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Sun Dec 17, 2006 7:57 pm

my clutch has chattered ever since i've had my present 68 ghia (jan 06) and i have repaced the disc and cleaned up the fly wheel and pressure plate twice. today i pulled the engine and the bowden tube is almost straight; maybe 3/8" bow. so i can't seem to get it out of the rear bracket and the bracket is cast into the tranny side plate. there is a rubber boot on the front end where it enters the tunnel. i havn't tried to remove the tube from that end. which end do you add the washers to in order to increase the bow. the rear end looks like it would require some specially designed washers to go up in the bracket. i have a couple of manuels (no bentley) and neither of them tell me where the washers go. dave clarke at sundance bug and buggy (a true geru) tells me to use just any washers that will go on but regular washers don't seem like they would work at the rear. HELP!!

Sun Dec 17, 2006 8:45 pm

The go at the rear of the car, between the bowden tube and the bracket on the tranny. You need washers with a pretty large hole in them to fit.

Those cast-type tube supports can get grungy and the tube sort of welds in place sometimes. I've seen it where you have to about destroy the old bowden tube to get it out of there. Twisting with a vice-grip might crack it loose for you. I've had to pound them out with a hammer and a punch before too. A little bit of moly grease or anti-seize on there when you install it might help out with that in the future.

If that doesn't fix your chatter, it could be pressure plate's not "even" or the flywheel needs to be turned (unless you mean you had it turned previously when you "cleaned it up"). Assuming all your engine/tranny mounts are in good condition.

Sun Dec 17, 2006 11:49 pm

the tube is loose in the bracket but there is not enough slack or play in the tube to get it out. maybe it has lost flexability with age. about 3/8" of tube is sticking out of the back side of the bracket. could i remove it from the front end more easily? does it fit over the conduit from the tunnel or into the conduit?

Mon Dec 18, 2006 9:23 pm

Snookerdude,

I recently replaced my clutch cable (which required that I remove the bowden tube because I couldn't get it to go through the sag) in my '68' Ghia. I got help from John Henry's website. Follow these directions and all your questions will be answered.

WWW.THEBUGSHOP.ORG

Click on 'Tech Help' on the first screen
Click on 'Drivetrain related' on the next screen
Click on the article 'What exactly is a bowden tube?'

This is good stuff. Enjoy.

Dana

Mon Dec 18, 2006 9:53 pm

Do you think your clutch cable tube in the tunnel has broken from some welds? That could explain the slack in the bowden tube and clutch chatter.

Mon Dec 18, 2006 10:16 pm

well, i got the bowden tube off; cleaned and greased it and replaced it with spacer washers in place. i got it loose from the front end first. hooked clutch fork arm back up and pressed the clutch pedal. no crunch like i had been hearing. tomorrow i will buy another 36 mm socket (can't fine mine) and pull the fly wheel and either change it out with one from a donor engine or have the old one refaced. my old pressure plate looks perfect but i may replace it just to avoid pulling the engine again in case it is bad and only looks good. either way i will replace the front main seal. it is not leaking but it has 85K+ miles on it. will let you know if this stops the chatter.

Tue Dec 19, 2006 3:48 am

snookerdude wrote: and pull the fly wheel and either change it out with one from a donor engine or have the old one refaced. my old pressure plate looks perfect but i may replace it just to avoid pulling the engine again in case it is bad and only looks good.

I've had that problem before, a new pressure plate that looked perfect that chattered. Sounds like a good plan.

Fri Jan 05, 2007 7:04 pm

i got my fly wheel faced and am ready to reassemble and reinstall. i have a new main seal and f/w oring. also a new glan nut (really a bolt). a couple of questions.. : (1) my new glan nut came with a very big washer. my old washer was a wave washer with not a very big outer radius. it still has a good bend in it so should i use the new washer or the old one? (2) is there any was to check out a pressure plate and know if it is bad. mine looks rather new and measures even to the ruler all the way around the plate. it is the radial diaphram with center ring type and the ring is square to the plate and bracket as well as is can tell. i'm not set up to mic. it. can any one tell me what to look for that would tell me it is bad?

Fri Jan 05, 2007 7:57 pm

The only check that I know is to do what it sounds like you did - put a straight edge across the contact face of it and measure from there, at several points "around the clock" to a flat surface it's sitting on, or bolt it up to a clutch and flywheel and do that check then.

(Me, I'm using old 6-spring and 9-spring clutches in my bugs, I like how the clutch engages with them better. There's more foot-pressure but they've been a lot more smoother to me. And I've run diaphram clutches in both of them previously though)

Tue Apr 10, 2012 11:06 am

more, 6 years later (for others landing here) historical data.

i have a ghia tranny/in bug with fixed bowden tranny bracket. cast in place.
my cable end has 2 frayed wires, end of life
the bowden must come off, or the cable can not be drawn forward
now the details.
1: pedals out.
2: i pull cable as far as it will go, threads on back now hitting hard. and jammed
at rear of bowden
3: i do not pull down on the tube like the post says, that is impossible due to tranny frame clearances and hads.
you pull hard 45 degrees to to the left hard and it comes out (2 hands, yes)
it's out.
4: remove mr bowden..
next feed new cable from pedal opening, feeling for pipe hole, use with grease.
shove it all the way.
at rear slide bowden on cable such that the threaded end is just 5mm off end. (back feeding cable)
5: using the same 45 degree trick put the bowden back on.
bingo. it's in and 5mm exposed
you do that so you dont bend the cable 90 degree and damage it.
6:
now take an 8mm nut and tread it on the 5mm exposed threads of cable..
Last with pliers pull the cable tight. done deal.
i then tie-wrap the front hook to front cable collar.

last is that brake pedal spring, what a pain that is..... (still scratching head.)
PS a new cable hook is nice.