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Sun Nov 01, 2009 7:06 pm

davis911s wrote: I doubt it. He usually gets pissed when people ask questions about his engines on other forums that are engine specific about his kits. And I don't blame him! Jake has put lots of effort into making these kits perfect. When we ask simple questions, or post how happy we are with his product or customer service I think he would be pleased. The reason I bought the Camper special is because of reviews I read here on The Samba!!

You sound like a Jake Raby infomercial...... :D

How the hell are you "building" an engine when you can't even find TDC (compression stroke) on said motor?

I can't find TDC

Then posting questions about Jake's precious engine here at the Samba? (prior to asking the master)

Sun Nov 01, 2009 10:18 pm

73kombi wrote: You sound like a Jake Raby infomercial...... :D

How the hell are you "building" an engine when you can't even find TDC (compression stroke) on said motor?

I can't find TDC

Then posting questions about Jake's precious engine here at the Samba? (prior to asking the master)

Jake says he designed the engine for people with all types of skill level. I am putting that to the test. :lol:

I knew when I posted the question about TDC I was having a mind fart and it was something stupid (and it was) No excuse but I have had a pile on my mind lately and wasn't thinking clear enough.

As for not asking the "master". I also posted on his forum, but since I knew it was something simple and needed a quick response I knew the guys here would also be able to help. I have limited time to work on the motor and need to get it completed before my house sells and I lose the garage.

INFOMERCIAL- I hope so. It was an expensive purchase for me, and I could not be happier. However an informercial person gets paid. I get nothing, heck with the money I spent I hope I never have to see him again. I am just a VERY happy customer. If you look around almost all of his customers feel like I do :D That is called a TESTIMONY.

Sun Nov 01, 2009 11:38 pm

If I recall my Bentley manual correctly the 73 has the same tranny as a Rabbit. Not the whole thing of course just the guts. How you put a cooler on it I don't know. Are there a couple of plugs on the side for installing cooler lines?

Mon Nov 02, 2009 7:03 am

No, there aren't. As I said earlier the mechanic who re-built my tranny said he didn't know of a way to plumb lines for one. He did say that some models of Vanagons had trannies pre-plumbed but didn't say which ones or if you could swap a Vanagon tranny. This is why I asked the question as I want to see what people have done to get around this issue and/or why Raby would say once that a cooler was necessary and now it isn't, what has changed?

Mon Nov 02, 2009 7:39 am

A few years ago I asked similar questios for a friend whose '75 AdventureWagen's engine oil frequently ran hot. Another friend (and the VW dealership tech who did all his tuning) & I knew it was heat soak-back from the transaxle's torque converter, so we tried to search for a way to get something better than the factory's 'air-cooling' for the trans.

A tranny guy who "knew", said the easiest way was to just get a Vanagon automatic case that had the cooler line connections & have the baywindow's transaxle built in that case. He said it was possible to set it up by drilling/tapping the '75's original transaxle case, but that the case swap was the most direct & easiest. There are lots of places that carry good, guaranteed, used auto trans parts. My guess would be that the external ATF cooler started in '83.5 with the wasserboxer engines, but that's just an assumption on my part.

You could certainly pose the question in front of the seeming trans gurus on shoptalk forum's Transaxle Forum http://www.shoptalkforums.net/viewforum.php?f=50&sid=cdf565b021e5a145c832e34535f5baf4 Someone there will know, or at least know where to direct you for the definitive answer.

This seems like an ideal time to get a tranny cooler installed. Best wishes for an easy solution.

Thu Nov 05, 2009 8:41 pm

i just got a 75 automatic (currently non-running)
with the original 003

& just like davis911s i know my way around a stick shift
but just starting to get my feet wet when it comes to automatic

my understanding is that for automatic transmissions on a bay...

73-75 has a 003
76-79 has a 010
80 & up ????

1st is this correct
2nd if it is correct then......is the 003 & 010
interchangable the way the 091 5rib(75) & the 6rib(76-79) are

i dont see a drain plug for the atf does this mean that i just loosen all
the bolts on pan untill the fluid leaks out from everywhere

the large pan gets ATF & the small pan gets gear oil, is this right ???