TeamSwift

I have an opportunity to pick up a low mileage MK1 turbo engine with all wiring and ECU for my '87 non-turbo Sprint. My motor is shot and hasn't run in 7 years. I'm anxious to get it back on the road this year. Unfortunately, there is no transmission available with the turbo motor and I'm sure a turbo trans in good condition will be next to impossible to find. Could I use my MK1 manual transmission if driven conservatively and if I had a high performance clutch installed or would the trans be toast within no time? The car would not be driven hard at all and might get driven 1-2k miles per year at most. It might see an occasional road trip and the highest RPMs it would ever see would be cruising on the highway. Recommendations? Thanks in advance.

The only difference in a mk1 is the turbo trans has a 4 spider diff and the non turbo has a 2 spider diff, spend some time reading this section, I know the trans section of the forum is quite messy but the answers are all there.

There is no problem using N/A trans with the turbo motor . I've used one and was not gentle with it at all. Drove it same as if it was 4 spider trans without any problems . Have fun

Do you have a picture of a 4 spider differential? I know the difference between the n/a and gt differential, but have never seen a four spider differential.

Can't seem to find one, it just has two cross pins instead of one, it's quite obvious when you see it.

Trust me when I say....you will Hate that car the turbo bolted to a N/A transaxle
Is just...well one word....ok two words.....No joy.!
Yes you can. Do it and it will last...it's like driving a GTI with a sparkplug wire loose
You will hate it
It the very least get a vert trans or a late model trans.....
Anything but the lowly, 3:54 or 3:75 trans that came in an early sprint

Mk2,3,4 trans won't work for him. Vert trans isn't an option.

_________________
1995 Swift w/16V 4.39s, 3tech cam, Esteem t-body, Header, needs more.
1995 Gt Mustang "Boss Shinoda" package.
1999 F150 4x4 Supercharged
1967 Mustang 428 auto, never ending expensive project
1993 Civic si h22a, fell in my lap, couldn't resist!

I'm not aware of any Mk1s that came with 3.50 manual trans . ER may had 3.79 but rest of them were all 4.10s . The NA trans I had in my T3 was 4.10 with 2 spider gears in the diff .

Thats my understanding of the North American market as well, basically the turbo box has 4 four spider diff but otherwise everything else is the same as the non turbo 1.0 version, the exception being the ER model.

The rest of the world had 1.3 Sohc mk1's which came with 3.52, you need quite a lot of torque to run such a tall final drive.

the early MKI (Chevy sprint) 84-88
"ER" (extended Range) transaxle is ...3:52
Standard Transaxle ....3:79
Turbo Sprint ...4:10
Verts and early GTI (1989)....4:39
.
Little fun fact :
You can tell a ER from a standard it has Two switches on top were a standard has only one (Backup light) switch
All G10, G1.3, (up to 1999) transaxle bellhousing bolt pattern are the same Mount will need to be modifying from early to late yrs
.
Have I personally installed a N/A trans axle on a MK1 turbo......Yes
N/A Trans axle on a 92 Vert.?.......Yes