Alika's Syncro transmission work

[ALIKA T3]

Aloha all!

at the end of november 2010 (wow!! 4 years ago almost day to day. Just realized how long it takes to acomplish my project ) , I bought a Syncro for 2.5K$ on a neighbor island.
Syncrogreg sent me a private message with the Craigslist link, I couldn't pass on it.
I had initially planned on driving my Westy EJ22 with a UN1 transmission to South America ( the reason why I built it).

4 years ago, I took it apart and dropped the transmission, and decided to go the M-Tdi way.

This thread is about the work I started to do to rebuild that transmission, inspired solely by the Herman Blog in the beginning, with no real advice until I met Mr Gears, aka Paul.
I did my first 091 transmission back in 2003 with no special tools. Chisel and hammer for the pinion bearing nut NO FEAR
From there, a new world of possibilities opened and there it is, I hope you enjoy the pictures


Syncro transmission AAN with locking differential /b]
Original locker transmission was missing and got replaced with a non locking model when I got the van.
Since I was stripping it, I traded my transmission, propshaft,springs,shocks,brakes for a locker transmission locally.
Turns out, a couple years later, I bought everything back for 500 bucks for spare parts, couldn't pass on the bargain

cleaning

oil draining

Flange removal with a 24mm wrench.I blocked it with a plumber's wrench left loose open and the M8 bolts still attached

Leverage on the casting ear to open the cover

Steyr Puch bearing stamping

Don't forget to loosent that allen bolt hidden in there. Luckily I have the french original VW workshop manual to help me.

Pull out the gear selector shaft

bellhousing out
[ut]2_-_fkLF-XU[/ut]
In order to remove the input shaft, loosen the differential bearing nut on the right, the differential will drop slightly, leaving you enough room to pull the last millimeters of the splined coupling, allowing you to unscrew the input shaft from the mainshaft.

The actuator shaft for the locking differential's fork gets out with the sleeve once the pin that retains the fork onto the shaft has been driven out (inner side of the transmission)

I bought plastic bins to store all my parts between 2 jobs, as the shop's roof leaks badly sometimes, and dust...

I fabricated an extractor for this pinion: a long M5 thread bolt, a 1" copper coupling (nice because it's not thick: not a lot of room in there) and a thick steel plate, and an M5 nut.
The threaded rod goes through the plate and the coupling and threads into the shaft. Cheap and easy.

you end up with this assembly...

….that comes from here

February 25th , 2011

You gotta put the transmission upside down to remove the damn cover. I didn't read the manual enough and was cursing like a sailor while bashing it to get out. I still don't understand the physics behind it though….

the pinion goes out by itself almost, be carefull there are many washers, needle bearings….

Now we reuse our cheap extractor again : the access is by the gasket surface, accessible only once the low gear housing is out.

There it is all assembled to not loose anything, it's basically the same as the previous one I got out.

I made a tool with the diesel injection pump dial gauge.

This is for marking the pinion's depth position in the case.
I learnt later thanks to Paul that I didn't need it because I didn't replace the main case nor the R&P
No need the fancy VW tool pictured here (yet…)

I'd have made one out of 50mm PVC that I got sent from France (fits perfectly in the differential bearings ) to hold the dial gauge and note the depth with MY tool on THIS R&P set in THIS case.
In case you wondered, my research took me a while but I finally found out the depth of the magnetic spacer 385/17 that goes on the pinion face: 5x50mm.

March 6th 2011

Removal of the shift fork, it's tight: mounted with Loctite.

Pop this C-clip

2 arm-extractor for the reverse gear, secured with steel wire and a clamp. That will do.

It's out!!

Below it is a needle cage and a color coded thickness washer. I always get green somehow…

Do not forget to remove the woodruff key that's here to prevent the mainshaft bearing form rotating.

The mainshaft ball bearing retainer clip

This is a tool I made to measure the pinion depth to set it back exactly the same way, but it's never giving me the same result

Trying Plan B that was plan A initially (here with 2" SCH40 PVC: bad!!!)I need 50mm PVC (in metric it's always O.D: because it's metric and because it's smarter than the Imperial System. Bam! : )

To the worst will come Plan C: measuring accurately with a caliper the pinion bearing lip thickness to compare with the new one. That's why I started to talk to Paul later on: all bearings are the same. Thanks VW manual for allowing me to waste my time

I'm now marking the ring position in the case so I won't fool around for minutes trying the be close to the truth little steps by littles steps.( Backlash in english I think).

Extracting the bearing on the locker side with a guillotine extractor.

Same goes for the other side, but gotta destroy the differential bearing to get a good grip.

I tried extracting this needle bearing with a slide hammer, it won't budge, so I have to turn this blind hole extractor into my own sauce.

March 29th 2011

I got my replica pinion bearing race/nut tools from Latvia!
It's meant for a 5 speed 094, so I have to cut it in half and lengthen it with a chromoly tube welded in the middle.

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

The ring on the ring finger also comes from Latvia.Funny.

Uploaded with ImageShack.us I tried to cheat using a US threaded bolt for my M12x1.5 extractor (very close dimension) but it failed...

Gotta find a Japanese car wheel lung bolt to try again.
This set me back a while amongst other things in my life...

[b] November 21 2012 :rouge:

Bearing carrier removal with shafts

Spin the shifter guides with a big flat head screwdriver to get them out once they align with the hole in the housing.

Remove the clip that retains the needle bearing for the mainshaft

Extraction with a 19mm 1/2" dribe socket to drive the needle bearing out

This fork get outs as a whole.

It was time to open that transmission a year after I drained the oil out: it started to have rust signs inside

Attaching the shafts together to drive them out. I found a hydraulic press on Craigslist for 200 bucks: what an improvement!! The hydraulic ram worked at the shop (press test) and failed at the first task at home… I replaced it with a hydraulic bottle jack.

Pressing onto the mainshaft , with a little brass cap to protect it. Using a deep 15mm 1/2" socket is a better idea as I figured out later: it pushes on the shoulder

It's out

Mainshaft, 4th idler gear removal

4th idler with the slider out

3rd/4th hub getting out

And then comes the 3rd gear.

3rd and 4th out together from the mainshaft

Pop the U clip for the 4th gear on the pinion shaft.

4th gear extracted. The groove goes towards the front of the van

2 Syncro pinion shafts side by side for comparison.

2nd and 3rd get out at the same time together

3rd and 2nd out from the pinion shaft

Slider hub gets out with the 1st gear

pinion shaft naked

I'm training myself on the old pinion shaft to get the pinion bearing nut/race out

I'm working late at night… parts list to order at the best prices, better needle bearings...

Some math to choose the 3rd and 4th gears for my Subaru engine and 215/70R16 tires (decided later to go with a Tdi engine).

End of the world

I finally received my goodies from Weddle a couple weeks ago.

Idler gear with separate teeth ring

The better synchronizing hubs,The left one is a Weddle Industries, the one on the right is a VW, round angles

I received my decoupler kit from Syncro Services in Holland, stainless steel locker actuator rods and sleeves

2013

After talking to Gears, my gears have been spinning in my head. I had no idea about warping, case stress and so on.
Decision is taken: this transmission will be awesome or it won't be at all.
I sent the main case to Dave Folts on the mainland to get it modified/sleevd for the pinion bearing and the mainshaft needle bearing.
I sent the mainshaft to Thompson Gundrilling to be gundrilled at 3/8"

I cannot find a string enough vise to hold the damn pinion nut/race in place without ripping the whole bench out.
I squatted this big ass vise that I spotted on the harbor: not budging…I didn't know what to do at that point
Gears came to the rescue later and told me by email that I need to heat it up.

March 20th 2013

I heated up the pinion bearing nut/race and it came loose much more easily. I put some teflon to protect the shaft when I pounded the tool onto the splines (tool is a tight fit)

Press extraction

Main case back from sleeving: it's beautiful!!!

I received my mainshaft gundrilled too, drilled until the orange zipties. 2 holes will be drilled perpendicularly for oiling 3rd and 4th idler ger needle bearings.

I pushed the low gear shaft out with a 6mm punch under the press.

I opened the differential.
This differential comes from a broken transmission I bought in Germany a while ago for the locker that I will need in the front differential. It got delivered to my brother in France who then shipped me the parts I needed.The rest of the transmission came back summer 2012 with my suitcase.
Since I plan on rebuilding the rear locking differential, I decided to transfer the good one I had onto the front differential without rebuilding and rebuilding this bad looking one for my actual transmission.

Extracting the differential bearing on the cover side with a steel plate and a tube pushing the differential in the center of the bearing.

January 2014

Paul's sweet wife brought me the main case back from the mainland where I sent it again to have it bore checked since the pinion bearing felt way to tight in my opinion to be able to be pressed in without damages.
Eric (which I didn't know until today was Zeohsix? ) got it drilled and welded for an oiling entry point for the pinion bearing. Bore got also checked and honed.
Still waiting on you to visit me Sir

I also drilled the pinion bearing thanks to a couple special drill bits Paul gave me.
But first I needed a vise to put under the drill press.
Perfect timing, I found this one on the curb
I restaured it . Much stronger than the chinese pot metal crap that was on here before. (not mine)
Marking, drilling.

Marking with sharpie ink scratched in, drilling.

I was extremely cautious while drilling, tons of cutting oil and backing up so many times, it looked paranoid. Once the outer hardened layer is drilled through , the rest of the shaft is butter.
breaking a 1/8" super tough drill bit is not a fun thing.Luckily it just made it out on the other side, so I used another smaller bit to bang it out like a chisel. 2 hours. In your face .

There are 3 holes like that.
Extracting the low gear

Drilling the mainshaft for 3rd and 4th iddler gear needle bearings.
I sent the shaft back to Thompson Gundrilling to have it drilled deeper in order to do the same for the needle bearing in the maincase as per Gear's excellent suggestion.

November 23rd 2014

I cut a groove in the pinion nut with an angle grinder.Not bad at all

Things I learned about the low gear housing on the way:


SA bearing carrier with 2WD and Syncro retaining plate for the mainshaft ball bearing

SA model I got:

Common bearing carrier: different material and there are no provision for the oil splash plate for 4th gear nor for adding a bearing retainer

therefore ou can mount this plate from AATransaxle and mill down the low gear housing to clear it

Mocking up the 4th gears in the SA gear carrier :scratching my head for designing a lubricating device for the 4th gears.

Superposing the low gear housing and the bearing carrier to see what's up.
Seen without the mainshaft ball bearing,seen from the 4th gear side.

Another view to look for an entry point for lubricating the mainshaft ball bearing

Eyeballing the retaining plate I designed inspired from the above pictures, laser cut in France for a song. I gotta give it a hair cut this and there.

"No fear mode activated": I decided to try a router and a 1/4" wood bit: what a marvel!! It works beautifully, and I got a result certainly much cleaner than what Universal Manufacturers of Honolulu had done for me in the past…

Tapping at M6X1 for the 4 retaining screws.I'm using a rivet nut to guide the tap straight.

Luna thought my diagrams print out needed to be kept warm and safe…Hey, get out of there, you Princess!!

So here, I bought 17mm steel balls of ebay, to use as a spacer to extract the 2 half shafts that go through the differential body.

Gotta get that long shaft out by 70mm, then stick the ball in the other end: it will end up right across the 2 half shafts, so you can press them out together from one end without damaging the inner end of the said shafts.

So here, I cut it short, but I cursed like a sailor to jig the differential under the hydraulic press. Here is the 3rd version of it, the best one, under is a 3/4" brass tee that I carved to compensate the curvature of the differential's body.Nothing budged at 20 tons!! Not even with heat.

I finished it with much fury, sledge hammer and Viking yelling.Got it out damn it!! :2gunfire:

So I had 2 new half shafts in prediction this will end up the Neanderthal way.New guts,thrust washers,billet cover etc…

Putting it back together all clean.Ouh yeah!

Heat up a tad bit the cover, center with 3/8" concrete anchor studs:perfect dowels

Heated up the crown real good, using the same centering dowels:goes in smootly

Old VW ring bolts 14mm head with lock washer , new ones on the right 13mm head with shoulder

Pressing in the new differential bearing using the old cups and broken inner bearings.

Voilà !

Master Paul Guard is back in Hawai'i, he brought his 385 tool to have some fun. That's a dream becoming reality: finally seeing this damn tool in real life: it is a marvel, I kept drooling on it

Pinion bearing:
Gotta assemble it using the VW method (heating and cooling), then oil it.
I have noticed my bearing's storage oil hardened reral bad,so prior to mount it I cleaned it real well with brake cleaner.
Once the bearing is pressed in, tighten it at 210Nm

I didn't take pictures BUT read the following I learnt from Paul last saturday when you install the pinion bearing:

you gotta feel the bearing for any hard spots and feel for smoothness (easier written then done)
If it's not feeling right, just loosen the nut/race a little bit and back it off under the presse, then press it back in.
Feel again.
Re-do if necessary.
We did it a few times until it felt right.

Don't ask me how and why, but it works

The R&P deviation was 0.36mm ("36" engraved on the crown)
With the VW 385 tool, the reference is 63mm. Depth for my pinion is 63.36 from factory.
Since I had the case reworked by Dave Folts, we had to measure the R&P to set p a new S3 spacer.
So we measured, and we got 63.33mm with the original spacer.
Looks like Mr Folts did an amazing job here if you ask me

We check everything with Prussian Blue, awesome possom!

Now, where is that delicious Ahi sashimi you've been talking about Paul?
_________________
Silicone Steering Boots and 930 Cv boots for sale in the classifieds.
Syncro transmission upgrade parts in the Classifieds.
Subaru EJ22+UN1 5 speed transmission
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=416343
Syncro http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4...num+gadget

[rubbachicken]

wow, that's very cool, i wish i had the stones to get in there and have a go


oh and a spare trans to work on
_________________
lucy our westy

lucy's BIG adventure

meet 'burni'


markswagen {mobile mechanic} san diego area all early VW's cared for.

619 201 0310 or 617 935 4182

[bluefirefly]

[bluefirefly]

Good job Alika, impressive....
_________________
86 Syncro Tintop G60
work in progress ...as always!

[fleet_maintenance]

ALIKA, the DIY attitude you've shown in all your projects is impressive to say the least. Coupled with your narritive, priceless. Thank you.

It is AWESOME to see so many familiar sambanistas involved, sending parts or helping in person too. Special community for sure.

Keep up the great work and fantastic posts.

[BavarianWrench]

Happy Thanksgiving ALIKA. Your creative spirit, organization, no fear risk assessment, good eye, deep understanding of the task at hand, and pure determination continues to get it done. Glad your surfing Hawaii and making this country stronger, one tranny at a time. Nice work and Documentation.

[candyman]

Great thread, thank you for posting. Just curious some photos did not upload, can you try to reload those?
Thanks!

[ALIKA T3]

[Zeitgeist 13]

_________________
Casey--

'89 Bluestar ALH w/12mm Waldo pump, PP764 and GT2052
'01 Weekender --> full camper
y u rune klassik?

[gears]

Alika's the kind of guy you want with you on a long road trip. Macgyver abilities, for sure ;>)
_________________
aka Pablo, Geary
9.36 @ 146 in '86 Hot & Sticky
'90 Syncro Westy SVX
'87 Syncro GL 2.5
https://guardtransaxle.com

[nmerrill]

Nice work! I'm puzzling my way through some trans work myself.
Why did you decide to use an SA style bearing retainer, and not Daryl's plate?
If I understand correctly, using the SA style retainer does not require precision milling of the G/R housing, it is simply bolted to the gear carrier/intermediate housing, and the old bearing retainer tang is just milled down to provide clearance.
That seems like a much easier approach for a DIYer. Is there enough thickness of the gear carrier to drill and tap, without going all the way though to the other side? Those pictures from T3zone seem to show that is the true?

Nat

[kbeefy]

Wow, quite the post!!!

I'm on Oahu until December 16th, and then Feburary 1 - May 1 if you need a hand or someone to watch you work.
_________________
86 syncro CHC, NorthWesty subbie 2.5, decoupler, locker, custom interior, 225/75r16 Duratrack's on CLK's, Toyo cabin heater, ARB fridge, 300w Zamp Solar, Gowesty bumpers/skid/rails, Fiama awning

'86 Syncro Westy. Stock for now.

2000 F350 7.3 CC LB 11' Northland Cabover

2006 Subbie OBXT

2002 Tacoma DoubleCab 4x4

1969 Mustang Basket Case 351c/FMX/9

http://kbeefy.blogspot.com/

[Waldemar Sikorski]

Vive la jeunesse, de courage et d'imagination.

[ALIKA T3]

[kbeefy]

[ALIKA T3]

You should ship your syncro over if you plan on staying here long

It's not a good place to shop around, here
_________________
Silicone Steering Boots and 930 Cv boots for sale in the classifieds.
Syncro transmission upgrade parts in the Classifieds.
Subaru EJ22+UN1 5 speed transmission
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=416343
Syncro http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4...num+gadget

[insyncro]

[ALIKA T3]

Thank you
_________________
Silicone Steering Boots and 930 Cv boots for sale in the classifieds.
Syncro transmission upgrade parts in the Classifieds.
Subaru EJ22+UN1 5 speed transmission
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=416343
Syncro http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4...num+gadget

[zeohsix]

Looking good Alika! not an easy task doing hot ridding living on that little rock. Good thing you have one of Maui's fastest VW drag racers ( retired ) to help you out. What are the specs on your diesel motor....AFN? Should be a great Syncro when done
_________________
I'm Cheap! I'll build that Syncro Westy myself and save money but, my labor is "FREE" especially if I ever go to sell it! One thing is I will know the quality of the parts and labor that went into the build and rest better when I'm actually driving said Westy down the road!

[ALIKA T3]