Sheared off lengthened 5 speed pinion shaft. Thursday, 13-Jul-2000 12:30:56 Message: 207.102.98.188 writes: Has any out there ever seen one of these lengthened 5 speed pinion shafts break? it was during a 3-4th shift. "snapped" clean in 1/2, less than 1000 miles on it. Darren

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Replies:

Re: My PORSCHE 5 speed never broke the shaft,what kind of 5 speed are we talking about ? (n/t) (Mark Reilly) (13-Jul-2000 13:14:44)

Its a Berg 5, 3.88:1 (n/t) (Bruce Tweddle) (13-Jul-2000 13:25:32)

Re: Sheared off lengthened 5 speed pinion shaft. (george brown) (13-Jul-2000 14:02:50)

Re: WOULD A PORSCHE 915 TRANS WORK ON VW IRS PAN,WHAT MODIFICATION ARE NEEDED? (n/t) (RAY) (13-Jul-2000 14:10:01)

There is an article at the Cal-look shrine, http://www.cal-look.com/ , that talks about installing a porsche trans in a bug. I thought that porsche trans would not take a lot of abuse. (n/t) (Louis Brooks) (13-Jul-2000 14:13:24)

Yes a 915 will work. It would take a whole lot more frame horn clearancing though. Extra weight too. The 915 does have more aftermarket parts available, but the 901 has enough to get by. Anyone have a Quaife for a 901 for sale? (n/t) (Steve Arndt) (13-Jul-2000 14:52:24)

901 shifts better than 915 due to crappy synchro design. Trust me, I curse every time I shift my 911 that has a 915 trans. If you want a late model Porsche 5 speed use a 1987 and later G50. (n/t) (Tracy) (13-Jul-2000 17:41:12)

I believe you Tracy, you know your stuff for sure! Why do so many people want to upgrade their Porsches from 901 to 915 then? Just for the strength? (Steve Arndt) (14-Jul-2000 10:45:53)

Yes stronger gears and shafts. We are installing G50-50 6 speed in shop 911 turbomonster, no more cursing! (n/t) (TG) (14-Jul-2000 18:06:31)

My Porsche 901 trannie ran high 10s with a 275Hp motor / Datsun axles (n/t) (chris) (13-Jul-2000 14:26:36)

Great....I just ordered a Berg5. Anyone else with that experience? (n/t) (Alex) (13-Jul-2000 14:33:18) Not me! (Don Bulitta) (13-Jul-2000 14:45:39)

I have a Transform 5 speed SuperPro that I put about 2000 miles on before I took my 67 off the road for it's next reincarnation. Am I doomed to the same failure or more?? Are there any Porsche 5speed options for those of us who want to remain swingaxle?? (n/t) (Derrick from NC) (13-Jul-2000 14:58:08)

The GB catalog certainly makes it sound like you are doomed owning any other 5 spd conversion than theirs. Who knows. On the S/A question. Porsche cars are engineered for high performance handling, it would take some work to downgrade one to work with a swing axle rear end. Just swap the floorpan and be able to corner! :) (Steve Arndt) (13-Jul-2000 15:14:25)

I just converted my swing axle to IRS. Easy thing to do and does not cost very much. (n/t) (Alex) (13-Jul-2000 15:30:13) I'll convert to IRS only if I can fabricate a true coilover shock suspension setup & get rid of the springplates. (n/t) (Derick from NC) (13-Jul-2000 15:48:33)

You can not get rid of the springplates. You will need them for stability for the trailing arms. The torsionbars are gone. Did I send you pics from my coilovers? (n/t) (Alex) (13-Jul-2000 16:10:30)

You dont need spring plates with coilovers-more (darren) (13-Jul-2000 17:17:32)

You can get rid of the stock springplates...you will need to fabricate a replacement coming off the torsionbar housing inboard of the stock springplate. (n/t) (Derrick from NC) (13-Jul-2000 19:07:19)

What is wrong with spring plates? Porsche used them for quite a while. (n/t) (Steve Arndt) (13-Jul-2000 16:36:16)

The springplates get in the way of large rims(high positive offset) in my case 18"x9.5" at the rear. By removing the springplate and fabricating a new one about 2-4" inboard of the current one would allow Porsche 18"s with stock fenders. As it is I have 18"s on my swingaxle with steel fenders that are about 3/4" wider than stock. This couldn't be done with a IRS. (n/t) (Derrick from NC) (13-Jul-2000 19:02:42)

derrick, i met a canadian guy at the classic who has apparently developed a narrowed rear irs swingarm system that uses certain t-3 autostick axles... it's supposed to allow for wider rear wheels, but i don't know if it handles high h.p.; i believe john connelly will know the real story on this deal (n/t) (dan) (14-Jul-2000 00:27:38)

Porsche 901 trannys and 915 trans are only IRS, a 915 box is pretty big and may have trouble fitting in a bug, but the off road racers use them all the time (n/t) (Chris) (13-Jul-2000 15:17:37)

Re: I had a Bug with a Porsche 915 box in it. Alo theres a big difference between a 901 4 and 5 speed. ( Mark H) (13-Jul-2000 17:22:22)

Re: bottom line, is it worth getting a berg 5. iwas considering a 5 speed (n/t) (ray) (13-Jul-2000 17:30:21)

Re: Ray it depends on the state of tune of your motor, Porsche used 4 spds in the turbo for years. ( Mark H) (13-Jul-2000 18:22:46) mine's not broke.... (Tom H.) (13-Jul-2000 21:07:19)

Re: Almost done I`ll be crusin the Buick soon. So tom ,then how come Porsche 917s came with 4 spds?? 240MPH down the Molsane straight in 4th. Yeah Baby!! ( Mark HTom from what I) (13-Jul-2000 22:25:42)

all ruubbbber mounts, intermediate.... (tom) (13-Jul-2000 23:03:06)

Mark can you say titanium spool? Cost more than my whole race car, ouch! (n/t) (Tracy) (13-Jul-2000 23:10:26) Re: Also checkout Cal-look.com tech section (n/t) ( Mark H) (13-Jul-2000 18:24:28)

I've been very happy with mine, although I'd like to have it gone through again to change gear ratios and maybe a LSD. (n/t) (Craig Merrow) (13-Jul-2000 18:30:50)

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Re: Sheared off lengthened 5 speed pinion shaft. Thursday, 13-Jul-2000 14:02:50 198.23.5.7 writes: This is why I'm using a Porsche type 901 five speed. I spoke to several of the VW transaxle services and they all told me the five speed conversions for a VW transaxle were weak and subject to breaking. george brown

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Not me! Thursday, 13-Jul-2000 14:45:39 129.239.209.215 writes: I have over 25k miles on mine have not experienced that problem. Steve Hollingsworth has around 40k miles on his and hasn't seen that problem either. I haven't heard of anyone having that problem. Have you talked to the Bergs yet? If so what did they say? If not then why not? DB Don Bulitta

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You dont need spring plates with coilovers-more Thursday, 13-Jul-2000 17:17:32 24.129.104.109 writes: Every Porsche 935 ever built has a heim joint pivot where the torsion bar used to come out of the tube. They use a plate where the cover with the 4 bolts used to be to support it and have a half plate-half tubing type arm to take the place of the spring plate. This same thing can be done to a type 1 IRS. darren

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Re: I had a Bug with a Porsche 915 box in it. Alo theres a big difference between a 901 4 and 5 speed. Thursday, 13-Jul-2000 17:22:22 216.244.13.117 writes: A 915 box fits fine in a bug but the clutch is a problem. I`m not sure how others do it but the car I had used a Porsche clutch and aluminium fly wheel bolted to a cut down VW flywheel. The 915 is way strong but it has weird syncros. I`m don`t think they can be shifted as fast or as hard as a vw. Also the 901 4 speed is very strong. Dean Lowery used nothing but in his racecars for only one reason. THEY WERE CHEAP AND THEY DIDN`T BREAK!!! He was not into using 3, 3500 dollar VW transmissions a race like some people do. In fact he never even pulled his trans out after the car was built. His car ran one 9 second pass after another with NO failures. A 901 5 speed though is built differently than the 4 speed. It has 1st gear hanging out it space supported by only one bearing. It is not a good design. Having said that I must say that I`ve seen 901 5 speeds beat to hell by 200HP VW motors in heavy cars and not break. I think even with there flaws they are stronger than a VW . Mark H

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Re: Ray it depends on the state of tune of your motor, Porsche used 4 spds in the turbo for years. Thursday, 13-Jul-2000 18:22:46 216.244.13.117 writes: I have Personally seen many problems with the Berg 5 speed ( do to high HP applications) If you are not running a 2 litre motor in the 1/4 mile then I`m sure they work fine. I don`t care how many times Gary Berg ran his 5 speed down the 1/4 mile(with solid mounts) and how many others say that they work fine. I personally don`t know of one Berg 5 that works correctly or is not broken at this moment because of high HP . And I know alot of people who run Berg 5 speeds. The mounting systems are inadequate, Especially the front mount.To get them to shift correctly with the soft mounts and the tite shifter under a load is damn near impossible. Again this is for 200 HP street cars. Things start twisting. I just think that Bergs have lost touch with the current high HP street trend and they need to do some more R&D. Its basicly a great concept but as always the average street guy ends up R&D`ing the product. Also what size motor and cam do you have. If your motor makes good torque over a wide rpm range then there is no need for a five speed. I had a 66 beetle with a 2332,120 cam,40x37.5 heads and 48 Dells that ran in the 13s in the 1/4 mile with 3 gears. Then I used 4th for cruising on the road. Basicly I had a stock geared 3.88 trans that was beefed up. You can buy alot of HIPO motor parts for the cost of a built 5 speed. Mark H

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mine's not broke....

Thursday, 13-Jul-2000 21:07:19

12.73.103.74 writes:

... and I don't think you could be any tougher on mine than I have been. Mine even is an early one, 15 years old or so. It has a 3 piece main shaft, SB 1st, auto sux 2nd, and then the extension. The only part I ever broke in it was a 10 tooth genie VW spider gear which wasted my diff and T2 size output spline side gears ( and it needs a new r&p someday, sooner not later). Flat to floor power shifts (with complete precision) with my 2161 hasn't broken it yet. But I'm always trying ;-)). And I don't run wienie tyres that you can blow off at will. Look at my site for rest of the specs.

In the berg tech articles Gene said that he thought the realistic max HP figure was around 180 B4 the box started puking regularly. So watt, that's the price of your toys. If the COST is too high then go to something different. just mho.

Get D. Folts opinion of the box, I'm sure he would give an honest opinion, and I don't think the ones he sells have had shifting problems. just another expert that I would listen to.

btw, porsche kept the 4 spd. in the turbo 'cuz their 5 spd. wasn't strong enuf in their opinion.

how's the nail head coming?

Tom H.

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Re: Almost done I`ll be crusin the Buick soon. So tom ,then how come Porsche 917s came with 4 spds?? 240MPH down the Molsane straight in 4th. Yeah Baby!! Thursday, 13-Jul-2000 22:25:42 209.179.229.13 writes: Tom from what I`ve heard from the different trans guys that build these things all the time, The early Berg 5 speed is acctually better in alot of ways. By the way I`ve seen you drive and you ain`t lyin. That box has been beat on! Do you have solid mounts or? do you ever have troubles getting your 5 speed into second gear? Mabey the early ones shift better too? By the way I have to say this be cause I got 100% FU#*ed by Dave folts or his employee. He may give you an honest oppinion on trans theory but my trans went into his shop with all my hand picked hand massaged parts and it came back WITHOUT them!! I know this because the trans broke two weeks after I put it in the car. I took it to my buddy and we took it apart and there was lots missing. Not to mention the trans broke because of something totally stupid. I paid that guy all the money he asked for and more and thats what I got. I know alot of people have gotten great stuff from Dave but I got screwed. After my buddy fixed the thing it went into my 66 with my 2332 and I drove the wheels off it for years. It still pisses me off today to think of all the nice parts that disappeared into daves shop. Sorry to vent but I hope you can understand. Mark HTom from what I

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all ruubbbber mounts, intermediate.... Thursday, 13-Jul-2000 23:03:06 12.73.103.74 writes: ... mount and all the stuff you said doesn't work. Never ever had a problem with shifting, 2nd and 3rd are perfectly grabable. Would you believe I have the ORIGINAL shift coupler in the car? Don't really know what the differences are between the two versions besides the earlys have 1/4" longer shafts and you can't replace the intermediate housing (got to be a way!!!) when it develops it's noise on decel. also the new is stronger in a couple of places. and has a back up lite switch (I made one for mine that I need to tweak on, it lites up when I get 2nd!!really screws with people behind me) Doug B. built mine and it was pretty easy but he is quite the gear guy. I stay away from g. boxes. that there is black art. I have heard that some people experience shifting trouble but I also hear from more that have nothing but praise. Go figure. But if its the boxes from the same shop that have the same problems then I suspect a learning error or something is not fully understood. There is that possibility, too, right? I got some kooooool pix of a 962 that was out at the vintage races, twin turbo, 4 speed, and just awesome!!!!!!!!! And some shots of Feel Heel in an 8 liter M8d(or f?) And all the 48s on all the kool old vintage iron. Talked FI stuff with a couple of motor heads. Blew a SuperV racer's brain away when I told him about my street engine, hehehe, he was envious. notch work time, bye tom