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b-man Samba Member
Joined: May 20, 2008 Posts: 498 Location: So Cal
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Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2018 8:14 pm Post subject: 1956 Dove Blue Panelvan Coming Back To Life After 26 Years |
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Long story short, I purchased this '56 Panelvan up in Washington state back in late '83, towed it home to So Cal using a homemade tow bar behind a Chevy LUV mini pickup. I drove it for about a year before it was unfortunately hit in the rear which caused it to roll over onto the passenger side. Had the body pulled back straight, a donor B-pillar was grafted in and some used doors, a deck lid and apron were fitted. Kind of lost interest in it because it was not what it used to be (all OG paint, super-straight) and sold it to a family member.
Fast forward to August of 2017, I took possession of it again after many years of neglect. Last tags expired in early 1993, probably sitting since 1992. Due to a curb-slapping incident it ended up with a bent drivers front spindle and bent rear stub axle. Along with all that it's in need of a complete brake overhaul, gas tank cleaning, and everything else needing attention on a 62-year old bus.
As found in the backyard where it languished for over a quarter century.
1959 36hp engine that I picked up back in '83 for $100.
A few spare 36hp engines, one is a running 1956 bug engine. Cab divider was a NOS piece I picked up at a S.O.T.O. meet back in 1984.
Nice original paint uncut dash.
So as you can see I'm starting off with a very nice almost rust-free bus, I see it in an entirely different way now as compared to when I sold it about 33 years ago.
Rather than repair the original transaxle and front end I'll replace them with some good 1966 units that I've had sitting around since about 1989. They came out of my 1966 single cab pickup when I did a suspension swap, with some minor attention everything will be in roadworthy condition. This will save me some major cash and upgrade the braking and handling, the '66 front end still has the factory sway bar intact.
Now up on jack stands with the entire drivetrain and front end removed.
I had originally planned to do the front end swap first, but getting the clutch cable out for front end removal required taking out the engine to get access to the very stuck and stubborn clutch cable adjusting nuts. Once the engine came out the original split case trans was next in line.
After the transaxle was out I spent a few hours cleaning up the frame horns and straightening up the cradle a bit.
After removing the fuel tank I spruced up the engine compartment with an old wash mitt and some full-strength Simple Green.
In need of a new battery tray but otherwise in nice shape.
Here's the big-nut transaxle I'll be using. Overall the gearing would be too tall for the little 36-horse with stock 27" tires but I'll be running tires that are only about 25" tall, some 165/80-15s. The two lower gears will be very close to the original gearing, third a bit taller but not excessive and top gear will add a bit less than 2 mph at 3000rpm over the original setup so we're good.
Here are the tires I'll be using, the bus was loaded down to full capacity and then some with spare parts in this pic.
Picture from 1984, with 165SR-15 Michelin XZX tires all around. Wasn't it great when those Michelin radials were relatively cheap and plentiful?
Klassic Fab reproduction bumper, fitted up before the tear down began.
While removing the drivers side front brake hose I twisted off the end of the line, just as well as I wanted to run DOT-5 silicone brake fluid so all new hard lines and every other part of the the hydraulics are all best off being new.
So out came all the lines. With the entire underside accessible with everything out of the way it's time to get it done.
You're pretty much destroying the main line down the frame removing it, but the other lines can be removed pretty much intact and can be used as a pattern to bend them up. All by hand, no bending tools needed other than an old rubber brake line end to hold the line end when making a bend very close to the end of the line.
I mounted a dual master cylinder, I had ordered a '67 unit from Rock Auto but it turned out to be a bay bus master which actually worked out better anyway. With a 1/4" spacer and a minor mod to the pushrod assembly it clears the pedal pan without having to notch it.
I cut down the brake pushrod clevis by less than 3/8" (.335") and used a Type I pushrod without modifying it, everything fits perfect. Bus pushrod on the top, bug pushrod below along with the bug pushrod holder for reference.
Here's the bug pushrod installed in the bus clevis and the piece I sawed off for reference.
As you can see the pushrod assembly has just enough room to come out for length adjustment without having to remove the master cylinder. I have yet to fabricate the master cylinder spacer, so I used whatever I had laying around to space the cylinder for mockup.
Pedal pan fits nicely.
A couple shots of the new chassis lines, sure is nice to have the front end and transaxle out of the way.
Been taking advantage of all the room with the front beam out of the way to address the pedal assemblies, will soon be replacing the pedal bushings and seals and cleaned up accumulated crud on the steering box and linkage.
Lots more to do, but a good start. Thanks for reading.
_________________ 1956 Dove Blue Panel
1966 Velvet Green Single Cab
1957 L41 Black Oval Window Beetle |
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khalimadeath Samba Member
Joined: June 24, 2014 Posts: 768 Location: Reno, NV
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Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2018 9:40 pm Post subject: Re: 1956 Dove Blue Panelvan Coming Back To Life After 26 Years |
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Good stuff. I'll be doing the same with the underside of my bus soon. _________________ The United States Constitution
(c) 1787. All Rights Reserved
1970 Bus Westfalia
1964 Kombi |
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easy e Samba Member
Joined: May 28, 2008 Posts: 3930 Location: 1 hr north of Santa Barbara
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KombiMadness Samba Member
Joined: December 09, 2011 Posts: 388 Location: Sunshine Coast, Australia
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Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2018 11:48 pm Post subject: Re: 1956 Dove Blue Panelvan Coming Back To Life After 26 Years |
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Great story! You owned it, then had a 33 year hiatus and now you are making up for lost time and then some. Great continuity and very unusual since most busses have changed hands more times than can be counted......
I love that NOS cab divider _________________ My brother & I on the roof of Dad's Splitty circa 1967 - I'm the half pint with the skinny legs! |
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Saul Koll Samba Member
Joined: September 28, 2008 Posts: 191 Location: Portland
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Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2018 3:25 am Post subject: Re: 1956 Dove Blue Panelvan Coming Back To Life After 26 Years |
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Really cool story. Cool panel! I got my first buses in the early 80's. My how things have changed. _________________ "I wish you could smell the smell that's coming from the bus"... |
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type2rescuemaine Samba Member
Joined: March 04, 2016 Posts: 336 Location: Maine
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Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2018 3:34 am Post subject: Re: 1956 Dove Blue Panelvan Coming Back To Life After 26 Years |
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Sweet roof rack! |
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nlorntson Crazy VW Lady
Joined: March 13, 2004 Posts: 3776 Location: Twin Cities, MN
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Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2018 7:26 am Post subject: Re: 1956 Dove Blue Panelvan Coming Back To Life After 26 Years |
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How are you going to mount a later transmission nosecone to an earlier nosecone mount?
Different mount? Adapter? |
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62DoKaGuy Samba Member
Joined: May 22, 2011 Posts: 1276 Location: Surprise, AZ
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Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2018 7:47 am Post subject: Re: 1956 Dove Blue Panelvan Coming Back To Life After 26 Years |
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nlorntson wrote: |
How are you going to mount a later transmission nosecone to an earlier nosecone mount?
Different mount? Adapter? |
Beat me to the punch! I've seen this adapter, which seems to have good reviews, if you wanted to go the simpler route without hacking the originality: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1318980
Fortunately (and still in a way unfortunately), my '59 SC had long been modified for later tunnel trans. I'd try to keep the split-case mount in tact and use some form of adapter...my $0.02.
Cool story too on how the panel has bounced back and forth! _________________ ,,Wenige Menschen denken, und doch wollen alle entscheiden.'' -der Alte Fritz
EverettB wrote: |
...I went at it from both ends but going from the rear didn't seem to do anything, although I did spray some rust breaker in there... |
4/62 Double Cab
5/61 Panel (sold)
4/59 Single Cab (sold) |
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vwuberalles Samba Member
Joined: October 18, 2003 Posts: 1355 Location: Richmond, VA
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b-man Samba Member
Joined: May 20, 2008 Posts: 498 Location: So Cal
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Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2018 2:22 pm Post subject: Re: 1956 Dove Blue Panelvan Coming Back To Life After 26 Years |
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In order to mount the later tunnel trans into my early bus originally equipped with the split case trans I'll fabricate some adapter plates patterned after these ones generously shared by Samba member Jason:https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=583119
Rather than buy a commercially available urethane adapter or $400 special nosecone I'm going the cheap route so I can use those funds for essentials. No matter what, I will not cut/weld/modify the bus chassis in any way to put in the tunnel trans.
I'll make the adapter plates from 1/4" thick mild steel plate rather than the 3/16" thickness used by Jason. The added material thickness to play with will better allow me to 'tune' the fore and aft location of the transaxle. This is to avoid getting the rear tire toe in out of spec which causes rapid tire wear.
I measured from the face of the engine mounting surface on the original transaxle to the saddle mount in the center using a straightedge and a caliper. The dimension I came up with was .255". Once everything is bolted in for the first try with the mount plates I'll record the resulting new measurement and either mill down the plate(s) the appropriate amount or add shims to hit that .255" dimension.
Right now my plans are to get it going down the road and make it usable for its originally intended purpose, to haul stuff around. I don't plan in the near future to do much to the body other than to preserve what's there. As you might have noticed I've stripped off most of the light gray primer using thinner to try to expose as much of the OG Dove Blue paint as possible. I think that white passenger cab door was originally Dove Blue as well so I'm going to give it a go with some paint stripper and see what I can get.
Thanks all for the positive comments and feedback.
. _________________ 1956 Dove Blue Panel
1966 Velvet Green Single Cab
1957 L41 Black Oval Window Beetle |
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aa390392 Samba Member
Joined: March 28, 2007 Posts: 3602 Location: So.Cal
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Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2018 3:24 pm Post subject: Re: 1956 Dove Blue Panelvan Coming Back To Life After 26 Years |
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I like what your doing and how your going about doing it...mechanically save and a well savored bod..bad ass.
Cheers Thomas _________________ .
getting grumpy & less tolerant!
55 ragtop
56 delux sedan
56 Kabriolet |
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b-man Samba Member
Joined: May 20, 2008 Posts: 498 Location: So Cal
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Posted: Sun Apr 29, 2018 6:45 pm Post subject: Re: 1956 Dove Blue Panelvan Coming Back To Life After 26 Years |
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I won't be doing any highly-skilled rust repair, panel replacement or any extensive restoration work on this old workhorse. However I will be searching out and replacing whatever is worn out mechanically to make for a safe and enjoyable driving experience.
Severely worn original clutch cable clevis pin and clutch cable clevis end with ovaled-out pin holes. This is an area that's very commonly in need of attention on these old buses.
In contrast here is the new replacement clutch cable and clip-type pin. I purchased a reproduction clutch lever but I'll use the original one instead, reasons being the original has a much tighter fit (actually a decent press-fit) where the slot engages the clutch pedal shaft plus the hole for the pin isn't worn appreciably. The pin fit on the original lever actually feels about the same if not better than the fit on the repro part.
Old crusty shift coupler that's about ready to delaminate next to the new repro part. The old coupler was still working but for how much longer is anyone's guess.
The fuel tank is still in nice shape and looks decent now after a scrub down with a brass wire brush and some Lime Away, I won't paint it in keeping with the clean up and refurbish theme. I did a rinse out with some clean gas and got most of the fine silty rust out of it that I expected after sitting for over a quarter century. After that I used a length of chain and shook it around and rinsed it again, loosening up a little more rust. I'll chain-shake and rinse it a couple more times and call it good.
The fuel tap looks good after a cleaning in gasoline with a toothbrush, I'll rebuild it and reuse the original screen filter which is in surprisingly nice condition.
Broken brake pedal return spring next to the new replacement part. Just another reason you need to take apart the under cab controls and inspect the various parts for wear.
The shift rod is still in good condition, one of the few pieces that I'll be painting before reinstalling it.
The original shifter guide bracket has long ago been replaced with a later part, a commonly worn item that was metal on metal originally rather than having a replaceable plastic bushing. I'll replace the bushing and space the later bracket downward a little with some washers to better align it with the bottom of the early straight shifter.
1956 front beam, I'll keep it in storage for later on if I ever decide to put this bus back to original. The passenger side shock bolt end broke off while removing it, the driver side already had the threads drilled out of the shock mount during a previous broken bolt and shock replacement.
Serial number on the passenger side travel limiter.
Here's the original split case transaxle, I don't think it has ever been removed before.
Original donut front nosecone mount. The two rear saddle mounts looked very good and were likely replaced at one time.
Driver side stub axle is bent enough to make the rear tire wobble by a couple of inches. The uneven gap between the drum and backing plate indicates it's pretty badly bent.
Now here's something right out of the hackers hall of fame, take a look at the passenger side backing plate and how it's bent inward by a crazy amount.
Well, how else do you remove the brake shoes in order to free up up a stuck brake assembly without having to remove the drum? Some hack did this to move the bus from a previous resting place to another location in the back yard during its 26 years in limbo. Aaaack!
Bent-up brake shoes and broken wheel cylinder. Classic.
Did a gasoline and toothbrush cleaning on the transmission saddle, will reinstall it as-is in keeping with the no restoration theme of this project.
That's all for now, thanks for looking! _________________ 1956 Dove Blue Panel
1966 Velvet Green Single Cab
1957 L41 Black Oval Window Beetle |
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EverettB Administrator
Joined: April 11, 2000 Posts: 69733 Location: Phoenix Metro
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BarryL Samba Member
Joined: November 01, 2004 Posts: 14216 Location: Casa de Oro, California
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Posted: Mon Apr 30, 2018 9:41 am Post subject: Re: 1956 Dove Blue Panelvan Coming Back To Life After 26 Years |
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b-man wrote: |
The original shifter guide bracket has long ago been replaced with a later part, a commonly worn item that was metal on metal originally rather than having a replaceable plastic bushing. I'll replace the bushing and space the later bracket downward a little with some washers to better align it with the bottom of the early straight shifter.
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That original white glide works far better than any ever made since. |
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b-man Samba Member
Joined: May 20, 2008 Posts: 498 Location: So Cal
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Posted: Mon Apr 30, 2018 8:42 pm Post subject: Re: 1956 Dove Blue Panelvan Coming Back To Life After 26 Years |
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BarryL wrote: |
b-man wrote: |
The original shifter guide bracket has long ago been replaced with a later part, a commonly worn item that was metal on metal originally rather than having a replaceable plastic bushing. I'll replace the bushing and space the later bracket downward a little with some washers to better align it with the bottom of the early straight shifter.
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That original white glide works far better than any ever made since. |
Interesting.
I'll try to keep it if it's not damaged. The split in the bushing is positioned at top right now, it needs to be shifted to the side according to what I've seen here on the forums. _________________ 1956 Dove Blue Panel
1966 Velvet Green Single Cab
1957 L41 Black Oval Window Beetle |
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EmpiGT Samba Member
Joined: January 27, 2005 Posts: 2597
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Posted: Mon Apr 30, 2018 8:59 pm Post subject: Re: 1956 Dove Blue Panelvan Coming Back To Life After 26 Years |
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You said the pass door looks to have been dove blue, But on the inside I see dove blue painted over sealing wax red. and with the deluxe trim holes on the outside I wouldn't strip too far or you'll have a swr/bg door on your bus |
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b-man Samba Member
Joined: May 20, 2008 Posts: 498 Location: So Cal
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Posted: Sun May 20, 2018 12:50 pm Post subject: Re: 1956 Dove Blue Panelvan Coming Back To Life After 26 Years |
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Been getting a few things cleaned up and trying to find time to get work done on the '56, my work schedule has been pretty heavy lately so it's hard to accomplish much.
I do have a couple of friends helping me out with a couple of items in the meantime. Today my friend Gary (an engineer at my workplace) is doing me a big favor, he's cutting out one of the adapter plates I need to install the '66 tunnel type big nut transaxle in place of the original split case transaxle.
Gary has a Fadal CNC mill in his home shop, he did the programming off of a drawing I gave him and now it's almost finished.
Also had another friend Tim (another engineer at work) modify my clutch pedal shaft to accept a grease fitting. He drilled a .140" diameter hole (using a .136" drill, an oversized hole is what you end up with) about 3" deep through the end of the shaft and then drilled two .112" holes (.110" drill) that intersect the main one at about the center of each pedal shaft bushing. Definitely not a job for someone without the equipment and machining experience to pull it off.
Of course I could have reinstalled the clutch pedal without the grease fitting mod and everything would have been okay, but I thought it would be nice to be able to give the clutch pedal bushings a little squirt of grease whenever I lube the chassis.
Big thanks to Gary and Tim for helping me get this project a little further down the road. _________________ 1956 Dove Blue Panel
1966 Velvet Green Single Cab
1957 L41 Black Oval Window Beetle |
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b-man Samba Member
Joined: May 20, 2008 Posts: 498 Location: So Cal
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Posted: Sat Sep 08, 2018 7:42 pm Post subject: Re: 1956 Dove Blue Panelvan Coming Back To Life After 26 Years |
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Got back to working on the '56 last weekend after the summer weather cooled down a bit. I wish I had as much ambition as some of the other members here on the Samba, but I'll keep going at it and get this old girl back in working order before too much longer. I do have a lot of work I need this van to do for me when it's back in service.
Did some test fitting of the the big-nut transaxle using the fabricated adapter plates and wasn't satisfied with the way things were going. The mounting flange for the engine (bell housing face) ended up nearly 1/2" further back than where the original split-case trans was sitting.
I made the adapter plates from 1/4" thick steel rather than 3/16" so I would have the ability to mill them down a little to adjust the trans forward a bit to fine tune the location if needed. After seeing how far they pushed the trans back I decided to bite the bullet and buy the Fast Fab donut-style nosecone adapter from Rancho Transmissions.
A little pricey at $395.00 but it's a a very nice piece machined from a solid block of aluminum with a nice black anodized finish. Comes with the shifter bushings, seal and hockey stick already installed.
Does anyone here have a preference for which gasket sealer, if any, would be best in this instance to seal the nosecone to the trans? I'm thinking Permatex Aviation sealer, the brown stuff in the bottle with the applicator brush in the lid.
Here's the rubber donut I purchased along with the newly released shift rod guide from Wolfsburg West.
_________________ 1956 Dove Blue Panel
1966 Velvet Green Single Cab
1957 L41 Black Oval Window Beetle |
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oakman Samba Member
Joined: February 05, 2014 Posts: 1708 Location: Edge of the Desert, Ca
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Posted: Sat Sep 08, 2018 9:11 pm Post subject: Re: 1956 Dove Blue Panelvan Coming Back To Life After 26 Years |
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b-man wrote: |
After seeing how far they pushed the trans back I decided to bite the bullet and buy the Fast Fab donut-style nosecone adapter from Rancho Transmissions.
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I ordered the lollipop mount from Wagenswest for my Mango. Should be here early next week. I'm going off of what others have said that it won't push the trans back at all (I hope).
The nosecone from Fast Fab looks killer!! _________________ Brandon |
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b-man Samba Member
Joined: May 20, 2008 Posts: 498 Location: So Cal
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Posted: Sat Oct 06, 2018 6:37 pm Post subject: Re: 1956 Dove Blue Panelvan Coming Back To Life After 26 Years |
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Made a little more progress. While the engine and transaxle are out I removed the main shift rod so I could replace the shift rod guide. I was able to remove the front coupler without too much fuss. I had given it a good oiling a few months back when I removed the front shift rod in order to replace front beam.
Lucky for me it came loose using a small Craftsman puller I had in my tool box, it was the perfect size to get into the somewhat confined space I had to work in. Most of the time these couplers are hopelessly rusted in place and need to be attacked with a cutoff wheel.
Here's what's left of the spring steel main shift rod guide, missing one of the guide legs and broken in two.
The shift rod guide fits here in the front crossmember. These early buses use only one main shift rod guide, they don't use the plastic 'shuttlecock' guide bushings front and rear like the later buses.
Shift rod is out, it must be pulled out the back after the transaxle is out.
Sanded off the surface rust and gave it a coat of Rustoleum satin black. After the paint dries I'll get the shift rod reinstalled and put the big-nut transaxle in using the adapter nosecone.
_________________ 1956 Dove Blue Panel
1966 Velvet Green Single Cab
1957 L41 Black Oval Window Beetle |
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