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Thu Feb 17, 2005 5:16 pm

Where would you purchase a Gene Berg 5spd?? I did not see one listed on his web site.

Thu Feb 17, 2005 6:11 pm

It is a conversion and Glen Mr. 010 is a great source of information, PM him.

Thu Feb 17, 2005 8:22 pm

Gene Berg sells the parts, but done's sell complete transmissions. Mine was built by Gary Berg, but and shop should be able to build one. I'd stay with the major vendors like Der Transaxle, Rancho and many others.

Be prepared... it's not cheap. Besides the basic kit, shifter and crossmember you'll probibly want to change all the gear ratios and even the r/p.

A "turnkey" tranny probibly be $2500 to $3000. Add a ZF or Rhino case or aftermarket mainshaft and the price goes to $4500.

Basic kit and close 3rd and 4th (not included with kit)

Crossmember

Shifter

Tranny

Thu Feb 17, 2005 10:30 pm

Glenn wrote: Be prepared... it's not cheap. A "turnkey" tranny probibly be $2500 to $3000.

Try pricing a rebuilt automatic tranny for a late model car. With all those fancy electronic gizmos in today's high end cars, it'll make the Berg seem like a bargain.

Fri Feb 18, 2005 5:52 am

[email protected] wrote: Glenn wrote: Be prepared... it's not cheap. A "turnkey" tranny probibly be $2500 to $3000.

Try pricing a rebuilt automatic tranny for a late model car. With all those fancy electronic gizmos in today's high end cars, it'll make the Berg seem like a bargain.

It cost me $2800 to have the 4 speed automatic rebuilt in my wife's 91 Passat. And that was wholesale since my friend owns a repair shop and I only paid what his tranny specialist charged. The retail price was $3500.

Sun Feb 20, 2005 10:16 pm

look up Painter's Grinding and give them a call. they had one for sale around 2 grand or so a couple of weeks ago. located in dener,co

Fri Sep 26, 2008 1:22 am

Sorry I couldn't resist draging this out of the dungeon. But hey that is what the search option if for. Is converting to 5 speed really worth the cost? What are the gains? those that have done it are you glad you did?

Fri Sep 26, 2008 4:01 am

campacker wrote: Is converting to 5 speed really worth the cost??
Yes

campacker wrote: What are the gains?
Better acceleration
Better MPG
Higher cruising speed

campacker wrote: those that have done it are you glad you did?
Yes and i'd do it again.

Fri Sep 26, 2008 8:16 am

So nice to see your reply Glenn. A Berg 5 will be going into my 55! :D

Fri Sep 26, 2008 12:20 pm

Here are afew pictures of mine, I just picked it up from Rancho a few months ago..

Fri Sep 26, 2008 1:35 pm

Nice Paul...! I'll have mines in 2 weeks..! I hope.. :roll: .. for my next car..!

Fri Sep 26, 2008 6:46 pm

Berg 5 is the only way to go if you wanna have your cake and eat it too.
If you are putting it in an oval it will require body and pan mods, but nothing beyond someone with good fabricating skills, and patience.

Fri Sep 26, 2008 8:46 pm

DBK wrote: Nice Paul...! I'll have mines in 2 weeks..! I hope.. :roll: .. for my next car..!

Next car...???!!! :shock: Henry, you pushing top cars out the door faster than VW did when they were new! :lol:

Fri Sep 26, 2008 8:50 pm

Trevor P wrote: If you are putting it in an oval it will require body and pan mods

Trevor, can you post any pics?

My bodywork/chassis guys tell me its clearancing on the frames horns and some reprofiling of the bodywork under the back seat.

They also tell me a Berg 5 doesn't use the front mount when being fitted to an Oval pan, just rear and mid.

Fri Sep 26, 2008 11:51 pm

F-22A wrote: DBK wrote: Nice Paul...! I'll have mines in 2 weeks..! I hope.. :roll: .. for my next car..!

Next car...???!!! :shock: Henry, you pushing top cars out the door faster than VW did when they were new! :lol:

STAY TUNED MY FRIEND.... :wink:

Sat Sep 27, 2008 10:55 am

F-22A wrote: Trevor P wrote: If you are putting it in an oval it will require body and pan mods

Trevor, can you post any pics?

My bodywork/chassis guys tell me its clearancing on the frames horns and some reprofiling of the bodywork under the back seat.

They also tell me a Berg 5 doesn't use the front mount when being fitted to an Oval pan, just rear and mid.

You will have to box in an area under the back seat to clear the nose cone/int housing on the trans. This will also require slight modification of the seat bottom frame.
As for locating the B5 in the pan you will need to use a stock 61> trans with a T2 nose cone in place. Mount this just like you would if you were converting your oval to a late model trans. Bolt your Berg intermediate mount to this trans, and locate your mounting tabs to the frame horns and weld them in. Next you will need to remove the original front nose cone mounting from the pan all together cause it interferes with the B5 and is totally useless now. You will have to fabricate your own fore/aft mount that bolts to the front of the int. mount. You may also have to mod your int. mount to clear your frame horns, but I can't confirm this for sure cause mine is a custom aluminum mount a friend made for me that was copied off a Berg steel one. I ended up notching 1/2 moon cut outs to clear the frame horns.
You will also need to notch the torsion housing just inside and on the end of the right torsion bar. When you install the B5 you will notice that the hockey stick comes out just on the top edge of the orignal hole in the pan which requires you to notch this area (see first pic). It also means you need to run a different shift rod. I ended up using a T3 rod that I lightly curved to meet up with the late model coupler. The reason for this is that Bergs never designed the Berg 5 to fit in a car that originally had a split case trans (which has a lower hole in the pan for the hockey stick to come thru).

Sat Sep 27, 2008 11:39 am

This is why I love my late model.

It took just a few whacks with the business end of a ball peen hammer and my Berg 5 fit right in.

Thu Oct 02, 2008 11:36 pm

Glenn wrote:
It took just a few whacks with the business end of a ball peen hammer and my Berg 5 fit right in.
And my late model (built 6 months after Glenn's) needed the same pan clearancing as any early car. I think Glenn got lucky.

Fri Oct 03, 2008 12:25 am

Bruce wrote: Glenn wrote:
It took just a few whacks with the business end of a ball peen hammer and my Berg 5 fit right in.
And my late model (built 6 months after Glenn's) needed the same pan clearancing as any early car. I think Glenn got lucky.

Is it possible that the nose cone casting changed at some point resulting with more room for some and interferance for others (early production B5 vs later production)?
I doubt it, but you never know. :?

Fri Oct 03, 2008 11:40 pm

Mine's a later kit than Glenn's, so I doubt that's it.
Another mod I had to do was to open up the hole in the pan for the hockey stick and make it a LOT lower. This was necessary to get the gearbox in the exact same spot as the 4 speed.