pan halfes
pan halfes
I was wondering if i cut the pans strait across or on an angle?? or does it matter and do I overlap the sides together? and is there any way to test a tranny after it has been removed and how can i tell if it is a bus tranny or not?
Generally, the pans are cut at an angle. If you use an angle cut starting at the rear corner of the pan, it makes for a much cleaner look, since you won't have a weld 'seam' on the side of your chassis. There's not really a way to fully 'test' a tranny after it's removed from the vehicle, but there are a few things you can do to an unknown tranny to see if it's worth taking a chance installing it. 1. Remove drain plug. Check drain plug for metal shavings, etc. That's bad. 2. Run tranny through the gears by placing vise-grip on the shift selector. Make sure input shaft moves when you turn the flanges or axles. 3. Sprinkle holy-water on it and chant. Say a prayer. Bury a valuable VW part in your back-yard as a sacrifice. Post a picture of your tranny or find one like it on http://www.thesamba.com . This is what a late IRS bus tranny looks like: Count the ribs above cv joint flanges to identify it as 3, 5, or 6-rib flavor. http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_ ... _id=209068
[QUOTE="UncleBob"] 3. Sprinkle holy-water on it and chant. Say a prayer. Bury a valuable VW part in your back-yard as a sacrifice. [/QUOTE] Does #3 work?!:laugh1: I always say a prayer with my rosery beads made from a VW hood emblem, throttle cable and fanshroud bolts. To check the tranny you can also remove the side filler plug to get a look at the big reverse gear and look for wear, if it shows wear then the small reverse idler is definitely worn and the tranny reverse is shot. Also check the shaft for excessive play, slight axial play and radial movement is normal since the shaft isn't supported in the tranny till halfway, but clunking would be bad. While you have the tranny out, now is the time to replace the mainshaft bushing and nosecone gasket, to prevent any leaks after you put it back in.:2cents: trust me you dont want to have to pull it back out to replace a $2 part. Heres a few threads from ShopTalk Forums which might help: http://www.shoptalkforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=87019&highlight= http://www.shoptalkforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=81061 http://www.shoptalkforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=75578
Sorry about the pics, but they were scanned from prints. I decided to do a straight cut, since that's what the instructions are in the Manx Garage section of the website. I also have side pods, so the edges of the pan are hidden. If I could do it over, I would do the diagonal cut because it looks like it would be stronger. I didn't overlap the floor pans, we just tack welded them together in a few places: 
We welded steel straps over the seam of the floor pans, making for a very strong joint: 
Boxing in the E-Brake mount completed the reinforcements: 
Can't wait for a ride! 
Man, those pictures bring back memories! I think I had more hair back then...
We welded steel straps over the seam of the floor pans, making for a very strong joint: Boxing in the E-Brake mount completed the reinforcements: Can't wait for a ride! Man, those pictures bring back memories! I think I had more hair back then...Steve, I think that's another one of the benefits of the diagonal cut. The two halves line up better than if you do a straight across cut. With the straight cut, the back half of the pan will be too wide, so you have to cut darts out of it and bring the corners in. If you look closely at the diagonal cut on Jimmler's pan in the photo above you will see that the back half of the pan matches the front half because of the way it was cut. Some heat and a medium sized hammer will help make any mismatches in the tunnel section line up. I know at least one person has used a laser level as a guide to draw the lines on the pan prior to cutting. http://www.asseenontv.com/prod-pages/la ... .html?gid=