Subaru 5-speed 'box
Posted: Mon Oct 24, 2011 8:58 am
Is this the future of a/c conversions?
Manx Australia wrote:Ok so I recently finished my Manxter 2+2 which I decided to fit a 5 Speed Subaru Box from http://www.subarugears.com . I went this way as I was very keen on a subaru engine and by using the 5 speed I would gain around 55mm of ground clearance due to the CV flange position in relation to the input shaft.
So I did some research and spoke to Todd as well as some of the other guys who had used them. The only bad point was the amount of road noise the reverse cut R&P seemed to produce. Before I ordered I spoke to Todd about this and he said he had it sorted and it was no longer an issue. Based on that I placed and order and waited for my box to arrive.
Prior to arrival I was very impressed with teh customer service and level of knowledge Todd had. He was able to supply me with a setup box so I could begin the build while I waited for the R&P to arrive.
When my real box arrive it looked like brand new. The nose cone had been modified and was ready to install.
While I had it out I thought I would weigh it so I knew for future reference, it weighed 47kg
Sitting on the floor it looked a lot like a VW box, a more defined looking version but very similiar.
Another good point about the Subaru Transmission was that it had a speed sensor and neutral switch as well as the normal reverse switch the VW one had.
To fit it into my pan I made up a nose cone mount which bolts to the rear tunnel section under the shifter.
After fitting it to the Manxter I ran out of time to do any real test runs so the first real drive it got was a 1000km round trip to Fraser Island ... not a bad test really as I also towed a trailer there and back.
I am running a set of 930 SubaFlanges which worked very well.
So how did it go ... well there was no gearbox noise at all and the shift was nice and smooth, I flogged it as much as I could on the sand and it had no issues at all. Gearing was a little tall for my application with the trailer and 31" rear tyres but Todd said that would be the case with the 3.9 R&P. I will shortly be changing this to 4.11 or 4.44 which will fix this issue.
The hydraulic clutch was sweet and as a result of the drive I am confident in saying I will not be needing any of my rebuilt 091 Kombi Box's again.
The SubaruGears Conversion would be the 2nd best modification I have done after using a Subaru Engine Conversion.
Hopefully my experience will help anyone else out there looking for a great upgrade make what I think is the correct decision and go with a SubaruGears.com setup, you will not be dissapointed.
If you have any questions and want to see more pics just let me know.