maual, to automatic

Hi, I have just inhertited a manual Superbug, not sure of the year.

i also got a auto gearbox, how hard is it to change,to the auto box, as I have no manual one?????

Are there any real probs????

Any information would be helpful


Matt

[Edited on 25-12-2002 by mattie182]

I would like to know this answer as well but for a 1300 standard 71. I'd like to power it up to tp1600 and would like to know if a stronger auto kombi box (or type 1) would be a good addition to beach / bush and road baja use.

Yes I know it would be slower - but I'm not in a hurry.

Here's a URL which explains the whole process of changing a xsemi-auto to a manual.

http://www.claydons.demon.co.uk/beetle/autostick/

If you are lucky, the tunnel may already have a clutch tube in it (some do, some don't). It's the only "hard" part of the operation.

I have a 68 semi-auto which a PO converted to manual (the clutch tube had to be installed). Works just fine, except that the clutch tube has been set forward just a few mm too far, so it's hard top get sufficient bend in the bowden tube (too many washers needed at the rear end of it).

Oh - and Bronze...there's no reason why you can't put a 1600 engine into the semi-auto - the US had lots of them. Just transfer the drive plate (the "flywheel") from the 1300 engine to the 1600, plus the double oil pump for the back of the engine, and make sure your 1600 manifold has a vacuum point under the carby for the vacuum operated clutch.

The 1600 semi-auto uses the same 180mm clutch that all the semi-autos use, and this works OK because the torque converter takes most of the slip when you change gears - not the clutch plate.

The gearbox strength is no problem for the 1600, because the semi-auto gearbox is in fact the same as the manual box, but without 1st gear. The other ratios are the same as the manual - Low is the same as 2nd in a manual, D1 is 3rd and D2 is 4th.

The semi-auto gearbox usually has the 1200/1300 final drive ratios - 4.375:1, rather than the 4.125 or 3.875 of the manual 1500/1600s. This means that the semi-auto engine spins a little faster than the manual running at the same road speed, both because of the lower gearing and because the torque converter MUST have about 2 percent slip for it to work at all (the differential speed of the engine and gearbox sides make it work like a hydraulic pump and transfer power from engine to gearbox - if both were running at the same speed there would be no transference of torque from one to the other).

This results in a slightly lower top speed for the semi-autos compared to the same engine in a manual, and also to slightly higher fuel consumption.

The beetles never came out with an automatic gearbox. The type 3 was the first with an automatic trans which is the same as the 003 kombi auto but with a different differential. The type 3 doesn't have frame horns like the beetle to interfere with so you will need some serious modifications to fit it between the horns. Also if you are going to use a type 1 engine you will need to get a type 3 flex plate which will bolt up ( the kombi one won't work on a beetle engine).
You will also need to get the type 3 linkages for the gearshift lever.
My advice would be to sell the auto and buy a manual which will fit straight in.
:thumb
Graham

Thanks Rob and Graham.

This is an interesting concept. Like engine thermodynamics it is another one that I am very interested in. I can't wait to get out of this place and into another where I can do some fiddling. Where we will be isn't that far from where i will be working so if things don't go back together so well or how I had planned then it's no hassle to use the wifes car or simple walk!

Cheers and happy new year to you all.

Thanks!!!!1