All said,

I wonder, why such power for a Vanagon?  The only reason I can imagine is
towing otherwise, all I want is a more reliable, more fuel efficient engine
(VW TDI for me when the wter boxer goes).  Less power, no transaxle woes..

Mike
----- Original Message -----
From: "Andrew Grebneff" <andrew.grebneff@STONEBOW.OTAGO.AC.NZ>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Saturday, June 15, 2002 9:43 PM
Subject: Re: 3.3L MOTOR FOR VANAGON.....I JUST GOT THE SVX

> >my question is...what kind of tranny do you throw into 240 hp
> >vanagon?!?!? i really can't believet the stock tranny would handle
> >that kind of HP...??
> >Jeff
> >87 syncro gl
>
> Dead right! I don't believe a beefed VW trans will either, not for
> long, anyway. Which is why I've got a 1989 Getrag G50/50 M220 5-speed
> Porsche 911 Turbo LSD trans, virtually unbreakable, and these don't
> appear to wear at all. This particular one has synchro into reverse
> too!
>
>   Kits are "available" to fit these, from Marty Schneider's MSDS
> <www.msdsinc.com>, e-mail <MDM810@aol.com> in LA and Claer in
> Germany. However Claer is a jerk according to the Germans, is not on
> e-mail, told me via an intermediary to fax him, then proceded to
> ignore all my faxes!!! MSDS normally sells the trans kit ONLY as part
> of his Range Panzer 911 engine/G50 kit, and doesn't want to sell a
> trans-only kit. BUT he did tell me:
>     " Please hold on to the prices I quoted you, as I usually do not
> sell these out of the conversion kit. Regards, Martin  msdsinc."
> Then, every time I asked him to sell me one, it was "I have to look
> after my full-kit clients first and don't have enough stock to sell
> to you now; try again in a few months". Sounds like a pushoff to me...
>
> G50s are the rage in German conversions, but most, due to Claer's
> nastiness, are one-off fitments.
>
> An alternative is the older Porsche 915 trans; the later alloy-cased
> ones are pretty strong, but do tend to wear synchros and bearings.
> However a recon one would be fine, but nobody makes a kit for these.
>
> AVOID the earlier 915 or the 901 (fitted to the Porsche 914 and older
> 911s), which is not strong enough.
>
> Whatever Porsche trans you use, you would need the complete gearshift
> mechanism from a car fitted with the very gearbox yours came from.
> The shifter has to be fitted into the cockpit floor in place of the
> VW unit. The Porsche trans shift rod is an axial design like all
> nonVanagon rear-engined VWs, not a sideshift like Vanagons.
>
> You cannot use an FWD/4WD Subaru (weak, anyway) or Audi trans, as in
> these the differential cannot be reversed. The 915 from a midengined
> 914 can be used, as the diff IS reversible; the G50 isn't, but it's a
> rear-engine-only trans anyway, so doesn't need it.
>
> You would need adaptor axles. The 915 trans uses the same 100mm
> CV-joint PCD as a Bay van, and I doubt the Vanagon is any different,
> so you SHOULD be able to bolt the VW CVs to the 915, or use 915 CVs
> on the van.
>
> The G50 fits much stronger 930 CVs, with a larger 118mm (or was it
> 108?) PCD. These allow greater range of axle movement, so positioning
> of the trans drive relative to the stubaxles is not so critical as it
> is with the smaller CVs. You can fit adaptor drive flanges to the G50
> to fit the smaller VW/915 CVs, or use 930 CVs and fit adaptor
> stubaxles to the van, as I will do. CV adaptors, axles  etc available
> from Weddle Engineering <www.weddle.com>.
>
> You can spend heaps on a VW trans, using Albins gears, aftermarket
> diff sidecovers, wear-quick stainless Super Diff etc and still have a
> trans which will go bang... and THEN have to do the Porsche trick.
> Far cheaper to bypass this first stage and go porsche straight off.
> There's a reason all the Germans fitting VW V6s, Cosworths etc aren't
> using VW transmissions!
>
> My SVX engine will develop rather more than stock power, with an
> decent extractor and tunable aftermarket management system. A
> belt-driven Sprintex supercharger is under consideration, but I have
> to somehow find the money to fit the engine/trans and Porsche 993
> brakes first!
> --
> Andrew Grebneff
> 165 Evans St, Dunedin 9001, New Zealand
> <andrew.grebneff@stonebow.otago.ac.nz>
> Seashell, Macintosh, VW/Toyota van nut
>