Removal of the gearbox and disassembly of the axle shafts is described in the rear axle article. Use this information at your advantage; saves time figuring it out yourselves ;-)
In the beginning, the inside of the gearbox seemed like a black box to us, which made us decide to leave the assembly in one piece. We started cleaning the outside with metal brushes that took a lot of time and beer or a lot of beer that caused us to take a lot of time :-D
Eventually it proved to be worth the effort; the gearbox looks like new! Now that the exterior is ready, we removed the differential and had it inspected by a professional mechanic. Luckily we did not have to disassemble the entire gearbox!
After we primed and spray-painted the gearbox, we started working on the clutch assembly. Visual inspection made me conclude that the rubber sealing around the drive shaft had totally dried out and it literally crumbled in my hands. A new drive shaft sealing can easily be obtained from Paruzzi or your local VW shop.
Before you can install this rubber, you will have to remove the drive shaft: remove the clip on the drive shaft at the inside of the gearbox: you can now screw off the drive shaft. Watch that you do not damage the gearbox when removing the old drive shaft sealing. I needed to use a small knife to scrape out the remainders of the rubber sealing.
Grease the fitting and sealing when installing the new drive shaft sealing. A rubber hammer might come in handy. Install a new clutch bearing since you will not be able to reach it in the near future without removing the engine.
