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Mon Mar 15, 2010 11:28 pm

I have looked into some local clubs, but not very seriously. I know theres one in gwinnett county where I live called air-cooled addicts, but I have yet to make it to a club meeting, because its always one thing or another that comes up.

Thanks a bunch for all the helpful info on fiberglassing! I'm super-excited, because I only need a direct cash injection of about $300 more and I'll have everything I need! Of course, to balance it out, I have a hell of a lot of rust to deal with, and I need to learn how to weld pretty badly, and get a decent welder, and while Im at it, I might as well win the lottery lol.

Still cant get the darn clutch release arm off to replace that bushing (trashed now). I think Ill just have to take it to some VW shop to have them replace it for me, since it is killing me. I was quoted $65 for them to pull out the old one and put in the new one. Good deal, yes or no?

Also, I need to get the rear drums turned down, and everyone I've talked to says theres nowhere in GA that can do them (including VW shops), but Im fairly confident that any competent machinist can do it? Anybody have any recommendations?

Bugman114, I would love to go off-roading, but I swore off it until I could afford to fix what I would inevitably break. Ill definitely try to make it to bugapalooza.

Coming soon: replacing all the brake components! Including lines, hoses, dual-circuit master cylinder, rear wheel cylinders, new disc brake kit up front, new shoes in the rear, drums turned down (eventually), new springs and such for the rear drums, and a new brake fluid reservoir.

Also coming soon: new bearings front and rear, new seals for the axles, new throwout bearing, new clutch cable, new accelerator cable (mines all redneck fabbed and retarded), and possibly, all new seals for the engine (hesitant to tear it apart since I dont know what Im doing. Ill wait on that)

Fri Mar 19, 2010 12:33 am

Ok, parts are coming in soon, and I want to make sure that I got all the ones I needed to rebuild the rear axle- got new seals where the axle-tube meets the transmission, and new paper gaskets/seals for where the axle meets the brake backing plate, and a new wheel bearing for each side. What are oil slingers, and do I need them? Ive heard them mentioned a few times, but nothing in depth. If I do need them, can I just re-use my old ones and get away with it?

Thanks again everyone, you all have been extremely helpful with getting this stupid car running. One day it will be awesome, but for now Ill settle for running and safe.

Tue Mar 23, 2010 10:58 am

Progress is being made! got the old broken transmission out of the car, and celebrated with suggestive pictures lol. Trying to get the bearings out of the new transmission to replace seals and put in new bearings. Any tips of pulling the old bearings? Search function has not been very helpful.

pics coming soon

Tue Mar 23, 2010 12:46 pm

surewriting wrote: Ok, parts are coming in soon, and I want to make sure that I got all the ones I needed to rebuild the rear axle- got new seals where the axle-tube meets the transmission, and new paper gaskets/seals for where the axle meets the brake backing plate, and a new wheel bearing for each side. What are oil slingers, and do I need them? Ive heard them mentioned a few times, but nothing in depth. If I do need them, can I just re-use my old ones and get away with it?

Thanks again everyone, you all have been extremely helpful with getting this stupid car running. One day it will be awesome, but for now Ill settle for running and safe.
Yes you need an oil slinger.
Russ helped me out with this picture off of his website back when I was working on it:

Look at the axle in the middle of the page. If I remember correctly, the oil slinger is part 29. And it's the washer than holds everything inside of part 26. Your seal replacement kit should come with a new one, but I dont see any problem with re-using one.

The oil slinger is the washer you can see there. You HAVE to put it inside of part 26 before you put in the new seal. Otherwise you can look at my build page to see how we pulled out the seal without hurting it. Without the oil slinger the spacer (#25) can slide right out of the seal, and part 26 and into the brake drum :shock:
Here are the instructions we used when we replaced my brothers:
http://www.vw-resource.com/rear_seal.html
Only take off the castle nut when the car is on the ground, it's highly torqued and trying to take it off can knock the car off the jackstands.
Good luck! Hope that helps

Tue Mar 23, 2010 6:43 pm

Thanks! That is very helpful- Im pretty sure the new axle seal kit came with some new ones, if not, Ive got 3 transmissions to pick parts from. I broke a hard brake line pulling it out- glad I ordered all new brake components. I found that I have braided steel lines in the rear instead of rubber, and I have new rubber ones, should I re-use the braided steel lines or just put in new stock rubber ones?

As promised, here are the pics of me being retarded and of getting the transmission out:

[img]http://img28.imageshack.us/img28/4739/beetle023.jpg[/img

There are those darn bearings

My friend Jacob being helpful in taking out the transaxle

Wed Mar 24, 2010 7:00 am

Great Happy Gilmore imitation.

Sat Mar 27, 2010 12:31 pm

While working on the bug this morning before work, trying to do some brake work (getting the old disc brakes off was the goal today), I noticed that I have a nice crack/rust hole on the pan running almost from the rear of the frame head to the footwell sheetmetal. Im almost positive this is an important structural member, and after poking around my bug, I just keep finding more and more rust, especially in structural places. Can anybody help me out with some welding lessons? I can pay in sweet tea and thank yous, as well as some spare parts I have lying around.

This bug is an emotional roller coaster :roll:. One day Im almost done, the next its another several hundred dollars.

Sun Mar 28, 2010 6:07 pm

Don't let it get you down! One thing at a time and you'll get there

Sun Mar 28, 2010 8:02 pm

Im trying. Pics of progress/ rust issues coming soon

Incidentally, does anybody know how to get the front discs off? Im replacing the old crappy disc brake hardware with a new kit, and the several manuals I have are not particularly helpful. I dont really want to force anything and break it, so any tips? Also, are the studs/ lugs supposed to come out attached with the lugnuts? Most did, but theres like 2-3 that didnt. I only ask because Im new to all this, and I would probably write something major being broken off as just another weird quirk of air-cooled VWs. Pictures help! Thank you all for helping out with information and support! Going to be taking the transmission to a shop nearby to get the clutch/throwout bearing arm bushing replaced, and get the old bearings pressed out, and the seals replaced, and the new bearings pressed in. After that, its just a matter of replacing all the brake stuff (all the parts are here), putting it all back together again, and hoping the engine will turn over.

Speaking of the engine, the car has been sitting since since september, and when I took the engine out of the car, I only drained the oil. Should I pour some stabilizing agent down the fuel line, and in the gas tank? I would really like the engine to run when I put it back in the car. Also, Ive never adjusted the valves or changed the spark plugs, which I want to do, but the engines bottom half is covered in oil and grease (I think from a previously exploded axle boot- oil is mostly on the left side, and along the left underside of the car too) and stuffed in an inaccessible corner of the garage- planning on doing that when I put the engine back in the car. What should I use to clean all the gunk off the engine without destroying any seals/gaskets? And Ive got like 3 manuals for the car, so I should be set on how to adjust it when the time comes, but any helpful hints and tips and tricks you all have learned through the years?

Sun Mar 28, 2010 9:47 pm

Re-use the stainless braided brake lines if they still look good. Those braided lines can last next to forever, keep the new rubber ones for spares. Stand the engine on end and spray it down full strength with Simple Green. It will seriously soften up all the build up on your engine bottom. That and an assortment of brushes, bottle brushes, toothbrushes, wire brushes and you are golden. Stabiliser shouldn't be necessary for your fuel for now, however the old fuel in the car should be jettisoned, and the fuel filter replaced. Another good idea is to blow down the brake hard lines and the fuel line with compressed air while you have everything apart.

Sun Mar 28, 2010 10:31 pm

Thanks, ZARJDR, Ill take a look at the lines tomorrow ,and hopefully theyve still got some life left in them. As for the hardlines, I have all new ones, and have no clue what Im doing with them bending-wise. Ive got the tool to bend the lines, and got the hard lines replacement kit, but Ive been hesitant to jump into it because I have heard once you bend the hard lines, its bad to bend the same area again.

Also, thanks again for the tips on cleaner and replacing the fuel filter and blowing through the lines with compressed air- Ill be sure to do that as well. Though, Im not sure how to go about draining the fuel in the tank. I guess theres a valve somewhere on the bottom? Ill take a closer look tomorrow and search through the manuals.

I have lots of learning to do still lol. I am eager to get the car on the road, but I also want to make sure I am doing everything properly.

Wed Apr 28, 2010 9:49 am

So, more updates: limited work done so far, due to school 6 days a week and two jobs occupy all my other free time.

Managed to get the replacement transmission up to Stockornaut over in Cumming to replace the clutch arm/throwout bearing arm bushing, and to pull out the old bearings and replace with new ones. The owner, Billie, is a fantastic guy with excellent work at good prices. For all those VW owners in north-ish GA, this is the shop you want to go to.

So, ive got the replacement trans almost ready to go in, and have one more newbie question about the bearings in it- those need to be packed with grease as well, right?

Still working on replacing the bearings/disc brakes up front. The new bearings from the kit dont fit the spindle (too narrow on the inside diameter), but the bearing races fit the new disc, and the old bearings fit the spindle, but are too small to fit in the new disc. I dont know what parts I need to get everything running again. Its very frustrating. Is there anybody who has been in this situation and can offer some much-needed advice?

Also, I have gotten the old brake backing plates off the rear, and cleaned those up really well, and replaced the shoes and wheel cylinders. Just waiting on some more money to get some new rear drums.

Tue May 25, 2010 8:05 am

Got my fiberglass repair kit in! Going to patch up parts of the old body kit, because its a lot higher quality than the new kit that I purchased. I am just going to use the new front bumper and front clip, since both of mine got destroyed.

Also, got one new rear brake drum! The other should be in by wednesday, and my rims are being sandblasted and primered, and apparently they have about 15 layers of paint and rust on them. Also going to order new tires soon!

As for the front disc brake kit not fitting, it appears that I have balljoint spindles, which is utterly baffling because the rest of the beam looks exactly like a link-pin beam. At any rate, I pulled it out of the car (and the gas tank as well- any tips on cleaning the inside and rust-proofing it? Id actually just like to get a fuel cell, but I havent got the money right yet) and Im going to drag it up to the shop to see what the heck Ive got, and get it all sorted out.

Almost got enough to get new floorpans! Ive got crappy fiberglass buckets with some retarded bracket welded to the pans, because I havent got any seat tracks. The new pans come with the seat tracks, and Im not really enthusiastic about the fiberglass seats, so if anybody nearby has a decent pair cheap, Ill probably buy them.