VW1600S

Hi all
I'm new to the forum. I'm a classic beetle owner, and on my hunt for spares today at a scrapyard I saw an Audi 4000S USA spec in excelent cond with only (<52000 miles) that had been garaged for years. It was sold as the owner resides in the USA, the problem with the car according to the guy was that the automatic gearbox was stuffed. While looking for info I ended up here. My question is what manual gearbox can be fitted on this car "drop in" preferably. I'm in Portugal and these cars here are rarer than rare. I have never seen one on the road here and I've been here for 18yrs! VW Audi agents here don't have any spares (NOS) and their reply is always NLA
Which european model does this correspond to ? My dad has an 82 Audi 100 5E but unfortunately it's got rusty spots. In a worse case scenario which would be a real pity but would the doors fit the 5E ?

Rogviler

I think it's going to be tough because most of the people around here are based in North America and a lot of the stuff differs between here and the rest of the world...

But I do know that the equivalent in Europe is the Audi 80 (Typ 81), so that may help you some. It's known as the B2 platform here. The 100 is a larger car (C2 5000/200 lineage) so the doors aren't going to swap I'm afraid.

If it's a 4-cylinder you can get a variety of transmissions from various VW cars. You'll of course have to hunt a longitudinal VW, such as the Fox (which I think was called the Gol there). Just start looking through junkyards for an older VW or Audi with a 4-cylinder, longitudinally mounted.

If it's a 5-cylinder, any FWD 5-cylinder Audi will bolt up (such as the Coupe GT, whatever they called it there), or you can get into the 01E/01A family, which is newer and will bolt to either engine. Again, since a lot can differ between Europe and North America, I don't want to lead you down the wrong path, but hopefully you can get going the right direction.

It's also possible and reportedly very easy to rebuild the automatic transmissions. I know of several people who prefer them for that reason.

-Rog

VW1600S

Thanks for your prompt reply, it's a 4 cyl and the gb isn't there.








As a donor, what years do you reckon I should look for and would the gearbox fit right in without having to adapt it to the car (supports, transmission to rear wheels etc ?)
Afraid not many automatics around here, would say 99,99999..% manual. What would I require from a donor car ? The 4000s has a cable dangling (I think it's for the speedo)One pedal missing ...
What would I be getting myself into? My mechanical skills are as a hobby, I'm familiar and enjoy fiddling with my bugs but I think this might just be out of my leage, any electronics ??? just a shame as the car is beautiful and it's in excellent cond.

Rogviler

Well I would consider yourself lucky then, since a 4-cylinder transmission should be easier to find. At least it is here.

So is it FWD or quattro? We didn't get auto quattros here, so I just assumed. If it's quattro then that'll be a little more specific.

If you can find a transmission, all you'll likely need are the pedals and a few odds and ends. I've never shipped anything there so it might be expensive for you, but I'm sure someone in the States can help you out with any little stuff you need like that.

You might need the correct brake master cylinder to give you a port for a hydraulic clutch. I'd probably look for a cable clutch though, just because I think they're a lot easier to deal with. Not sure what years they switched for the 4-cylinders.

But gosh, all kinds of cars came with a transmission that should work for you, even well into the 1990s, so that's why I say it's lucky that you have that engine. If you find some candidates and are unsure, just post here with as much info as you can get. Pictures always make it easier.

I would expect everything to bolt together if you do a bit of homework.

-Rog

VW1600S

Guy at scrapyard is gonna try contact the seller to try and get the auto gb. Do these give hastles or could it just have become stuck from not using the car for a long time?

Rogviler

It's entirely possible that all it needs is to be drained and filled with clean fluid. Depends on what the big issue was that the owner had.

But, it looks like rebuild kits are somewhere around $150-200. Not sure what the currency conversion is, but that's pretty cheap and if it's as easy as everyone says you could do it yourself.

-Rog

VW1600S

No joy, the garage the car was taken to said they chucked out the gearbox. Since most cars here are manual diesels and even they're getting very scarce I couldn't find any GB so I ended up getting a VW Polo about a month ago. Last I heard the car was still at the scrapyard. Today I was looking for spares for my polo and I found a manual, petrol early 90s Audi - Bummer ...