche parts car came with.
the best way to find out about putting a bus tranny in a beetle is to head over to the off road forum or look up some baja stuff on the web, as its a common baja mod. i believe you need to run the shifter on top of the tunnel and use 'thing' axles.
Thanks. I should look for a 914 for parts, I've just assumed they are hard to find. I really want a rotary powered vw, but I think for my daily driver project it might not work. I'm starting to think about selling my 12a to my friend who is planning a lightweight rotary powered street buggy. Not only that, he's building it on a suberbeetle chassis with custom strut mounts.. Should be very interesting.
[This message has been edited by spootman (edited 12-01-2001).]
i saw the body you bought at litchfield... i remember seeing it. you got a good deal. i had my baja there (blue with a white hood).
there are 3 or 4 trannys listed in the bargain news. www.bargainnews.com if youre interested. thats where i got my parts from. i think they were $350 or so. never sene much for bus parts though. and good luck finding them in the wrecking yards around here. you can also try bug city www.bugcity.com but he'll charge you more.
i want more juice than a rotary... i wanted a 350 but i dont have the resources or desire to build all kinds of midengine frames and stuff.
im in the stages of restoring a 73 super beetle its sitting in my garage just collecting dust until winter is over. Anyway i recntly stumbled over the fact that you can put a rotary engine in a beetle now im very curious about this and i've looked up alot of information and a few websites the only question i have is instead of hooking up a stock type 1 tranny why not a prostreet type one or how about a 914 tranny. which one is better?
according to kennedy engineering, http://www.kitcar.com/kennedy/transaxles.html
the 914 box is stronger than a built type one tranny. If you can find one, it might work well. For my rotary project I will probably use a late bus tranny becuase replacements are easier to get, should it break. I just would hate to break a 914 tranny if I could not replace or fix it.
the 3 types you named were the cars... not their trannys (i think)
the 3 types of transaxles are a 901 (early 914s, till about 70?), 911 (914s from about71~74?) and a 915 (74 + later). i believe mine is a 911 box because its from a '73.
my understanding is
901's easiest to adapt, but tend to be more tempramental
911's a little more difficult to adapt because the shift linkage is on the side not ion the nosecone
915's best tranny out of the 914 but a PITA to adapt because its like the 911.
i THINK thats how they go. i wish i could find a site with better info on the merits of each box, but the 914 sites ive found dont provide much helpful information. they all have conflicting years on which tranny was in the car, and when the switched over.
[This message has been edited by scrawl (edited 12-28-2001).]
Scrawl,
The 911 box is the car that it comes from. The two types of boxes are the 901 and the 915 box. Youre right about the years, on the 915, from I belive either 73 or 74 on they used the 915, but in the earlier years, all were 901 boxes. The 911/01 is the 901 transmission from a 911 car. The 914/01 is the 901 tranny from the 914 car. The difference between the 911 and the 914 is both in the gearing and the direction they turn. The 911 was meant for a powerful, torquey 6 cylinder engine, and the gearing reflects that. The 911 tranny also rotates the right direction and has the right nosecone to install in a bug. The 914 however, has great gearing for a flat 4 since thats what came in them. The only problem is they are mid engine cars and the transmission rotates the opposite direction of the VW. All you have to do though, is flip the differential to correct that. Another problem with the 914/01 box is that the nosecone and shift rod must be switched out for the same from a 911/01.
Now, with that said, I'm using a 914/01 box in my bug. Right now I'm waiting to find a 911/01 shift rod so that I can put the thing back together for good. I will either end up running a rotary(most likely) or a turbo scooby if I can find one for the right price here in the states. The subaru engines seem to be a lot more common in Europe and Australia than here, but a 13b rotary, with some nice bridge ports and a big carb, turboed to the max and running nitrous should do me just fine, right??
Hope I'm not wrong on the tranny info, thats just the info I've gathered over the past several months.
Putting a bus trans into a bug is not too bad. There are two main ways to do it. The first involves cutting a hole in the body so the nose cone and shift linkage of the tranny can clear. With this method the shifter will be located on top of the tunnel. The other way is to get a tranny adapter. Gene Berg sells one but my tranny guy makes one too. The adapter allows you to use a bug nose cone with the bus box. Since the tranny is about an inch longer you will need to accomodate the extra length at the tranny yoke. I fabricated some custom mounts that use the stock type I tranny mounts. I figured that I'd be going through mounts with a certain frequency. There might be companies that carry a bus to bug mount kit. You might try bugpack. You will also need special length axles, four bus cv joints and bus to bug stub axles.
Austin
thanks for the clarification on the porsche stuff. i should be picking up the 914 parts car tomorrow (was supposed to be today but... eh)
why does porsche have to make things so difficult on us and use all these goofy numbers!
Hi guys, I just sold a 901 tailshifter from a 914 to one of our compadres here at STF. Take a look here http://callook.org/tech/trans.htm and see what you think
i still havent found an engine to use for a conversion yet, but i'm working on it. in the meantime i'll use the porsche engine my poreche parts car came with.