I just found and read this whole thread... well played, sir! I had a serious, "wtf just happened" moment :cheers:

Very interesting following.....BTW Great April Fools joke!

Not much to update unfortunately... parts are back from scan house and I've played around with some mickey mouse 3d scanning tools. We have the mesh but progress is slow. I did pick up a 924 turbo bell housing to compare dimensions when the time comes.

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Any news on your bellhousing production? I am starting an ABA/16vT swap. The bellhousing is the first key. I do have a sacrificial o2a to use if needed, just wanted to check in here first.

Hey there - wish I had more to share on the project but it's slow going. Don't bother chopping the 02A; the starter goes right into the gas pedal. I'd rather ship the one I learned on to you (bolted to the engine still) instead of killing another 02A. I would recommend finding a B5 Audi or Passat FWD/Quattro 5spd to give up parts instead. This moves the starter under the turbo on the engine side which is well out of the way.

For the starter, I was thinking of relocating the starter hole lower on the bellhousing. Easier said than done, sure, but it would be fun / interesting to try.

skip the starter, just put a hole through the front of the car for a Model-T hand-crank

Psh, that's for peasants. I could just park it on a hill.

A while back, I seriously looked into belt-drive starter motors. GM has one, and it actually acts as a hybrid electric motor/generator as well as a starter. If it becomes too hard to relocate the starter lower, I might give that a try.

you could mount the starter ring at the transmission end :p

Any reason why not? Could you fit a flexplate in there?

You'd have to start it in neutral with the clutch engaged every time. I'm not sure you can fit a large enough toothed wheel on the trans side housing to get enough torque. At that point you're basically building another bellhousing, so you might as well do it right and do it at the motor.

well the audi5000 used that trans case with a FW/starter ring in there...thinking about the automatic 944s they used a flexplate sort of thing to bolt to the torque converter at the back, you could probably fit an audi5000 flex plate to the 944 drive shaft coupler and use a hi-torque starter...
my concern is, is there enough space in the back of a 944 for a starter to mount (to the torque tube alu. flange) where it would go on the audi?

Ah, true. Guess it's been too long since I looked at a 944 trans...just did and you're right, there's probably room. Especially if you place the starter on the torque tube side.

Do you have any pictures of the auto flexplate? What I would worry about is the mass of a flexplate on the torque tube or on the shaft of a manual trans that wasn't designed for that load. It would need to be very well balanced.

heres the auto 944 thing (#10)...has 3 bolt holes to attach to the torque converter.
it just clamps onto the driveshaft like the manual car coupler.
if you fit a starter ring gear on there somehow, i would think it could handle the start-up torque.
youd always have to have the trans in neutral like you said though.

http://www.944online.com/images/diag...bdediagram.gif

All this talk is making me want to drop my other hobbies and learn CAD, then get a proper bellhousing CNC'd!