vw powered trike

[mfee2079]

Hey all, I picked up a VW trike as a project, it wasn't running till today when I got it to fire (yay)
I am not very familiar with vw motors, transmissions, or wiring, but I have 35 years of turning wrenches and building circuits.
There are no numbers on the alternator pad on my engine except on the case half's that have Brazil and the number 12 is there any way else to find out info on it?
I'm really going to need help figuring out how to manufacture a working shifter for my application. Sorry but VW's have the weirdest shift attachment and linkage I have ever used.
I do and will appreciate all the help I get

[sideshow]

By the time a beetle is turned into a trike, not much can be answered without clear pictures.

[mfee2079]

Sorry maybe I wasn't specific enough . I have a vw POWERED trike project. The drivetrain is all vw, the chassis is custom built

[sideshow]

OK, maybe I wasn't specific enough after nearly 100 years of parts produced by the multiple factories in multiple countries for multiple version, clones and knock offs, and the booming aftermarket, and custom made one off parts, wear and tear and modification, and donor parts purposed form other makes, not much can be answered without clear pictures.

[mfee2079]

OK that makes sense. Given that it seems my engine was made in Brazil

[Piledriver]

Also note that your shift linkage was "engineered" by whoever built the trike.

Without pictures we can only imagine the horror.

The original shift linkage was a straight bit of tube from the shifter to the trans via a simple, reliable coupler, and not much else. The shifter was a very reliable ball/cup arrangement that worked a ball in a cup in the end of the shift rod and push/pulled/rotated it. Very simple and reliable. The trans input "hockey stick" directly works the shift forks in the transmission.

Its probably the most solid way to shift a remote transmission.

It also pretty simple to make up a cable shifter for the VW or Porsche transmissions, if a mid engine setup.

[mfee2079]

Its probably the most solid way to shift a remote transmission.
.

My problem is going to be the offset, I will mock up what I need and post pictures tomorrow..
instead of a straight line from shifter to transaxle it has to go straight say 2 feet from the transaxle then 90 degrees left for a foot into the shifter. Like I said I will mock it up with pvc pipe tomorrow and. Post pictures of it.

[Piledriver]

Cable shift may work better for that application.

[mfee2079]

I was just looking into that, do you have any recommendations as to companies that produce quality kits? I need quality over price. Also do you know anything about VW alternator connections ? Mine has 2 one B+ Which is battery. The other is a MALE SPADE connector inside a black square, what is that for and is this internal regulator or needs an external one?

[Piledriver]

I was just looking into that, do you have any recommendations as to companies that produce quality kits? I need quality over price. Also do you know anything about VW alternator connections ? Mine has 2 one B+ Which is battery. The other is a make space connector inside a black square, what is that for and is this internal regulator or needs an external one?

For better or worse AFAIK there are no "kits" but there are good threads//examples out there with part#s for the required parts, of very high quality. There may be a mid-engined sandrail kit out there but it may or may not work on your setup.

There's some related discussion here:
http://www.shoptalkforums.com/viewtopic ... r#p1204021
Talking about converting a Porsche 901 trans, but the basic mechanics are the same, if anything the T1 trans will be easier.

I'm no expert on T1s (been out of those for too long) but thats probably internally regulated:
B+ goes straight to the battery via the starter top cable, the idiot light (which is required) goes to the push on connector. There is also a screw terminal to the alt body for a ground to connect to.

The idiot light current is needed to excite the alternator windings so it will kick in, the other side of the lamp goes to switched 12v.
It will also light up if you toss an alternator belt, so put the lamp where you can see it clearly and shut down ASAP.

[mfee2079]

Thank you that connection on the alternator was driving me batty.
I found several sites such as www.cableshift.com that sell complete cable shift kits. If you get a chance please tell me what you think.

[Piledriver]

I'm sure those are great, if you have no means to fabricate anything and need something that bolts on.

OTOH I have seen very few aftermarket parts that really just bolt on and work.

[mfee2079]

My ability to fabricate parts is limited to the equipment I have on hand. Unfortunately I do not have access to a full machine shop. A grinder, a drill press, a small welder, and misc power and air tools are what I have to work with at this point. It's fine for turning 80% AR-15 receivers into working ones, but not enough to really fabricate complex auto parts.
as long as the geometry of the kit pieces are correct, I can rework the other pieces, which may prove easier than trying to build it all from scratch

[rmtrike]

I'm up here in Ocala FL and have built several VW trikes had my manufacture license before retiring here in FL. in saying that I still build my own trikes. All you need is a simple flex joint or u-joint for your shifter 3/4 X 3/4 if you go on line all the parts needed for a trike are on several parts suppliers and even E-bay and Amazon. If you were closer I could help also hands on.

[cbeck]

I have managed to get pretty far with a flux welder, 4.5" grinder, and a bumper mounted vise.