A 340 variomatic transmission in a DAF 66
I have this transmission in my 66 for more than 15 years, I guess it must be around 1988 that I started working on that project and had the car on the road in '89.
It is amazing that nobody did this before, and now requests are coming in about how to do it ?
The advantage of this transmission is that it can handle more power than a 66 transmission . More spring pressure in the secondary disc. Additional advantages are, an much easier change of a primary or secondary unit and in this set up a driveshaft change is just as easy as in a 340. But as most projects many problems had to be solved.
Drawings had to be made, and new parts too.
There are two obstacles , the sub-frame and drive shaft.
After many tries, the easy way for the sub-frame is to modify the front 66 bar and to make a new rear bar.
Total view
front bar
Rear bar
So this is an easy job. Front bar Daf 66 miner adapts, for the rear bar a piece of steel tubing 30X60X3 mm and 690 mm long will do.
The drive shaft
The drive shaft is another story. The 340 shaft has the same
length as the 66 shaft, but a
340 is 90 mm longer between engine and transmission. There are two options,
shorten the drive-shaft or shorten the clutch shaft. Shorten the
drive shaft forget it. too complicated. To shorten the clutch shaft was a
complicated matter too because the rear clutch bearing house also was too long.
After a short thinking very soon I discovered that a side bearing house of
a 340 primary was a good base to start with. Machined a new fitting
edge and bearing space. So that was easy. What rest was the clutch shaft. First
option was to shorten it have new spleens on the other side of the shaft, but
non machine shop could do that. The only way what rest to get the thing shorter
was to cut it remove 90 mm and weld the thing together. When I was in the
States, I discussed that problem with Kaz Wysocki of PMC in Hackensack NY and
they made 3 of these shorter shafts. Two shafts with both side 340, clutch plate
and drive shaft, and the other one with on clutch side 66 and shaft side 340.
This has an advantage of less work for the first conversion because you don't
have to take the engine out for changing clutch plates 66 versus 340.
A Daf 55 secondary.
An extra bearing where the seal was located DAF 55
03/19/06