Don't worry about the gasket..We haven't used them for years and always use
RTV instead. Just pull it off if that's your preference and do it the easy
way. Also you can check to see if the little slinger is still solidly in
place as a loose one will cause leaks.
T o repl the seal with the bell hsg on, you will need a seal puller to pry
it out and then a longish tube that will go over the length of the input
shaft to tap (hammer) it back in.
 Any time you have to put in a seal and cant see the rear side after its
installed, you should put some grease in the back cavity where the little
spring is at to keep it from popping out from the force of the hammering.

Daryl of AA Transaxle
425-788-4070
"On the cutting edge of Old technology"
86 Syncro Westy w/Turbo Zetec in the trunk
90 Doka Tristar w/2.5 Subie

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
pickle vanagon
Sent: Sunday, May 13, 2012 6:25 AM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: removing input shaft seal

How hard is it to remove the input shaft seal on the transmission without
removing the bell housing?

I realize the bell housing is easy to remove but I don't have a gasket for
it and can't really afford to wait for one to come in the mail...

Thanks for any tips!
Wes