Bellhousing

Together with Amitek a Rapid Prototyping Engineering company, measurements were taken from different VAG engines -and bellhousings and the Ford type 9 gearbox. After rapid prototyping, state-of-the-art SLS moulds were produced, which were suitable for sand casting. In this process, the castings are made of the very strong AlMgSi10 alloy, which is widely used for automotive applications. After casting, Amitek finishes the bellhousings by CNC milling, in order to assure accurate fits. Below you see the production sequence from drawing to finished product.

All stages in the development: Computer model, SLS Model, Rough alloy casting, CNC final milling

The inside of the bellhousing with hydraulic clutch mounted

Besides standard aspirated VAG engines, our bellhousing is specially designed to cope with higher torques from turbo gasoline engines or even turbo diesel engines. In the employment of these engines, we strongly advise to use an upgraded ‘Type 9’ gearbox from e.g. BGH Geartech and Quaife. From the former, we strongly recommend the cheaper 'E7 2.8 Sporting Close' and from the latter, the more expensive 'QBE56G' gearbox may do the job as well and also has the same bolt pattern as the Ford T9 box.

BGH (left) en Quaife (right) Type-9 gear boxes

The final product is the ultimate solution for the kitcar builder who wants to go VAG. The weight of this unique bellhousing is 4.5 kg and it is designed to accommodate the standard Ford Mondeo hydraulic clutch slave cylinder and the standard VW starter motor. In order to make everything work, TSN has chosen several clutch systems in close cooperation with Helix Autosport.

Below, we show some important pictures for matching our bellhousing with (in this case) an Audi 1.8 L turbo. Modifications to slider tube (1), Hight of bellhousing (use the short spline) (2), Spigot bearing in VAG cranckshaft (3), modification of oil pipe to center of the oil pan (4), Master cylinder connection (5), startmotor from Audi A4 1.8 or VW Passat 1.8 (6, 7).