5 speed linkage Q, Small block.

I'm about to convery my driver to a five speed, using a polo gearbox.

I know Im going to use the existing shifter and rods, they just bolt up.

Is there anything I need to do to give it enough " reach " to get it into 5th ?? Or will it just work ??

Answers on a postcard please to the usual address !!  :dontknow:

you need to get under the car and modify the bottom of the shifter so it lets you select 5th, im not clear on the specifics but i believe its one of those things that when you look it will become obvious

You dont have to get underneath the car, you can do it from inside the car

Remove the centre console so you can see the selector box where the bottom of the gearstick is located, and once you have done that you will see how the lip of the housing stops the mechanism selecting reverse without pushing the stick down. Well that same lip on the opposite side is what stops you tilting the stick the other way to select fifth, so you simply need to either hammer it flat or cut it away so you can tilt the stick over enough, its as simple as that

Me and a few mates simply hammered it out of the way and it worked fine. I will get some photos for you later as my selector box is currently out of the car

aha! shows what i know about small blocks

rubjonny said

aha! shows what i know about small blocks

I still bow down to your knowledge though Sir!  8)

ah you're too kind :redfaced:

Waiting on the pics mate, nice one.  


Still toying with the polo 16v idea while ive got the spanners out…..grr….:-D

Sorry for being late with the pics, kept slipping my mind until today! :redfaced:



Fifth gear position;

If your going 5 five speed on a small block engine you will have to change the steering rack aswell as the small block rack doesn't have a bracket for the 5 speed linkage

nezza said

If your going 5 five speed on a small block engine you will have to change the steering rack aswell as the small block rack doesn't have a bracket for the 5 speed linkage

I don't know where you got that information but its totally untrue! :wink: The small block gear linkage doesn't need that bracket.


You only need the steering rack with the bracket if you have a big block engine, 4 OR 5 speed :mrgreen:

Thats absolutely top drawer mate. Thank you sooo much.   onward..!!! :-D


Although, that said, does the reverse lock out still work !???  

Gold-mk1 said

Thats absolutely top drawer mate. Thank you sooo much.   onward..!!! :-D


Although, that said, does the reverse lock out still work !???  

It shouldn't make any difference to the other gears positions providing you haven't undone the part of the linkage which adjusts the positions

Had mine working perfectly for about 5 years so I know it works

so just to get this right, cause i have read weird things/thought you needed more parts than you actually needed.

to do a 5 speed conversion you need the obvious polo box and the polo linkages. a modded polo/golf gbox mount, half and half of each if i remember right.

which polo box code?

hammer a section flat and you are good for 5 gears?

bucket said

so just to get this right, cause i have read weird things/thought you needed more parts than you actually needed.

to do a 5 speed conversion you need the obvious polo box and the polo linkages. a modded polo/golf gbox mount, half and half of each if i remember right.

which polo box code?

hammer a section flat and you are good for 5 gears?

Correct   However you DON'T need the polo linkage :wink: You can use your mk1 linkage. And it doesn't matter which code gearbox you get (unless you're after a certain set of ratios). If its from a mk2/3 polo it will bolt up to your mk1 engine 8)

awesome, might be a new year thing to do when the weather is better.

now to hunt out a polo box and mount, unless someone is selling one on

Ah, now hang on, what about a mk4 gearbox ?? from a T reg 1.4 ??   ( I think we can see where this is leading…..  :mrgreen:

Mk4 Golf? It wont fit the mk1 engine and its also a cable shift mechanism… So its not possible unless you plan on fitting the mk4 engine too?! 8) In which case its just a set of custom mounts and probably a hydro clutch conversion, custom driveshafts, a whole bunch of wiring…

What are you planning?

i think the mk4 golf box is an 020 box with a smallblock bellhousing, 02S iirc? it'll fit the engine but making it work might be tricky as iirc there arnt any holes for the mk1 mounts so you need to swap bits over from older 020 boxes. by the time you have done that and reshimmed the bearings, may as well have jut put a bigger engine in

T reg polo 1.4…….never mentioned a golf box..  :-D merry Christmas !!

polo mk4 (6n) gearbox should fit yeah!  I didn't know mk4 polos went as far as 1999 so I presumed it was a golf you're talking about!

You may need to swap the driveshaft flanges though…



Rubjonny, come to think of it the mk4 golf block has the same bellhousing pattern as the lupo/polo GTI engines doesn't it! And I have heard of people fitting Lupo GTI 'boxes to AFH engines and whatnot, as they are supposedly much stronger 8) So yes you are quite right