Audi 01E to SBC

Does anyone know who makes an adapter for an Audi 01E transaxle to a small block Chev. V8? I'm fed up with the stock saginaw! Cheers, Dave
 

Lynn Larsen

Lynn Larsen
Dave,

Kennedy Engineered Products can supply the adapter (its about 1/2 way down the page this link will take you to.)

I am sure you are aware that using the Audi (or any other inline transaxle other than the corvair/saginaw box) is going to shorten the distance between the axles and the front of the engine. The corvair transaxle is configure such that the transmission is in front of the diff; as opposed to behind the diff in virtually all others (Oh yeah, except the new corvette transaxle also.)

Regards,
Lynn
 
Thanks, Lynn. I've dealt with Kennedy before but didn't realize they had one for the 01E. As far as the configuration of the transaxle goes, that's a bonus for me. More legroom! The original setup limits the style of seats you can use. The 'vette transaxle with belt drives looks promising, but I'll try the audi for now. Cheers, Dave
 
Hello again. I'm going to reply to my own thread! I just got off the phone with a fellow from KEP. He says they don't make the 01E Chev SB adapter. I hinted around the increasing popularity of the 01E, but he said that they don't sell many 016 adapters and has never been asked about 01E. Doh! Back to the drawing board. Cheers, Dave
 
Hello,
I'm restoring an old 67 GT40K that was raced at some point I was told.
And I've tried to do as much research on the missing bits as I can.
It is set up for a sbc 327 with the corvair/sag set up.
At one point I was told you can take the orig. trans off.
And plug a V-8 sag. right into it ?
Haven't tried that yet !
Sounds like you may have the Crown type adapter in your car.
That indeed does place the eng. way far forward.
I've found an old Kelmark adapter.
This requires the transaxle to be turned over, and turned around.
Witch places it as most all other transaxles.
Moves the Eng. placement back where it belongs.
Saves a number of inch's forward, And looks like it belongs there.
I think the Kelmark adapter is what they used in the orig. Manta cars.
I've seen two of the Kelmark adapters on ebay in the last three years.

I all so talked to someone that raced a V-8 corvair way back when ?
And after giving it a lot of thought,
He came up with another way to go.
He picked up an old ford top loader trans.
Had the main shaft resplined to fit into the diff. in place of the sag.
Had to make a flat adaptor plate for it, but he ran it for years with No problems.
Including a day at the drags, turning a run in the 9's.
The week point after that was the diff. case,
witch can be reinforced to keep it from coming apart under big hp.
Lucky for me, he had saved the shaft from the ford trans.
That I now have !

Don't know if this is any kind of help at all, or not.
And then too,
It's most likely you already know all of this info.

Cheers !

Curtis

GT 40K
Woodill Wildfire
 

Lynn Larsen

Lynn Larsen
Dave,

Sorry guy! The Audi transaxles are my weakest area and when I saw Audi 5000, I thought you were covered.

I do think you'll be happier with a newer transaxle. The corvair stuff is older technology than the old 5 DS 25 ZF boxes. You also may want to look at Porsche 915 and 930 (4 spd turbo transaxles which are VERY strong.) They are not nearly as expensive as the G50s have become and I know KEP makes adapters for them; although they are still probably cost more than the Audi box

Lynn
 
No worries Lynn! I'll continue to hunt down an adapter and if all else fails, I'll machine off the bell housing and weld on a Chev one. As for the Corvair transaxle, the regular saginaw has a bigger dia. mainshaft and wont fit into the Corvair diff. There is a fellow by the name of Wills who makes a mainshaft and adapter to bolt a regular Saginaw to the Corvair diff. It's a little pricey and you're left with a 6 1/2" ring gear. In the end, parts are obsolete or very expensive. It's heavy, weak, only a 4 speed and another transaxle will give me 8"-12" more legroom. I'll run it til I get an Audi! Chjeers, Dave
 
I have a crown kit just removed from my Valkyrie and would let it go to any corvairs oweners that may be interested, for a decent price.


It's a crovair 4spd saginaw trans to an open diff of the 3.27 ratio, includes original Fiberfab adapter.
 
Hey Ryan. IMHO the pieces of real value in your transaxle are; input shaft, mainshaft with needle roller bearings(they are an oddball size- not available anymore) thrust bearing and washers inside input shaft, adapter plate, bellhousing(which should have been dial guaged for runout and should have 4 extra holes in it) rear mainshaft bearing and reverse thrust washer(both obsolete) In the rare event that there is a special gearset in the tranny( 2.20 1st gear) they are desirable.Check the mainshaft for galling where the needle bearings ride(very common). The rest is quite heavy and reasonably easy to acquire. Also I believe the front input shaft bearing retainer and ring are special pieces. If you google CORSA and go to the online classifieds(you might have to be a member) you should get a good response. I just checked your reply again. If the bellhousing bolts to the front of the tranny-it's a Crown. If ti bolts to the diff-it's a Kelmark. All my previous babble refers to the Crown set-up! Cheers, Dave
 
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