Hello Robin
Have you had any luck fitting the 'PTW' box to your A2 yet? I need to get a gearbox soon, so I just wondered if there were any problems fitting?
Many thanks Andy
PTW Box was fitted to my BHC-75tdi in August. Fitted a new Borg&Beck clutch and new CV joints (as one driveshaft clicked horribly in corners) Mechanic made up the two wee brackets from folded sheet steel (but basically, any L-section metal should work with holes drilled appropriately) that locate the cable carrier from your car into the correct position on the new casing for your existing 5-speed selector mechanism that is also transferred (the two levers that the cables attach to that convert linear cable movements into the rotational movement to select between odd and even gears and the side-to-side gearlever movement equating to vertical movement of the mechanism into / out of the box - these are held onto the selector shaft by a single nut that you need to re-use). Instead of my A2 starter, we used a CAYC starter motor (1.6tdi) - it is normally used in a stop-start car and apart from having to rig up a connector (I now have the correct one for the mechanic to splice onto the cable), it fits the PTW box perfectly. Because of its normal use, it is also a bit beefier than my original starter (I think it is also about 200W more powerful), so the start feels a bit more positive (and it doesn't squeal afterwards either). Worst part of the whole job according to the mechanic was releasing the driveshaft splines. The dogbone swap was simple - the Polo tdi bushing end unbolts from the pressed steel bracket at the other end which is swapped for the one off your 5-speed box, but only uses 2 of the three holes to attach to the casing. Box was filled up with fresh Bluemotion oil (the p/n is specified in one of the 6-gear threads, I just don't have it here).
For the first couple of days the change was a bit tight forwards / backwards, but an aborted cable adjustment (undid the appropriate gear cable connector whereupon it started to rain so I put it back, maybe it moved a fraction of 1 mm?) - and then use for a few days loosened it up to the point now where it is indistinguishable from my old box, except when you use 6th at speed whereupon the engine noise just disappears.
So in short - no issues at all encountered fitting this unlike some of the 5-speed Bluemotion boxes where a small part of the casting needs to be removed to bolt the gearbox onto the frame mounting, and also having changed the starter to that used in cars PTWs are normally fitted to, encountered no issues some people have had re-using A2 starters where the pinion doesn't quite locate right.
Further to other questions about gear ratios above, although on paper 1-5 are slightly higher (1-3mph at 2000rpm) for the same engine speed as the normal gearbox, in action you just don't notice it, pulling away is normal, can still tool around in a supermarket carpark in 1st / 2nd <15mph without bogging down, and arguably the slightly higher gearing, particularly in 3rd, seems to match the characteristics of a healthy BHC very nicely when accelerating onto a dual carriageway. I've not done a long drive yet due to Covid so can't comment on long distance economy in 6th compared to several years doing this drive mostly in 5th at ~2800-3000rpm.
Any other questions please feel free to ask, I may not know the answer but someone else might.