80 Failure update + liability question

[dclose@tcadvertising.com]

Hello all,
Thank you everyone for the concern. It was ugly watching the winch drag my
reluctant Q onto the flatbed...even uglier trying to get it back off.

I am in no way blaming the conversion or the extra horsepower on my gearbox
destruction. From what I understand and have experienced, those boxes are
pretty tough.

I was thinking about that gearbox. Ever since I put it back in, (100 miles
ago) it has made some strange noises and acted funny. But I was always
concentrating on the engine swap problems, and blew off the gearbox noises
or I thought they were engine related. It always made a vibration during
slight left turns...It felt like the new bent steering arm was slightly
contacting the body. I hadn't had time to track that one down. About a half
hour before it blew, I let the clutch out and the car started to move
normally. Then for a split second, the engine revs went up and the car lost
drive. I thought what the F. But I blew it off too, instead thinking about
a small problem with the new metering head I had just put in. I don't think
it would have mattered though. I think that box was a timebomb after the
gearshop got done with it.

The gear shop that worked on it 2 months ago had broken my Torsen case and
welded it up. My first thought is that it allowed oil to escape. I'll know
more this weekend.

The owner of the gear shop told me to bring it in. How much liability or
responsibility does a repair shop have? The $500.00 (cost of original
repair) I MIGHT get out of him won't get me a new box. And I WILL NOT put a
box that his shop has touched back in my car (beside the fact that based on
the noises I heard, that box is history) Plus the fact that I installed the
box myself will probably legally allow him to tell me it isn't his problem.
Any thoughts?
____
Dave
88 80 Turbo Quattro, All 4 wheels locked, Gear oil dripping from case.