The Project Pad

I am thinking that I want my syncro to be automatic. Has anyone swapped a ZF five speed into a small chassis yet?

I know Subaru automatics are silly tough but the axles would be a pain. And the driveshaft goes the wrong way and the syncro uses the rearend as a subframe locator so swapping in a Subaru diff would be problematic.

Um. Excuse me? Can you repeat that? I sold my perfectly good A6 4.2 just because I hated the 5hp24 so much. They are huge by the way, and far from crazy tough.

I really like the way the syncro feels to drive and I love the five cylinder sound but I figure an automatic would be a cheaper swap than a hand control for the clutch, which appears to run about $4000 or so. I might be able to work with a power assisted clutch but there isn't really all that much room. Although maybe, if I ditched the vacuum brake booster in favor of Hydroboost. Which I probably should do anyway given the nature of the engine.

Ok, so it's a packaging issue more than anything. Makes sense now.

Well, we shall see... I'm pulling a 5HP24 next week, I'll take measurements while it is out and compare to the 016.

I know the axles would be different lengths, but the driveshaft is what concerns me. Trans control should be possible with MegaShift or one of the other variants, which would be able to talk by CAN with the MS3Pro controlling the engine. Full automatic or flappy paddles.