I did it a few years ago.  I got a kit somewhere for $125 iirc that
had all the clutches and seals and everything.  The work was not hard
and very interesting.  Quite involved, but just a bunch of steps to
follow in the Bentley.  No special tools and only 1 or 2 critical
measurements.  The tranny I rebuilt had been out of use for a while
and stored outdoors in FL.  It didn't work right after the
rebuild.  I was very disappointed.  Troubleshooting pointed to
problems in the valve body.  I then could find no further info or
parts for the VB.  I also had the Torque Converter rebuilt locally
and it leaked at the seal as soon as I installed it.   I was very
disappointed about that too.  I gave up and put in a known good used tranny.

Edward

At 05:58 PM 3/2/2009, you wrote:
>Looking at the archives it seems that it's possible for a hobby-mechanic
>like me to rebuild a Vanagon automatic tranny. Please tell me if I'm about
>to make a huge blunder! I've got a spare tranny (it's an '81 van) that was
>fairly noisy but still sort-of working when removed - shall I try rebuilding
>it, and how long is it likely to take?  It's not a catastrophe if the
>rebuild isn't successful, though I'd prefer to discover before changing
>transmissions -- it would be a pita to take out what's working OK (but also
>noisy, and slightly leaking) and replace it with my rebuild then find it
>broken.
>
>Are details for the tranny rebuild covered in Bentley, or anywhere else?
>Are special tools needed?
>What parts should I replace?  I'm assuming the basic mechanical parts are
>all ok, and that only seals etc need replacement. Are kits of parts
>available?
>How about the differential? Does that get rebuilt at the same time, or does
>it separate off when the tranny is dismantled?
>
>Thanks for any clues
>Al