[ba] Question about Automatic-> 5 speed conversion

[Ti Kan]

Daniel Reid writes:
> Hey, I am new to Audis, but not to VW's.  I am a long time Rabbit head and
> just moved to the Bay from Vermont.  I recently picked up a 1986 4000CS
> (1.8, non-quattro) that is in GREAT shape.  The only problem is, after my
> Rabbit, it is not much fun to drive because of the crappy automatic.  I was
> wondering how much of a pain the conversion to 5 speed would be?  Anybody do
> this locally?  How hard is it to switch the pedal clusters?  Do I have to
> swap Axles?  How much crossover is there?  Will my console work (inside the
> car) with a new trim plate?  Just curious.  My gut feeling is that I would
> do better to sell the car and buy a 4000 Quattro with a 5 cyl and a 5 speed.
> But you never know.  I do love pain!

The 4-cylinder 1.8L 4000s were sold with 5-speed manual trannies, so
if you could find such a donor car to source parts from, a swap is
feasible.  At the very least, you'll need the tranny (clutch parts and
flywheel too), tranny mounts, exhaust downpipe, shift linkage,
shift box, halfshafts, pedal cluster, clutch cable and hardware,
shift boot and knob, and possibly some center console pieces.
You'd be amazed at how much zippier the car would be with the manual
trans (I think just that alone will shave some 2 seconds off the 0-60mph
time, if you go for the 85+ close ratio 5-speed box (type 013 code 2P).
If you upgrade the engine to a 2.0 liter then the car would be even
happier :-).

-Ti
2003 A4 1.8T multitronic (soon)
2001 S4 2.7T
1984 5000S turbo
1980 4000 2.0
--
    ///  Ti Kan                Vorsprung durch Technik
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