Difference between 1G & 2G trannys?

[gthompson97]

besides the mounts, are there any difference between a 1g 5-speed tranny and a 2g 5-speed tranny? like say if new mounts were fabricated for the 1g tranny to fit in a 2g, would everything else go together right or not?

[kjewer1]

I know of one person that welded up some mounts to put a 1g tranny in a 2g car. I dont see how it could possibly be worth the effort though. The only thing I am not sure of is how the shifter cables/brackets would work out. But it has been done.

[gthompson97]

well i bought a motor/tranny setup and it's a TRE tranny and i don't really want to go through the hassle of getting rid of it and getting a new one. the old motor and tranny are already out so i figured if all i need to do is make new mounts, it would be worth it. plus i have a shop with more than enough tools to do the job and i would consider myself "qualified" enough to do it.

i guess my biggest question is that are the splines on the driveshaft and the spines in the transfercase the same and that sort of stuff.

[kjewer1]

It might be easier to just transfer the internals into a 2g case. All of the dimensions are the same as far as I know, and the aprts are all interchangeable. All you would have to do is check/reset the bearing clearances. Thre is a vfaq that explains how to do this if you wanted to try it yourself. If it will work, it would be much easier.

[gthompson97]

alright, i'm going to look into it a little more and see which way would better suit my needs. thanks for the advice kevin.

[northriverflames]

My friend has a 90 tsi awd and hes got a 2 g tranny in it. Im pretty sure the 2gs are a little stronger and have better syncros. With his yes the 2gs have different mounts but they still have the same bolt holes. We were able to just put it in place without any real modifications. Im a little foggy on that since we did the swap 2 years ago. But im pretty sure that using a 1g in a 2g car will still work fine.

[scottsee]

i was also under the impression the 2g's tranny and rear end were suppirior then the 1g's...

[kjewer1]

I dont know how many times per week I can post this... The 1g puts the roll stoppers (front/rear motor mounts) on the block, and the 2g puts them on the tranny. So a 2g tranny could work in a 1g, the mounts on the tranny wont be used. But if you put a 1g tranny in a 2g there are no mounts for the roll stoppers.

The 1g (certain years) has stronger 3rd/4th gear set, while the 2g has better synchros. Its a trade off. I kept blowing up 3rd gear, so I had to give up the good synchros and take the stronger gear set. So 1g vs 2g tranny depends on your needs. Slick shifting vs torque capacity. My last tranny was a combination of the best parts from all years mixed together.

[gthompson97]

how about a TRE tranny though, got the best of both worlds