Vanagon transmission vent and painting the tranny

[AndyBees]

Two questions for opinions;

1. Has anyone done a mod to the vent hole on top of the Vanagon or Bus tranny, such as a pipe with an extension, cap, etc.? I'm finishing a rebuild/upgrade to my tranny and the vent hole sort of concerns me.

2. Lastly, after completing a rebuild, would you paint your tranny? If so, why and what color? What are the advantanges of painting, if any? Just looks or protection?
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'84 Vanagon Tin-top, ALH TDI, two trips to Alaska, 2014 & 16. 1989 Tin-top unmolested.
1983 Air-cool, 225k miles, 180k miles mine, seven trips to Alaska from 1986 thru 2003. 1975 Bay hopeful.

[Robw_z]

Syncros have a hose coming from that hole in case you didn't know. You may want to emulate that setup if you are considering heavy offroading or something, though if you get in a situation that could compromise the tranny vent hole in a 2wd you might not get out!

I had my trans painted when it was rebuilt. Black or naked was the only option. I wish I would've just left it, it's an alloy that doesn't really rust and the paint, while not catastrophically raising temps, does make it harder for the transmission to vent heat, both the heat the gears generate and the heat it soaks in from the motor. I scratched off a bunch of the paint during the install anyway, while dragging it under the van.

-Rob

[Alaric.H]

I have done that here are some pics.

[tencentlife]

Classic Ford red:

_________________
Shop for unique and useful Vanagon accessories at the Vanistan shop:
https://intrepidoverland.com/vanistan/
also available at VanCafe.com!

Please don't PM here, I will not reply.

Experience is death to doctrine.

[AndyBees]

Well, I'm certainly going to do something about the Vent hole. Not only is it a place for debris, mainly water, to enter, it is also a place for the oil to come out. And, although the oil that comes out is minute, it allows for dust, etc., to accumulate.

I like the orange tranny! Is that off the shelf aersol paint or is it professional. Looks professional to me!
_________________
'84 Vanagon Tin-top, ALH TDI, two trips to Alaska, 2014 & 16. 1989 Tin-top unmolested.
1983 Air-cool, 225k miles, 180k miles mine, seven trips to Alaska from 1986 thru 2003. 1975 Bay hopeful.

[tencentlife]

Primed and painted with a rattlecan, Duplicolor engine enamel. It air-dries hard but is easy to chip until it heat sets. You can see some damage under the front diff where it got scraped off installing it. Once the casings heat up it fully sets and is pretty tough after that.

This van lived where they salt the roads so these casings were covered in scale. I wirewheeled it all off to prep. I like a gloss enamel because it looks better and lets me wash the grime off of at the car wash. Clean components are happy ones, and so is the guy who has to work on them. Lighter colors under the car also make things easier to work on, they bounce a little light around and it makes a big difference.

I think modding the air vent on a 2WD trans is a good idea, the tiny hole provided easily gets clogged when dirt hits the oily film there.
_________________
Shop for unique and useful Vanagon accessories at the Vanistan shop:
https://intrepidoverland.com/vanistan/
also available at VanCafe.com!

Please don't PM here, I will not reply.

Experience is death to doctrine.

[Muskrat]

tencent...i wish i would've had your jack yesterday when i installed my trans.
is that your own creation or a commercial gizmo...
-k-

[rs4-380]

rattlecanned mine. ford gray engine enamel I believe.

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Dave
87 EJ25 Syncro GL

[tencentlife]

[Muskrat]

thats almost as beautiful as your engines.
you should be selling those as well.
nice work as always.
-k-

[AndyBees]

Well, I'm convinced! I'll do a mod on the vent as well as paint the tranny.... baby blue! That should be light enough!
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'84 Vanagon Tin-top, ALH TDI, two trips to Alaska, 2014 & 16. 1989 Tin-top unmolested.
1983 Air-cool, 225k miles, 180k miles mine, seven trips to Alaska from 1986 thru 2003. 1975 Bay hopeful.

[HeftySmurf]

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-Lorenzo
90 GL w/ Bostig

[tencentlife]

Yow, love the yellow! That'll be like having floodlights underneath.

So how many of these pretty gearboxes are just come back from AA Daryl? Both of the ones I have shown were just reconditioned by him.
_________________
Shop for unique and useful Vanagon accessories at the Vanistan shop:
https://intrepidoverland.com/vanistan/
also available at VanCafe.com!

Please don't PM here, I will not reply.

Experience is death to doctrine.

[jimf909]

Who knew that folks painted transmissions silver, red and yellow. Maybe I’ll go for purple. Purple tran, purple tran...
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- Jim

[T3messie]

Black gives the best heat passage.

[AndyBees]

Wow!

I forgot about starting this Thread almost 9 years ago.

Well, I stuck with the bare OE metal, no paint.

I did modify the existing vent hole. I use a flexible hose and let it hang down like an Elephant trunk. It's been in service like this since 2012. I've had the transmission out and opened once but never saw any evidence of contamination.

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'84 Vanagon Tin-top, ALH TDI, two trips to Alaska, 2014 & 16. 1989 Tin-top unmolested.
1983 Air-cool, 225k miles, 180k miles mine, seven trips to Alaska from 1986 thru 2003. 1975 Bay hopeful.

[metropoj]

So, you just drilled out the hole a little bigger and JB Welded the copper piece in ?
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John.
86 TiiCo powered Westy.

[danfromsyr]

NICE manual diff lock bracket.. though I doubt it would work with a WBX starter.

[AndyBees]

[metropoj]

Thanks Andy. I may do this mod at some point when I drop the tranny and thought it would be good for clarity.
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John.
86 TiiCo powered Westy.