Date:         Thu, 28 Sep 1995 09:33:35 -0500
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         drphibes@siu.edu (Peter DePaoli)
Subject:      Re-Smoking Transmission?

>Date: Thu, 28 Sep 95 08:38:50 CDT
>Errors-To: gsker@lenti.med.umn.edu
>Reply-To: EF0JPB1@mvs.cso.niu.edu
>Originator: vanagon@lenti.med.umn.edu
>Sender: vanagon@lenti.med.umn.edu
>Precedence: bulk
>From: EF0JPB1@mvs.cso.niu.edu
>To: Multiple recipients of list <vanagon@lenti.med.umn.edu>
>Subject: Smoking Transmission?
>X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas

>On thu sept 28 Jim Bryant Wrote:

>Folks,
>
>A question here...
>
>I got a call from a guy this morning who has an '85 Vanagon
>with a problem.  *He* says his transmission (3rd gear) is
>bad.  Do I know anyone who will work on it?  I ask what
>happened to it.  He says he was driving along, smoke began
>coming out behind him and from that point on he couldn't go
>over 35 and into 3rd gear.
>
>The officially-sanctioned VW dealer in the area "doesn't
>work on them--farms it out."
>
>Are there any circumstances under which a manual
>transmission will smoke (except after sex)?  I'm just having
>trouble believing that this is anything but a blown engine
>that won't give enough power to keep the thing going in 3rd.
>
>Someone offered the guy $500 for the whole van...will pick
>it up today.  The guy just wants a clue, what would tranny
>work cost?  Is it worth more than $500?  Any ideas?
>
>-Jim Bryant



I once bought a ' 71 westy for $400 from a guy in Woodstock Il.  After much
negotiation of course.  The body was a little rough but workable.  I have
owned this Bus for 7 years now.  Thetransmission had no 4th gear when I
bought it, I mean the bungee system didn't even work!  The trans woud've
cost from 3-600 bucks depending on what I wanted done to it.  So I poked
around until i found a junkyard in Plainfield Il where a nice old man
torched the entire axle beam and suspension including trans and axles and
sold the whole shootin match to me for the low, low price of FIFTY BUCKS!!
So I graciously and Gigerly installed it into my Bus and away I went. Not
Bad huh?  Well the sad partt is that the Bus was a Northern Midwesterner Bus
and just this year has had to be retired from service due to some very, very
serious frame rot.  As old St. MUir Chants... "Keep the Rust At Bey (Bay?)sp. ? 

Peter DePaoli (drphibes@siu.edu)
Carbondale IL
'73 Super
'71 Westy' >
'69 Kamper (Soon I Hope)
' 90 Chevy (with many little dents from the Walnut tree, it lost the parking
              space straw draw.) :)