Hi
I am considering using a type three auto in my trike,
I am however rebuilding the engine with 120 engine hp as the target
Is this sort of hp out of the question for an auto in good nik?
Keeping in mind though Most of the time the throttle will mostly be used at cruising speed and not for doing burnouts etc.
Does anybody have a spare box in good nik they woulod consider parting with
I am in SE Qld
Cheers

Hi,
I was considering using an auto gearbox in my trike.
I know nothing about the beetle semi autos and was wondeing if one of these could be a viable option?

Would 120 engine hp be out of the question for one on these to handle mostly cruising with only 500kg to push?

How do they actually work?
I have seen one before with the Vac unit hanging off the side but have never seen one work.

Does anybody have any experience with these that they could share Good or Bad!!

Cheers Jade

had one before converting the pan to manual for a baja. It basically has three of the four gears found in the manual box (second, third and fourth, and no first). so its tall ratios.

Parts are very limited. Basically, it still has a clutch, and a torque convertor, the vacuum actuator disengages the clutch when a set of contacts in the gear stick are depressed. Auto oil pump sits in front of stock oil pump.

Preliminary investigations i did years ago found that because of the high ratio, and the general consensus that they can be weak and a bit gutless, i decided to go to kombi transmission. However, i have heard of people running decent engines in the tranny. Without that restriction of the heavy weight loading up the tranny (being a trike), it'll probably be a good goer. Just very difficult with parts support, with quite a few components no longer reproduced. Apparently it was a porsche design.

Its basically a 'clutchless' manual car, in that you still shift.

I would go for the type 3 full auto rather than the semi auto. The semi auto is limited by the 180mm clutch that it has.

Full auto you can use the 003 auto section from the 1700/1800 kombi coupled with the type 3 auto diff section(better ratio but smaller r/p).

You can use the complete auto transaxle from a Type 3 which has a 3.67 final drive ratio.The 003 auto,with a bit of work will handle 120HP all day long.I have one in an Oval Beetle with a big Type 4 engine with a lot more than 120HP,and I have Drag Raced it many times with no troubles as yet.

Why not talk to tweety he has a trike with a Suby engine.

I have seen Tweety's trike and had been seriously considering going with Mid engine EJ 20 and auto box even going as far as drawing up cad plans for the transport department
to modify my original plans which have already been aproved.
I built a mid engined off road buggy using the ea81 and auto box and it went very well
but after much agonising deliberation I have decide to stick with the good ol rear engine VW because the whole theme of my trike is "bare bones" with
no fairings of any type Lean and Low.
I can't bring myself to change the shape of the trike.
It's a bit more expensive to build a 130hp vw, compared to that being std in a subi but I also love the simplicity.

Jade

Hi

If you decide stay with the semi auto they are quiet strong.

A friend has a semi auto 1500 Beetle rally car, 1916, twin Webbers etc, never had any issues even after many starts where he revs the motor and then lets go of the gear lever which engages the clutch.

He ended up using a 180 mm puk clucth in it.

The torque converter is the fuse in the system.

Fitting a 003 auto is not simple but as already would also be up to the job, they also weigh a lot as well.

Steve

Thanks for the advice , much appreciated.
Are all of the type 3 autos IRS??

Thanks guys

I pick up a type3 auto wagon after christmas.
I,ll start there and see where the auto train takes me.

Will have some type3 parts for sale once I take out what I need

Cheers Jade