Getting to 71 ignition switch, steering column removal tips

[BajaCapt]

This is a quick list of tips and links to getting to your ignition switch, this involves removing the steering column, it really is not too hard a job, but it does require some time and patience, specially once you get to the cylinder lock removal part, but even that is not as hard once you get the feel of it. I did this on my 1971 Bus.

Will start with steering wheel removal, Anchovy posted a great tutorial on that subject, follow the link below to it, you will need a couple of tools for this that you can find at Harbor Freight, Anchovy explains all what you need in his tutorial
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=310527&highlight=steering+wheel

And here is the link to the tool at harbor Freight
http://www.harborfreight.com/8-inch-three-jaw-puller-40970.html


***BEFORE DOING ANYTHING BELOW,DISCONNECT THE NEGATIVE FROM YOUR BATTERY***
Now that the steering wheel is out of the way, proceed to carefully remove your instrument cluster, I wont go into detail here on that as it is fairly simple, just make sure to take pictures of you wiring to the cluster, you will use this shots along with the diagram to reverse the process and not make mistakes, also be careful with you fresh air and heat levers, those must be removed prior to removing the instrument cluster, the trick there is to pry out the little plastic retainer shown in the picture below.

Below is a picture of what they look like, the trick to pull them out is to squeeze and push at the same time, after you pop the first one out the rest will be easier, I used a pair of small needle nose pliers
* BusDaddy suggests pushing a 7-8mm socket onto the pointy end of those heater lever clips gets then out much easier than the pliers.

Now disconnect the wiring coming from both, the ignition switch and the turn signal, I marked mine to aid me in the reverse process

Pay close atention to the purple and black wire that goes from the turn signal lever to the emergency light switch, disconnect it as well, check picture below

Ok, now with you instrument cluster also removed and the wiring from ignition and turn signal disconnected is time to tackle the column itself, start at the bottom by removing the cover plate screws (2) shown in picture below

No carefully disconnect and pull the horn ground wire from its guide, below is a picture of how it runs through it so you can get an idea of how to go about it.

Ok, now leave the cover plate loose down there and move up to the top of the column and remove the screws shown in the picture below

You steering column can now be pulled back from dash, do this slowly just in case you forgot to disconnect something, if all ok pull back toward front seat until it clears the base of dashboard it attaches to, after that it you can carefully start pulling it up and out of the bus.

With the column out, it is time to remove the ignition housing from the column, the trick here is to remove the circlip at the top of the housing, I strongly recommend buying a pair of circlip pliers, this circlips are a bit of pain in the ass to remove, but once it is out the housing will come right off the column, be carefull when sliding out the housing to not break the spade connection for the horn ground at bottom of column, bend carefully! . Below is a scan from the Bentley of how those parts are in the column.

So you almost there , for the actual cylinder removal there is an excellent tutorial for it in the link below, follow it and you should have no problems with this process...
http://www.specialpatrolgroup.co.uk/spooky/barrel/barrel.html

You will need a strong piece of wire to make a "J" shaped hook, here is a picture of mine below

I made mine from a coat hanger, it is the perfect diameter and also perfect strength to do the job, below is a picture of it inside the cylinder release hole ( this hole is the tricky to find part because you doing it blind basically)

As a final tip, my switch was hard to turn, and the steering lock was stuck in, the steering wheel wouldn't lock, I gave this whole piece a good soaking with PB Blaster and kept turning the key on switch, the lock released soon after that and now after reinstall the switch feels like new. A lot of black scum came out along with the PB blaster drippings, I kept spraying and turning it till the spray came out clean.
So there it is, a one day job if done properly

Jose

[john71westy]

When prying the lock cylinder out, after it has moved slightly out, release the coat hanger. The coat hanger will prevent the cyl. from coming out further.

[busdaddy]

Nice work!
pushing a 7-8mm socket onto the pointy end of those heater lever clips gets then out much easier than the pliers.

And the most important step DISCONNECT THE BATTERY FIRST! once those clips are out the metal tab falls onto the hazard switch, EXCITING! to say the least
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[drumming123]

Where were you with this 3 days ago captain! I had a hell of a time getting that ignition cylinder out.. i didn't know that the cylinder release hole was there, and had to use brute force to get my out Maybe even a couple power tools. Great write up none the less. Added to my bookmark bar in case I must endeavor this daunting task again someday.

[BajaCapt]