TheSamba.com :: View topic - Clutches - what pressure plate with what throwout bearing

Sun Feb 19, 2017 9:15 am

Cusser wrote:

Use the pressure plate from the "shot" engine, if that one worked fine.

Worked like a charm. :D

Sat May 13, 2017 4:08 pm

I wish I saw this thread a week ago. First time owning a beetle and I have definelty learned to buy parts for the beetle you own not the beetle how it was stock. I have a 71+ engine, but the original trans. SO what did I do? Buy a 71+ clutch kit. Installed it and magically it even drove for a bit. Now I'm dropping the engine again and using the old pressure plate.

Correct PP

Incorrect:

Sat May 13, 2017 4:23 pm

Tips on inspecting PP?

Sat May 13, 2017 4:30 pm

z33taxi wrote: Tips on inspecting PP?

I'd say pretty much limited to checking the working surface, should be pretty smooth with no big grooves or burn marks. The center ring should be straight, not out of whack.

Wed May 09, 2018 8:34 pm

How do you remove the centering ring?

Photos of my PP.

Thu May 10, 2018 12:13 pm

Cusser wrote: z33taxi wrote: Tips on inspecting PP?

I'd say pretty much limited to checking the working surface, should be pretty smooth with no big grooves or burn marks. The center ring should be straight, not out of whack.

Yes I had one that was out of wack so I simply reinstall some wack and wadda ya know I’m back on the road.

Thu May 10, 2018 1:51 pm

EDragnDean wrote: How do you remove the centering ring?

On the inside of the PP (as pictured above) the dark colored ring is a large "starlock" similar to this, but larger:

It is pressed onto the outer ring which passes thru the center of the diaphragm. Using a screwdriver, pry it off from the inside and you can then slip the outer ring off the diaphragm.

Sat Aug 11, 2018 4:38 pm

Bus had no engine and the PO put in a centering sleeve but left the old clutch shaft for the bearing. I want to take off the centering sleeve and use the pressure plate style with the ring. Does the sleeve unbolt and will taking it off affect the seal?

Fri Aug 17, 2018 8:03 am

I found out that you can unbolt the sleeve. However I left it on and used the correct arm, throw out bearing and ring less clutch.

Wed Jan 01, 2020 9:47 am

Hey Glenn, it looks like your “late” pictures are no longer showing up in the original post.

Wed Jan 01, 2020 10:51 am

[email protected] wrote: Hey Glenn, it looks like your “late” pictures are no longer showing up in the original post.
I can see those today.

Wed Jan 01, 2020 10:59 am

Must be my phone then. If you look in the “quote” portion of the images, the early ones are samba gallery links, while the late ones are from Glenn’s personal site.

Wed Apr 29, 2020 8:27 am

I did the old to new style conversion last year(CSP). I boke the clutchfork for the second time(Stage2 clutch..) so i decided to install the stronger version arm and do this upgrade. All went well and clutch was perfectly fine afterwards.

But after 1500 miles i got a massive tranny oil leak and suspect my mail shaft is leaking badly. The oil was coming from the bellhousing and the rest of the tranny is clean. It's definitly gearbox oil, it has a very distinctive smell and taste.

I suspected the sleeve to got loose, i've seen a picture of that happening. But all is well and tighty.

I'm not sure what could be the issue right now. The bellhousing was soaked with oil and i'm lucky the clutch kept working.

Only thing i can think of is the main shaft seal went bad. I think there is one inside the sleeve? I forgot what it looked liked inside. I had to order a puller to get the sleeve off so haven't looked inside just yet. Why would a seal go bad this quick??

I really want to address this before I put the engine back.. Hope someone can point me in any direction?

Wed Apr 29, 2020 9:05 am

You need to determine whether the leak is engine oil or fear oil from the transmission. Gear oil has a distinctive smell.

Most leaks from that area are from the crankshaft/flywheel oil seal and flywheel O-ring; oftentimes too much engine endplay is involved.

Wed Apr 29, 2020 9:45 am

I was able to get the sleeve off. All looks fine to me but I will source another seal for it. Weird..

Wed Apr 29, 2020 9:49 am

Cusser wrote: You need to determine whether the leak is engine oil or fear oil from the transmission. Gear oil has a distinctive smell.

Most leaks from that area are from the crankshaft/flywheel oil seal and flywheel O-ring; oftentimes too much engine endplay is involved.

It's gearbox oil as i stated. No doubt about it.

Wed Apr 29, 2020 1:13 pm

While you have the engine out, take some time to look for cracks in the transmission case there in the bell housing. Rare, but possible after decades. I'm pretty sure you could use a propane torch to warm up the case surface and look for weeping oil. Though, I've never tried it on the transmission case.

Thu Apr 30, 2020 2:56 am

I think I found my issue. The new shaft doesn't seat deep enough. The circlip didn't hold the arm in place causing it to move sideways when operating the clutch. That causes the seal to open up and leak. I will be reinstalling the system and shave some of the copper bush installed in the startermotor side to get the shaft in place properly. Right now it just wont go deeper.

Thu Apr 30, 2020 8:40 am

I think it's fixed now. The brass bearing sits quite differtent than original, quess that's is what went wrong. I can't say i like the way the arm sits right now but the spring appears to stay in place just fine. All works smooth and sits nicely centered. Should do it!

These are some mockup shots, the end result is better of couse.. I'm thinking of shimming the brass bearing and using a spacer to get it all line-up(and look) a bit better. Not pleased with this fit as is...

Mon May 11, 2020 6:44 am

This thread is great. So I’m going through on early 65 trans setup with a 68 engine. I owned this since 1984 but it’s been sitting since 93.

As you can see it has the old style parts and a 9 spring heavy duty pressure plate (from a bus at the time I think). This setup was great and I’d like to keep it.

While rusty the pp looks ok and springs are all still ok. Looking for specs on pp thickness as well as flywheel thickness to consider just resurfacing. Obviously the clutch disk will be replaced. Since these parts don’t mix well and I’d really like to keep the 9 spring this might be best if possible.

🙏