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Sat Mar 27, 2004 2:10 pm

i am so embarassed. spent a year getting the old '66 type 2 ready to go for the summer - purchased a new rebuilt transmission, rebuilt the reduction boxes, installed all new wiring, and the list goes on. start her up. figure she's good to go. put her in gear, and i'm goin' backwards. try another. i'm backin' up. put her in reverse and now she goin' forward. i know this is not going to be good news. but, can anybody help? i was positive i followed all the directions. never having done any of this before, i took my time. where do i begin? PLEASE HELP. thanks ...

Sat Mar 27, 2004 2:30 pm

you have somehow installed a transaxle that has the main grear ring reversed :(

the split buses and beetles shared similar (might be the same) transaxle. Since the bus has the reduction boxes on it the output of the transaxle in a bus must rotate opposite that of a beetle. this is what is wrong. I'm afraid you are gonna pull the engine and transaxle out again most likely.

was the transaxle rebuilt? or just laying around?

Sat Mar 27, 2004 3:06 pm

thanks faster-laster. i purchased the rebuilt transmission from transform about a year and a half ago. i remember the nose cone did not line up right so i had to get another one. i'm sure they are not going to exchange the transmission now, but i am going to tell them about it. maybe they can make their labeling clearer for the next person. anyway, thanks for the information. i'll start saving right away and maybe have the ol' bus on the road next summer...

Sat Mar 27, 2004 3:23 pm

[email protected] wrote: thanks faster-laster. i purchased the rebuilt transmission from transform about a year and a half ago. i remember the nose cone did not line up right so i had to get another one. i'm sure they are not going to exchange the transmission now, but i am going to tell them about it. maybe they can make their labeling clearer for the next person. anyway, thanks for the information. i'll start saving right away and maybe have the ol' bus on the road next summer...
you do have a bug center section but the only difference is the nose cone and hocky stick and the diff in installed from the opposite side. you dont need another tranny just take yours to a shop and have the diff swapped over to the other side and your good to go.

Sat Mar 27, 2004 8:46 pm

It also happened to me.. had 4 reverse gears and 1 forward... Differential had to be flipped... pull out the engine, and tranny and rip the tranny open... lots o fun!!! (20 steps backwards)

Sun Mar 28, 2004 5:56 am

Just lower it. Then you'll have 4 forward and one reverse again.

Mon Mar 29, 2004 9:05 am

First mistake was going to transform :roll: Even if you did not tell them that this tranny was for an early bus, depending on your driving style, don't expect a long life out of it. If you drive like I do you'll be lucky to get 2 years off it.

That said, YES, your ring gear needs to be rotated 180 degrees (or "to the other side") for your application. No need to panic, just more work for you.

Good luck! 8)

Mon Mar 29, 2004 12:10 pm

You might as well just send it back. It was built as a bug trans, no welded hubs, no hardened keys, more then likely a 4.37 r/p and an 89 4th. You should easily be able to cruise at 50 mph MAX with this set up