Stronger gearbox options.

What are the options for stronger transmissions? I have a 1975 beetle with transaxle gearbox. I have a 300hp motor and after only 20 or so miles, the gearbox had enough. Hewland gearboxes are ridiculously expensive, so don't bother mentioning those. Rancho gearboxes seem a good alternative, awaiting a reply to an e-mail I sent. Any other options? Is a berg 5 kit for 5 gears only or does it strengthen the gearbox also? Thanks in advance for any help.

Reply to
peterd
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Sam at Rancho is the best way to go. Tell him what your engine is and all and he will set you up with everything you want.

A stock tranny is good up to 150 hp so you are going to kill them quick.

I have installed super diffs, you can do this in a few hours and save labor cost,but I think Rancho is your best bet.

Mario Vintage Werks resto

Reply to
Kafertoys

You can get mounting adapters to run a type 4 bus transaxle. One of those should take the power but it still has the weak reverse of the stock gearbox.

Tony

Reply to
Anthony W

The berg 5 does virtually nothing to strenghten the transmission.

Have you considered a Porsche 5 speed transplant?

Jan

Reply to
Jan

The Porsche 5 speed is a good choice if you're a good welder and machinist. But it's not necessarily stronger,and they have linkage problems that the VW trans doesn't have.

Shane

Reply to
Shane Stroud

Thanks Mario, I was on the Rancho site, found a telephone number only. Has Sam got an e-mail address?

Pete

Reply to
peterd

The Phantom Grip website

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makes it soundlike a simple matter of converting almost any "open" diff into a"limited slip" diff. It is basically a shim/spring package that fitsbetween the spider gears. The average price for one of these units is~$300USD. They have many styles to fit many different models, but Ididn't see VW Type-1 tranny in their catalog. Has anyone looked into getting a Phantom Grip LSD coversion to fit into a VW SuperDiff? I figured SuperDiff since it is stronger than stock.

I've sent them email asking if they've ever been asked to create a unit for VWs. On one site that was testing the units, Phantom Grip fabricated a model that would fit the test car. It only took them a few weeks. Imagine if they sold a unit that would slip into a S/A or IRS diff. Sweet!

I'll let you know what they say when they respond...

AshMan40

Reply to
AshMan

I received a reply from Phantom Grip. If I can supply them with the following dimensions, they will let me know if one of their standard units will fit. Otherwise, they may be able to make a custom unit if I send in a complete gear carrier.

Since I don't have a spare differential just lying around.... can anyone post the following measurements:

Swing Axle: Diameter of the spider gear shaft? Gap between inner surfaces of spider gears (min)? Gap between inner surfaces of axle end gears (min)?

IRS: Diameter of the spider gear shaft? Gap between inner surfaces of spider gears (min)? Gap between inner surfaces of axle end gears (min)?

Does anyone know if there are differences in the above measurements between a stock gear carrier and a Super Diff? I would assume the measurements should be the same, except maybe for the spider gear shaft which could be thicker (for strength) on a Super Diff? I think I'd prefer the above measurements from a Super Diff. I would think that if you wanted to add a limited slip unit like the Phantom Grip to your diff you would want to run a Super Diff for the added strength.

AshMan40

Reply to
AshMan

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