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has anyone tried vw powerplants?
Gakes - 20/5/08 at 07:46 PM

I wonmder if anyone here has tried using a 4cylinder engine and tranny from a golf or jetta? here in South Africa the parts are quite cheap


austin man - 20/5/08 at 07:52 PM

I have read that an adaptor plate is available for the MK4 Golf engine to a ford RWD gearbox

the 1.8 turbo would be a good engine to use as it is easily mapped to 210 BHP and more


nick205 - 20/5/08 at 08:39 PM

See here...

http://www.locostbuilders.co.uk/viewthread.php?tid=88660

3GE Components offer a conversion kit to mount the VW/Audi/Seat/Skoda 1.8T engine to Ford MT75 gearbox.


twybrow - 20/5/08 at 09:54 PM

Isn't this the Mid-Engine section - hence he could use a fwd gearbox - I think that is why he asked about the powerplant, but I could be wrong!


sgraber - 21/5/08 at 01:19 AM

There is/was a mid engine car from the mid 70's that used the 'Rabbit' FWD engine and box. It was a kit. I do wish I could remember the name of it. It had bugeyed round headlamps and looked a bit funky, but the magazine article said that it had a lot of spunk and handled very well.

I found a really NEAT video on YouTube of the Herb Adams JackRabbit. From the early 90's I can't believe I've never seen this one before. Not bad, not bad at all. Althought I think it's FWD?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5xgglhqEWg

Also found the Larini - http://www.premierkitcars.com/larini.php which ended up becoming the GTM Ballista and you can read about that episode of history here: http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/forum/miscellaneous/22059-autosport-international-anyone.html



[Edited on 5/21/08 by sgraber]


Gakes - 21/5/08 at 06:27 AM

Thanks guys, but like Twybrow said, I'm going for a middy design.And yes I want to use, if i can afford it, the 1.4TSI engine and fwd gbox that has 127kw. If not then any 2.0L golf engine and tranny or that 1.8T.

That Larini looks gr8, i wonder why I never came accross it yet. even the Jack rabbit, the more powerful version did 0-100kph in around 5-6 secs.

Golf would be a better option cos there is a vw spare shop like 40secs walk away from my house. and they've got spunk if you just mod the cams


chrisf - 21/5/08 at 12:27 PM

If you use a VW powerplant, why not consider the diesel? With some tuning, it would be quite fun.

--Chris


TheGecko - 21/5/08 at 01:16 PM

quote:
Originally posted by sgraber
There is/was a mid engine car from the mid 70's that used the 'Rabbit' FWD engine and box. It was a kit. I do wish I could remember the name of it. It had bugeyed round headlamps and looked a bit funky, but the magazine article said that it had a lot of spunk and handled very well.
Steve, I'm confident it's NOT the one you're thinking of but there was a mid-engined design from the late-70's in Australia that used the Golf (as the Rabbit is called everywhere in the world except North America) drivetrain. That's the Ikara (link to more info here)

Gakes, at the end of the day, one transverse FWD drivetrain is very much like another. Use whatever you want

Dominic


iank - 21/5/08 at 02:33 PM

For a middy there are several things that help the packaging when using a FWD drivetrain IMO. It's certainly not impossible to do it without these, but they will make life a little easier.

Hydraulic clutch
Cable change gearbox
Rear exit (i.e. bulkhead side in the donor) exhaust


sgraber - 21/5/08 at 03:58 PM

quote:
Originally posted by TheGecko
Steve, I'm confident it's NOT the one you're thinking of but there was a mid-engined design from the late-70's in Australia that used the Golf (as the Rabbit is called everywhere in the world except North America) drivetrain. That's the Ikara (link to more info here)


Ikara, that's the One! Thanks Geck! :-)

And yep, choose almost any FWD package and with very little re-engineering you can make the clutch work and the shifter shift. It's most likely been done dozens of times or more with whatever power plant you choose.