..........and the 5 speed just not just bolt into an 82 diesel vanagon.
   you need the entire shift linkage..
and doing it 'stock' ..you need 5 speed engine carrier bars and rubber
mounts and the large bolts that mount the rubber mounts to the bars.
Biggest bolt in the whole van ...14mm diameter , and I don't mean the
hex wrench size , the shaft size.

there are two advantages of the 5 speed..you have 3 ratios to play with
from about 35mph to top speed, not just two.
You also have a 'half a granny' lowish first gear.

what happens is you start in 2nd like it's a 4 speed when it's easy
..like at a stop sign on the level.
If you want to use first ..say starting on a hill..
the shift from 1st ( back down and left ) to 2nd is just odd and doesn't
work that well.

it is an improvement ....be nice if it was a real close-ratio 5 speed
with first a normal ration for a 1st gear ..
and left and forward like normal first gears are.

there is a way to get this ....in 5 or 6 speed.
Very expensive though.  It's fit a Subaru transaxle with a reversed ring
and pinion ...
not cheap ..
I have not driven one...but there are some in the vanagon world for sure.
There's also Porsche 911    5 speed manual trans that some people have
put in vanagons.
..
and I would just love to do a Porsche 4 speed SportMatic ...a 4 speed
manual trans with no clutch pedal ..
aka known as AutoStick Shift in VW Bugs, where it was just a 3 speed. ..
  kinda slick though ..
for no electronics, no clutch pedal, but manual shifting.
Trickiest part is an additional oil pump for the torque converter ( has
a small torque converter plus a small conventional clutch operated by
vacuum ) .   VW and Porsche just put that extra oil pump on top of the
existing waterboxer type oil pump.  I still have a vaccum control valve
and large vacuum res for one of these systems.

my new favorite early vanagon that I own is an 83 5 speed Sunroof Diesel
Vanagon ..soon it'll have a turbo too, and rebuilt engine.
Should be quite the rig for a non-westy / non-weekender.

Scott

On 10/22/2013 10:19 AM, ralph meyermann wrote:
> Velma is not going on any trips until next spring/summer, only into the
> garage after I finish repairing the deer damage on my Hyundai. Hopefully I
> can find a 5 speed and have it gone through, if not this 4 speed will be
> gone through. Heres for hoping for the elusive 5 speed
>
> Velma 82 1.9L AAZ td westy
> On Oct 22, 2013 11:33 AM, "Stuart MacMillan" <stuartmacm@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> The bottom line is you are on borrowed time with this unit, with the
>> ultimate result you could need to add the  core charge to the cost of your
>> rebuild.  Bits of hardened metal are swirling around in your oil and
>> circulating through the transmission and transaxle. Once that hardened
>> surface is lost, complete failure is rapid.
>>
>> BTW, I'm amazed to see that people have replaced the input shaft bearing
>> with the shaft in place.  Lots of skill and patience required to get that
>> bearing out in situ.
>>
>> I don't do my own transmission work, so I've had Daryl do three for me over
>> the years:  www.aatransaxle.com He'll send you a box for $50, or you can
>> often order an off the shelf unit and ship your (currently) rebuildable
>> core
>> back in the box and save the $50.  Core charge is $500 if yours is toast
>> (usually case damage).
>>
>> Good luck!
>>
>> Stuart
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
>> ralph meyermann
>> Sent: Tuesday, October 22, 2013 7:57 AM
>> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>> Subject: Re: Noisy transaxle??
>>
>> Pretty sure that my input shaft bearing is loose/going out, but I think
>> there are other worn parts that need attention.
>>
>>
>>