850 Engine swap?

The problem with the Passat transmissions is that they would produce a mid engine 850 rather than a rear engine, which means considerable work to pull off. Beetle transmissions, on the other hand, have the correct orientation, tons of aftermarket support, and engine adapters for practically any engine worth mentioning.
Some run the Passat/Audi transmission upside down to get the correct direction to use it as a rear engine transmission. An old Beetle transmission can run either way as the R&P can be flipped to the other side to allow either rotation of the engine or the position of the engine to be rear or mid, its a nice trick.
 
Ok, I said that the engine in the 124 was a Fiat. You responded with a long confusing rant that basically said "the Fiat engine in the 124 doesn't make it a Fiat". Not sure where you are going here.
I have a GM Ecotec in the back seat of my 600 but that doesn't make it a 2007 Saturn Ion that the engine came from.

I can't help but feel for you if you thought my comment was confusing. It was also neither long nor a rant.
 
Some run the Passat/Audi transmission upside down to get the correct direction to use it as a rear engine transmission. An old Beetle transmission can run either way as the R&P can be flipped to the other side to allow either rotation of the engine or the position of the engine to be rear or mid, its a nice trick.

I forgot to mention that. I have seen it done with a 911 trans also. But I believe that flipping the trans also requires using an oil pump for the trans because the oil is no longer being slung the way it needs to be. (Years ago, I saw a twin supercharged SBC converted 914 using a 911 trans. That was an interesting car for sure!)
 
Just finished my Fiat 850 sedan with a 1987 X19 turbo motor. Used a V. W transaxle. Have been working on this car for 40 years. It’s a love fest.
 
With respect to getting MORE POWER for your 850 (or any other car) your new engine is still going to be turning the same amount of revs at 60mph unless you change the ring and pinion in the transaxle. The stock R & P in an 850 coupe/spider is 4.87. When Abarth put a 1280 in the 850, they also put in a taller 3.89 ring and pinion. Once you see how much a tall R & P costs for an 850, you will probably abandon the project. I hope someone here posts for sale their spare 3.89s so we can move ahead with our planned 1050 transplants.
 
This is my Standard Sedan. 850/1600
 

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I'm not experienced in rear engine Fiats, but I know there's been several 850 Spiders with the air-cooled VW engine and transmission installed out back. In fact some were extremely successful drag race cars. I imagine installing one would be pretty much the same for a 850 sedan?
 
By the way, the very early Passats (i.e. late Dashers) were FWD but with longitudinal layout, using a transaxle similar to the rear engine Bugs. That might be what Karl was referring to with a Passat conversion?
 
With respect to getting MORE POWER for your 850 (or any other car) your new engine is still going to be turning the same amount of revs at 60mph unless you change the ring and pinion in the transaxle. The stock R & P in an 850 coupe/spider is 4.87. When Abarth put a 1280 in the 850, they also put in a taller 3.89 ring and pinion. Once you see how much a tall R & P costs for an 850, you will probably abandon the project. I hope someone here posts for sale their spare 3.89s so we can move ahead with our planned 1050 transplants.
I have a transaxle for sale with the sedan 8/37 ratio (4.6) instead of the usual 8/39 (4.9). Not a huge change but enough to make a difference.

My 1300/124 has the 9/35 (3.9) ratio and I know someone who has one with 3.55. My 600 Abarth replica has a 1050 cc engine and I installed a 9/39 (4.33) R&P that I bought when they were still available for a "somewhat" reasonable price. For some reason, 9/39 ratios for an 850 were never readily available. Part of it may be that they are not that simple to install.
 
I’m 80 years old and have no idea how to do that. Can you tell me how to start a thread??
Wayne, click on this link:

Then start adding posts to it just like you did here. That way you have your own thread to tell us all about your 850. :)
 
By the way, the very early Passats (i.e. late Dashers) were FWD but with longitudinal layout, using a transaxle similar to the rear engine Bugs. That might be what Karl was referring to with a Passat conversion?
I had a 75 Dasher, same as Audi Fox. VW do Brasil build a car called the Gol, about the size of the Polo with Passat transaxle and vw aircooled motor, all FWD. BTW that transaxle found its way in quite a few generations of Passats, Audi 4000's and even used as the rear transaxle for the Porsche 924
 
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I like the idea of a Beetle (real Beetle) engine swap. The engine is super light and highly tunable. A stock 1600 dual port engine would make more power than the 903cc FIAT engine (about 60HP, I believe,) and can be developed to make 150HP NA. I would swap trans while I was at it, as the Beetle trans is tougher and upgradeable as well.
This seems really logical from a weight and parts availability aspect. That or a VW Beetle transaxle hooked up to one of the many engines for which there already are swap kits.
 
This seems really logical from a weight and parts availability aspect. That or a VW Beetle transaxle hooked up to one of the many engines for which there already are swap kits.
The nice thing about the VW Type 1 transaxle is the ring and pinion can be flopped to deal with reverse rotation. I may have mentioned this before but there was a Sport Coupe with a Suzuki G13B twin cam and a VW Type 1 transaxle fitted. This is the build thread:


He sold the car a couple of years ago incomplete and I believe without the G13B. It would have been a ripper.
 
The nice thing about the VW Type 1 transaxle is the ring and pinion can be flopped to deal with reverse rotation. I may have mentioned this before but there was a Sport Coupe with a Suzuki G13B twin cam and a VW Type 1 transaxle fitted. This is the build thread:


He sold the car a couple of years ago incomplete and I believe without the G13B. It would have been a ripper.
Thanks. Too bad he was unable to complete. I wonder where the car is now.
 
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