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Fri Jan 14, 2011 11:17 am

all I can find are transmissin cases for 356. why is this, is it gears are in high demand and very costly? any places to find one intact that won't cost me my right arm would be great. I've got a 59 A T2, But plan on bolting a 61 B engine to it.
thanks

Fri Jan 14, 2011 12:30 pm

New ring and pinion sets are $2500+.

Fri Jan 14, 2011 1:57 pm

Theres a lot of complete transmissioms around. Post on the 356 registry and you'll find pleanty. A couple of guys over there have successfully installed VW transmissions because of $2,500 ring and pinions................

Tue Sep 18, 2012 1:18 am

Hi I have exactly the same problem that my transmission has blown and to avoid the cost of keeping my daily driver on the road I want to use a vw transmission. Would you be able to point me in the right direction for getting advise. Ps my Porsche is a 1956 with a 62 sc engine. There were lots of nightmares matching the 1956 transmission with the engine so I don't want to go through that again

Tue Sep 18, 2012 4:30 am

I picked up a gearbox a few years ago for $50, that was a fun day.

http://unobtaniuminc.wordpress.com/2010/02/04/cool-house-and-a-50-gearbox/

Tue Sep 18, 2012 5:28 am

Call Eric Wills in northern VA, 703- 266-1356 (or Vic Skirmants)

I gave him a container of old gears and "stuff" which was "scrap" to him.....other than a decent selector rod ("hockeystick"). As previously posted, the parts for transaxles are getting dear and good cores are going for more money because of that.

Also, back in the '60s, there was a local-to-me 4-cam Speedster running a VW trans in autocrosses. I never saw it up in the air to know how it was attached, but just looking underneath, it was an obvious beefed-up VW box.

AFAIK, any aircooled VW or 356 engine can attach to any 356 or early VW gearbox. 356 bearing mount/shock mount ends can be used and are relatively plentiful.

On the east coast, a known-decent used 741 transaxle is up to $1k to $2k or more, a 644 or earlier is usually less...also, "as far as I know." I am glad I got a late ".10" 741 for my A years ago, or I'd be looking at a VW box, now, myself.

Tue Sep 18, 2012 6:58 am

http://porsche356registry.org/356talk/topic/16534.html

Tue Sep 18, 2012 8:25 am

Unobtanium-inc wrote: I picked up a gearbox a few years ago for $50, that was a fun day.

http://unobtaniuminc.wordpress.com/2010/02/04/cool-house-and-a-50-gearbox/ Adam, I'm trying to figure out what the heck that trans mount is all about???

Tue Sep 18, 2012 8:29 am

I think he had it in a dune buggy, he really couldn't remember, but at $50 I wasn't going to push the issue.

Tue Sep 18, 2012 6:32 pm

I got a used German made aftermarket R & P set from Vic Skirmants through Jon Bunin a couple yers ago when my 1964 C tranny had to be fixed (broken halfshaft, a VW part BTW) to replace the Italian made AM part I had. Happy as hell to get it for $1200 (a "new" and actually German made repro under a Porsche part number was $4200 at the time, no lie--$2800 W/O the Porsche tag for the same freaking part). So yeah, internal parts are not cheap, thank God for me the gears and all but one bearing were good. Also, if anyone, especially on the west coast needs transmission repairs done, I highly recommend Jon (Werkstatt in Vista, CA)--he has a backlog but does great work. You will not be sorry, just be patient.
Jon

Wed Sep 19, 2012 5:55 pm

A correction in my previous comment is warranted here. I did some checking and the R & P set that was bought from Vic and installed by Jon was indeed used, but it was a genuine period Getrag gear set; Getrag being the official supplier at the time to Porsche, so therefore the "aftermarket" label was incorrectly tagged on by me. My apologies for the error.
Take care,
Jon