Dear Sweet Zombie Jeebus!
I just found out something insanely cool.
Apparently this company, Kennedy Engineered Products (or something like that), sells adapter plates to make a VW Beetle transmission bolt up to a 4.3L Chevy V6 (my favorite engine of all time).
Now, I don't know, yet, how much power a stock VW Beetle tranny can take, and I don't expect it to be much, but the beauty of the 4.3L Chevy is that IF the VW tranny can take a lot of power, I can build that engine to put out up to 450hp on pump gas (which is waaaaay more then even a V6 tranny could take in most cases). BUT, if the VW tranny can't take much power at all, I can destroke the living fuck out of the 4.3L so it revs like a motorcycle engine and it's powerband will still be the size of Texas.
I'm giddy like a school girl, more at the prospect that I now have a REASON to build another 4.3L then anything else. Oh boy, now I get to go scour the junk yards and whatnot to find that perfect little gem. What more could a gearhead ask for??
I just found out something insanely cool.
Apparently this company, Kennedy Engineered Products (or something like that), sells adapter plates to make a VW Beetle transmission bolt up to a 4.3L Chevy V6 (my favorite engine of all time).
Now, I don't know, yet, how much power a stock VW Beetle tranny can take, and I don't expect it to be much, but the beauty of the 4.3L Chevy is that IF the VW tranny can take a lot of power, I can build that engine to put out up to 450hp on pump gas (which is waaaaay more then even a V6 tranny could take in most cases). BUT, if the VW tranny can't take much power at all, I can destroke the living fuck out of the 4.3L so it revs like a motorcycle engine and it's powerband will still be the size of Texas.
I'm giddy like a school girl, more at the prospect that I now have a REASON to build another 4.3L then anything else. Oh boy, now I get to go scour the junk yards and whatnot to find that perfect little gem. What more could a gearhead ask for??
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Feeding 350lb-ft through any bug trans that isn't built to the max with full-race parts will grenade it sky-high, usually by case distortion and failure or diff spider failure.
Bear in mind bug transmissions were designed to deal with a maximum of 70hp, bus transmissions handled about 100hp on their best year.
I used a Rotary because it made great HP with bolt-on mods (175) with less Tq (140) so the trans would last longer. The rotary also fit under a stock decklid and didn't upset the weight balance of the car. My trans was a built IRS unit using a 4-spider super diff, electron beam welded 2nd and 3rd gears, a 4.37 rear gear, KEP 1750lb clutch, rhino case machined for a billet steel case reinforcement, and HD bus CVs with custom axles. I'm probably forgetting a few details. Trans-Form built the trans in Cali, it cost a fortune, and I found out later they were rumored to build a shitty trans. Mine held up fine though, and I caned that car. It only had 600 miles on it when I sold it, but that was 1/4 mile at a time, with a few WFO runs up I-95 for good measure and the rest being driving to and from the airport, where the street racing was.
A few things to think about: iron block/iron head motors are heavy, and you're hanging a motor off the trans case if you're using any VW trans - those are the only motor mounting points. Seriously. Adding all that weight behind the rear wheels will fuck up the handling, even if you put on really wide rear tires ( I used 205/50-15s front/265-50-15s rear). The extra weight and Tq of the engine will likely break the case of the trans on launch, esp. if you run wide rear tires. That engine will also hang out the back of the car a lot, and it's so wide that exhaust routing will likely be a problem.
If KEP still has their FAQ up about engine swaps into VWs, read it carefully. Lotsa good info. If you want to do the 4.3 thing, I'd suggest a Porsche 4 or 5 speed trans out of a later 6-cyl - 3.0L minimum - or Turbo 911/930. They will fit and are usually a lot stronger. Otherwise, you'll be going through transmissions a lot, and that gets very expensive. Trust me on this one.
Another possibility is getting a well-used oval-track sprint car chassis, and reskinning it with the beetle body, which actually unbolts from the stock chassis pan. That way, you're already set up for engne/trans/cooling/brakes and all you need to do is get a regular, slower steering box and the usual street-legal stuff.