if there was no starter bushing in the bell housing......
you'd know it. without that part the starter teeth could easily strip or
skip on the flywheel teeth.
There's probably a starter bushing in there.
I don't find that they wear much at all really, not enough to be a problem
for a long, long time usually.

See how thick the washer is on your back up light switch.  If it doesn't
screw in far enough, or has too thin a washer and it goes in too far, you
can end up with back up lights all the time, or no back up lights ever,
depending.

scott
turbovans

personally, I find working on a van with it a foot and a half or so off the
ground, to be considerably easier than working on one on a lift.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Edward Duntz" <eduntz@HOTMAIL.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Tuesday, March 10, 2009 9:52 PM
Subject: Mostly successful manual trans replacement

> Thanks to everyone who sent procedures and advice. My replacement manual
> transmission (reportedly recently rebuilt) went in the '85 today. With the
> help of my father and his friend's lift, it wasn't too bad. About seven
> hours including some standing arouind time. Here are the things that were
> most difficult:
>
> A little hard to maneuver, but not too bad. Van was on a drive-on lift,
> with
> braces across with jacks for the engine and trans.
>
> As many have discussed today, the clutch lever was very difficult to get
> off
> the shaft. Using levers and pullers did nothing. My father's friend got it
> red hot with a welding torch and it finally came off. It bent the cross
> shaft, but fortunately we weren't re-using it- it was on the replacement
> trans.
>
> Upper starter bolt was a pain, but do-able.
>
> Forgot to check on starter bushing. Peeked back in and didn't see one, but
> didn't want to hold things up on re-assembly. I think it can live without
> one for a while, and will pull starter and install bushing later.
>
> Reverse light switch on new trans was slightly different. Old one had bare
> terminals, and a "normal/large" size. New one had plastic surrounding
> smaller terminals, which the old wires/terminals wouldn't have fit.
> Re-used
> old switch, which was working fine. But now back-up lights are on all the
> time. Was too late in the evening to diagnose, so pulled a wire off the
> switch. Will check operation of switch and go from there.
>
> All in all, wasn't too bad. Glad I did it and saved money over a
> professional mechanic. If I had good garage spaceof my own, I might try
> more. May have to replace engine with good used one in the next year or
> two-
> might try that, too.
>
> Ed in CT