Diesel engine/Transmission compatibility

[dvuono]

Hi,

I have a 1982 Diesel Vanagon with a 1.6L engine. My transmission is shot and need a used or rebuilt one. I want to upgrade with a 1.9 IDI, possibly a TD, and want to know what Transmission I need for this conversion. The word on the street is that I can use a DK tranny from an 80-82 gas vanagon. Is this true and how feasible is it? Will the DK gear ratios work with the 1.9?
My ultimate plan with this project is to convert it to run on Veggie which is why i don't want to use a TDI, i hear it is more complicated and may not work properly... any suggestions? So lastly, should I try to find a 1.9 or a 1.9 TD for this project? Thanks for reading.

[dvuono]

So does anyone have any idea what transmission I can use with a 1.9 L TD or know of someone who has done something similar?

[Quantum TD]

The ideal scenario if you're gonna put a 1.9 TD in it, is to try and find a 5-speed out of a gasser. They're pretty hard to find, and aren't cheap. The other option is to put in a 4-speed out of a gasser. The gear ratios for the 4 gears are all about the same between the waterboxes, the aircooled and the diesels. The real difference is in the final drive. You'll probably want to drop that final drive quite a bit. I'd say drop it down to a 4.86 or a 4.83. But, you'll have to decide what you want to do with the car.

The best thing to do, is look at the following pages:

http://volksweb.relitech.com/helmut/GEARBOX.HTM

These are the ratios for the vanagon gearboxes. What you might want to do, is take those numbers, and plug them into the following spreadsheet:

http://www.scirocco.org/gears/vwtrannyratios.xls

Then figure out what type of RPM you'll be running at certain speeds. Ideally, you'd be about 2700-3500 in 4th (or 5th) gear while going 70 MPH on the highway.

Only you will be able to determine what trans to use. It will depend on what you plan on diong with the van. If you live in the mountains and do alot of hill climbing, then a lower final drive (close to about 5.00 or 5.50) would be ideal. If you live in the plains and plan on doing alot of highway cruising, then a final drive closer to 4.75 might be ideal.

I will say this: if you can find a 5-speed, do it. It's alot more leeway in terms of useability.

The conversion should be easy. Just swap your bell housing onto the other trans and roll.

[dvuono]

dude, thanks sooo much. thats a great help

[libbybapa]

The DK has the tallest gearing of all the 4 speeds. It will also bolt right in to replace the DZ/DM diesel vanagon 4-speeds. The WBX 4 speeds or 5-speeds will all require you to swap the shift linkage and/or shifter box.

Andrew

[dvuono]

thanks guys i really appreciate the advice.

Dave