I changed the tranny oil in my 85 last weekend, and made a bit of a
discovery:

     My 17mm hex wrench is Craftsman model, looks like a huge version of
the little hex wrenches that I have for small bike parts, computers,
cameras and such.  Any of you that have tried to change the tranny oil on
a Vanagon are cringing now at the thought of getting such a wrench around
the front exhaust pipe for the drain, and around the shift rod for the
filler plug.
     Instead of fashioning a tool out of a 17mm bolt like I did last time
(with limited success, gotta buy that mig welder!), I went looking in my
box of extra parts from rhe engine rebuild.
     Lo and Behold!  There was the answer:  A head nut!  It is the right
size hex, deep enough that I could get it into each of the plugs while
turning with a 17mm combo wench, and shallow enough to not bump into the
exhaust pipe or interfere with the shift rod.

     My 85 now shifts happily with 3.7qts of Redline MTL.

_________________________________________________________

Bob O'Shaughnessy
84GL (Soon to be sold)
85GL with 300 miles on new engine (Awating window tint and wheels)
82 Diesel L with carbed Rabbit engine (belongs to friend)
74 Bus (Dad's)
72 Wife, 94 Rabbit, 95 Cat, 96 cat, 97 cat (looking for a home)
98 Rugrat on the way!