I have a 1976 Kombi Camper with a 2L engine and a 4-speed manual box... I'm toying with the idea of putting an automatic transmission from an early (aircooled) T25 into it. Has anyone here done something similar before, or does somebody know if it's possible? If so, what kind of work would be required?

Tanx in advance!

it can be done , keep in mind the autos are expencive to rebuild .

Thanx seagull!... yeah... It's just an idea im toying with at the moment...Im sorta conducting a feasibility study.

I was reminded yesterday of how useless auto's nare for towing in confined spaces too... not enough control over the engine torque without a clutch... musta nearly ripped the bullbar right out of the Moke...

Suppose I bought a second bus tho to convert... would the auto from a T2.5/T3 plop straight into the baywindow, or would modifications to the engine, chassis, and/or transaxle be required?

the Auto in the T2.5 is the same one (010) as regards internals as the 2L 1976 on kombi, & VW Golf of the same period.. but talking to people in US, everything else is diferent & they regard they swap as an impractical nightmre, even if you managed to fit it, you ould have to have all the shift l& accelarator linkage from a 2L auto kombi anyway, take your time & find another bargain down that way that has everything you need to swap

Thanks Kim...

I was more thinking along the lines of findin a ratted Vanagon as a whole with a decent gearbox in it and all the linkages and shifter present.

That brings me to the question of, can Vanagon linkages/shifter be easily adapted to fit in a bay?... I assume the answer is no... but I'll ask anyway.

As I said... no great hurry, I like the feel of the manual Kombi... I'm just lazy. I probably wouldnt do any conversions to Buttercup... iit'd be more likely a project for a second Kombi later down the track... unless I happened to find an auto bay for a good price, in which case it'd be redundant...


Dammit... I could've got an auto as a donor for 700 bucks a while back... but I had no money.

thing is that the T2.5 is a completely different vehicle, the motor is basically the same but not exactly the same & the transmission internals, but that is it, both our kombis are auto one is the 1800 auto which has the disadvantage of a low 2nd & a high reverse & the other is the 010 2L, which has much better gearing, I much prefer the auto kombi over the manual for most use, the only disadvantage being the fully loaded camper on a trip is very slow uphill, round metro area they are great though

Hehe.. thought such may have been the case. Oh well... Ill try to pick up an auto when I can afford it then thanks guys!

I didnt know about the gear ratio issues myself.. very interesting. I'll have to keep that one in mind

Cheers

There was a three speed auto for sale here some time back