transmission questions

[hessiandave]

Hey everybody, im hesh newb on here.
I found this site while on the vortex.

I have a few questions regarding a transmission setup for my car.

The car is a 1987 cabriolet. The engine that will be going in is a rebuilt 1.6l diesel with a 4 speed transmission. Not sure of exact code but its from an 81 caddy.

im picking the engine up soon and before I start bolting it into the cabby... I would really like to use the cabriolets 5 speed o2o transmission (which is in great shape) instead of the 4 speed that is coming along with the engine im picking up.

1. Will it work
2. what clutch kit/flywheel/starter should I be using.
3. Pros/cons like having the 5th gear as far as fuel milage is concerned.
Id like to add that the caddy uses 90mm axles, and the cabby uses 100mm. just another thing im considering with using the 4 spd vs 5spd

The engine is going to have an ALH intake manifold, a rebuilt KKK turbo and exhaust manifold when I put it into the cabriolet.

Thanks in advance for help and insight!

[Quantum TD]

You can run the Cabby 5-speed, but it will have a 9A trans. That means 3.67 R&P, and a .89 5th gear. It will be OK, but not great. You won't have low-end torque, and you may have high RPMs on the highway. You'd be better off getting a 5-speed transmission that it better suited to the diesel. But if you're putting on a turbo, that will help. You may want to keep the 9A trans, and swap in a .80 5th gear. Who knows. But, you'll want to do some research on gear ratios. If it were me, I'd try the cabby trans for a while until I figured out what i wanted for power/MPG.

You can use the clutch and flywheel from either, but you'll need to compare the TDC marks between the gasser and diesel flywheel to make sure they're the same. They should be (TDC= the notch with 'O' beneath it). The gasser will have extra marks that do NOT mark TDC. They're used for ignition timing.

No worries on the flanges. You can just swap the inner CV joints. I'd suggest you swap the flanges, but the 4-speed flanges won't work on a later (1983-up) 020 transmission with limited slip. You'd have to find 90MM flanges from a 1983-up trans.

[hessiandave]

Thanks man I appreciate it. Im going to be getting a new clutch kit and flywheel before I mate the cabbys 5 speed to the 1.6. Most likely going to end up selling the 4 speed.

If it will work, then it will work. I might end up swapping the 5th later on for infinity+ miles to the gallon on the highway. But that's way later.

As the car sits now, im going through all the gas crap and getting that out of the way. Im going to keep the in tank transfer pump there to make it easier on the injection pump. I have a brand new one sitting in the car to hook up.

If a diesel fuel filler neck is not made of unobtainium ill try and get my hands on one. My friends got an aaz in a mk2 jetta coupe and he's got a special holder-downer-thing to fit the diesel nozzle in there.....don't really wana be doing that...

Im putting in a mk2 dash a diesel cluster and tach are going in there.

But as far as this "project" goes im going for the old school oem+ look. Its already all the way down on coilovers.

My initial plans were an ABA 2.0 swap, but the engine I got was toast. a friend was selling the diesel engine and I've only seen a few cabriolets with diesels in them so why not do it.

[Quantum TD]

Most likely going to end up selling the 4 speed.

Good luck with that. They're worthless. Pull the reverse gear out of the case and get scrap value for it. Otherwise, you'll be tripping over that thing for months. The reverse gears fit the later 020 transmissions used in the 1993-1998 ABA Golf and Jetta. Those reverse gears were prone to explode. Good to have a spare reverse. If the ring is good, maybe save that. The pinion will be worthless as it will only work on a 4-speed.

I got lucky once and sold a 4-speed on ebay for like $50 plus shipping. I don't think that happens too often.

Regarding diesel filler neck. I think have several from Rabbits. They should fit in there just fine. So when you get to that point, I can check mine to see if it will fit. Otherwise, I'm sure someone else here has one.

[R.O.R-2.0]

Most likely going to end up selling the 4 speed.

Good luck with that. They're worthless. Pull the reverse gear out of the case and get scrap value for it. Otherwise, you'll be tripping over that thing for months. The reverse gears fit the later 020 transmissions used in the 1993-1998 ABA Golf and Jetta. Those reverse gears were prone to explode. Good to have a spare reverse. If the ring is good, maybe save that. The pinion will be worthless as it will only work on a 4-speed.

I got lucky once and sold a 4-speed on ebay for like $50 plus shipping. I don't think that happens too often.

Regarding diesel filler neck. I think have several from Rabbits. They should fit in there just fine. So when you get to that point, I can check mine to see if it will fit. Otherwise, I'm sure someone else here has one.

check the trans code, if its a GC, its garbage, if its anything else, its a DECENT 4 speed..

the 9A is going to be retarded behind a diesel.. ive owned one..

[fatmobile]

Just cuz it's a GC doesn't mean it's garbage.

 Magnesium burns really bright and it can be fun to break pieces from it and amuse the neighbor kids,.. spritz it with water to really piss it off.
I'm ging to try mixing with copper to see if I can get a grenish glow next time.

 The flanges can be used as axle covers for axles in storage,
 but they don't fit later tranys so don't expect to ever use them as trany flanges again.
 
 Don't just grab the reverse idler, get the gear too.
 
 
 

[R.O.R-2.0]

Just cuz it's a GC doesn't mean it's garbage.

 Magnesium burns really bright and it can be fun to break pieces from it and amuse the neighbor kids,.. spritz it with water to really piss it off.
I'm ging to try mixing with copper to see if I can get a grenish glow next time.

 The flanges can be used as axle covers for axles in storage,
 but they don't fit later tranys so don't expect to ever use them as trany flanges again.
 
 Don't just grab the reverse idler, get the gear too.
 
 
 

lol, so true, magnesium does burn nice and bright..

i was talking about the GC in terms of a good useable trans.. they are basically a waste of time (and fuel) if you want to actually use one in your car..

and yes, the 4 speeds do have considerably tougher reverse gears..