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kombi ox into type 1 baja
baghall - May 3rd, 2011 at 11:04 PM

Talking to my mechanic and from what he says it seems a little more involved than I thought.
Can anyone tell me what mods are required and a rough costing for it?
Thanks


bajachris88 - May 3rd, 2011 at 11:40 PM

Need kombi gearbox adapter kit, Which includes front and rear mount and shifter rod adapter coupling.

Then need adapted axles, Kombi inner cv splines, and bug outter. Unless your sumhow able to swap and change around the stub axles and go kombi all round? i dunno, but i got the adapter axles when i bought hte kit second hand.

Thats all you need, and its all bolt on :).
The adapter front and rear mounts use the original vw bug style urethane or rubber mounts. Its not bad if u got all the bits there.

As long as its a 3 rib 1600 irs box then 12 volt vw motors just bolt up and the flywheels suit. if its later kombi box for 1800cc-2ltr type 4 motor, you will need to adapt the bug type 1 donk.

This above is assuming you are talking about adapting IRS kombi boxes and not the early swing axle. I dunno whats involved with swing axle adaptation.


baghall - May 4th, 2011 at 04:03 PM

Will I need to modify where the shift rod connects as the Kombi comes out the top whereas the beetle comes out in the middle. Or do I need to modify the pan where the shift rod goes into it?


bajachris88 - May 4th, 2011 at 04:57 PM

You modify the coupler that connects the shift rod to the kombi box. You can buy aluminium adapters however (thats what i have):
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/EMPI-17-2725-VW-BUG-STOCK-SHIFT-SHAFT-COUPLER-/3101527...


Some just weld two shift rod couplers one on top of the other to make it work :)

You will need to cut a whole for the kombi nose cone to pass through. either in the body or the lift kit, depending on the setup.


Smiley - May 4th, 2011 at 11:23 PM

Chris! You forgot to mention the fact that he has to do an IRS conversion!! Baghall's car is a swinger!

Basically there are the 3 different types of Kombi gearbox 3-rib, 5-rib and 6-rib, covered in more detail here http://forums.aussieveedubbers.com/viewtopic.php?tid=89893 

As Chris said your engine will bolt straight up to a 3-rib, but in the other two the input shaft for the gearbox is 10-15mm too long. It's a simple procedure to swap a Beetle input shaft into the box and then your engine will bolt up fine.

If you don't have a body lift you will have to modify the body of your car under the backseat area where the centre seatbelt bolt holes are. Otherwise the gearbox will contact your body. The other option that you have here is a 10° Mounting kit. Which drops the front of the gearbox down, this raises the rear of the engine slightly and everything is on a 10° angle, hence the name.

You will need a gearbox mounting kit. There are a few different types out from different companies. Or you can just make your own, it's not too difficult.

CV's and axles. There are a few ways to go about this. As Chris said above you can get axles that are splined for a Kombi CV (gearbox end) on one side and a Beetle spline (stub axle end) on the other.
You can also buy stub axles to fit the beetle rear end that have a Kombi CV bolt pattern, then you have Kombi inner and outer CV's.
I've also seen standard beetle stub axle's with the CV bolt holes welded up then remachined to suit the Kombi CV bolt pattern.
It is advantageous to run the Kombi CV's because they are capable of operating at a greater angle, therefore giving you more rear wheel travel before binding up. If you have a Beetle outer and Kombi inner CV with the adapted axle you are still limited to the travel of the stock Beetle CV (sorry Chris, something for you to upgrade :crazy:)

Then because your car is a Swingaxle you need to perform an IRS (the CV kind) conversion to your rear end.
You need to weld in the pivot boxes http://forums.aussieveedubbers.com/viewtopic.php?tid=76337&page=1#pid728784 
And then source all the parts for the rest of the suspension conversion
- diagonal arms
- spring plates and covers
- torsion bars
- modify the shock towers
- IRS handbrake cables etc etc

The last thing is the gearshifter linkage. You can buy the blocks like Chris mentioned above. Or weld two of the later model square shifter linkages on top of each other Like Wes did

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad172/smileyman1968/rebuild_coupling.jpg

If you have a 10° kit then the front of the gearbox is dropped down so that Kombi shift rod goes through the standard hole in the body, so you don't need adapters or have to put holes in the body/lift kit.

If you have any questions on the fussiness I posted above don't hesitate to ask :D



Smiley :cool:


baghall - May 5th, 2011 at 09:55 PM

Thanks Chris and Smiley I didn't think it would be as hard as I had been told. Just gotta collect the parts and get motivated to do it.


bajachris88 - May 5th, 2011 at 10:34 PM

Ur alright mate, half the fun is collecting :P ready for that big upgrade.

Lol, Daniel thats all kool, i'm not sure if the beetle outter cv's lack of travel is a worry for me at the moment, as i can have the spring plate resting on the stop no worries and reach the bump stop back when it was stock. Probably not a concern until i consider extended trailing arms? I'm not too familiar in that sector at all, i dunno if extended trailings arms are even legal. I think the biggest concern engineering wise with Captain 'anal'-Copper complaining about the extended wheelbase perhaps... (anyone in the know please enlighten!!)