In article <Pine.HPP.3.91.950913225631.1777B-100…@libws2.ic.sunysb.edu> Everett B Perry <epe…@ic.sunysb.edu> writes:

>What is the point of a close ratio tranny?!?!?!  Does it give you shorter
>throws or a larger rev distance?

"Close ratio" is just that – the ratios are close together. As a
result, changing gears doesn’t result in as large a change in engine
speed as a regular transmission.

The advantages here are obvious – if you shift up just a little inside
the peak torque or power range, when the next gear comes on, you can
be right at the start of the range. This can make driving easier, and
it can also give you better acceleration.

The disadvantage is that you *still* only have as many gears as a
reguler transmission, except the ratios are all packed closer to the
size of first. As a result, engine speed at a particular road speed in
a particular gear (including fifth, typically) is higher. More noise,
worse mileage.

The above disadvantage was extremely apparent with A1 GTIs. Fifth gear
just wasn’t a cruising gear – the car really was a candidate for a
six-speed gearbox. Very similar ratios are used on the new GTI VR6,
but the engine power offsets the problem the Rabbit had – you can
cruise on the highway (110km/h) at a reasonable engine speed.

In the past, tuners have often offered "combo-trannys", where close-
and wide-ratio trannys are combined. First-third and sometimes
first-fourth are "close-ratio", and fourth-fifth or just fifth are
nice and tall.

–
Scott Ashdown
Engineer, MPR Teltech Ltd.
Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada.
ashd…@mprgate.mpr.ca

Well it happened to me, the dreaded broken timing belt with associated
major engine damage. This happened to the new factory timing belt I
installed. The car, ’91 Passat GL, had 51K miles when I replaced the belt
and tensioner. I followed the installation and adjustment procedures in
the Bentley manual and inspected the belt and tension after 100 miles.
After 1 month and 1500 miles the toothed inner portion of the belt
separated from the outer half with about a few inches of teeth ground up.

Here’s my question…genuine VW parts carry a 12mo/12K mile warranty. If a
covered part fails, would any damages resulting from the defective part be
covered also? I purchased the new belt and tensioner from a mail-order CA
VW dealer. They could always come back and say the belt was improperly
installed and it would be my word against theirs. Anyone encounter a
similar situation? I’d be happy with some relief in the form of partial
reimbursement for the parts. I don’t expect any refund of any labor costs
if I take it in for repair.

Has anyone tackled the repair themselves? If so how much time and $$ did
it take?

Thanks in advance.

Larry

Hi there,

I have a 1984 VW Caravanette with a seized engine and am currently looking
for a reasonably priced replacement engine (VW wants 4000 pounds!!). Looking
for that 1888ccm, 57kW watercooled petrol engine I came across Volkspares
UK who offer reconditioned engines for approx. 800 pounds. I am currently
situated in the Greater London area and would like to ask if anyone knows
about the quality of those reconditioned engines from own experiences,
hearsay, etc.

Any pointers to other affordable alternatives available in this area are
welcome.

Thanks,
          Christian

PS: Don’t be puzzled that this posting comes comes from aGerman account.
My UK newsserver doesn’t offer this group, unfortunately. Please find my UK
address details in the sig.
—
——————————————————————–
Christian Soeller                         email: csoe…@sghms.ac.uk
St. Georges Hospital Medical School       Dept. of Pharmacology
Cranmer Terrace                           London SW17 0RE

Hi ,

i am looking for some adresses of Spanish and Italian Volkswagen car
dealers. Can anybody help ?? Or give me a cool advice to find such infos.

Many thanks in advance.

-George.

RE: cost of used tranny – looks like that’s pretty hight to me also – did
that nclude labor?  Suggest you E-mail the Parts Place at –
     partspl…@aol.com
 - and ask them – they sell new, rebuilt, and "used but good" trannys – no
costs listed in their catalog, except to say they have "hundreds" in
stock.

Considering the quality of his web page versus VW’s official one, you’d
think VW would want to buy into his…  :)

But what if  VW allowed web pages anywhere and everywhere, reserving
their own, of course, for new VW information, dealership information, and
etc.?   VW could be sued for any misinformation placed on a page with
VW copyrighted information.

For example, someone downloads information on how to fix their
VW from this guy’s home page, goes home, and end up in some horrible
accident.  Lawyers might make a case that since his page had VW written
all over it, and VW copyrighted logos, that VW itself is liable for the
information presented on that page…

I know, I know, sounds unlikely, but there are too many lawyers in my
family for me not to understand how the thought process works…

The WWW is only going to go more and more commercial, which means
more and more power struggles of various kinds, all having to do with
MONEY in the end (whether through sales or lawsuits).  So perhaps we
should all take note and tone down and be more careful with what
materials/logos and etc. that we use in our home pages.  

Personally, I going to peruse the FAQs on the use/abuse of copyrights
on the Net again…  (link on Netscape’s home page).

Jud.

I have a noisy diesel jetta.  I would like to add extra or
better dampening material, i figure something very dense (tar
or wax saturated) would do.

Does anyone know of a material that can be used.

Car is a ’85 VW turbo diesel

-Henry

Okay, this is for anyone in North America who dared to buy
a GTI-VR6. A gentleman @ 76105.3…@COMPUSERVE.COM wants to
start a registry of all of the ’95′s e-mail at that address
with a 1)name, 2)color, 3)state purchased, 4)dealership
purchased from 5) price – if u want, 6) Vin, if u want. I
guess a Saturn -esque get together might be in the plans
(Mexico, anyone?) So drop a line and let’s keep track of
this limited edition, maybe , kind of collctible car.      
                                Wes Miller

I would like to thank those of you (and there were quite a few) that
provided useful advice and/or comments regarding the rattling in some
golf struts…

I would like to come clean however… since you were so good to me !

I decided first that I would just go to a mech and have him hit the
bearing nuts with an air gun to tighten them down… however, this did
not solve the problem (although he did point out  that my front motor
mount is bad …yahoo more work)

Well, actually, the reason it didn’t solve the problem was because the
rattle was not comming from the struts at all… it was comming from a
bad inner CV joint on the passenger side… two points..
        (a) ‘theoretically’ sounds alot like the rattle from a bad strut
        (b) for some reason the rattle increased over bumps (comments ??)

So… I like to thank the numerous individuals who commented that they
found it difficult to fathom how golf struts could make so much noise
given the weight of the car, etc, etc, well, in short, they can’t (or
didn’t in this case)… these comments gave me the clue… that led me
to the CV joint … that was fixed.. that made my car sound like a car
.. that made me happy again !!

I don’t really like to have to say this….BUT…i may have to sell my Corrado!!
Any suggestions on advertisment and prices?
Heres the lowdown:
– 1993 SLC Black / 24,000 miles / (extremly clean….numerous layers of clear)
  only use Eagle-1 products.
– Tinted windows (very dark)
– Has all options but leather (Gray cloth interior with red strips)
– Very well maintained (by me) has Mobil-1 in gearbox and engine
– Tranferable VW Platinum warranty for 75,000 miles (no deductable)
– After market 80/100 bulbs
– Alpine stereo:
    – In dash CD player
    – 2 Alpine V-12′s
    – Stock Speakers
– Stock Speedlines with AVS’s
– Extra set of 92′ BBS rims with 008Rsll’s
– Simpson (removable) 5-point harness
– Numerous engine and suspension mods by Neuspeed
Basically my car is in better (bragging here) shape then most new Corrados and
i would really like to get at least $19,000 for it….I know that’s alot, but look at what
it is first and the mods on it.  I would be losing money (i still am at that price) if it
was any less.  I am not 100% sure i am going to do this, but it is a possibility.
It rips me apart having to do this!!  I’m sure ya’ll understand.
Anyway, any suggestions would be appreciated…or a part time job if anyone has
the means for a while would be nice too!!
Thanks!!

       NSny…@sugar-land.dowell.slb.com
               >>93 Corrado SLC<<
       "Porsche performance at a VW price"