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SL12572
Samba Member
Joined: April 13, 2011
Posts: 270
Location: Washington
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 Posted: Thu Sep 08, 2011 9:50 pm Post subject: Yarded out the Syncro Trans and then off to see Gary Zink |
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It's been a Loooong day today. Everything went smooth with the transmission removal, except getting the starter out! What a pain that was...After it was out, I met with Gary Zink of Gary's Transaxle Service in Kent, WA. Gary agreed to let me take photos and ask too many questions as we dissasemble the transaxle.
In the hangar and ready to start the day:
A few hours and many inappropriate words later:
Made it to Gary's place of business...The picture shows he must be a good guy...
The teardown (arrows pointing to the problem areas)
As you can see from the photos, a bearing came loose in the housing and was causing end play on the main shaft. This ended up hitting another part of the housing, damaging the aluminum surface for which that bearing was seated against. Also, the bearing outer race was cracked all the way through! Glad we split it apart, before major damage happened.
The pinion shaft has some slight pitting on it, where one of the bearings rides. Does anyone know if it could be repaired by spray welding and re-machining? The rest of it is in very good shape. Hate to scrap it out for some very slight pitting.
All in all, it was a great day. I highly recommend Gary Zink. He really took the time and showed me a lot about the syncro transmission, including weak areas, how this transaxle functions, What the good parts should look like and what they look like when they fail. He's a very reasonable guy to work with.
Scott |
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Jake de Villiers
Samba Member
Joined: October 24, 2007
Posts: 5911
Location: Tsawwassen, BC
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| Posted: Thu Sep 08, 2011 10:33 pm Post subject: |
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Nice pix. I was privileged to watch Gary go through my 5 speed a year ago. What a great setup he has for working on VW & Porsche transaxles and what a nice man! Very knowledgeable and really quick too. I wanted to ask him if I could apprentice... 
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photogdave
Samba Member
Joined: April 05, 2004
Posts: 3052
Location: Vancouver Island, B.C.
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ALIKA T3
Samba Member
Joined: July 30, 2009
Posts: 6351
Location: Honolulu,Hawaii and France
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purplepeopleeater
Samba Member
Joined: July 23, 2005
Posts: 3117
Location: E. Washington
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| Posted: Fri Sep 09, 2011 5:41 am Post subject: |
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Cool, looks old school 
Know what he charges for rebuilds? im toying with having a spare around.
I also need to get the autotrans working rebuilt on my wolfsburg. |
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turbotransporter
Samba Member
Joined: February 19, 2006
Posts: 459
Location: Bainbridge Island WA
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| Posted: Fri Sep 09, 2011 3:24 pm Post subject: |
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Gary Zink is a great guy! I met him when I was delivering parts from my Van Cafe run in the TurboTransporter.
Old School in more ways than one and that's a good thing. 
He's got a new web site:
http://garystransaxles.com/index.html |
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SL12572
Samba Member
Joined: April 13, 2011
Posts: 270
Location: Washington
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| Posted: Fri Sep 09, 2011 7:02 pm Post subject: |
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| purplepeopleeater wrote: |
Cool, looks old school
Know what he charges for rebuilds? im toying with having a spare around.
I also need to get the autotrans working rebuilt on my wolfsburg. |
It all depends on the condition of your transaxle to begin with. As long as the big ticket items are all good, expect to pay about $1000.00. He's got a pricesheet on his website: www.garystransaxles.com |
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SL12572
Samba Member
Joined: April 13, 2011
Posts: 270
Location: Washington
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| Posted: Fri Sep 09, 2011 7:06 pm Post subject: |
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| So today, I took the mainshaft to a flamespray/machine shop in hopes that they can come up with a repair to the pitted bearing surface. With prices for this shaft in the $800.00 range, it would be great to come up with a fix that we can all benefit from. |
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fsf1o1
Samba Member
Joined: February 12, 2011
Posts: 186
Location: Florida
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| Posted: Fri Sep 09, 2011 7:11 pm Post subject: |
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| nice man nice |
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r39o
Samba Polizei
Joined: May 18, 2005
Posts: 9800
Location: San Diego
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| Posted: Fri Sep 09, 2011 8:31 pm Post subject: |
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| SL12572 wrote: |
| So today, I took the mainshaft to a flamespray/machine shop in hopes that they can come up with a repair to the pitted bearing surface. With prices for this shaft in the $800.00 range, it would be great to come up with a fix that we can all benefit from. |
Hope it works.
If not, maybe hard chroming will.
_________________
"Use the SEARCH, Luke" But first visit the Vanagon FAQ!
1990 Multivan EJ 22, Rancho trans 0.82 4th, Small Car front AC, CLKs w/ 215/65-16, homemade big brakes 303mm, Konis, Recaros, etc....
Click to see my ads for Cup holders, Subaru clutch fix and CLK wheels (no wheels currently) |
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SL12572
Samba Member
Joined: April 13, 2011
Posts: 270
Location: Washington
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| Posted: Sat Sep 10, 2011 7:55 am Post subject: |
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| r39o wrote: |
Hope it works.
If not, maybe hard chroming will. |
Good idea. Didn't think about that...Do you know if they can achieve an exact dimension hard chroming?
From what I gather, the bearing surface will have to be machined down to remove the pitting to make the surface even and then be built up from there. |
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itsasyncro
Samba Member
Joined: September 22, 2010
Posts: 92
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| Posted: Sat Sep 10, 2011 8:55 am Post subject: |
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Hi Scott,
I'm following alone with mixed feelings, fun to watch, sorry
It's gone.
Jeff |
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SL12572
Samba Member
Joined: April 13, 2011
Posts: 270
Location: Washington
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| Posted: Sat Sep 10, 2011 12:34 pm Post subject: |
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| itsasyncro wrote: |
Hi Scott,
I'm following alone with mixed feelings, fun to watch, sorry
It's gone.
Jeff |
Hi Jeff,
I promise to take care of her  As time goes on, the more I am obsessed with the Syncro.
BTW...I haven't forgotten that I owe you a helicopter ride. That was part of the deal.
Scott |
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SL12572
Samba Member
Joined: April 13, 2011
Posts: 270
Location: Washington
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| Posted: Fri Sep 23, 2011 3:54 pm Post subject: |
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Finally got the shaft back from rework. Ultimately, they ended up machining down the pitted surface, pressed a hardened through inner race, then machined it to size.
Before
After
The transaxle should be done Monday or Tuesday! I'm excited to get it back on the road!
Scott |
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ALIKA T3
Samba Member
Joined: July 30, 2009
Posts: 6351
Location: Honolulu,Hawaii and France
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SL12572
Samba Member
Joined: April 13, 2011
Posts: 270
Location: Washington
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| Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2011 6:44 pm Post subject: |
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Update:
The transaxle is all finished in installed in the van. Works perfect! I highly recommend Gary Zink. He does great work and has very fair prices. Love my new daily driver.
For the first drive, I made sure and wore my North Westy shirt that I bought at Kirk Meeks' shop.
Scott |
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IrideWheelies
Samba Member
Joined: July 09, 2009
Posts: 386
Location: Olympia, WA
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| Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2011 5:59 pm Post subject: |
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I'm going to have to rebuild my syncro trans this winter. It's main issue is that it pops out of 2nd. I've also had my eye on a Pelican TBD since I don't have a locker and I drive in the snow a lot.
I was planning to take it to AA Trans, and drop $1795 for a rebuild and another $1195 for the TBD. Plus any extra charges for worn parts. Ouch.
After looking at this thread I'm considering taking it to Gary Zink because he only charges $975 for a rebuild but it seems too good to be true. How can he charge so much less? His labor rate can't be that much lower and he must be using similar, if not the same, parts.
The price for a 2wd trans rebuild is similar between AA and Zink so I know it's not the cost of overhead.
Is AA doing something Zink isn't during the rebuild? What's the deal here? I'd like to save some cash but not if it means cutting corners.
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89' Dove Blue Syncro Hightop |
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outwesty
Samba Member
Joined: June 06, 2006
Posts: 1074
Location: Tahoe City
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| Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2011 8:25 pm Post subject: |
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| I am not sure why some are so high. A syncro rebuild at AZtransaxle is only $1295. He uses all German Bearings and syncros, uses the weddle 3-4 slider & adds South African Oil Plates (SA plates are $85 extra). I just got mine back today and I was happy with how he did business. He has done a bunch of syncro transmissions so I'm not too worried. I spent over $2k on a 2wd tranny rebuild from German Transaxle and I am wondering if one of these guys could have done the same for less. Glad to hear Zink worked out for you. Maybe I will try him next time. |
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purplepeopleeater
Samba Member
Joined: July 23, 2005
Posts: 3117
Location: E. Washington
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| Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2011 8:37 pm Post subject: |
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Wow, I'm glad this worked out.
AA was going to do my next, i'm sure that even though my 2wd westy has 15k on the rebuild that my next motor is going to do it in.
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16CVs 
Samba Member
Joined: February 22, 2004
Posts: 4024
Location: Redwood City, California
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| Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2011 9:22 pm Post subject: |
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So how close to the $975.00 mark was your rebuild ? We have all seen come on prices based on the bare minimum of parts needed .
My trans from from Go Westy was $2200.00 off of the shelf exchange plus a $100.00 I lost on core charge.
What is the warranty and how far away is he if you have a warranty issue .If you are shopping ,I would seriously throw that into the equation .
Having someone close is a major asset in my book.
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1987 Syncro Westfalia Triple knob (bastard)
1989 Syncro Tristar Triple knob "Swedish"
2013 Jetta Hybrid a true "Zwitter"
Samba member # 14980
Call anytime number 650 722 4914 .
Keep Your van running and upkept tastefully for the love of the hobby.
Don't let your van end up in an "abortions" thread. |
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