I already have the motor so now I need the trans to make this work. I would prefer a manual but an auto is not out of the question.
I was told by a good friend that the trans from a diesel Volvo is an option as they used an Audi motor.
Yes this maybe a challenge build. Yes it may even be for the pickup class. So I am hoping there Ilis some trans out there that will bolt up that is from a relatively common car.
Suzuki Samurai, Sidekick, or almost anything Toyota, with the adapter from Acme.
Doesn't use an Audi bellhousing pattern, you have to basically build an adapter as it's a VW pattern.
Kennedy makes some, but I don't know which trans they support aside from the VW bug or Transporter units.
You can build an adapter from an old transaxle by cutting the front portion off and machining it to fit whatever you want it to fit.
Dean, of its helpful to you, I've got an old Borg Warner T5 from a really early 2WD S10 that you can have. Bellhousing is for a GM 2.8 V6, but you're pretty creative...
In reply to dean1484:
Years ago I attempted to build a locost. Being the cheap-ass SOB I am, I was going to use a free '84 GTI engine mated to the torque tube and transaxle from a free '78 924. I remember the engine bellhousing pattern matched the transmission bellhousing much closer than it did the torque tube, but I don't think the transaxle had a provision for a starter. It's been 10+ years so the details are a bit fuzzy, and someone with more VAG knowledge could probably confirm what the 924 transaxle is more common to - I'm thinking it was an ACVW variant?
There was a build thread for it here, but I think that may have been on the old forum.
dean1484 wrote: I already have the motor so now I need the trans to make this work. I would prefer a manual but an auto is not out of the question. I was told by a good friend that the trans from a diesel Volvo is an option as they used an Audi motor. Yes this maybe a challenge build. Yes it may even be for the pickup class. So I am hoping there Ilis some trans out there that will bolt up that is from a relatively common car.
The Diesel Volvo uses a 5 cylinder bolt pattern, not the 4 cylinder pattern used by the 1.8t.
There's a company making a bellhousing for this application to bolt up to Any Chevy Trans, for the drag racers, since all of the good transmissions are Chevy pattern. IIRC it retails for $780-ish.
If you're feeling saucy, I found years back that the bellhousing faces of a VW four and a Mazda rotary are off by either one inch or one half-inch. Either way, it was close enough that one could make a backplate for the VW engine, a backplate for the Mazda transmission, and dial-indicate the two to find center and bolt the two plates together after installing some close-fitting dowels to hold alignment. If you could find a G60 flywheel, you could knock the ring gear off, turn the OD down a mm or three and install a Mazda ring gear, so you could use the Mazda starter, G60 pressure plate, and Mazda clutch disk. G60 were 228mm, '83-up Mazda were 225mm, close enough to be identical in the real world, no expensive adapter disks needed.
Only problem for you is this offer is only valid if you use a nonturbo transmission, which can't handle much torque. The Miata guys seem to make them live somewhat okay with 200-250ft-lb but they also have a stronger gearset than the RX-7s did. Putting the RX-7 bell on a Miata trans is an option, but the input shaft is different, so you'd either have to cut it down or make the adapter plate something like 5/8" thicker and then figure out how to mount a starter. (Or, alternatively, find an RX-3/4/5 bellhousing so you could use a small flywheel and Turbo II trans. The Quicktime VW-to-Chevy bellhousing would be easier than finding that unicorn, but in this case you use the modified G60 flywheel, G60 pressure plate, and a clutch disk from a 3-liter Ranger, which is 225mm and the same spline as Turbo II)
oldopelguy wrote: Suzuki Samurai, Sidekick, or almost anything Toyota, with the adapter from Acme.
Yep. This. Although keeping it under Challenge budget may be... challenging. You can buy bits a la cart, so you might not need to buy the full kit.
If you find one of the 70s AMC with a VW 4 banger, or a DJ-5 postal jeep, those will get you a factory option. Rare as hens teeth these days.
VW Fox, 4 or 5 speed?
RossD wrote: If you find one of the 70s AMC with a VW 4 banger, or a DJ-5 postal jeep, those will get you a factory option. Rare as hens teeth these days.
Not sure about the Jeep, but I'm 99% certain that the AMC used the Audi four-cylinder (same bolt pattern as Audi five, not VW four) that was also the basis for the Porsche 924 engine.
But now you got me thinkin' about seeing what trans came behind those AMCs. Thanks. Probably in the AMC Spirit, right?
Some quick Googling confirmed that it's the Audi engine, and the Jeeps had TorqueFlite 904s and the Gremlins and Spirits had Borg-Warner HR-1 transmissions, a device I have never heard of.
Pretty sure Quicktime sells the adapter to T56 through Jegs...
http://www.jegs.com/i/Quick-Time-Bellhousing/698/RM-4082/10002/-1
But look at the list of motors that thing adapts to. Are people sure that that Audi and the VW 1.8t have different bolt patterns? Or is the adapter drilled for multiple motors.
As my budget sits now I could purchase that but it would leave about $350 total left in the budget.
Think I need to start surfing eBay for a used one. Otherwise I go to plan B but that involves rear mounting a complete front sub frame and I think that nets me the motor hanging behind the centerline of the rear wheels. Then again Porsche has made tgat work for years so it is an option. It just makes autocross a bit of an issue. 
petegossett wrote: In reply to dean1484: Years ago I attempted to build a locost. Being the cheap-ass SOB I am, I was going to use a free '84 GTI engine mated to the torque tube and transaxle from a free '78 924. I remember the engine bellhousing pattern matched the transmission bellhousing much closer than it did the torque tube, but I don't think the transaxle had a provision for a starter. It's been 10+ years so the details are a bit fuzzy, and someone with more VAG knowledge could probably confirm what the 924 transaxle is more common to - I'm thinking it was an ACVW variant? There was a build thread for it here, but I think that may have been on the old forum.
I looked in to tho and I think the answer is to use the bell housing from a 931 (924 turbo). This addresses the starter issue.
In reply to dean1484:
The solution is obvious: longitudinally mid-mount it and bolt the output shaft of whatever transmission you use directly to the S10 rear differential.
On a related side note/tangent, does anyone here know of a good VW Forum that's populated by adults? Vortex is terrible;full of misinformation (unless you really want to know what the biggest replica-of-an-expensive wheel you can fit on your Jetta is)
dean1484 wrote: But look at the list of motors that thing adapts to. Are people sure that that Audi and the VW 1.8t have different bolt patterns? Or is the adapter drilled for multiple motors.
Having had an Audi and a VW engine next to each other, 100% certain. The Audi pattern is also used on the V6 and V8 engines (but not the VR or W engines, which are VW engines anyway)
Starting with the 01A and 01E transmissions, longitudinal VWAG transmissions are dual bolt pattern, they can take a four or a six (or eight). That is why they have a bazillion mounting points. I haven't seen an Audi-engined Touareg to see if they bothered to make the RWD transmissions dual bolt pattern as well.
This irked me greatly because I wanted to stick a VW four in my Quantum while keeping the 016. All 016s sold in the US are Audi bolt pattern, four cylinder 016s do exist but you have to import them from Europe if you can find one. They didn't do dual bolt pattern back then. Extra irking: The Rabbit five cylinder engine (07K) is VW pattern, so it won't bolt up either.
Just in case you're wondering, there IS a transverse front drive transmission with the Audi bolt pattern, from the 10-valve Vanagons. But the engine is clocked REALLY differently than a car, it's something like 40 degrees forward instead of 15 degrees back.
M030 wrote: On a related side note/tangent, does anyone here know of a good VW Forum that's populated by adults? Vortex is terrible;full of misinformation (unless you really want to know what the biggest replica-of-an-expensive wheel you can fit on your Jetta is)
Club GTI, if you're not looking for US-centric info.
One could, in a pinch, get a longitudinal quattro transmission (get an 01E, the 01As tend to be fragile) and weld the center diff up, but then you would have to reconcile that the driveshaft spins backwards since Audi uses the countershaft as the power takeoff. Maybe get a quickchange rearend and flip the ring gear to the other side?
Dean,
Are you really going to do this? I have ideas.
M030 wrote: On a related side note/tangent, does anyone here know of a good VW Forum that's populated by adults? Vortex is terrible;full of misinformation (unless you really want to know what the biggest replica-of-an-expensive wheel you can fit on your Jetta is)
TDiClub.com
While it's obviously diesel-focused, much of the info is universal to VW's.
In reply to Ian F:
Thank you
The drawing for the adapter plate for the R154 toyota trans..
The Solstice and Chevy Colorado use the AR5 transmission, which is supposed to be a successor to the R154 (but looks like it may have a 1" longer input shaft, which could be helpful in an adapter plate application. Quick search shows that the R154 bellhousing mates with the AR5 trans.
http://www.supraforums.com/forum/showthread.php?405874-r154-and-solstice
There must be a behllhousing drawing for a Miata somewhere on the interent.
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