IRS Swap $$$$
 

I have a 1974 standard bug with swing axle and I want to go to IRS. How big a hole in my poket am I up to with hardware and labor? Also does anybody know what are the specs for the european 1303s gearboxes. I've heard they are the best vw irs 4 speed boxes but I guess we don't have those in north america, in particular Canada! :(
Any piece of advise? Obvviously I have to do a pan off.

I am flabbergasted that Canada got swing axles after 1969 and the US didn't ... unless your car is European-spec (1300cc) or Mexican. This is also the first time I ever heard there were multiple IRS's. I don't want to sound disrespectful because I may just be learning something new, but are sure there are multiple IRS's?

It was my understanding when I was eye-balling a '57 (swing axle) for purchase, the switch to IRS would have required an pan switch and some very minor one-off trimming and welding. The '57 sold before I could align my ducks but that was all I was told.

If my info is short of the mark, I welcome the experts to chime in. The '57 was a brief attention distractor from my Super quest at the time. None of my other distractions involved a swing axle standard Beetle so my info gathering was brief.

If you do the labor yourself then it will be about $500 or so, including rebuilt stock IRS tranny. You can get alot of the parts from www2.cip1.com in Canada. If someone else does the labor $$$$$ :eek: . The more you can do the cheaper it will be on labor. Ideally you should give the person doing the work just the pan, weld-in mounts, trailing arms, torsion bars, torsion end caps,and spring plates. The hardest part of the swap is alining the trailing arms for propper camber and toe in before welding everything up.

I have the entire stock IRS set-up on the floor in my shop right now. I went the late model 944 ali set-up with 944 torsion bars, end caps, two piece spring plates, axles, CVs, trailing arms, and turbo brakes.

In my opinion, the easiest thing to do would be to swap your swing-axle chassis for a IRS. If you're looking at replacing the floor pans, you can fix the IRS chassis up (pans, clean/paint) then set the body on it. But if you change chassis you'd have to weld your vin number in under the rear seat.

As for wrench's estamate. I'd say that sounds pretty close. I've done a lot of welding on vws, but I havn't converted a swing-axle to IRS. My Ghia's body is a '64 which originaly came with swing, but when I bought the car, it was sitting on a '74 chassis, IRS.

Another thought, Ghia's and bugs have the same chassis (tunnel). The differance is in the floor pans. If you can find an IRS Ghia chassis. Use that and put new pans in it. :)

Hey Aartjan,
What will you take for that setup jig you made? :D Probably cost as much to ship to me as buying an IRS pan locally though... :(


Theres also similar info here;
http://www.blindchickenracing.com/Ho...conversion.htm


Jeff-

I wonder also if you could ship the set up. Where are you located Artijian? I hate the idea of tossing my current frame and floors since it's pretty much the only thing that doesn't need to be changed. :bawling: Everything is falling appart on this car! But I love it. It's been my first car, bougth it back and on it's way to german look!

BTW Oasis, there is no mulpliple IRS boxes per say, but some beetle editions had different gear ratio. The reason I was talking about the 1303s and beetle gt is because the 4th gear has a higher gear ratio: better for crusing on the highway since better top speed. Of course you can just buy new gears but if it all comes in one package and it is less expenssive... This leads me to an other question: what is the gear ratio of the 1303s and gt boxes? Am I mistaking in thinking that 1303s is IRS and GT is Swing axle?

Cool to know. Thanks! :)

You can find a good used super transmission. I have two in my garage for the very same thing.
A couple of links:
http://www.customspeedparts.de/conte...ebetechnik.php

http://sandlizrd.baja.com/gears.htm

This is wrong. The final drive ratio in top gear of every German made Beetle that had either a 1500cc engine or a 1600 was the same. This includes all 67-79 Beetles with those engines. The mistake you are making is that the R&P was changed from a 4.125:1 to a 3.875:1 in 73. However, at that exact same time 4th gear was lowered closer to 3rd such that your cruising rpm at a given speed would be the same. The only thing acomplished with the R&P change was to make the first 3 gears taller.

Take a look at the last pic on this page. Notice how the guy didn't even bother to clean away the rust and dirt before he welded in the bracket? That's the sign of a true craftsman.

Yep, rule one is clean everything. I can usually tell if I missed a spot cuz a nice tight bead turns to crap and spits and sputters, then its grind away all my work and start again.
They did a nice job on my narrowed IRS arms though.:rolleyes:
Hey Bruce, sending you a PM.

Jeff-

That's not an option, I live in The Netherlands...

You can use the aftermarket pivots or use them from a 1302/1303. If you can get a complete 02/03 rear suspension, you can easily make such a jig by yourself!

Do they actually fit?

:D Not really a fair question. My bus was converted to IRS with bolt on pivots, I've got a custom coilover setup with my own home built locator link instead of a springplate.
I started with the arms and built out from there, so yes, everything fits. :cool:


Jeff-