68 transmission questions

[mabbo]

Hi,

I know the 68 bus transmission has 6 nuts behind the CV flange instead of the 2 screws found on 69> transmissions... But are there any other differences? Is it weaker or different ratios to the later style?

I have a 69 Westy and my transmission is noisy as hell. Was planning on getting it rebuilt but have found a 'good used' 68 transmission that Im considering buying but want to find out as much as I can before going for it.

Cheers, Neil
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[Wildthings]

For a US spec rig the gearing can be found in the TECHNICAL section, no clue what VW might have used in Europe.

[skills@eurocarsplus]

68 is a 1 year wonder in a lot of ways.

unless it's cheap or free i'd pass. if you were doing a 100 point concours d'elegance restoration on a 68 you may want to pick it up.

last i knew my transmission guy won't even take one as a core because they were THAT goofy
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[busman78]

To be blunt it was the poorest design and weakest transmission VW ever created for the bus, it did not even make it all the way through the entire 68 bus production year. Decades ago there were some transmission shops that could and would do the machining for better bearings to fix some of the issues the 68 trans had.

Put your money in getting your 69 trans rebuilt, not worth the headache of doing the swap. By the way there is no such thing as a good used 68 transmission.

[sodbuster]

Nope! Don't do it. Like busman78 said "a poor design." So poor in fact The design was only installed on new production for the first six months. The diff bearing retainers are not the only major flaw of these early IRS transaxles. The pinion bearing and it's retainers are a steaming turd sammich as well! I'm willing to bet the 68 bus trans you were looking into already had a bad ring and pinion.

Other than the stupid design of the diff and pinion bearings and retainers the gear ratios are same same. The fix (if the ring and pinion are good.) was to recase the transaxle with the updated case and treaded collars. No real machining per se just some early to late parts swapping.

[mabbo]

Thanks for the replies guys. I'll leave it then, cheers.

The transmission in my Westy isnt the original. Its a later 3 rib with the 2 lugs at the top of the bell housing. It doesn't pop out of gear or anything but its so noisy when under load. Iv done quite a few miles with no issues, other than a headache

Im not doing a 100% resto on it, I bought it for family holidays
I might restore it at some point but its got a later 1600 twin port in it too so not fussed about it being 100% correct.

Cheers
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West Midlands, UK
www.retro-resto.co.uk

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[relevitch]

Nice bus.

[sodbuster]

Very nice Bus!

[brookmp]

If I may piggy back on your thread...

I too have a '68 Westfalia with a very noisy (and highly likely, original) transmission. I've been given a '71 transmission to swap it with. Can I replace a '68 transmission with a '71 without any major modifications? Will it need machining, etc?

Thanks
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1968 Westfalia Campmobile
1971 Double Cab Pick-up
1974 Standard Beetle

[skills@eurocarsplus]

direct bolt in but you will have to change your throw out bearing and pressure plate to the 71 style
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[sjbartnik]

Just want to chime in to say that if your transmission is getting noisy but it is otherwise working fine, you should address it sooner rather than later. Depending on what the issue is it may be a relatively minor fix (though probably still requiring a rebuild) but you may save valuable and rare parts that you risk destroying if you keep running it.

I saved myself a very expensive and rare ring & pinion recently by doing this. The noise was telling me something was wrong and indeed there was but thankfully I caught it before damaging the r&p.
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1965 Volkswagen 1500 Variant S
2000 Kawasaki W650

[kreemoweet]

[heimlich]

[ron miche]

I bought a 68 ambumance with a lsd factory