TheSamba.com :: View topic - Vanagon transmission vent and painting the tranny

Wed Feb 10, 2010 8:21 pm

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?

Thu Feb 11, 2010 4:33 am

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

Thu Feb 11, 2010 7:36 am

I have done that here are some pics.

Thu Feb 11, 2010 8:44 am

Classic Ford red:

Thu Feb 11, 2010 9:57 am

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!

Thu Feb 11, 2010 10:34 am

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.

Thu Feb 11, 2010 11:12 am

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-

Thu Feb 11, 2010 11:19 am

rattlecanned mine. ford gray engine enamel I believe.

Thu Feb 11, 2010 11:49 am

grknvgn wrote: 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-

I made this up just for vanagon trannies to make one-man installs easy. It has a fore/aft slide adjustment for balance; the CG of a 2WD is way different than a Syncro so that can be corrected. And it has a tilt adjustment that leaves some freeplay to wiggle the trans when it's being mated to an engine. The whole thing bolts to a spare floorjack. Works nice.

Thu Feb 11, 2010 6:56 pm

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

Thu Feb 11, 2010 7:35 pm

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!

Fri Feb 12, 2010 8:38 am

Fri Feb 12, 2010 9:13 am

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.

Thu Jan 17, 2019 12:08 am

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

Thu Jan 17, 2019 12:39 am

Black gives the best heat passage.

:D

Thu Jan 17, 2019 7:18 am

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.

Thu Jan 17, 2019 7:30 am

So, you just drilled out the hole a little bigger and JB Welded the copper piece in ?

Thu Jan 17, 2019 7:49 am

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

T3messie wrote: Black gives the best heat passage.

:D

Thu Jan 17, 2019 8:24 am

metropoj wrote: So, you just drilled out the hole a little bigger and JB Welded the copper piece in ?

Yep! That sums it up.

The end of the hose hangs in front of the tranny near the mount about a couple of inches higher than the bottom edge. (sorry, no pics) Seems to be working just fine. I've thought about installing one of those simple in-line fuel filters. The tranny does breathe with heat-up and cool-down cycles.

Thu Jan 17, 2019 8:25 am

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