ok im toying with the idea of a 6sp subie gearbox mated to a hi-po honda for a street manx anyone seen this combo in a vw
thoughts

Unless you mid-engine or run the gearbox upside down this would not be possible with the subaru gearbox.

Some honda engines rotate in the opposite direction so a stock subie box would work with these.

Gears are meant to thrust a certain way in a gearbox when under load. I don't think reversing the thrusts on the gears especially the hypoid diff would be advisable for a permanent situtation.
p.s Subie engine rotates the same way as VW.
It's all in the diff for the rotation change.

bump

have you considered the extra length and width of the box ?? this idea of a vtec engine and subi box has crossed my mind before .

running the gearbox upside down....is this a serious possibility....would it fit? I have not looked closely at a subi gearbox before.

Not really, the output flanges are set quite low on the subi box compared to the engine centreline. If you flip the box they would ends up high(or the engine low), increasing the CV angles.

I've looked into this from every angle as I'm trying to build a 4WD Manx with Subaru running gear. See my topic @ the samba "4wd conversnio begins", this shows the Subaru gearbox taken apart in great detail.

Running the hypoid diff backwards would be no big deal on the strength of the diff, it is plenty strong and wouldn't be wearing out in a hurry. These diffs can handle well over 500hp in their forward rotation and might lose 5% to 10% of their strength running backwards, if that. Plenty more than the Honda engine would dish out.

Running the Subie gearbox upside down is possible but would be difficult to (a) seal up all the leaks and (b) ensure oil is lubricating the gears AND the diff. highly likely that no oil would get to the diff.

There are two ways that I can see to run the Subaru diff backwards. The first is to have a reverse cut ring and pinion gear made. The best quote I got was from a gear manufacturer in India that can do it for $3000US.

The other way that it could be done would be to run a 2 piece input shaft (these are already made) and run a small 'differential' to join them. By bolting the 'differential' case to the gearbox casing, it would allow the spider gears (or bevel gears) to reverse the rotation of the input shaft to the output shaft.

FYI to get the Subie box to fit in the pan you need to cut the centre of the torsion out and run rear coilovers.

If you're going for a FWD Honda motor, I would recommend running the FWD gearbox as well, the East-West setup of the drivetrain would fit a VW pan very nicely. Especially a V6 honda out of a legend which would probably have a lower centre of gravity than the 4 cyilnder versions.

Having said that, Turbo Honda motors can really make some power. A friend of mine has a B16 (1.6 litre) turbo motor in his Civic that he has just dynoed at 290KW at the front wheels. That's around 400hp at the flywheel on 22psi boost.

Hi

Porsche used flipped transmission some of their race cars with pressure lubrication, it would it much more doable than many other suggestions.

Steve

I have seen your thread before...sounds very adventurous I hope you can work it out. Regardless of costs as it would be a monumental achievement. As for the gears can a bulk lot be made? I'm sure that they would be cheaper as most of the cost would be in set up and design. I would think that drag racers and sand rail people would be very interested. Would save all the dollars in albins gears and also a diff center is easily changed compared to a box rebuild. Might chew up some of the subi gearbox spares lying around. Also as Brent said with the axle shafts being lower we could drop the box below the frame horns and get better angles on the wheels or add far more lift.

As I have found out the gear cutter in india is not worth a bowl of dried fish heads & a 1/4 cup of rice .The car went 3.5 metres , pulled second gear & snaped the pinion like a bit of chalk .

you guys seen the size of the 6 speeds ? the box to use would be a 02/ 03 RA sti VLSD in the front

I have two 4.111 ratio STI gear boxes here , removed from front cuts $1200.00 each !

I have a car [baja] in my workshop at mo with Renault UN 5 tranny. It has had the torsion housing cut and widened to alow box to go further foward. The torsions will still be used with long snout spring plates and short bars, so coil overs aren't totally necessary [just potentially much betterobviously].

I have also heard of some comercial tour group bay window kombis running around northern Australia with 'full Subi drive train', 4wd encluded called something like 'Crocodile Watch'. Maybe someone on here can shed some more light. Aparently they were built in Darwin.

Yes Steve , I have set up the gear boxes to do just this tonight ( 1 am perth time ) I do the photos when I have day light

remember when you look at a pic of a Subie gearbox next to a vw/Porsche gearbox that the Subie one has a centre differential and a direction reverser for the external differential built into the case.

If you were to use the gearbox for a 2wd application (provided you have managed to reverse the transaxle diff) then you could quite possibly shorten the gearbox somewhat by removing some of these components. The 2wd Subie boxes have had this done and are quite a bit shorter - meaning they would likely fit in a VW pan without cutting through the torsion bar area.

I am back ( mobile 3 suck ) !

Neil, with front factory LSD?

yes mate that is correct

this I am fitting to my subaru gen 2 , the build is as follows
1994 subaru gen 2 sedan
02 ra sti gear box
motor GTB ( AKA V3STI ) ( GOD motor )
VF34 turbo
Jap spec titaniam headers
it should run a pass around the 13

I get to these photos soon , heaps on over here

o yer my Porsche gear box I have no need for any more so its forsale: I have new in box USA axels , near new cvs , starter motor .

guys I was falling over my 6 speed so I fitted it to the subaru project .I be sure to post a vid of it running down the 1/4 wasting simons bug