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Reply to "VDO style combo gauge questions"

http://johnmaherracing.com/cal...ar-ratio-calculator/

Put in your rear tire size and 4.125 in the ring & pinion box and if 3300 in 4th is close to 65mph then you know what you have. A 3.88 (later beetle, still around and a popular choice in the Speedster world) would lengthen everything slightly and give nice (and still somewhat legal) cruising speeds. Since you did say "1st gear is useless and I usually just start in 2nd", you might be happier with an aftermarket 3.44 r&p, but 3000- 3500 rpm in 4th is now getting pretty long (what are the police and speeding tickets like where you live?) so plug .93 (later beetle) into 4th to bring those highway speeds a little more in line.

Gene Berg Ent. does do a 5 speed conversion of the type 1 trans-

http://www.geneberg.com/cat.php?cPath=13_387

http://www.geneberg.com/cat.ph...%20Kit&cPath=389

Close ratio gears in a beetle or Speedster with a bigger engine are absolutely fantastic to drive (they change the feel of the car completely), and of all the guys I know personally or online, not 1 who has gone this route would go back to a 4 speed. Yes, it is expensive (count on spending $5,000 or more by the time it's done, with gears and assembly. Superdiff, Quaife or ZF lsd are extra), and it will take a year (you have to send in your parts to be modified and Berg only does them in batches of 10, so "6 weeks" will turn into 6 or 8 months, and then your trans guy has to put it together), but if you endure there's nothing like ripping through the gears and then cruising down the highway in 5th! (think big evil laugh here!).

There are also custom 1st/2nd mainshafts to make 1st gear even longer (got a spare 1,000 or $1100 laying around?), but that's for another day... Al 

PS- I almost forgot (can't believe I did that!)- do you know the engine specs- camshaft? heads? compression? exhaust tubing size? How high does the engine rev with power in 3rd gear?

PS again- Mfactory gear calculator is still not back.

 

Last edited by ALB
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