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Sun Aug 24, 2008 5:09 pm

OK so this is an intro as well as a question. I bought a 59 bug about 12 years ago. I started to strip it all and do a pan off resto. I soon latter lost interest, money, and time after I bought my Acura TL. I leave the car at my grandparents farm to store. So some low life in the middle of the night stole my pan! So I was contemplating what i was going to do with the shell. Either sell it, part it, etc.

So now I'm a big Honda nut but want to pick up where I left off with VW. I spent so much time reading Hot VW and VW Trends for 3 years and had a plan for my bug. So I found this site to pontentially sell my parts when it bit me to start over. I found a 55 rolling pan and 36hp engine, i think it's a 36hp pretty much complete, and trying to determine if the frame is too rusty.

So i'm trying to strip the frame and pull the engine off. The oval sat outside since about 1975. the body was so far gone that it was cut up and sold. The pan is all that was left. So the frame has been in the elments for a good bit.

So here is where I need HELP! I got the 2 upper 17mm nuts/bolts out, took off the 2 nuts on the bottom on the backside, but cant get the engine off!! More than likely this thing hasnt been turned over in 30 years! I need help so i can tear this thing down and get to frame work.

I posted in here since I believe this to be the OG pan and engine and not familiar with the engine. thanks in advance!

Sun Aug 24, 2008 7:05 pm

My personal favourite was the tractor, but most of these ideas looked pretty good.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2...highlight=

Sun Aug 24, 2008 7:08 pm

Volumex wrote: My personal favourite was the tractor, but most of these ideas looked pretty good.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2...highlight=

Yeah, that thread should answer most of your questions. I got an honorable mention for the redneck "tie it to a tree and use a come-along" method. If I had a big-ass tractor, I would have used that....

Sun Aug 24, 2008 8:45 pm

Volumex wrote: My personal favourite was the tractor, but most of these ideas looked pretty good.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2...highlight=

thanks for replies. i tried searching but I wouldnt have put that as a search title. lol

yeh i guess i'm stuck pulling it all as one unit. I didnt think about it rusting to the input shaft. I was hoping just to pull the engine and trans later. bigger question is if i want to keep the setup or sell it...

hmm sorry but how would i get the tranny to rotate? far as trying to just unbolt the flywheel method?

Mon Aug 25, 2008 5:22 am

You're not gonna unbolt the flywheel untill you get the engine away from the tranny. You just can't get in there to do it.

Sometimes if you put your floor jack under the back side of the crank case and jack it up a bit, it is enough to break them loose.

If it is stuck on the input shaft, then pull off the starter and spray around in there with as much penetrating oil as you can. But the come along or tractor is probably the way to go!

Wed Apr 18, 2012 2:13 pm

I have the same experience taking an engine out of a 55 Canadian Standard. It seems to be stuck in gear, as I can't move the stick shift.... but I suspect it is because the engine is seized. I finally managed to crack the engine from the tranny, and have about 5/8 of an inch space between the two, top and bottom. But no matter how vigourously I twist, turn, bounce, rock the engine from side to side and up and down, it will not separate that last 1/8-1/2 inch to clear. I have taken the starter off, and squirted a lot of WD 40 into the space...but am having trouble imagining what the hell it can be hangin up on in there. If I have 3/4 of an inch movement on that shaft already....????? how much more contact could there be left????

Wed Apr 18, 2012 2:27 pm

Try PB Blaster or something similar WD40 is junk!

Wed Apr 18, 2012 3:58 pm

PB Blaster rules!

Wed Apr 18, 2012 8:12 pm

dickie wrote: I have the same experience taking an engine out of a 55 Canadian Standard. It seems to be stuck in gear, as I can't move the stick shift.... but I suspect it is because the engine is seized. I finally managed to crack the engine from the tranny, and have about 5/8 of an inch space between the two, top and bottom. But no matter how vigourously I twist, turn, bounce, rock the engine from side to side and up and down, it will not separate that last 1/8-1/2 inch to clear. I have taken the starter off, and squirted a lot of WD 40 into the space...but am having trouble imagining what the hell it can be hangin up on in there. If I have 3/4 of an inch movement on that shaft already....????? how much more contact could there be left????

I had the same thing happen with my 56, & i could not separate the engine/trans more than 3/4 in. I was struggling for quite some time before my dad walked up with 2 pry bars & popped it right out :wink:

Wed Apr 18, 2012 8:26 pm

I had trouble recently getting one off. It would smoothly pull out about 1/4", and then start getting firmed until at about 1/2" out it would not move.
Turns out there was some rubbery crap on one of the lower stud threads, and as the motor moved it compressed it until it would move no more.
I ended up cutting the bottom stud off and that did the trick.

Thu Apr 19, 2012 10:15 am

This is the best and least destructive way you can do it.

From the above thread. As long as you remove the two bottom studs and the trans and engine case are not corroded together, this should work.

Whatever you do, do not try heating any of the magnesium cases with a torch. If you were to get the magnesium to ignite, you would not be able to put it out and you would most likely burn your house down.

52panelvan wrote: It took me a while to figure out how to do it but here is the solution....

I had the same problem with a 25hp bonded by the clutch plate to the output shaft of the gearbox of 40 years in the woods and had been covered/filled with water too :shock:

The engine was siezed solid but the gearbox still span. I wanted to keep both the engine and gearbox and not risk braking anything.
i pulled, twisted and tugged at it and nothing - only a tiny bit of movement in the engine but no way on earth it was coming off.

This is my solution, no waiting and mostly non destructive.

a. undo all the usual and wiggle pull etc the engine till you get it so it moves a few mm about then...

1.Pull the engine and gearbox in one lump.
2.Strip the engine to short block, leave the heads on but take off all ancillaries
3. take out the top engine bolts out, then do the lock two nuts together on the 2 lower studs and unscrew them from the engine block(or weld two on and replace the studs- if that doesnt work)
4. put it all on the bench, then pull the whole lot forward so the engine just hangs over the edge of the bench.
5. Take the starter off if its still bolted to the gearbox.
6. get a torch and look through the starter hole in the gearbox and you should see the 14mm's(i think from memory) that hold the pressure plate to the flywheel.
7. bend slightly a ring spanner so that you can get it firmly on the 14mm's
8. rotate the whole engine block round on the gearbox and undo all the bolts on the fly wheel, they should if its original be only torqued to a low amount, may be a bit of penatrating fluid on them, just be carefulland dont allow them to fall in to the housing as they may snag the rotation.
9. when they are all done - pull the engine off gearbox
10. this leaves the clutch plate on the output shaft, get a grinder /dremel and very carefully cut it off.

With an unsiezed engine you obviously dont have to rotate the engine just spin it over to get at each flywheel bolt.

Some pics

cut centre out

Only costs one clutch plate.

Hope this helps :)