# Transverse gearbox?



## Jimdear2 (Oct 12, 2008)

Grant_NZ said:


> Ok folks I searched posts and threads but I couldn’t find anyone that has used or considered using a transverse gearbox like this one -
> 
> http://www.hewland.com/svga/productrange/dg300.htm
> 
> ...


 
Beautifull gearbox but . . . .12,000.00 English pounds.  OUCH OUCH OUCH 

IMHO I would go find a Porsche, Audi or other longitudinal gearbox in a dismantilers yard if I wanted to do something like you describe.


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## electromet (Oct 20, 2009)

I agree with Jim. That's an expensive piece of machinery! I believe that most of those gearboxes are of the competiton variety, and will have straight-cut gears. As a result they tend to be rather noisey. 

I'm also a little confused. You refer to a transverse gearbox, but the pictured unit appears to be longitudinal. If you're looking for a rear/mid-engined transaxle, why not go with a Porsche 914 gearbox, or an earlier (mid 80's) VW Passat. The linkage will require some engineering, but the price certainly is better than a Hewland.

What kind of donor car are you contemplating?


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## few2many (Jun 23, 2009)

Isnt that used in high end buggies and race cars? maybe a stock type 4 vw trans axle will do plenty good for an EV.
Although it is pretty sexy!


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## Guest (Jan 26, 2010)

Porsche or VW Transaxle will do just fine thank you very much. 

Very affordable too. 


Pete


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## Guest (Jan 26, 2010)

You mean direct connected like this?


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## Grant_NZ (May 28, 2008)

gottdi said:


> You mean direct connected like this?


Yes exactly that the set up I'm thinking of, is that a VW or Porsche gearbox and is that a DC motor?

My donor idea has changed many times but my idea is to use a rear wheel drive vehicle and use the left over transmission tunnel for the batteries and the boot or engine compartment for all the other necessary components..... kinda stole the idea from the Chevy Volt


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## Grant_NZ (May 28, 2008)

electromet said:


> I agree with Jim. That's an expensive piece of machinery! I believe that most of those gearboxes are of the competiton variety, and will have straight-cut gears. As a result they tend to be rather noisey.
> 
> Yeah the website does say that for normal road cars they can be very noisy and require racing style gear changing and yeah the price.... thats like $36000 NZ coin


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## Guest (Jan 26, 2010)

Grant_NZ said:


> Yes exactly that the set up I'm thinking of, is that a VW or Porsche gearbox and is that a DC motor?
> 
> My donor idea has changed many times but my idea is to use a rear wheel drive vehicle and use the left over transmission tunnel for the batteries and the boot or engine compartment for all the other necessary components..... kinda stole the idea from the Chevy Volt


This is a VW transaxle with an 11" Kostov Series Motor with interpoles attached. 

Here is the link to the site: http://www.ohler.com/ev/spyder/history.html

This is one sweet ride. It has been sold long ago. Not sure who owns in now. 

Pete


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## Grant_NZ (May 28, 2008)

Can the gearbox be rotated so the motor sits towards the front of the car or would this change the drive direction? and if so, I take it you could overcome that running the motor counter clockwise?


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## Guest (Jan 26, 2010)

Grant_NZ said:


> Can the gearbox be rotated so the motor sits towards the front of the car or would this change the drive direction? and if so, I take it you could overcome that running the motor counter clockwise?


If your vehicle is setup for a reverse transmission it will work. The pinion gearing can be flipped in the VW transmission to allow reverse running so you don't have to change the direction of the motor. The Porsche 914 has a mid mounted engine and flipped around transmission. Works perfect. 

Pete


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## Jimdear2 (Oct 12, 2008)

Grant_NZ said:


> Can the gearbox be rotated so the motor sits towards the front of the car or would this change the drive direction? and if so, I take it you could overcome that running the motor counter clockwise?


What might be the ticket for the smaller vehicles is a VW Dasher (US name) or a Audi Fox. Another one would be the VW Fox (built in Brazil) The audi 4000 and 5000 also had a manual transaxle that would work. The 5000 was a big brute that should work fine in larger vehicles. Newer Audi and Passat Boxes have too many gears.

These are all front engine longitudinal transaxles that are set up to accept bolt on CV joints. Just like the one in your picture. They should work very well to make a mid engine rear drive set up. The older VW Dasher and Audi Fox ones were 4 speed. A VW Dasher Diesel box might work fine.

There is one other that would make an interesting rear transaxle manual. The older SAAB (the real SAAB) the trans was under the engine with a gear stack down from the clutch to the trans. The top of the trans was the oil pan. Something like the old MINIs but longways not a sidewinder.

With the exception of the SAAB these transaxles should be pretty available.


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## Guest (Jan 26, 2010)

What do you plan on mounting into? Why not just get a clean Porsche 914. Already done for you. Why reinvent. Do you have the ability to safely do a transplant into another vehicle. 

Just thinking that you could and maybe should use something already done for you at least for your first conversion. 

Pete


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## few2many (Jun 23, 2009)

Hey Gottdi, I was looking at youre vw pan, thinking how cool an ev would be if you used a manx style fibeglass shell!


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## Guest (Jan 26, 2010)

It's not my pan but one I admire. Have a look at this:


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## few2many (Jun 23, 2009)

Now that is way cool! I like the newer manxter bodies. They must get some good w/mile


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## Guest (Jan 26, 2010)

Maybe but they are limited in space for batteries. These would be a good candidate for 12 deep cycle batteries in the AGM style. Unless you can get lithium. The Wh/mile will be compromised due to the open nature of the vehicle but they are light weight compared to many others. 

Pete


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## Grant_NZ (May 28, 2008)

Jimdear2 said:


> What might be the ticket for the smaller vehicles is a VW Dasher (US name) or a Audi Fox. Another one would be the VW Fox (built in Brazil) The audi 4000 and 5000 also had a manual transaxle that would work. The 5000 was a big brute that should work fine in larger vehicles. Newer Audi and Passat Boxes have too many gears


Sounds like a much cheaper idea, would you say the 5000 would be able to handle a lot more torque? Metric Mind is doing a similar conversion and he replaced the stock Audi diff with a Ford 9"



gottdi said:


> What do you plan on mounting into? Why not just get a clean Porsche 914. Already done for you. Why reinvent. Do you have the ability to safely do a transplant into another vehicle.


I'm probably going to get shot for this... but I don't like the look of the older Porches and the new ones, well lets just say they look better but to buy one for conversion, I'd need to sell my soul 

So my budget would be limited to something Japanese and rear wheel drive, I am keen on the Mazda FD3S RX7



gottdi said:


> It's not my pan but one I admire. Have a look at this:


yeah see what you mean, does it come with an 8 track for my Beach Boys albums?  
The motor seems rather exposed, does it not matter that it could get wet?


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## electromet (Oct 20, 2009)

"Sounds like a much cheaper idea, would you say the 5000 would be able to handle a lot more torque? Metric Mind is doing a similar conversion and he replaced the stock Audi diff with a Ford 9". "


Grant,

I guess your differential choice is going to be predicated on what type of rear suspension you decide to incorporate. I don't know if your RX7 has independent or live axle in the rear. If it has independent suspension, go with a Audi-type transaxle, but you're going to have to adapt the transaxle to your frame and cv joints. If it's got a live axle and you hard mount your motor to a solid rear end, you are going to have a whole bunch of unsprung weight hanging there. This is not going to be conducive to good handling and safety. Regardless of what type of suspension you have on your donor, I would personally be inclined to fab an independent setup. As far as a 9" Ford axle, that's just plain overkill in your situation. You also need to take into consideration whether you have room between the rear of the seats and the nose of your transaxle to fit an 8-9" motor.

It actually sounds to me that your best bet would be to keep the front motor/rear drive layout of the RX7 for a first build, rather than reinventing the wheel.

Good luck!


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## Grant_NZ (May 28, 2008)

Yeah I think you're right Mike, for a first conversion best to keep it simple. 

My father and his father have rebuilt vehicles all their lives, guess I was just hoping to do the same but this isn't just about fitting a new engine or rebuilding a classic. Though Ive got a sweet workshop to use once my father has finished his current project, at his pace I should be ready go... oh in about 20 years! 

Grant


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## electromet (Oct 20, 2009)

Grant,

You and I seem to think the same way. When I plan a new project, I tend to go catatonic and come up with the most technologically advanced concepts that end up costing millions of dollars. When reality finally sets in, I end up with a concept that is exquisitely simple, relatively inexpensive, and actually workable. Oh, well.

With an RX, you may actually be able to go direct drive, pushing the motor back into the tranny hump and using the extra space up front to house batteries. Put some more batteries under the hatch area to balance the weight distribution, and you've got a fairly light, simple, and practical EV. Sounds like it could be a fun project!


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## Grant_NZ (May 28, 2008)

Haha yeah exactly... although I do want to go AC and I know for a first conversion that its a bit more involved and complicated, however its something Im going to keep for a long time and become a daily driver. So why not build something to enjoy?

Ive been keeping an eye on Brian's thread the Kia Sorrento? and he's used the gearbox tunnel to mount the motor, batteries up front etc as well, very cool idea


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