Hi all, looking to upgrade my 1600 engine to 1776, will the original gearbox cope with the extra cc's. Thanks
if your gearbox is original 73 then they have pretty weak mainshaft bearing arrangement. increased power will accelerate damage there. Also do not think that those gearboxes were built for 46 years of use.
thats just a relatively small power increase.. They will take the power of a V8 without to much complaint as long as you treat them nice..
your old tired engine is most likely well below design power and if so it would be for a while. New one will probably exceed the specification, keep in mind that when vw increased the cc by 200-ish they also upgraded the gearbox.
I ran my Subaru engine on the original 3 rib fitted to my 74 van with no issues and that has maybe 3 times the power of the original. Zero issues....other than a bit under geared.
Plenty of people run 100+ BHP through original boxes without issue. I think from the responses you've got you can tell who has a vested interest in people having gearboxes re-built!
There seems to be a opinion over on the Samba.com that nothing will happen instantly to a gearbox in good working order without modification up to about three times stock power.. On the other hand if it is dodgy and you are living with it it might break tomorrow with a 1600 or ten minutes earlier with a 1776. If you can afford a 1776 you can probably afford another gearbox. Worry more about frying the engine by going faster with the same cooling.
It's only a couple of hundred extra CCs. A stock box will be fine (although it'll still have delivery van gear ratios).
How many gearboxes you have taken apart and seen what actually going on inside there? worn gearbox wont loose performance in the same way the engine does. One day it just let you down.
One. I didn’t know what any of it was though so I put it back together. I did run a 100bhp+ bus for years on a stock box though, and know many others who have done the same without issue. If it’s gonna let go, it’s gonna let go. It’ll have nothing to do with the extra 176cc.
Taking nosecone off does not count. Helical cut of the gears meas that the power from the engine is transmitted to the mainshaft bearing,pushing it back and forth in the bore, early gearboxes are particularly weak in that area to the point where vw redesigned it.they have seen enough damaged gearboxes within 4 or so years to prompt them to do it (undoubtedly at a great cost) And in all those years you did what, 3000miles? hardly a benchmark.
Considerably more than 3000 miles. What is your obsession with everyone’s gearboxes being a couple of miles from self destruction? Every time anyone mentions a gearbox, you basically condemn it.
Come on chaps ...... Don't think he's ever said "give it to me" or "buy one of mine" ... He knows his onions so of course we'd consider him for refurbs, but there are plenty other ( albeit much pricier) alternatives out there.
Ha ha ha As I said, me, and plenty of people I know, do and have put well in excess of 100bhp through a stock box with no issues. That’s real life experience right there. Feel free to tell me I didn’t though.
I’m sure he does. Steve reckons he knows his onions so he probably does. Anyone looking for a refurb I’m sure could do worse than using him! I just don’t understand the scare tactics every time anyone mentions gearboxes: “How do I change the oil?” “It’s probably f*cked”. “How do I get the drain plug out?” “It’s probably f*cked”. “Can it handle 10bhp more?” “It’s probably f*cked” Etc etc
