915 gearbox

[Turbo Haraune]

What is the weakest link in a 915 box
how much torque can it take? wil it be good enough for a subaru turbo putting out 250-300hp?

When was it produced?

any help wil be appreciated..

Vin

[Mikey]

The weakest link is first gear. It's only supported on 1 side. The rest of the gears are supported a lot better.

As far as hp and torque, I've heard 300hp and 300torque.

I'm not even close to an expert, that's just what I've read on other post.

[CLKWRK]

Hey Mikey, I beleive thats a 901 box you are describing
Bry

[Bugat5speed]

Hi Mikey,

in fact it was the 901-gearbox that you discribed.


Hi Turbo Haraune,

the 915 easily stands up to 300 PS and 350 Nm of torque. We are running it with Subaru Turbo engines with that power and it is perfect.
The 901 and 914 are also ok, but stand less power/torque. I have customers with 2.8 type 4 engines with up to 220 PS and torque near to 300 Nm with 914s, but they do not have a turbo and by this the torque at higher revs.
We offer conversion parts for both, 901/914-gearboxes and also 915-gearboxes. For 915s we have short nose cone (-20 mm), traverses and axle flanges. Have a look at our site www.bugat5speed.de and look for Umbauteile Porsche-Getriebe (for 901/914-conversions) and look for Projekte for 915-parts

[Turbo Haraune]

This new nosecone for the 915 box... how much fwd can i move the box from its original position before it interferes with the torsion tube?

I want the gearbox to be 50mm fwd of the original position..do i have to cut the tube?

Reason for this is that the subi motor interferes with the back of the car if not moved fwd..!

What about gear linkage?

[Bugat5speed]

Hi,

as the nose cone is 20 mm shorter the distance to move forward is 20 mm. By lowering the position of engine and gearbox you can find another cm. My colleague always cut out half of the torsion tube in the past, but did not adjust anything at the nose cone. He had 5 mm space between the nose cone and the half tube then. His engine/gearbox is lowered by this 1 cm.

He told me that with the new nose cone it´s only necessary to grind the thicker ends of the tube and make them flat. It´s anyway better to drive with spring legs in such a car, than with the torsion bars.

For any other questions please contact me directly!

Cheers Martin

[Mikey]

hmm... Thanks guys. I'd rather be corrected then keep going being wrong.

[Wally]

Originally Posted by Bugat5speed

...with spring legs ...
Cheers Martin

I love your direct translation of 'Federbeine'
Strangely it translates to 'coil-overs', but what the heck

I have only removed the plate of the torsion tubes where the 2 gearbox bolts are attached/welded on. With only a few mm's clearence, my early 915 gearbox is now with its beel housing in the same (original) position as the original type 1 gearbox was...
So I never really have understood the neccesity of shorter nose cones...
Drove it even on the track, but nothing touched or interfered. I just need the syncho's replaced

Regards,
Walter

[SilverBullet]

Hello bugat5speed, will you have an english version on your site soon?

[Bugat5speed]

Hi,

there will be an English version of my site in a few months time. The software with which the site was made only allows a single lingual version. The software will be updated soon and then a multilingual version will be possible also (and will be done).

Wally, it´s nice for you that your English is better than mine. Congratulations on it.
Are you sure talking of a 5-speed 915-gearbox being in the same position as a Beetle gearbox? Nothing is cut off at the gearbox, or the spring tube at the frame? The 915 is even longer than the original 901-gearbox with a short nose cone. A 901/914 with my short nose cone has 10 mm space to the spring tube in the front and in the back it is there where the bellhousing of the type 1 gearbox ends.
Can not imagine what you wrote here. Have lots of customers who have worked with 915s in the past and who are all expecting my new 915 nose cone. Are they all on the wrong way, or do they like spending money without a use of it?

Martin

[Wally]

Originally Posted by Bugat5speed

Wally, it´s nice for you that your English is better than mine. Congratulations on it.

My remark was in no way meant to be offensive Martin. It just read sort of funny and I hope a little humor is allowed in Germany as well as over here

Are you sure talking of a 5-speed 915-gearbox being in the same position as a Beetle gearbox? Nothing is cut off at the gearbox, or the spring tube at the frame? The 915 is even longer than the original 901-gearbox with a short nose cone. A 901/914 with my short nose cone has 10 mm space to the spring tube in the front and in the back it is there where the bellhousing of the type 1 gearbox ends.
Can not imagine what you wrote here. Have lots of customers who have worked with 915s in the past and who are all expecting my new 915 nose cone. Are they all on the wrong way, or do they like spending money without a use of it?

Martin

I just described MY experience from doing the swap. I am in no way an expert to this, as I have only done my own conversion.
In the past I have described my 915 swap in detail with pictures, which sort of let you see, what I described
The info is right on this site:

http://www.germanlook.com/Forums/sho...&highlight=915

I have had the same engine in the 1303S trans and with the same BAS exhaust header, I had even a little more clearence with the 915 then with the 1303 tranny. Not kidding. You may not believe me, but thats not really my concern.

I have only grinded away the mounting plate where the original two tranny bolts had been attached to. That gives a fair amount of additional clearence. The torsion tubes themselves, I have left alone, as well as the nose cone. The clearence with the torsion tubes and trans is however only 2 or 3 mm's, but I have raced this set-up hard on our track at Zandvoort and with many drag-style starts and nothing touched ever!

Also, my trans is a 915/40, so yes, its a 5-speed and it even has the 100mm CV hubs, so any 100mm VW Bus T2 CV will fit (I use T3 axles). And this is stock from the (porsche) factory.

If you have any questions Martin, please feel free to ask them.

Mit freundlichem Gruss,
Walter

[Bugat5speed]

Hi Wally,

if it only was a joke then sorry for over-reacting.

The installation looks nice. Found out now, why you did not have any space problems. 1st is, that the bellhousing is sitting 5-6 mm to the rear of the car (compared to a standard 1303 tranny bellhousing). 2nd is, that it seems to me, that your gearbox is sitting lower than the original one. Thought so when I saw the size of the clearance between the chassis arms and the axle flanges. I think the tranny is sitting 6-8 mm lower than originally. Seems that you made the holes in the traverse a little oval and by this lowered the whole unit. By this the exhaust is more distant from the back of the car than usually. The same with the top of the nose cone in the front of the unit.
Anyway nice work that you made there.

Good luck with it furthermore.
If you need assistance with revising the gearbox, then please call me.

Cheers Martin

[Wally]

Originally Posted by Bugat5speed

Hi Wally,

if it only was a joke then sorry for over-reacting.

Yes, really it just put a smile to my face when I read it, because I knew where you were coming from and that's what made it funny to me, but surely not at your expense
Glad we got this out of the way, as I like your work and the quality of your products very much.
Also you have chosen the exact wheels for your 1303 project car, as I have now for half a year or so on my 1303 :

The installation looks nice. Found out now, why you did not have any space problems. 1st is, that the bellhousing is sitting 5-6 mm to the rear of the car (compared to a standard 1303 tranny bellhousing). 2nd is, that it seems to me, that your gearbox is sitting lower than the original one. Thought so when I saw the size of the clearance between the chassis arms and the axle flanges. I think the tranny is sitting 6-8 mm lower than originally. Seems that you made the holes in the traverse a little oval and by this lowered the whole unit.

I think you have a very keen eye and are probably right about your assumptions.
Also: The gearbox I used can sit lower a bit more than most 915's because this one uses the slightly smaller diameter CV's (100mm instead of 110mm), which give more clearence at the tranny forks.

Thanks,
Walter

PS Martin, what do you usually advise with regard to clutch cable or hydraulic operated clutch action when using a 915?
I am still not totally satisfied with the current set-up since the clutch master doesn't seem to be a very quality part. The slave cylinder is nice, but since you will have to shorten the clutch arm of the 915 trans to get the total travel needed, the pedal force is still too high for my taste, even with the hydraulic set-up.
I have seen cable operated 915's, but always wondered if that was not even more heavy and how they managed the longer travel that the 915 needs...

[DORIGTT]

Hey Bugat5speed,

How much would the 915 nosecone and mount cost shipped here to the US?

[Bugat5speed]

Hi DORIGTT,

the nose cone costes 300 Euro without VAT and the traverse 215. You must calculate another 50 Euro for freight by DHL or others. I do also have a laser cut rear traverse for the 915 now. It´s working with intermediate aluminium blocks that fit the surface of the 915 bellhousing. These blocks have vertical and horizontal areas, where rubber blocks are mounted to. The traverse is powder coated and costs 160 Euro incl. VAT (traverse, 2 casted al. blocks, 4 rubber blocks). Without VAT it is 138 Euro. Do also have axle flanges for the thick spline with 100 mm diameter.

What concerns the problems with clutch, clutch cable, hydraulic clutch and others I can tell you that we are working with a pushed clutch type. By this you can use the flywheel of the T3 bus (228 mm) and also you can use the clutch bearing. The pedal can easily be pressed and the clutch is working fine. We offer some parts for this conversion like a guidance bushing for the bus bearing. It´s much cheaper working with this type of clutch with a 915 and it´s working very fine. We do also use this set for the Subaru Turbo conversions with 915.

Wally, I hope I did not again make too many mistakes whilst translating. Tried to get hold of some info of the Apfelbeck-project, but noone wanted to answer me.