Hi Walter,

While you're at it, I recommend replacing the 2nd gear brake band piston seals and piston cover O-rings on the auto transmission. My automatic leaked terribly and upon inspection, I found the seals and O-rings to be hard, brittle, and useless. The job can be done later with the transmission in place, but will be much easier with it removed. You can search the archives for info on how to do the replacement, but just to make things easier for you, here's a copy of the info I sent to another Vanagoneer yesterday:

Yes, I did finish the repair successfully. My transmissin no longer leaks and shifts smoothly. (it shifted about as well before the repair, but leaked a LOT.) Like you, I thought it might be a simple job, but it was complicated by the necessity of removing the valve assembly before the 2nd gear brake band could be pushed back in place. You have to do that so the brake band can be moved into
its compressed position. That's the only way you'll get the piston back in. Frank said he used a hydraulic jack to press the piston back in place. I couldn't figure out how to do it that way, so I used a simple C-clamp with the
screw end side of the clamp pressing against the exposed inner casing - the fixed end against the piston cover. With the cover and piston thus pressed into place, I was able to insert the new circlip which holds the cover down.

Regards,

Alan