Crash case tranny rebuilders

[johnshenry]

I am looking for a shop to rebuild my '51 std. tranny. I have a couple leads in CA and have a quote. Looking for other recommendations and experiences if possible. Shop would need to be able to clean and strip housing and axle tubes, paint axle tubes with a paint I will supply, and put non-split boots on them. They would also need to have a gasket kit which I have heard are getting scarce. I don't have any reason to believe that there is anything else wrong with it.

Also, any ideas suggestions on shipping it would be great. It will ship with axles and tubes attached, but not brake backing plates (so it will ship "dry"). I plan on building a half pallet and box out of wood so it can be used for return shipping. Not sure what kind of carriers could take something like that.

TIA
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John Henry

'57 Deluxe
'56 Single Cab

[splitjunkie]

You will have to ship it via a trucking company. UPS or FedEx won't ship something that big and heavy. They will ship a IRS trans, or at least they used to but once you add on the swing axles it becomes too large. Definitely build a crate with skid attached.

You will need to determine if you will need a truck with a lift gate.
If you need a lift gate that will cost you extra. They will charge you for whichever locations need the lift gate.

If you have a loading dock at work and they are OK with you using it that will save you the lift gate charges on your end.
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Chris

You know, a lot of these scratches will buff right out... Jerry Seinfeld

[johnshenry]

I was kind of assuming I would crate it, take it to a shipping company and (with a helper I bring along) carry it out and put it on their dock. It is not that heavy.

Like wise, I could pick it up at the trucking companies depot.
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John Henry

'57 Deluxe
'56 Single Cab

[nlorntson]

Several years back I used a place not too far from my house to rebuild the tranny for our 49. They are an old school, almost a purely standard transmission shop. I supplied them with a gasket kit and one piece boots, and was prepared to supply any bearings, or internals if they needed them. Thankfully they did not.

I was very pleased with how it turned out. I'd be happy to try and work something out to help you with yours. I recall the cost was way less than I expected (I'd have to look it up to know the amount).

Here are some pictures

Before

Initial cleaning and split apart:

Some areas needed repair:

The end product:

[templeofspeed]

Shan at Rancho is good. He's done our last two spilt cases, both synchro and non-synchro. They come back looking super nice, one piece (genuine VW) boots, re-blacked hardware, correct semi-gloss on the tubes and such. They also have some kind of deal with shipping round trip, one call does it all.

Seems to me like each was $1300 round trip...

Honestly though, I am surprised you are not just jumping in there yourself...They are not that complex, and unless it needs more than bearings, boots, and sealed-up....well there you go.

[johnshenry]

[nlorntson]

I took a whack at one last winter:

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=498142

The one mistake I think I made was not getting the shift forks adjusted as well as I could have. I'm going to pull it apart again and correct it this winter.

The Bentley has a pretty comprehensive section.

[johnshenry]

Yeah, I was looking at that thread after my last post. Encourages me, but I think will all the other stuff I have to do, I will just farm it out....
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John Henry

'57 Deluxe
'56 Single Cab

[splitjunkie]

They are pretty simple inside. Depending on how many miles are on it, it might just need a good cleaning and reassembly.

If there is any wear in the differential bearings you need some special tools to get everything set back up correctly.

Gaskets are going to be hard to get. I luckily scarfed up the last two that BFY had before they went into their death spiral. They are both slated for projects so I can't offer to sell you any.

Seems like it would be pretty simple to repro them. Seems like you could cut them with a cnc laser cutter.
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Chris

You know, a lot of these scratches will buff right out... Jerry Seinfeld

[Brian Eis]

John

I just went through this entire process with my 52. In this case you will get what you pay for. I took my OG full crash box out, disassembled it, and sold it to Joe Ruiz. Mine was in near perfect condition inside and probably only needed cleaning. I was really surprised by that due to how many times I ground the gears learning to drive a crash. I upgraded to a partial synchro. They are very similiar inside.
If you plan to do it yourself, take yours apart with a dead weight hammer and you will need bearing pullers that will require some home-made improvisations due a lack of the correct tooling illustrated in the vw manual. One its disassembled, inspect the teeth, especially on the main shaft. If the teeth are well rounded off without a triangular surface pattern then they need to be ground or replaced.
I found several used split case trans for sale, tore mine apart and used all the best of the gearing. I found out the hard way that the bearing journals vary in diameter throughout the years. Another challenge it breaking down the drive pinion. You will need 4 hands so-to-speak.
Kevin from KCR sent me a gasket kit which are very difficult to procure nowadays. I degreased, scraped and brushed the parts in my back yard and then reassembled with 50 weight racing fluid. The nose cone requires a depth micrometer for the variable thickness paper gasket. I amazed myself that I could do it. The Bentley manual was a saving grace. I also painted the outside of the case with high heat aluminum coating paint to protect the magnesium which corrodes rather quickly. Joe Ruiz does a nice gold coating but that will cost you.
So you have 2 options: Shell out some clams or really get your hands dirty. Either way, good luck!

[horatiocaine]

Jeff @ Transaxle Engineering, 9763 Variel Ave, Chatsworth, CA. 91311
(818) 998-2739
He has been doing VW gearboxes for over 35 years that I can recall.