5 Speed to 4 Speed Swap, Parts Advice Needed.

[wasserleaker]

Hi all,
I'm in the process of fitting a 4 speed 091/1 'box in my watercooled petrol 86 van, which previously had a 5 speed in it,
I ended up getting the wrong front half of the linkage to use, which is 18mm diameter, not 20mm like the old one, and it has a 'bendy section' with 2 ball and sockets, is this from an early Aircooled 4 speed? it's definitely not the right part, is the correct 4 speed front linkage that i need, a one piece 20mm bar without the bendy ball jointed bit?

am i right in thinking the old 5 speed rear half of the linkage, from the splines backwards is ok to re-use on the 4 speed?

the 14mm diam. second hand 4 speed stick I got is correct i think, but are the underfloor guide boxes (the bit that bolts to the plate at the bottom of the gearstick from underneath) the same for Aircooled and watercooled 2WD models, or is there a specific one i need for this swap?

any help with this from someone who's done the same swap would be massively helpfull!
cheers

[billy739]

the 2 balljoint part is Aircooled era parts.

the 091 is a watercooled 4 speed box?

if yes then you can keep the rear linkage from your 5 speed

front rod from a later 4 speed(watercooled)

early/late 4 speed under boxes are the same but do have a different guide but are interchangeable from experience- obviously the 5 speed is different

you can try leaving the 5 speed setup in place it may work!

don't forget you will need a 4 speed front gearbox mount

[wasserleaker]

Thanks, got the correct, one piece 20mm diam. front linkage bar now, just the task of getting it set up right on the splines now!

[bobby-gg]

out of interest did you try it with the complete 5-speed linkage still in the van?

Just that I've just done a similar swap, bought a van with a 4 speed in, and dropped into my 5 speed van, only to find out the scrap van also used to be a 5-speed so I haven't got any of the 4-speed linkage at all, I removed the 2 alloy guides out of the bottom of the gear stick 'box' and I can get all of the gears most of the time - no worse than trying to find all off them in the correct order with 5-speed box beforehand anyway

Rob.

[wasserleaker]

No, didn't try the 5 speed set up, but it was next to useless with the 5 speed, so i can't imagine it being much better with a box it wasn't meant for!