Corvair with a Crown Engineering kit. A friend of mine has one it puts the small block Chev engine in front of the transaxle, which sounds like what you want. Brian
Hey Richard D, not to get off topic but did you try Broadway title for your titles. For the last two cars I built I just went to the dmv with a bill of sale for the frame and body and they issued me a title.
No I didn't try them, I'll check it out. TX DMV is different, I don't want it titled as a new vehicle, antiques here are exempt from smog checks.
That upside down G50 looks like the ticket. I think you can pick one of these up for ~2 grand. Not sure how much the adapter costs
Hill - If you're on a budget, take a look at adapting a Chrysler LH transmission to your needs. They're designed to take a longitudinal engine mount, and the centerline of the axle is about 6" behind the crank flange. You'd have to figure out an adaptor plate to go from the smallblock bolt pattern to the LH bolt pattern, then do the same for an LH flexplate. After that - you've got to wire in an ECU for the transmission, as it's electronically controlled with its own 'brain'. finally - I think these things were rated to 250 ft-lbs of torque, so you're not gonna hang a monster motor in front of one. LH's included the Concorde, the Intrepid, the Eagle, the LHS, and the 300C. Late model units even had a manual shift (autostick) feature. finally - if it were my nickel, I'd opt for a Toro trans from the late 70's/early 80's, as a SBC will bolt up and the damned thing has an overdrive, to boot! I'd live with the extra 8 - 10" of setback; makes pullin' the front wheels off the ground that much easier!
All traditional: Look at Beatty's belly tanker. Swing axle made entirely from old Ford parts. Believe the axles were actually Model A torque tube/driveshafts. Could be really cool if you were willing to scrounge and wait for the right parts.
Te Audi turbo 5 cylinders put out some helacious power so I would assume that the auto's would be up to the task but I not 100% sure on that. I've got a friend who is an Audi tech. I'll ask him and get back to you. Another option to think about is to use a transaxle out of a 80-82 Porsche 924 or out of a 944. The later trannys were Audi based. The benefit would be that you could use the 924/944 rear subframe as well. This gives you built-in transaxle mounts and rear trailing arms with torsion bars. Basically it's an self contained unit. You would have to adapt your engine AND bellhousing containing the clutch/pressure plate to the nose of the transaxle. http://www.924.org/techsection/7transaxle.htm
there's a Hot Rod from the mid 50's that describes the process of converting the banjo rear to a swing axle. Fairly complicated, but doable. I forget which month/year; I think I sold that mag to the HAMBurglar...
Isn't the Olds Aurora like that? I know the Shelby Series-1 was based the Aurora's driveline and I seem to remember reading it used a transaxle.
Not really. The 924/944's were the redheaded stepchild of Porsche. Seeing how they are not all that desirable, the prices for a roach can't be that much. Look at the prices on Ebay, their cheap. Even 944's can be purchased for relatively cheap on Ebay.
Little Red Wagon and Back-up Pick-up ran Dodge power, 426 and 440 I think. Here's some info on Little Red Wagon... http://www.allpar.com/model/littleredwagon.html The HAMB Bomb is a long way off getting the wheels in the air, but this thread is good for motivation.
Being cool and different takes brains and money. If you have a little of both, you can probably get the job done.
On the dragster I'm building, it originally had an independent rear axle built from Ford torque tubes and drive lines. Here is the only pic I have of the setup.
my buddie is building a 40 ford truck with the engine in the back. he used the sub frame off of a tarino and graphed it on to the front and center section of the 40 ford frame.. Its of centered, but works great... the truck was built as a drag car back in the 70s. now turning into a show only . if you want pictures of how it was done.. send me a PM and ill email you some
Fieros are a dime a dozen around here, and V8 Archie has stuffed more V8s into those little firetraps than you could imagine. It seems the easiest and low-buck-est ways to go for a drive train. Try http://www.v8archie.com/
If a Corvair transaxle can be mated to a small block Chebby (kit), and a type 1 VW transaxle can be mated to a Corvair engine (flip ring and pinion), would the VW transaxle mate up to an SBC with a not-so-complicated adapter? VW transaxles are a dime a dozen and can be beefed up to handle some moderate power. Just throwing this out there.
I was gonna mention those... Wonder is the rotation correct? I believe the torque rating MIGHT be a little better than that, considering some of the bigger V6's they were behind in the classier cars, plus they were the transaxle used in the Prowler, which had a higher output engine. Computer harness might be a problem though. Wonder could it be bypassed and controlled simply by switches or is the activation sequence too complicated? Poormans Paddle shift type of setup...or maybe a shifter that selects which solenoids are activated sequentially...almost like a neutral safety switch setup, but for triggering the proper valves for each gear. Theres only so many solenoids to play with and I think they're only open or closed...
There is a Hot Rod article on a mid engine V.W. Bus. He mounted the engine, trans, and rear as one unit. The combination was bolted to a sub frame that pivoted in front of the axle. The parts arent extotic one offs and the sub frame was just a rectangle made of steel tube.
Oh and Aardema built a rear engine hot rod. And over head cam conversions for Chevy smallblocks. His website has some cool stuff on it. I just cant remember it right now.
To the thread starter: You can flop the ring gear on a VW air cooled bug to make it spin "backwards" which is what you need. Unfortunately, the bug tranny will NOT take the power of a SBC. The VW Bus tranny may be able to, but you'll be pushing it. The Porsche stuff is high buck, and is nothing but slightly reinforced air cooled VW stuff really. Avoid it. The best bet? The Audi 5 cylinder as previously mentioned. These cars can be modified to put out well over 500hp and the stock manual transmissions take it very nicely. What you'll need to do is mount the motor behind the cab, the tranny behind the motor, and use lack of a shaft as your drive. You should be able to put the power to the ground easily, you'll have minimal loss, and the parts can be found relatively easily to do so. You will however have to get creative with linkages and stuff for the shifting. I know it's a fuckin sin to praise anything that isn't 60 years old, american, and covered with rust on this site, but this is one area where you will be better off using German parts whenever you can.
The problem is that you need to give up your soul and first born child to get a VW tranny like that to take serious power without grenading. (I am also into VW based sand rails, and that is one of the big problems we have with them air cooled engine/tranny combos.)
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