Gecko Green Manxter #188 - Engine and Transmission/Drivetrain

[Atomic Aerospace]

"A special thanks to all who share their knowledge in these forums. I have found people's posts, knowledge and pictures quite helpful. Reading through people's build posts has helped me prepare for my build. I am hoping to document my build on here and, in turn, perhaps be of help to future builders too. This community is a wealth of talent and information."

The 120 degree Arizona summer has hindered my progress! To make matters worse, my daily driver decided to take a dump on me. Luckily I was able to upgrade to a new ride

I used to own a lobo buggy years ago, which I ended up trading for an engine. It is (supposedly) a professionally built 2110 making around 160 horsepower, which is perfect for my application. Pictures of it to come later. In the meantime, I ordered a transmission from Strictly Foreign in Oregon. I haven't dealt with him before but he seems to have very good ratings so I decided to give him a shot. The transmission looks very nice, although the packaging it came in was pretty banged up. The transmission is an IRS with the following specs:
o 3:88 Ring and Pinion (freeway flyer)
o Heavy duty side cover
o Super Diff with 4 Spider Gears
o Welded 3rd and 4th gears
o New Synchro Rings and Main Shaft Bearing
o New seals and gaskets

Hopefully it will hold up to daily driving with no issues. Serviced it with 75w-90 gear oil with Lucas stabilizer. I also ordered some IRS axle assemblies from him. Greased them up, torqued them down, good to go. I need to purchase a throwout bearing in the coming week to install.

The transmission cone was installed, and the transmission mounted in place. The transmission shaft has brought an interesting subject to light. The vehicle was titled as a 1971 beetle. When I installed the 1971 beetle transmission shaft, it was too short.

As you can see, the shaft needs to be 2 inches longer (something my ex girlfriend said about me.... )
Apparently, according to my local VW expert, the earlier pre-1967 models had longer shafts. After 1967, VW moved the shifter back a few inches. So pre-1967: the shifter was forward and the shaft was longer. Post 1967: the shifter was further back and the shaft was shorter. This means my VW is not a 1971 model as the title says. I suppose when I take it into the shop he can probably tell me exactly what year it actually is!

I traded my shiny new shaft for an old rusted out one. Cleaned it up, painted it and installed it with no issues. I hate the hardware included with the transmission shaft coupler, so I went to my local hardware store and upgraded to a bolt and some spacers. They didn't have the perfect size bolt: it was either too long or too short. I went with the longer bolt, all I need to do is cut the end off the bolt so it's the right length.

Today I have been trying to install the clutch cable and pedal assembly. I ordered a custom pedal assembly from CoolRyde Customs in San Diego. The assembly looks awesome, very well built!

The trouble I am having is this: Whenever I hook up the clutch cable, the clutch falls backwards and the cable comes disconnected. Even when the pedal assembly is in place, bolted in, there is nothing supporting the clutch pedal from falling backwards. Has anyone experienced this? I feel like i'm missing something painfully obvious but I can't seem to figure it out. You press the clutch forward, the cable pulls the lever on the transmission, and you can shift gears. But right now my clutch falls backwards with nothing to support it, and as such the cables comes right off.
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Gecko Green Manxter 2+2 (#188) "The Last Manxter"

"Meyers Manx embodies the spirit of freedom, creativity and fun. No other car gets more smiles per mile than the Meyers Manx!"

From homeless to homeowner.
From uneducated to an MBA scholar.
From a nobody to a corporate aerospace manager.
From a boy to a self made man.
From a dream to reality.

[MrGoodtunes]

[Pajero]

You need this...
https://www.jbugs.com/product/113721231E.html

[Atomic Aerospace]

Thank you guys for the information, indeed I needed the pedal stop bracket. The car didn't come with one but luckily my local VW shop did have a spare.
Unfortunately in typical kit car fashion, it's always one step forward and two steps back. It seems like the tab on the bottom of the clutch pedal is too long and makes contact with the frame beneath it. When the pedal assembly is completely mounted, the tab on the bottom of the clutch is so tight it actually scrapped the topcoat right off the floorpan, and doesn't have full range of travel.
I sent an email today to the pedal assembly manufacturer, we will see what he says about it.

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Gecko Green Manxter 2+2 (#188) "The Last Manxter"

"Meyers Manx embodies the spirit of freedom, creativity and fun. No other car gets more smiles per mile than the Meyers Manx!"

From homeless to homeowner.
From uneducated to an MBA scholar.
From a nobody to a corporate aerospace manager.
From a boy to a self made man.
From a dream to reality.

[MrGoodtunes]

Stock Beetle floor pans have a dip in that area. So you really can't blame the pedal cluster. Any fault would belong with who ever made the floor so high there.

[Pajero]

[Atomic Aerospace]

Pajero: Thank you for the info, I figured i'd have to grind some of the excess stop. Luckily I work with a great sheet metal guy, so it shouldn't be an issue!

MrGoodTunes: The floorpan is a stock beetle floorpan. It does have the dip underneath, however the stop tab is just too long. Pajero is right, the only way is to grind it down to the correct size. Which kind of sucks when you spend $350 on a pedal assembly and have to grind on it, just to make it fit...
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Gecko Green Manxter 2+2 (#188) "The Last Manxter"

"Meyers Manx embodies the spirit of freedom, creativity and fun. No other car gets more smiles per mile than the Meyers Manx!"

From homeless to homeowner.
From uneducated to an MBA scholar.
From a nobody to a corporate aerospace manager.
From a boy to a self made man.
From a dream to reality.

[jspbtown]

Those rear shocks are gonna be some teeth rattlers...

[Olli from NJ]

That may have been an Auto-Stick shift rod fairly certain that they are shorter than the 4 speed. Your chassis might have been an Auto-Stick originally. There should not be any guessing as to the year of the chassis the vin is right there.

Olli (builder of Manxter #33)

[didget69]

[Atomic Aerospace]

Ground down the Coolryde Pedal tab a little bit, now it fits much better. Not really sure how that happened with a stock pan, but that's part of the "pleasure" of building I guess. All these little quirks haha.

jspbtown and didget69, i'm kind of surprised to hear that. I used these exact same rear shocks on my previous dune buggy for 4 years and I never had any issues with them. My buddy also has them installed on his clone, he never had any issues either. This is the first time i'm hearing about them being problematic...
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Gecko Green Manxter 2+2 (#188) "The Last Manxter"

"Meyers Manx embodies the spirit of freedom, creativity and fun. No other car gets more smiles per mile than the Meyers Manx!"

From homeless to homeowner.
From uneducated to an MBA scholar.
From a nobody to a corporate aerospace manager.
From a boy to a self made man.
From a dream to reality.

[tcmia]

When I made my floor out of flat sheet steel, I ran into the same issue. I forgot about the dip. I simply added the dip to my floor and used a similar stop for the pedals.

[joemama]

What the deal with the shocks is, that you already have torsion bars as springs in a car that you have removed weight from, so why do you need overload springs? They cant do anything for you but make the ride harsher. Having said that, if you had them before and liked them? Its your car, do what you want. I also would not have gone with a freeway flyer trans in a buggy that is most likely going to have tires taller than stock, I would have gone with 4:37 for better acceleration, and climbing ability offroad. But again, its you car, and we are happy to follow your build, do what you want.

[Atomic Aerospace]

Joemama: Thanks for the tip, I was unaware of the issues that could arise from the shocks. Like I said, I had them before, my buddy has them, so I didn't think there would be any issues. Luckily shocks are not too expensive, so worst case scenario I change them out if I don't like the way it rides.

With regards to the transmission, the primary reason I went with the freeway flyer is because the buggy is going to be a street car. I won't be taking it to the dunes or any harsh conditions. It's the weekend grocery grabber. This also means the tires, while bigger than stock, will not be monsters or paddle tires. I feel like the transmission will fit the intended purpose of the car.

Thank you for your input!
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Gecko Green Manxter 2+2 (#188) "The Last Manxter"

"Meyers Manx embodies the spirit of freedom, creativity and fun. No other car gets more smiles per mile than the Meyers Manx!"

From homeless to homeowner.
From uneducated to an MBA scholar.
From a nobody to a corporate aerospace manager.
From a boy to a self made man.
From a dream to reality.

[didget69]

I'd have recommended a compromise on the final drive & gone with a 4.12 to allow slightly taller rear tires.

bnc
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I never found the need to impress people with any mechanic certifications, trophies or track wins... unless it was for Mom to post on the refrigerator door.

[joemama]

I have a single side cover trans, with 3.88 in my '71 class 11 style buggy. It has a 1776 with and engle 100, and running a single zenith 32. Tires are 215/75, so not too tall, probably not tall enough for a buggy. I live on the foothills near Pasadena, CA. Lots of hills, and the performance of my bug can best be described as mellow. I also have a fiberglass buggy, 1914 with 110 cam, 4.37 swing axle, 9.5x30 tires. Its a blast. Everyone that has ever driven it has a smile on their face. Granted, the longest highway ride I ever took it on, was probably 45 miles, but I had no problem going 65, would have topped out much faster than the buggy would have felt comfortable at. Sorry, just wanted to give you info you might be able to use.

[vwracerdave]

This refers to all 12 volt type I swingaxle and IRS transaxles.

Don't get caught up into all the "Freeway Flyer" advertisement hype used in the flashy magazine advertisements. VW never gave a name to any of their transaxles. The "AT" code SSC (single side cover) IRS trans that did come with a 3.88 R&P also came with a .93 4th gear for a final drive ratio of 3.60. Please note that not all SSC trans came with the 3.88 R&P, some SSC trans with different code numbers came with the 4.12 R&P. The "AH" code DSC (double side cover) IRS trans with a 4.12 R&P came with a .89 4th gear for a final drive ratio of 3.67. The difference between the two at 60 MPH is only about 75 RPM's, not enough to make any noticeable difference. They all have basically the same 1st, 2nd, and 3rd gears. What you get is a little more sluggish driving in 1-2-3 with the 3.88 and a little more zip with the 4.12

Final drive is the combination of the R&P gear and the 4th gear, not just the R&P gear alone.
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2017 Street Comp Champion - Thunder Valley Raceway Park - Noble, OK
2010 Sportsman ET Champion - Mid-America Dragway - Arkansas City, KS
1997 Sportsman ET Champion - Thunder Valley Raceway Park - Noble ,OK
Featured in Dec. 2001 HOT VW's Magazine page 63

Watch my racing video's http://www.youtube.com/user/okvwracer/videos

[Atomic Aerospace]

I have finally relocated the engine from my work to my garage. I will soon think about mounting it. I still need to install the throwout bearing in the tranny before hooking up the engine. Any special tips or thoughts about mounting the engine? I know it's only 4 bolts but for some reason I always feel like i'm missing something... I am also starting my search for a starter. Apparently I need to be careful, because it seem like some people have had problems with their starter setup due to teeth count. I am going to research this further before I buy the starter.

The engine is (supposedly) a 2110, so it should produce some good power for the little Manxter. The engine has several little things it needs, the first being a fuel pump. I'd prefer the old fashion mechanic fuel pump instead of an electric pump. I also need to find a solid place to mount the coil.
The biggest issue it has is shown in the picture below: the intake header boot is somehow too small and doesn't form a tight seal between the headers and intake manifold. I suspected the problem was the original boot, so I ordered a different pair. To my surprise, the new boots weren't big enough either! And it's not like the boots are too small by a little bit, as you can see there is a substantial gap showing.

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Gecko Green Manxter 2+2 (#188) "The Last Manxter"

"Meyers Manx embodies the spirit of freedom, creativity and fun. No other car gets more smiles per mile than the Meyers Manx!"

From homeless to homeowner.
From uneducated to an MBA scholar.
From a nobody to a corporate aerospace manager.
From a boy to a self made man.
From a dream to reality.

[clonebug]

Someone cut the intake tube too short. Usually they fit inside the endpieces for support.
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[Pajero]

Not sure, but it looks like you need these...
https://www.amazon.com/Empi-3231-B-Rubber-Casting-Manifold/dp/B06XQR4J3V