I have a question concerning replacement of seals in a 1984 vanagon DU
091/1 speed manual transmission.  The gearbox has 250K miles and
operates very smoothly.  There are no problems except for leaking oil
from the shift shaft seal and the mainshaft seal.   I don't know any of
the repair history although it appears the bell housing has been taken
off sometime in the past.  My questions concern the shift shaft seal.

Can the shift rod seal be replaced without disassembling the
transmission?    It appears in diagram 34-1308 on page 35.38 of the
Bentley Vanagon book (and also in diagram 34-1312 on the previous page)
that the shift shaft can be simply removed by removing the coverplate
after taking oft the shift shaft.  Can the shift shaft be reinstalled by
simply sliding it back in?  Is there anything tricky to this?

My transmission (version DU) appears to have been manufactured in
November 3, 1983.  On Bentley page 35.60a a revised shift shaft and
cover are described as being installed in vehicles manufactured after
May 1984.  The  selector shaft cover modification is a "shoulder for
spring to maintain proper position when assembling".  Is installing the
old version (that I probably have in my transmission) very difficult?

Can the shift shaft oil seal be just pressed in or is there some action
that requires the special tool VW3077 (as shown in diagram 34-1322 on
Bentley page 35.46).  I don't plan to replace the bushing.

Please reply only if you have first hand experience.  No speculation please.

Please reply to email99@bellsouth.net.

Thanks in advance.
Ed
Raleigh, NC