Question about used transaxle

[OLD VW NUT]

I'm in the process of putting a freshly rebuilt Rancho transaxle with a 4.12 gear into my Ghia which leaves me with a used and in need of a rebuild stock 71 transaxle which has the 3.88 final gear drive. It needs at the least new bearings on the 4th gear mainshaft - it was very noisy on deceleration in 4th at anything over 55mph. It shifted well and there was no noise in any other gear.

Lots of metal shavings were found on the drain plug - and more in the dregs (used oil) at the bottom. The used oil seems to smell only faintly of gear lube - I'm used to a stronger smell. It has the viscosity of 50w racing oil - the kind I used to run in my old Triumphs and BSA's. 80w-90 should be thicker - maybe thats the cause of the early demise? 120,500 miles. I haven't driven it that hard with the 2110 - it should have lasted longer. FWIW there was almost zero noise from the transaxle when I first got the car.

My question is: Is the used transaxle with a 3.88 rear gear worth $300 or more? Rancho is giving me $250 for my core and I'm paying shipping. They'd have charged me $300 extra for the street pro transaxle with the 3.88 gears - WTF? It seems to be industry standard these days - pay $300 more for the 'freeway flier' and I'm going to hand them one? If its worth more as is to someone I'll put it up in the classifieds. Seems to me they should split the difference and give me $450 for my core. Am I wrong?

Here's the gunk and snot found on the drain plug. I'm not separating it but I can imagine the bottom of the transaxle must be pretty much the same condition. Trans code is AN

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71 Ghia Coupe - stock body - no rust! Powered by a 2110 W/Dual HPMX 44's - Rancho Pro Street Transaxle - A/C by Gilmore

Other car - 2013 VW Golf TDI

[vwracerdave]

They will not buy a core for the same price they sell a core for. They have time and labor involved in tearing it apart, inspecting it to see if it is rebuildable, and cleaning it up.
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2017 Street Comp Champion - Thunder Valley Raceway Park - Noble, OK
2010 Sportsman ET Champion - Mid-America Dragway - Arkansas City, KS
1997 Sportsman ET Champion - Thunder Valley Raceway Park - Noble ,OK

[esde]

[Bruce]

[mcmscott]

Maybe I'm reading your post wrong, but a 71 trans does not have a 3.88 r/p. The price of a good used 3.88 is over 250 when available.
https://weddleindustries.com/products/1000158/1001867
The brazilion 3.88's have been unavailable for some time now. Face it, gearboxes are finally gonna start getting expensive.
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There are no stupid questions, only stupid people,

68 Ghia
67 T-1
65 Notch
02 Mexican beetle
74 Thing
15 Long travel rail
07 Nomad
05 f-250

[tzepesh]

The AN gearbox was one of the finest. I wish I could find one around here for my wife's 64. Don't know the prices, but I think AN gearboxes are not very common. That was the first 3.88 made. Gear ratios are identical to AT gearboxes of the 1303S, the longest made: 3.80 / 2.06 / 1.26 / 0.93 R&P 3.875. I think the AT that could be converted to swingaxle, it has two sideplates.
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'74 1303S, L98B Viperngrun (extra glitter), German Look
'64 1200, Sea Blue, under restoration

[modok]

Here it's worth 80$
I think you better mail it to cali

[sactojesse]

[OLD VW NUT]

I thought I'd update this thread. I sent the old transaxle to Rancho - after inspection I got my $250 core charge back so it must have been in decent shape. The rebuilt transaxle has a 4.12 final drive with a .93 fourth gear. I like the gearing better than the old one - 4th gear doesn't seem so tall now and since I don't drive freeways (closest one is 20 miles away) any highway driving is 60mph - perfect for my needs. The trans feels almost like close ratio gearing. The Rancho transaxle seems to be quite smooth shifting and no more noise from the transaxle.
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71 Ghia Coupe - stock body - no rust! Powered by a 2110 W/Dual HPMX 44's - Rancho Pro Street Transaxle - A/C by Gilmore

Other car - 2013 VW Golf TDI