Glad you got er fixed Bill.
Sounds like a bit of a saga but you prevailed.

and very wise not to mess with a working van when not at home.  Good
thinkin' there !

( and you know how they tend to wear out the clutch pedal clevis pin and
hole, right ?
you see a lot of freeplay slop at the top of a syncro clutch pedal, that's
what you think about. Normal 'free slop' is an eighth of an ince, a qtr
inch, even a half inch is OK, but two inches there indicates a badly worn
clevis pin and hole for the pin  in the clutch pedal.  Spray lube up in
there as best you can. It's a chronic syncro weakness .   )

Might you have a part to sell ???
the clear plastic clutch hydraulic line that goes to the slave cylinder.
about 4 feet long.
the aftmost piece of hydraulic line going to the slave cylinder.
nut fitting one the front end, banjo bolt fitting where it goes on the
slave.

a sycnro I'm working on needs that part.
thanks if you can help !
Scott
www.turbovans.com

----- Original Message -----
From: "W Monk" <billmonk@GMAIL.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Wednesday, June 09, 2010 12:38 PM
Subject: Clutch not letting me shift into reverse

>I didn't post about the problem as I had an idea what it was. Here is my
> story and I am sticking to it:
>
> Last Friday I swapped the tranny in my 87 Westy with a Zetec. I just put
> in
> the Zetec a few weeks ago. I knew my tranny has been singing a bit in a
> few
> gears but has always shifted with no problem and stayed in gear.  Last
> week
> it wouldn't go into 3/4. Not even into the gate between the gears. After
> forcing it a bit. I was able to get the gears till I got home. Then after
> that even by manipulating the shifter ball on the side of the tranny it
> was
> hit or miss getting it into 3/4 gears with all linkage removed.
> I have a spare tranny in a parts van that I bought because it is a low
> mile
> rebuild. I should have swapped when doing the Zetec but
> my parts van was at my inlaws business and I couldn't start tearing it
> apart
> there.
> So after the Zetec install I hauled the parts van down to my house. I
> pulled
> the tranny and motor out of it. So on Friday when I was scheduled to catch
> a
> ferry to Buses By The Duck on Long Island I pull my tranny out of my 87
> w/Zetec. Wasn't bad using the engine lift and one of those engine
> levelers.
> By putting a jack under the tranny and removing the cradle I could lower
> the
> front of the motor down which in turn lowered the transmission just
> turning
> the leveler on the crane. Very nice and I didnt even come close to hitting
> some sendors that are on that end of the head. The transmission slid out
> onto the jack which I lowered as I tilted the engine.
>
> I noticed the cross shaft was very tight and needed some lube on the spare
> tranny so I pulled it out,cleaned and greased. Moved real nice. I noticed
> that the lever that goes on the cross arm kinda fell right off when I
> removed the snap ring. I didn't think much about it at the time. As time
> was
> pressed to catch the ferry. I put the spare in the van,(note:what comes
> down
> is much harder going back up!!!) Still wasn't to bad. Much easier than any
> boxxer replacement I did. I also never used the crane and a tranny jack
> doing a swap with a boxxer either so might not be a fair comparison.
> I also replaced all the bushing,boots,front shifter plastic
> bits,universa;l
> ect...from front to back. I had everything including the two bushing and
> four metal plates that support the shift rod and I had a new end piece for
> the front rod that goes over the splined shaft. The PO had not put the
> bolt
> where the notch in that piece after a previous adjustment of some kind and
> made it so it wouldn't turn.
> Using the specs in the Bentley and a 23mm spacer I adjusted everything
> correctly.
> I get in the van step on the clutch and can feel its not right. I can
> still
> shift all gears except reverse. I can still drive in reverse if I put it
> in
> with the engine off. Good enough for now lets hit the road.
>
> I ponder my issue all weekend at the campout among a sick old dog. I think
> back to that lever just moving to easy. I go around and measure everyones
> pedal play,compression,how much the lever moves,where it rests, ect... So
> I
> have a bunch of data points to compare when I get home. I won't mess with
> my
> van when its driving when not at home.
>
> Last night I finally got to the van. I pulled the lever off the old
> tranny.
> It took a puller to get it off. Removed the lever on the tranny in the
> van.
> When I removed the clip if fell off. The teeth on the cross shaft compare
> to
> the one on the other tranny. I put the spare lever on my van. Its takes a
> light tap of a mallet to seat it. Put the slave cylinder back on and its
> back to normal. NIce part is the new tranny is quite in all gears and the
> motor is running great....
>
> Finally!!! Praying for no more huge repairs the day before/of we are
> getting
> ready to go somewhere. Its become almost a rite of passage for me to have
> the van torn apart.
>
> Bill