Help needed: 5 speed gearbox install

[dubstar]

I got the gearbox in and all buttoned up. Unfortunately it seems the left transmission mount is out of alignment. The end of the transmission is very close to the body and also the gear selector is hitting the booster.

Help!

Do I have the right mount? Do I need to do something else for alignment?

[Stanton]

Body is not square going by the front mount,had a hit on the left hand corner.

[dubstar]

Thanks, but given the 4 speed was in there square and didn't foul the brakebooster, it something about the conversion.

[dubstar]

Been doing some googling and found these aftermarket mounts and you can see they say to install the gearbox mount with the bolt hole closer to the top. All manuals say to install it the other way?!?!?

BFI MK1 Stage 1 Performance Motor Mount Kit BFI MK1 Stage 1 Performance Motor Mount Kit RABBIT GTI CADDY CABBY TRUCK GOLF

[abreut]

Is that a stock booster? Looks bigger than normal in the pic. The gearbox mount you have looks like the standard one as far as I can remember. That is unless it is bent?

Things I'd check would be is the motor and box about centred in the 2 side engine mounts? You know how you can shunt the the engine-gearbox left or right about 10mm total. Either way though, the 5 speed will always finish very close to the panel on that side of the bay.

Have you got the round gearbox mount pressed in the correct way? There should be an arrow mark on the rubber somewhere to indicate up. This is up, once the weight of the gearbox in on this the location of the hole will move up (or the rest will be pulled down)



If you look at the cam cover of your engine, does it visually look pretty parallel to the front radiator support panel of the car? It should. You should only check this once the front and rear mounts are installed as the engine and gearbox will kind of twist on a different axis when they're just hanging by the 2 end mounts at the engine and gearbox ends. Actually, I wouldn't even worry about the location of the gear selector until all 4 mounts are in.

[dubstar]

I've loosened all mounts now and will try shunting it over a bit, any recommendations on efficient ways of shoving the engine over?

Yes, it has a mk3 booster, but Peter Jones' thread shows the selector is a way off the booster

[abreut]

A ghetto way is getting a pry bar and lever the appropriate round mount over. Or take the weight off with a hoist and you can usually shunt it. Is your front mount right? It looks a bit odd. It almost looks like your whole engine/gearbox is not leaning back right, maybe if it was leaning back more there would be no interference.

[Peter Jones]

That looks like a MK3 shift lever. There's heaps of different ones. Try the one off your 4 speed, it should fit better.

The real early golfs are a tight fit for the 5 speeds. Post '79 there seems to be a little more room.

[eltonking]

Agreed the front engine mount does look a little off....

[roccodingo]

You show no pics of the rear mount, have you connected it up ?

The rear mount once installed will usually pull the back up and move the shift lever away from the booster.
Hope thats what the issue is as there is really no rocket science involved.

Good luck

[dubstar]

Not rocket science, but it feels like I'm making paper planes out of glad wrap.

I gave the engine a good wiggle, levered it back over to the drivers side and then tightened it all back up. Still out. Photos:

[dubstar]

Also the shifter is different between mk3 and mk1, as Pete has pointed out

[dubstar]

So this morning I went and grabbed the entire 5 spped linkage and also the gearbox mount from the mk1 cabby at Jolly's. I will check to see if the mount I have is bent or out of shape. I will also lose the fancy pants shifter gear I have and get it going with the standard shifter gear first, then we can go about improving the linkage.

[roccodingo]

Lever you have on the trans selector shaft is incorrect ( to long and offset to far ) from what i see. Keep at it you will win

[dubstar]

I have pulled out the mosh mash of shifter parts that I had on the car and started replacing everything with the set-up I got at the wreckers.

Very interesting fact. The shift levers on the gearbox are all different. Here are the pics.

- 4 speed mk1 - has the silver shift rod attached

-5 speed mk1 - has the black shift rod attached

-5speed mk3 -has no shift rod.


It may not look like much, but the difference in situ is huge