Club 80-90 Forums

CJH wrote:I don't think that's necessarily the power it can handle, just the power of the engine it was mated to by VW.

You can find your code (unless it's corroded away) on the casting - from memory you have to crawl under the left side of your van. It may well need a bit of a wire brushing to read the code. If you're sure it's the gearbox that came with your van it'll be on the sticker by your right knee (assuming you're driving it and not sat at home on your computer of course!)

LOL - cheers CJH.

I will take a look in a minute, although I doubt it's the one that came with the van.
I just spent a lot of effort swapping out my 4sp stick and housing to 5sp, so that the linkage matched the 5sp gearbox.

Are we sure about power aspect though?
Not that it matters that much now, but I will need to know in future whether those power ratings are for the gearbox specifically, or just related to the power of engine it was connected to.

Top man. Appreciate your input.

Smiffo wrote: Are we sure about power aspect though?

I'm not in the slightest bit sure, no. But I'm sure there are people on here who can tell you how much power these boxes are good for.

The sticker is gone from my van now.
Looked on the WIKI for gearbox code location too, but couldn't see it on mine under the van.

I may come back to it at a later date - it was only a curiosity thing at the moment - thanks to everyone who replied.

upto 1984 all the watercooled boxes had finer toothed top two gears like the Aircooled boxes, for quietness and low duty cycle but the most powerful engine available was 78bhp
from 1985 on all the watercooled boxes they reduced the tooth count on the top two gears and made the teeth slightly thicker and obviously bhp max went upto 112bhp
from 1993 they started putting 5 cylinder audi engine in the T3s they built on South Africa, the gears are the same as post 1985 and they were struggling as was the crown and pinion to cope with the power and torque but rather than change the gears VW came up with the oiling plates which help provide maximum oiling and to small extent cooling of oil

some of the early 5 speeds had a nice long 5th gear (0.765) but that was only possible before emission regulations started looking at the whole driving cycle, VW turned up the fuelling at high revs to be able to pull the longer gear, post 1985 they had to comply with the new regs so limited 5th gear to the 0.82 ratio, knocking back top speed a dadge and reducing the gap between 4th and 5th, that's why in a 5 speed you often feel like it still wants an extra gear just like the 4 speed feels, especially if you have grown up driving more modern vehicles; also as roads got more crowded in the 80s maximum speed became less of a selling point and fuel economy more so

lower revs does not necessarily mean lower fuel consumption, the engine operating at it's optimum efficiency is what keeps fuel consumption down, being in the correct gear for the road conditions and remember the volume of air the van displaces (8cu metres say) as speed increases say over 60 for every 5% more speed you need maybe 10% more fuel, thus keeping Vmax down will help with fuel economy ultimately; the original engines are late 70s early 80s technology, carbs are much more compromised than modern fuel injection systems and mechanical pumps more compromised than diesel fuel injection so you will not get great fuel economy out of a T3 with original engine especially if you try and drive everywhere at 70mph

the multitude of gearboxes reflects the variety of engines and body types and typical usage, so if you had a 1.7KY engined commercial it would generally have had a 4 speed box that would be nice and driveable about town and fine upto 50 but would have needed ear shattering max revs to do 65-70, whereas a 2.1 petrol engined Caravelle would have been geared to be able to sit at comfortable 3500rpm on the motorway 7 up, whilst a 2.1 pickup would have been geared to pull maximum weight, accelerate well but not be as fast for the same engine revs

if you lived somewhere very hilly or always worked the vehicle at max load you could specify a lower final drive option to suit your intended usage

for your subaru engine, it's just a modern wbx so standard wbx gearing is fine, if being rebuilt then I add the oiling plates to help protect the expensive bits of metal from the extra torque

Brilliant reply there Aidan.

So let's assume some point down the line I go the Subaru route.
Would it be advised to make sure the gearbox is taken out and at a minimum checked over to ensure it is running on the thicker teeth of the later models, and also have the oiling plates in-situ?

I would assume that the early boxes are not really up to the job of handling the power of the Subaru engines.

Where exactly is the code on the gearbox, so that I could check also?
Obviously it would convenient if mine is one of the later models that is desirable for using on Subaru converted vans.

Even though I don't have the inclination to do a conversion now, if at any point my engine gives up on me, that would be the way I would go I think.

Cheers.

[quote="Smiffo"]Brilliant reply there Aidan.


Where exactly is the code on the gearbox, so that I could check also?


If it helps smiffo,
I could take a pic of the whole gearbox on the bench, pointing out the code location.

zxr750 wrote:

Smiffo wrote:Brilliant reply there Aidan.


Where exactly is the code on the gearbox, so that I could check also?


If it helps smiffo,
I could take a pic of the whole gearbox on the bench, pointing out the code location.

That would be good mate - top man

On the underside of the casing, immediately forward of the ribbed diff casing, there are two wide bevels (one each side) about 4" long by 1" wide. The gearbox code is stamped there.

silverbullet wrote:On the underside of the casing, immediately forward of the ribbed diff casing, there are two wide bevels (one each side) about 4" long by 1" wide. The gearbox code is stamped there.

OK SB, I will have a look tomorrow.
I don't mind the dark or cold - but it's lashing down again..!!

P.S. That spring you recommended for my 5sp Indent Mechanism worked a treat - cheers.

Sorry for the delay smiffo,
Been working on van all day, hope these pics help, look where screw driver's pointing, on this one it's 8E.
When it's in the van it will be on the left side.





If you are considering going Subaru in the future, here's a parts list.

n-a bell housing
391.67
470.00

clutch kit (for single mass flywheel)
137.50
165.00

harness modification
from
283.33
340.00
5
front extension harness
50.00
60.00
8
t25 2wd engine mount
137.50
165.00

throttle cable
36.67
44.00

induction hose kit (Phase II)
51.76
65.00






fuel filter
8.33
10.00

reversed coolant manifold
41.67
50.00
3
coolant plumbing kit
91.67
110.00



short alternator belt
7.50
9.00

vehicle speed sensor
37.50
45.00

clutch shaft
26.67
32.00
7
clutch shaft fitting kit
13.33
16.00
7
flywheel bolts (manual, single mass flywheel)
8
8.33
10.00
1
flywheel (new)
100.00
120.00
4
Breather Cover Kit, steel, EJ series
12.50
15.00
6





Notes:
1 needed if donor engine is from an automatic Subaru or if converting from a
dual to a single mass flywheel
2 needed if donor engine is from a '98 --> automatic Subaru
3 modification to your parts
4 for use on auto engines, or to replace dual mass or damaged single
mass flywheels
5 Modification to your parts. Price based on the harness being supplied with
all black tape and conduit removed, but taped or cable tied every 300 - 400 mm
and with the engine management circuit intact and undamaged
6 Replaces the original plastic breather cover if it is cracked and leaking (common)
7 Replacement for standard part, if required. OEM or higher quality
8 Optional, intended to make wiring as 'plug and play' as possible, also available
with built in tacho interface to drive old tachos (including the stock petrol T25 one)
which only work from a coil negative signal, for an extra £30


This is based on a 86,1.9 DG manual van using a 1999 2.0L N/A manual Impreza donor car.
You may not need all of these parts but there's other things to take into consideration like fuel injection tank, fuel pump, fuel lines and so on.

Awesome reply there ZXR750, really appreciate that

No problem mate, forgot to mention, a few tin's of Stella to help forget about the ££££££££££ yo'll be spending.

zxr750 wrote:No problem mate, forgot to mention, a few tin's of Stella to help forget about the ££££££££££ yo'll be spending.

That did cross my mind, that's why I will wait until my current engine packs up.
I'm hoping it's a long way into the future.!!

Smiffo wrote:

zxr750 wrote:No problem mate, forgot to mention, a few tin's of Stella to help forget about the ££££££££££ yo'll be spending.

That did cross my mind, that's why I will wait until my current engine packs up.
I'm hoping it's a long way into the future.!!

I would be interested to know what gearbox you have.
It's only money smiffo, you can't take it with you.

My Gearbox seems to have different code than any on the list...



Weird.
Anyone know if this was a code not listed on the RJES site, or is a bit missing?

( I did look quite hard, and quite sure nothing else before or after what looks like an `AD` )