Hi all , New member...I'm mostly a VW/Audi guy, but my dad has always owned Saabs...and I recently picked up a 73 Sonett that needs a bunch of work...anyways, I know the tranny is source of concern on these old v4's.
Notchy shifting, can't handle a lot of power, weak gears, overhauls are expensive, and I imagine limited slips must be hard to find.
Remembering my father's old sonett had me thinking that a VW FWD transmission may work if one was willing to breach the fire wall slightly. Now I know people have mated the VW aircooled gearboxes to the v4 for Baja bugs and the like. But I'm talking about the (nowaday) somewhat rare 013 gearboxes. They shift buttery smooth, can take 228mm clutches and flywheels, they can handle about 300 ft lbs of torque, they have 5 forward gears and a syncro reverse, and... you can probably use vw/ audi longitudinal LSD cases in them.

So, while I was only thinking...I found this guy in Uruguay that's actually cracked the nut...and he was able to use the Saab knuckles and suspension, with VW rotors, calipers, and axles. Seems they are flush with early 80's VW parts in South America.

Now, I can tell you just from my general knowledge that the VW tranny must set the back of the v4 motor forward an inch or two from the stock location. But this guy has had success in his 96, and it looks like it came factory.

check it out: http://translate.google.com/translate?h ... S:official

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWkRsMHDtuY

From the pictures of the engine and trans out of the car, I would say that the trans must stick into the passenger compartment about 8-10 inches. I would think that the firewall had serious modifications. Very interesting though. And his dual exhaust port heads look similar to Jack Lawrence's.
Would be neat to see more photos of the interior of the car and the shifter arrangement he used.

As you can see, the transaxle is divided in 3 parts. The business end is that middle case, It's made of cast iron. It houses 4 forward helical cut gearsets and a reverse. There is no intermediate shaft. The shafts are set one on top of the other vertically. The mainshaft is situated so it barely clears a large(compared to the stock v4 unit) differential case over the top. Fifth gearset is located just behind the (iron case) aft bearings in the tail case, it uses a synchro on the mainshaft that is tied to the reverse slider rod. the tailhouse is aluminum and houses this fifth, the synchro and other support bearings. The front case is mostly hollow, houses the diff and the clutch...the clutch is actuated by the long black lever on the drivers side. It can be either cable or hydraulically actuated. The shifter is simple... a shifter rod usually protrudes through the transmission hump via a single hole. It connects to that rear splined shaft. A simple stock VW shifter can be used. The part that would protrude into the cabin would be about half that iron case and the tail house.

013's have overdrive ratio's as low as 0.60 /1, and I believe even a freewheel model was available, although I've never seen one. That model was called 4+E or 4E. E was for economy. And they meant it...the 1.7L gas motors got 40MPG...50+MPG for the 1.6 TD.

014 is the 4 speed version of this transaxle layout

gmreider wrote:Would be neat to see more photos of the interior of the car and the shifter arrangement he used.

I don't have those yet but i do have these:

013 VW five gear box and the gear ratios swapped
1st 3,54: 2nd 2,11 3rd. 1,56 4th 1,20 5th 0,98<-----5th is also very odd. close ratio, shallow overdrive, most are .68 or so.
Differential 3,889:1 <-------------this is normally found in higher output(turbo) cars. 4.111 is more common.

I'm waiting to find out more

On a related note: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Saab-sonnet-96- ... d3&vxp=mtr

Paul

paulh wrote:On a related note: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Saab-sonnet-96- ... d3&vxp=mtr

Paul

That's for an aircooled gearbox...has VW ring gear, VW starter mounts to aircooled gearbox. V4 Rear engine sand rail application i believe...Or flipped diff front

This one has an entire aircooled motor and gearbox setup front mounted:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Saab-Other-roadster-Volkswagen-powered-1967-Saab-Sonett-/221313079242?forcerrptr=true&hash=item33874997ca&item=221313079242&pt=US_Cars_Trucks

So if this gearbox fits on a V4, will it also fit on other Ford V6 or V8 motors?

SwedeSport wrote:So if this gearbox fits on a V4, will it also fit on other Ford V6 or V8 motors?

60 degree v6 for certain (cologne) but I suppose you can make anything fit with the right machine tools...I know the kit car guys use the 5 cylinder version of the 013, the 093/016/01E, in v8 mid engine applications to about 350hp, as a cheap alternative to Porsche boxes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Cologne

http://www.gt40s.com/forum/gt40-tech-po ... -gt40.html

I have seen a few Saab 96's with the Mercury Capri V6 in them.

Turbo'd V6 mounted midship in a Sonett III, for hillclimb racing. Tube framed of course. A little whack a doo,... but might just work.

SwedeSport wrote: A little whack a doo,... but might just work.

that's a lot whack a doo...but you can make anything work i suppose.

The VW trans route would be for guys who want just a simple firewall mod, and 5 forward gears that don't break.

I seem to recall someone installing a subaru transmission...maybe its in Chris Moberg's Sonett? which might even be a tube chassis..lots of uncertainty in this sentence

Crazyswede wrote:I seem to recall someone installing a subaru transmission

Subaru? what's that, Chinese?

These photos are great. It is a little tight for the gas pedal , but the intrusion into the passenger compartment is minimal otherwise. Looks like a nice way to gain a 5 speed.