VW Tranny Mods

Over the years I've known 4(?) guys who could rebuild transaxles, actually torn apart a few myself and watched I don't know how many being re-assembled. I'm the first to admit that most of the time I've been drinking the odd hoppy beverage while watching so I've never paid all that much attention to how it's done, but I'll bet that most competent trans rebuilders would tell you that once the gear stack has been adjusted properly in a jig there's no need for that hole. If it runs and shifts properly in the jig (which in some cases is actually a cut down trans case) it will do so in the case it's installed in.

That said- interesting way of doing it, and I'll admit he does know more than me on the subject (I've never actually put one back together). I'm going to visit a friend (who is one of the guys I know that rebuilds transaxles and is good at it) tonight and (if I remember) I'll ask what he thinks.  Al

Al:  Don't you ever sleep in?  What is it out there - 5:23 a.m.?

No, Bob, I don't. And now it's 5:29. I'll be up for a few more minutes, feed the cats and go back to bed for an hour or so before starting the day. How are you doing? The air quality is not the best (even in town here) because of all the forest fires at the moment.

Funny, Carl used to regularly give me sh*t about the same thing...

I did this on a tranny I used on a Baja Bug.  I treated it pretty rough out rock bashing in the desert for a few years. Also drove it to work for a couple as well. It never broke or anything but I never really felt secure about the procedure. It could be because the electrical plug is not NPT  (tapered threads) so it did not put radial stress on the surrounding case. It's just another way to slice a pie  (maybe with a meat cleaver in this "case"?). ..............Bruce

Al is, of course, correct. That hole isn't big enough to adjust anything other than the 1-2 fork. Stupid if you ask me, to drill and tap a hole to do 1/3 of the job. Once the forks are set properly in a jig, there is absolutely no need to do so in the actual transmission.

And yes, I've rebuilt my trans myself, and it shifts great. First time was due to cheap Chinese main and diff bearing wear. Second time I missed a downshift from 4-3 and screwed up the 3rd gear synchro and slider. Thankfully the gear hub was OK.

Right now my trans is going back together as I cracked the 2nd gear synchro at autocross. 10-15 bucks for a synchro and a $13 gasket kit. Transmission work is all about the labor to do the job, and to get to the job......parts aren't that bad at all for type1 transmissions. A Porsche 915? $$$$$$$$$$$

Jigs are a sure way to check the gear function before building the transaxle back up.  

Yes, jigs are great, but try finding one for less than $300 or so these days. Most people cut open a trans case to use as a jig. But that's only if they can find one that's worthless for use, but not so messed up for a jig. I know a guy with one, but it's a PIA to arrange stopping over to use it.

But there are other ways. I never move the reverse gear fork, as you can get the gear and fork off without messing with the adjustment. 3-4 is pretty easy, it's dependent only on the main shaft location, which won't move IF you put a washer and nut to hold the bearing. Most bearings press in snug, but sometimes they are loose, easy to hold in position.

The pinion shaft to adjust 1-2 is usually the problem. It's installed position is entirely dependent on bolting it all into a case so the bearing is tight, which holds everything on this shaft where it needs to stay. You can temporarily install the cluster in the case, then hold it there with a cheap and easy to make  tool. Which I guess is EZ-Geezy's (youtube video link above) point. I'm just not drilling a hole in a perfectly good and strong case.

So, I made this, last night, and bolted it to the case less than an hour after I thought of it. It works great, put the gear cluster in today after adjustment and I have a nice clean neutral. All gears shift in and out nice and smooth.