Frazero 02A/02J gearbox top bearing, selector mechanism Are these things available? uprated top bearing support and shift mechanism.. Frazero used/made em previously I am told. are they still available? if not, anyone know of an alternative for 02A/02J type box? Bill
Not available AFAIK, but makeable. Happened upon these earlier today when ordering gear linkage bits: Frazero top has an insert which is similar (pics posted on Cupra.net) but with balls instead of needles. Held inside alloy casing, bit of machining, add circlip groove, and bolt down onto usual shifter tower mounting hat. No 5 min job, but a lathe would get you there. Just need to find source for bearing insert.... Isn't OE - was looking at mine the other day, so deffo aftermarket bearing insert.
Few pics of one, first on pascal's Mk3 VR6: (sure he could arrange to show you it - takes 2 mins to undo) Longer retaining bolt, which shoulders up inside the bearing:
good info - thanks for that. I was considering goign plain phosy-bronze bush for the top bearing support (thats all thats in the lower one on my dog box inserted into a steel holder. 02J shift tower on mine and totally different cables etc so for mine I am reluctant to have to rework alll that to go back to an 02A, but for the guy with a 16v ibiza who's asked me, this suggestion could suffice. He's just order a full drenth gearset apparently and was going to ask them if they did something. 02A shift mech looks more metal to metal and less "plastic" than my 02J does...
Designed (or copied) originally by the chaps that started the VW Cup - lateral loads on the shifter tower being supported a tad more by a sturdy bearing. 02A shift mech is more metallic - just seen one on a Corrado at the w/end. Davy uses the VWM bits which I also have (modified version of standard Corrado). Pics up on porn thread when I get a mo.
my application is dog box so more load (bang bang shifting) has resulted in the top bearing shearing off x3 times last year. Bottom support also shears on these. common failure mode on quaife boxes. the bottom bearing support is available upgraded in steel bushed. the top one on 02J is'nt SFAIK got a.n.other dog g'box on order myself so planning something else more robust just in case its as brutal as my quaife is.
tbh, the bottom bearing mod precedes Quaife - VWM catalogue shows a revised version, so they've been coming apart for a long time. Frazero didn't ever touch the Quaifes (they used Gemini) and were also doing bottom as well as top bearing mod - since their early days in the VW Cup (~2000/2001).
I've spec'd the bottom support as uprated to the new g'box manufacturer supplying my new one... top one tho is shift tower dependant.. I'm not surprised the VWM lists this,... dog box changes and the slim ally support as std... you can imagine the carnage. Who is VWM effectively here in the UK currently?
VWM in uk is VW Racing, Sam Roach etc, but Hannover parts supply for the old Mk3/4 campaigns was sold out to various European suppliers, Hans Weijs etc. Frazero have largely curtailled their racing operation AFAIK. As soon as VW went into the dunes with the Toureg, they just blitzed the VWM stocks at Hannover. Pity, since you used to be able to order VWM parts via VW Racing UK, but not possible since ~ 2004. Final nail was Ricardo skipping a load of Gemini tranmission bits, pre Autosport this year.
Bill i should be down at coombe with the car for the bank holiday monday race if you want to have a look