[Vwdiesel] $400 diesel homecomings and ACN AVX AWY trannies.

[Will Taygan]

It's been a week for acquiring. Hauled home a $400 82 diesel
Westfalia.Blown engine, moderate amount of dings and rust - but the kids
are excited!  Got the parts pickup engine stripped and on the stand.
Parts pickup has gone to a new owner (free but they hauled it)  This is
my first time tearing into an engine.  It should be fun!

I ALSO picked up a $400 1991 diesel Jetta.  I was expecting another
ecodiesel, but it's got a junkyard engine (looks like Vanagon brackets
and intake manifold!) and an AWY tranny instead of the AVX.  It decided
to almost overheat in about 4 miles..

Personally I think the AVX is the best gearing out there, but I do a
fair bit of big hills.  The ACN in the 94 1.6TD FrankenJetta is waaaaay
underpowered, I can't even use 5th except going with the wind on the
flats.  I was hoping to have another AVX to swap in, but I've now got
the even lower AWY.

Here's the gearing (gears * final drive for comparison):

ACN 85 8v
12.7
7.12
5.03
3.78
2.75

AVX 91 Eco
14.71
8.25
5.48
3.87
3.19

AWY 90 Diesel (turbo?)
13.63
7.64
5.67
4.45
3.51

4th*final in ACN (94 1.6TD) is 3.78, still too high for cruising, but
the 5th*final 2.75 is waaaay too low.  (3rd to 4th is a little long too)
In addition, 5th in the ACN is also whining something fierce, as it had
an oil leak so 5th is a bit burned.  I don't know if this would cause
noticeable drag or not.

The 5th*final with the AVX (91 Eco) is 3.19, just about perfect with the
lighter body.

Now the "new" AWY has a 4th*final at 4.45 and 5th*final at 3.51, Wow!
I'd be able to get up to speed on the little uphill on-ramp I've got by
the house!  But....  that 3.51 is ALMOST as low as 4th gear in the other
trannies.  Hmmmm..  Is it worth it?  Too SLOW?  wait for an AVX..  Yeah
right, when would one of those show up? 

Here's the 86-90 AGS, AOP, 4S gears*final for comparison (and the 85 ACH
is almost the same as these):

AGS, AOP, 4S (86-89 diesel)
13.63
7.64
5.08
3.59
2.96

Anyone got opinions :) or experience with these trannies?

Will.