John, quite a while since i last pulled the tranny on my 87 but here is what
i can remmeber:
1 - seems i removed the actual slave cylinder from the bracket and wired the
still conncected unit out of the way.  Having said that, removing the
bracket and slave cylinder from the transmission my be the way to go.  As i
recall one of the nuts holding the cylinder to the bracket is a bear to get
at - the one closest to the rear of the van.

2 - don't remember

3 - see #5

4 - starter cables were best reached from the bottom ............at least
for me.

5 - your idea should work well but if you find yourself needing to move your
engine up and down when removing or installing the tranny you won't have any
"easy" means to adjust the incline of your engine.  I used a 2 foot long
2"x4" , placed it underneath the engine and used one of those small bottle
type hydralic jacks placed beneath it between the gargae floor and 2x4 to
move the engine up or down.  I found that i needed to move the
engine/transmission around a bit when splitting them and this allowed me to
adjust the engine incline from beneath the van on my own.  I also used a
dolly/hydraulic jack (on wheels) under the transmission so as to be able to
move the transmission forward to disengage it from tranny.

These are just my thoughts - i'm sure that some of the more experienced list
members will be able to direct you even better.
Good luck.
87  Vanagon  GL  7 pass
90  Jetta  TD
----- Original Message -----
From: "john Runberg" <jrunberg@MAC.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Saturday, March 29, 2003 8:44 AM
Subject: Dropping the tranny - advice NEEDED

> In preparation for EveryBus I though it might be nice to have 4 forward
> gears instead of the 3 I currently have. I've pulled plenty of aircooled
> manual tranny's but not Vanagons, so a couple questions...
>
> 1) where should I unbolt the clutch slave? The bracket attached to the
> tranny? Just wire the assembly out of the way?
>
> 2) Put the van in first, unbolt the shifter, and then into second to slide
> the shifter off the nose, right?
>
> 3) An exhaust crossover pipe overlaps the tranny by about 3". After
> unbolting everything, I assume the forward end of the tranny needs to tip
> down to clear the mount, then slide the unit forward to slide off the
input
> shaft and clear the exhaust? How much angle can I do without damaging
> things?
>
> 4) what's the easiest way to get to the starter cables? From above or
below?
>
> 5) I'll need to support the engine to remove the tranny, right? I was
> planning on putting a 4x4 post over the engine opening, putting a strap
> around the engine and tensioning it up. Is that OK, or is there a better
> way? Come of think of it, I should prob lower the engine/tranny slightly
> THEN tension the strap so I can clear that mount. Sound good??
>
> Anything else I should be aware of or replace while I'm down there? Please
> p-mail me (I'm on digest) if you have any suggestions.
>
> Thanks!
>
> John