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PostPosted: May 17, 2008, 12:12 am 
My V8 Corvair was the Kelmark style with the conversion done at about 60k I then put another 60k on it before the end bearing froze on the mainshaft. Rebuilding took a new mainshaft, bearings and 1 syncro assy, I also deleted the rail shifter and installed a passenger car side plate with shifter mech. The only thing I broke was a halfshaft twisted about 20 deg and bent doing a wheelstand in the driveway. Also the reason the x wife never sat in the car, OHWELLL.


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PostPosted: June 4, 2008, 8:30 pm 
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Joined: January 20, 2008, 3:02 pm
Posts: 7
Location: Sierra Nevada foothills
I'm using a porsche 930 (4 spd) box with flipped ring and pinion in
my v8 914. Allows big clutch and big axles too. Wasn't cheap but
I am running a 400hp small block chevy and was always afraid of
breaking the original 901 that comes with 914s.

patrick


Last edited by terraview on June 30, 2008, 2:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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PostPosted: June 19, 2008, 7:46 pm 
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Hey guys I had a 1976 vw kombi camper van that had an aluminium 4.4 litre v8 that i used for towing my sprint karts all round Australia, i initially used the original 4 speed box with hollinger race gears installed and this only lasted a couple of years, with first the diff and then second gear going, and with zero abuse as this box cost $2800 aussie to build, I then purchased a second hand porsche G50 five speed with the external oil cooler for $3300. this box has been in the car now for 13 years without touching it and with well over 200,000kms, I doubt the vw box would last very long at all, even in a light car as most run r spec tyres and generate fair amounts of grip, also the porsche box was better ratio wise as with the vw box I never used first unless on a hill start, cheers greg


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PostPosted: July 11, 2008, 4:59 pm 
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Mandurath wrote:
FFR GTM uses the 1990-98 Porsche G50 or variants (2wd 911) of that trans bolted to a 1997-04 C5 Vette engine. During my daydreaming a while back, these were selling for 2500 and up. Still much cheaper than most listed above. Also listed on the site of things that come with the kit (whether they would sell them separate or not, I dunno).
1990-1998 G50-LS1 Transaxle adapter kit
G50 adapter plate
Pilot bearing and fasteners
G-50 linkage arms and fasteners

But, from the levels some here are willing to take it to, an adapter would be a small step. Especially since its been shown it can be done.


on a side note, my dad once asked a porsche specialist how much for a g50 to put into his 915 equipped 83. the guy replied how much power.
Apparently the factory still makes/has the parts for g50's for up to 700hp. which btw, will cost you 40 grand.


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PostPosted: July 16, 2008, 7:34 pm 
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SportsCarDesigner,

You are a God !

Why couldn't anyone else offer so concise (and illustrative) explanation of the Corvair TA situation. (You must be pretty... uh, "experienced").

I'm building a Manta Mirage with a strong SB Chevy pushing through a 67-69 Corvair 4-speed TA using the Kelmark adapter kit and reverse-cut ring and pinion. The shift linkage sucks, there's no provision for a speedometer cable, the rear suspension geometry is awful and it has drum brakes.

My fear is the SBC will be too much for the Saginaw TA. I want to drive the car on a semi-regular basis so the rumpity-rump engine probably won't do either. But I do have a 455 Olds in the shop. My idea is to mate it to a TH-425 for huge, smooth torque and no shifting. I am in the process of locating a donor car (Toronado or Eldorado) for the TH-425 and suspension (and matching engine if the price is right), but you sound like you have the brains to save me some time.

I also have a streetable SB Chevy. It would be far easier to throw that in and do something else with the shifter. I could swap the rear brakes for Corvette units, but I'd still have an issue with the speedo and the geometry. My question is, if the Corvair TA innards are standard fare, shouldn't I be able to use a standard shifter with it ? I once heard someone say they replaced the rail shifter with a fork shifter in a Corvair. Is that possible ? Is it worth it ?

The reason is because I can buy an adapter to mate the SB Chevy to a TH-425. Thus less fabrication, an engine that still puts out enough power to push the car faster than the wife will allow and the convenience of an automatic.

The second question concerns the strength of the Saginaw TA. That same unit was used in a gazillion cars for years and years yet most reports I've heard say they're insufficient. Can they take say 300hp occasionally? The car only weighs a ton so it won't take much power ($$$) to please me. I guess the only real problem is the puny ring and pinion and the skinny input shaft. Do you know if Kelmark's input shaft was beefier than the original ? As experienced as you are you might even have a clue as to whether the reverse-cut gears actually worked too.

Ideally I'd get me a Porsche 930 or ZF and do it right, but that's so far out of reality I won't even mention it. (Oops, Too late.)

BTW - Anyone, jump in with your two cents !

Thanks !


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PostPosted: July 17, 2008, 12:25 am 
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Location: Indiana
Regarding the 455 Oldsmobile Toronado drivetrain: Been there, done that, wasted two years of my life. The engine/transaxle weighs over 1000 lbs... and 2/3rds of it is well behind the axle, the rest barely forward. I don't even want to think about what the Toro suspension weighs (I used 911 parts beyond diff flanges). Just say no.

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I recall someone made (long ago) a kit that adapted the SBC to TH-425, but it had a shaft to move the engine forward a foot or so to the traditional mid-engine position... not sure if the torque converter stayed with the engine or trans; probably the latter considering fluid issues. Better weight distribution, but it's still gonna be heavy with an iron SBC.

LocostV8 posted above that he put the standard shift arm/fork cover on his Corvair trans.

I kinda weary of any of this half-century old stuff when there are so many modern near-200 hp fours and 300 hp V6 drivetrains available to build light nimble cars.
.

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 Post subject: VW transaxles
PostPosted: September 10, 2008, 3:33 pm 
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Location: Mass
post was correct 924 was VW 944 was a 901 or 905 from a 914.. Also most VW transaxle can be swaped for mid engine. Also $50 upgrade part, they can handle up to 300HP.. We built sand rails and buggy with STI motors adapted to stock and slight mod VW transaxles. Also google search Deserter GS mid engine corvair engine/ VW transxle pro solo race car..

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PostPosted: September 10, 2008, 3:38 pm 
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SportsCarDesigner wrote:
Regarding the 455 Oldsmobile Toronado drivetrain:... The engine/transaxle weighs over 1000 lbs...

I don't doubt it. Saw a Toronado in a wrecking yard one time and though, "Hey, I've always wondered what the drivetrain looks like." Good Lord it was HUGE. It looked like something that came out of the back end of a WWII tank. The bell housing alone was enormous! Looked at it for about five seconds and walked away, never looked back.

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PostPosted: September 10, 2008, 4:07 pm 
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Forgot to add:

The GM 4T65E HD (comes with later 3800SC motors factory) can be built to withstand about 500HP in a full-bodied Grand Prix IIRC. I think ZZ performance and Intense racing have the parts to do the job. I've never heard of one being adapted to a V8, but given the availability of upgrades for the 3800, I don't believe it to be necessary.

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PostPosted: November 13, 2008, 7:02 am 
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Alfa Romeo Alfetta gearboxes are strong - should handle small V8's as they ran a 3 litre V6 standard - and very cheap to buy.

Problem or advantage is that the drive shafts come from the back of the box...
Image
.. the flywheel and clutch are in that front bellhousing.

Oh and if you din't know, the whole package runs in a De Dion rear suspension assembly and inboard brakes as you can see.

.


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PostPosted: February 4, 2009, 2:39 pm 
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Didn't Chrysler make a manual transaxle for a while? I know I've seen a late model FWD automatic Intrepid with the engine mounted longitudinally. How useful they would be is beyond me.

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PostPosted: February 4, 2009, 5:32 pm 
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Chrysler made a longitudinal tranny for their V6.

I don't know the years or the models, but I think it's the same tranny they used in the back of the Prowler except with a torque tube.

Now that would make for an interesting 7. Front engined and rear tranny.

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PostPosted: February 5, 2009, 1:58 pm 
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T'would be good for weight distribution. I would like to see how it would do on a skid pad.

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PostPosted: February 5, 2009, 3:27 pm 
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From my research, it looks like those chrysler longitudinal trannies were all automatics, and just a derivation of a transverse tranny that appears to have lots of problems (maybe, maybe not, I've never heard good things about them, though)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultradrive#42LE
Even in the prowler it was an automatic. (No wonder they needed to be bailed out twice in my short life time. :roll: )
I still think the cheapist way would be a VW/Audi product. Although not all of them are longitudinal or V8s but at least some manuals.


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PostPosted: February 15, 2009, 10:03 pm 
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I saw Sportscardesigner's post on Corvair transaxle 101 and I'm stomping down that path at the moment myself. Does anyone know of a source for the bolt patterns for SBC bellhousing to block and the Corvair tranny to bell so I can have some stuff cut out on a plasma cutter to make my own Kelmark type adapter?

...or is this adapter available somewhere affordable?

It seems to me that there should be a web site somewhere that has the bolt patterns for all the stuff we hotrodders are are constantly trying to bolt to stuff it was never bolted to before or fab brackets and such...


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