There is a very low probability that the donor car was canned due to a problem with the manual transmission itself. They are very robust. There is some chance that the clutch or hydraulics might not be great on the donor, but you would be able to examine an fix those issues when you swap.

Rick

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80 300SD (129k mi) 82 240D stick (193k mi)77 240D auto - stick to be (153k mi) 85 380SL (145k mi) 89 BMW 535i 82 Diesel Rabbit Pickup (374k mi) 91 Jetta IDI Diesel (155k mi) 81 VW Rabbit Convertible Diesel 70 Triumph Spitfire Mk III (63kmi)66 Triumph TR4a IRS (90k mi)67 Ford F-100 (??)