I remember once reading in the arvhives of someone who rebuilt a transaxel
from a Vanagon. They said they could do most of the repairs using logical
aids and hand tools. Only an item or two was left alone because of
complexity or special tools. He admitted that he was pushing the envelope
on this one.The guy got it all back together and said it worked well. No
longevity report I could find.An interesting posting, I must say.

Might try looking for this posting