Obviously a post to Vanagon list!  The old bus transmissions already had
the reversed ring'n'pinion.  They turned "backwards" because the reduction
gears on the axle ends re-reversed the rotation.  You just took the axles
off, put on bug ones, and voila!  Slop in your Corvair engine and run...

The reduction gears gave reall nice ground clearance, btw, for you off-road
types!  I've seen a few dune buggies with old bus arrangements.  Getting parts
for the reduction boxes is getting a bit hard, tho'.

malcolm