I just bought my first VW Buggy. It's a 90" Barrien has a type3 engine and a 65 swing trans king pin front. This thing is slower than the second coming of Christ. I went threw the carbs, ignition and set the valves and gained 13mph all the way up to 70mph now, sad huh? Anyway on with the show, I need to upgrade the trans and am wondering which is the best trans to use, with out breaking the bank. I see 091 coming up a lot, side shift, Vanagon, diesels etc. I dont know what I will be building for an engine but it needs to have a pair! I will be switching to IRS. I will be taking off the roof and rear panels, just thought I would throw that out there, it looks like crap with them on, I just haven't bothered with that.
My turd.

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I get to Climax every night.

hell, i like the roof very different and i also like the name of your town

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Air cooled forever,i hate rusty tools!!!!!!!

It's hell to get in and out of. Climax is 52 miles north of Moorhead, MN. 25 miles west of Fertile, MN and about 15 miles from Cummings, ND.

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I get to Climax every night.

I really like that body. I would consider just trimming the roof down for access and run the rest. As far as what trans to run depends on the motor and rear tires you end up with. If you are going to build a mild motor then best to use a 3 or 5 rib. If your going to build a big motor like a 2000 cc and up then I woul go with a 6 rib. My personal prefference is a 1984 thru 91 Vanagon midshift. They have the strongest case, gears and reverse of any stock VW trans. They also come with 483 or 486 Ring and pinion to turn larger tires.

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Water cooled Dry Sumped Subaru Powered Turbo Charged Fuel Injected 2500CC Tank. Oh Rah! He who dies with the most Toys not only wins, He also wears them out!

some perv named your towns but i know right were you at on the corner of given and head which is south of bender and over which is before the dead end of good and high ............... ok im done
nice buggy

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Theirs no replacement for displacement !

I have thought about trimming it, but figured I would try sell off the top and rear sides and put that money back into it. It will just get broke when it goes over.
If I build a mild engine couldn't I still use the 6rib? I would rather just do this stuff once and have it strong from the beginning. Right now my thoughts for the engine are a large bore stroker with a small turbo. Nothing insane mind you, just a low boost large cc engine hopefully reliable, and semi efficient. I am just getting started here and trying to read up on this stuff as much as possible. Hopefully that way I just spend the money once.

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I get to Climax every night.

I found (3) three rib transmissions and (3) 1600 sp industrial engines so far. All are from spra coupes $300 for the lot. I would assume that these trannys are not going to be as wore out as ones coming from a bus. These sprayers are typicaly pulled down the road and when in the field are in one gear while spraying.

Since I am new to all of this I have no idea how a 6 rib side shift would work, as far as the shifter can someone explain this to me? Pictures would be great. I will use one of the 3 ribs now for the swap to IRS, until I step up the engine. I located a 6rib side shift for $300 is that a jump on it now priceor should I hold off till I am ready for one and then pick one up?

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I get to Climax every night.

6 ribs aint gettin no cheaper. keep and eye on that one . 3 ribs wont last long after you start adding much power. I could have saved a lot of money if I had taken Eric DeBords advice a long time ago and went to a 6 rib. You just gotta run the right sized tire. The side shift trannys sometimes have better cases and often a decent ratio similar to a 5 rib,,right between a 3 rib and 6 rib. 3 ribs usually must be treated kindly,,that gets old.

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If your clutch ain't slippin,, you probably got it adjusted right!!!!!

if i was you i would spend 600 dollars and buy everything.then you can sell a 3 rib to buy your side shift linkage and have 2 more to trade or sell and have 3 blocks for cores or trade or what ever.if your going to run buggys then everytime a good deal comes along and youve got the cash buy it.somebody is always needing something and transmissions are getting harder to find for alot more cash now days.chad

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NOW GAS IT!!!!!

Here are a couple pics of a side shift 6-rib with my home made linkage, hope this helps

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Maybe you should chug on over to mamby pamby land....

My version

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Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most.
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What is better a side shift or a mid shift and are there any diffrences that make one better than the other?
I have found one of each, one is from a 82 vanagon and the other is a complete 85 vanagon for $300 with a broken trailing arm. Can I use the axles and CV's from the 85 with 3x3 arms?
I have been trying to search out the info on these and havent learned much. I did find this.
http://volksweb.relitech.com/helmut/GEARBOX.HTM

I have so many questions on all this stuff, thanks you guys for helping with all my questions. In all the sites I have searched you guys seem the most (real) And I have no time for the pole up there ass crowd.

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I get to Climax every night.

At that price I would grab them both up. MadMikes midshift is the strongest stock tranny I know of. the other 6 ribs can be made very tough with some weddle gears , etc. good luck

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If your clutch ain't slippin,, you probably got it adjusted right!!!!!

like ody said a 3,5,6 all have a small reverse gear you will brake it like iv been told reverse is like glass i have fixed alot of theses trans reverse gear the mid shift is by far the strongest trans you can get with out big money.you can put big money in a 3,5,6 to make it stronger but reverse is still glass thats just my 2cents

I was running a side shift ACW back in 2000.A 5 speed in 2004, But NO ONE would listen to me!Now I'm telling people to sqeeze in a big Jap front wheel drive 4 cyl motor and automatic (behind the seats)and a Continental IRS diff.I guess in 2020 yall will start waking up.An automatic trans with a diff going into 3.21:1 diff,tripling your low end while making all your gears CLOSER!Yall are stupid if you don't listen. I know all about what yall run and blow up.What works and what don't.All of your negative comments , I have a mouse here to click "next"!For what you spend on dual carbs you can buy the whole wrecked car then take the carcass to the scales and get back $150.I love bad ass bug motors but I am trying to save you some money.

Sorry I blew up.

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I get to Climax every night.

Don't let him bother you Duane. He is one of our most inovative builders with a real crappy way of getting his thoughts across. What he is suggesting is all good information should you ignore the tactless delivery.

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Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most.
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And MadMike is our most eloquent mediator.

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If your clutch ain't slippin,, you probably got it adjusted right!!!!!

Hi Duane. I'm here to help you not hurt you. I was speaking to the crowd, nothing personal. This will be my last post on this post.After getting blown up for years and years I am trying to show you how to cross the mine field.But,"Why chase the tail end of the latest and greatest technology when you can get a head and go around it?"A smart sperm cell knows to go around the others instead of thru them.Sorry, it was the only way I could put it.

Hey man no harm no foul, I don't always come across like I should either. What your describing doesn't sound like a bad plan, just not one that would suit this short buggy or what I have wanted for a long time.

This is my other buggy, not one that probably most hard core buggy riders would enjoy but I have a lot of fun with it. It's a Roketa GK-06 It had a Chinese copy of a CN250 Honda single cylinder in it when I got it. Now it's got a Suzuki G10 3 cylinder sourced from a Geo metro. Carbs are from a Yamaha XS750 the header was for a Yamaha XS750 also I made my own intake, made a header flange. The trans is a 5 speed from the metro as are the axles. Luck and wierd thing is the length and the hub spline were right for the buggy. I wired up a Ford Dura spark ignition to the Geo distributor for lighting the fire. Pretty simple and very reliable so far, I have close to if not more than 2000 miles on it since the first part of July.
So I am not affraid to do things a little diffrent, and what you can make work is great, it might not suit everyone but like the old song says. "You see you can't please everyone so you got to please your self"

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I get to Climax every night.

that is cool,,,thanks for posting that pic and info.

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If your clutch ain't slippin,, you probably got it adjusted right!!!!!

I picked up an 84 Vanagon today, what besides the transmission and axles should I be keeping. Is there any reason to keep the stubs? Can any of the shifter be adapted to the buggy? I picked it up with the flatbed right before I left work so I havent had it on the hoist yet to look it over, maybe tomorrow.
Is there anything from the engine that's desirable for a AC engine?
What's of value to sell from this? The body and interior are fairly decent. I am going to try to swap what I don't use for another 6 rib that I found in the wrecking yard, that one is side shift but the shifter is on the back.

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I get to Climax every night.

There are 3 very different trannys being discussed here and some call them all 6 ribs.

The first is the end shift 091 6 rib.
4:57 R&P strong going forward but a weak reverse.
Came in 76-79 VW busses and mated to an air cooled engine.


Next is the side shift 091.
Same as above but the shift mechanism came out the intermediate housing.
Same R&P, same weak reverse.
Came in 80 through 83-1/2 Vanagons with the air cooled engine.

Last is the 091/1
Can have one of three R&P ratios.
4:83, 4:86 or 4:57 depends on year.
Shift mechanism came out of the actual case.
An ACW code would likely have a 4 spider diff, definitely a score if you find one of those.
Those came in 84-91 Vanagons with a water cooled engine.

Here is a good link that gives you various codes and info on those trannys.
Some descriptions and specifications may vary as I think this is a European site.

http://volksweb.relitech.com/helmut/GEA ... 4Airtranny.

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Gary

Turbo VW Sand Racer
Polaris Ranger



"If you don't run into the Devil every once in awhile, you must be going in the same direction!"

Davis Motorsports FaceBook Page

Where on the trans would the ACW code be located? I cleaned it up today but didn't look for the code.
I also picked up another 6 rib today. This one is the rear side shift not the mid shift like the first one. I traded a junker 89 Bonneville to the wrecking yard for the trans. The trans was already out of the van inside the back, the engine was also in it completly tore apart so I would assume that the engine gave up and not the trans.

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I get to Climax every night.

It will be on the drivers side of the tranny, roll the tranny about half way over and it will be in the middle of the case just as the case rounds under to the bottom.

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When in doubt, Hit the Gas!!!!!!!

My build, http://www.woodsbuggy.com/index.php?opt ... =23&t=9147