[sipe16]

Originally Posted by Bret Brinkmann

Weld the VCU? That is treasion.... I welded the planetary gears to the carrier. I have an extra good planetary assembly in the garage. If I want to switch back to AWD I pull the tranny, install the front diff ring gear I removed, and put the good (unwelded) planetary back in. Just that simple. PLanetarys are more abundant then VCUs also. They are also cheaper than the VCUs. The 5 and 6 speed VCUs are interchangable though.

As for now I am questioning the need to actually use the AWD transaxle in the TT convertions. IPO seems to be doing well with his FWD transaxle thus far. Granted he hasn't really launched the snot out of it yet but he is DEFFINATELY making some big power. I did happen to note that there are several changes through out the years in the FWD transaxles. Maybe some parts are stronger than others? I started a thread on this in the FWD forced induction thread if any one is interested in joining the conversation.

I would have to advise against pulling the end cover with the transaxle in the car. Far too often I hear of members breaking some thing or not being able to put it back together. It's a lot easier to pull the tranny and install/make the nessisary repairs any way. If you already have the tranny out of the car it would DIFFENATELY be easier and FASTER to just do the repairs now.

I left an email with the mach v company that makes the "vce" mentioned previously and let them know i have a spare vcu i could send them and mentioned that there would be a reasonable market from our cars if they made one. No response yet.

Agreed, welding the VCU probably isn't the best thing we can do, but personally i don't trust just the planetaries to carry all that torque, those have rather small teeth and I fear them stripping out under a hard launch - especially with an lsd and good tires.

MY reason for using the awd tranny was because of gearing. The fwd tranny tops out at 40 in 1st gear, meaning i have to shift a lot sooner than an awd tranny, and on the 5spd awd 4th gear compares pretty close to 5th in the n/a tranny. i got a 6spd, gas mileage and highway ownage Also i'm a strong believer that the awd tranny will help us fwd guys's launches a smidgin - it takes more power to spin the gears, so more power will be eaten at launch trying to spin the taller gear that was designed to be spun by a 320hp engine than that of a gear that was designed to be spun by a 222hp engine - overkill. I don't question the stability of the fwd tranny, i believe it's more than capable - i just want the gearing of the awd tranny. Besides, If i can't own the drag strip i at least wana be able to own the highway (most of it at least) =D

I know that you know all this already i'm just pointing out my reasoning behind ---