Clutch operating shaft arms bent

[68WestyHawaii]

68 Westy with a newly (under 50 miles) installed mystery “high performance” beetle engine. Both engines pictured.

So I was reversing in a parking lot Sunday and the clutch went out completely. I thought the cable broke so I towed it home to fix. Pulled the cable and it was perfect. Pulled the engine and this is what I found (pic 1). Right spring was in the bottom and left still attached. I don’t understand how this could have happened.

Possible contributing factors. I replaced the stock engine a few weeks ago with the high-performance engine from a beetle. The engine runs great, a lot stronger then the stock one. I only ran it for 10-20 miles when this happened.

The clutch operating shaft arms were good (not bent at all) when we did the engine swap. Any ideas what happened and how to prevent it in the future? All feedback is appreciated. Thanks

[RCP Phx]

That's a pretty weird way of bending (kinda common otherwise) but you might consider one of the HD forks!

[Cusser]

Did you use release bearing clips with the coil?

Or the non-coil type which some folks have had issues with???

_________________
1970 VW (owned since 1972) and 1971 VW Convertible (owned since 1976), second owner of each. The '71 now has the 1835 engine, swapped from the '70. Second owner of each. 1988 Mazda B2200 truck, 1998 Frontier, 2014 Yukon, 2004 Frontier King Cab. All manual transmission except for the Yukon. http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=335294 http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=335297

[kreemoweet]

Right clip came off, bearing slipped out of pocket in arm, rotated
down and pushed shaft arm sideways. Stock shaft arms are kinda weak.
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[Pruneman99]

Do you have the right pressure plate in there?

[Cusser]

[Pruneman99]

[68WestyHawaii]

Thanks for all the replies. I’ll try to respond to all here. I can’t figure out how to reply individually. (First time posting)

I have since installed the HD forks. But haven’t had it on the road yet due to another issue I am having.

I used the clips with the coil on them. The clip that fell off wasn’t damaged at all either.

My local guru confirmed correct pressure plate and it is brand new. It is 200 mm with the center ring.

Did I miss anything? Any other ideas?

[67rustavenger]

If the engine is still out of the Westy.

Now is a good time to safety wire the TOB clips to the clutch arms.
That way the clips stay in place, until you cut the wires to replace the bearing.
_________________
I have learned over the years.
Cheap parts are gonna disappoint you.
Buy Once, Cry Once!

There's never enough time to do it right the first time. But there's always enough time to do it thrice.
GFY's Xevin and VW_Jimbo!

[BFB]

[clonebug]

I just used some stainless aircraft style safety wire and wrapped it around the clutch throwout shaft a couple times then through the clips.
I had one clip come off a few years back and it left a lot of marks on the inside of the bellhousing and pressure plate before it disintegrated in little pieces.
I bought some new clips from CB Performance and since installing them and wiring them in I've not had a problem again.
Those new clips from CBP are an absolute bugger to get installed.........

If you look close you can see all the little nicks in the bellhousing from the loose clip.

The safety wire is really thin but you can see it wrapped around the throwout shaft.....

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[67rustavenger]

[mukluk]

A roll of .032" safety wire will be best for most anything you'll do on a car.
https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/appages/safetywire.php
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1960 Ragtop w/Semaphores "Inga"

[67rustavenger]