Clutch pedal replacement in 1/2 hour! (Pics)

[T3TRIS]

Dang I wish I had read through this entire thread before getting my hands all bloodied! Once I saw the first post saying "you can remove the clutch pedal without taking the dash out," I found the first instructions and ran with it. If it serves anyone tackling this, make sure you browse through this thread to find the info that people have gathered, don't use JUST the first instructions you find.

Anyhow, there was some play in our pedal (feels like about 1/2" to 3/4" at the pad) and a mechanic told us that it could contribute to some grinding in our newly rebuilt syncro transaxle (which has happened a couple times, especially in second gear). He mentioned that our clutch might not disengage fully, creating potential issues.

I got the pedal out and can still count to 10 (the sheet metal in there is not always forgiving when your prybar/screwdriver slips and your thumb drags along the rough edges... gloves darn it!). The hole doesn't seem that bad actually, neither does the pin though the hole is definitely slightly oval and the pin is also a wee bit grooved. I have replacement parts on order from Van Cafe. I bought the bushing solution.

I wonder if I even need to weld the hole shut, or if I could just drill the whole bigger to fit the bushing, any suggestion?

I'm pretty sure that if I just drill this bigger for the bushing, the hole will be centered in the oval shape and not the original location. Given the geometry, I imagine it means that the clutch pedal pad might sit about 1/2" higher than stock, meaning I could have a 1/2" more of travel. Our clutch pedal has always stopped on the van's floor, I wouldn't want to be able to push the clutch in so far that I slowly damage the master cylinder.

One thing I did notice, is that the piece that pushes into the clutch master cylinder was bent. I have no clue how that happened (I certainly didn't force anything to the point that the pin would bend). I'll have to straighten that.

On the plus part, I finally found why our horn hasn't been working. It had nothing to do with the horn itself nor the contact ring after all. It looks like the ground wire terminal at the bottom of the steering column had just disintegrated and was flopping around. Silver-lining to contorting yourself and having your face smashed into the pedals I guess!

_________________
Guillaume, Jennifer & T3TRIS
87 2-knob Syncro
- 94 Subaru EJ22, 225/70-R16 CLK 16x7 ET37
- Transaxle rebuild, Mexico paint job, Front end rebuild, 320Ah LiFePO4 Battery

[MarkWard]

2nd gear grinding is probably not the clutch. A clutch problem would be more noticeable trying to shift into first or reverse from a dead stop. Clutch pedal in a half hour sounds very ambitious. Maybe after the 10th one. For that rod to bend, something had to have been hung most likely at the clutch end where the hydraulics dead headed and something had to give. Could have happened many moons ago.
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☮️

[Sodo]

[T3TRIS]

[Sodo]

[T3TRIS]

[Sodo]

I see you have an adapter plate, so some of this pic doesn't apply to your van
But the pic shows cutting off that un-used appendage that makes it much more difficult to reassemble.

This pic is from a thread about removing the pedal to modify the leverage ratio to match a Golf slave cylinder that's used in the Smallcar bellhousing.
Smallcar bellhousing clutch options

So you will be ready for "van season 2020"?
I'm working hard too.
I won't get any of the aesthetics done, but I've been under the van for a week now.
Tomorrow it comes down off the ramps and I get up on the roof for #vanlife poses (working on 'solar' next).
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'90 Westy EJ25, 2Peloquins, 3knobs, pressure-oiled GT mainshaft, filtered, cooled gearbox
'87 Tintop w 47k 53k, '12 SmallCar EJ25, cooled filtered gearbox
....KTMs, GasGas, SPOT mtb

[T3TRIS]

[Ronzo_volvo_guy]

Forum;

I realize this is an older thread, but I read the entire thing with interest and couldn't resist making a couple of comments:

1. Periodic service might not call for it, but if that pivot wears after many miles of service, it clearly would benefit from a dab of grease or drop of oil for lubrication. Putting a bronze bushing in there to massively increase the bearing area is a sweet upgrade, but please don't forget to lube that also...I know bronze is self-lubricating, and "Oilite" bushings are even impregnated, and said not to need oiling, but a drop of lube in this heavily loaded bearing spot will never hurt! As a newby here, now that I know about it, you can bet I'll be lubing ours!

2. Regarding the unused pivot on the other side of the Pedal pivot...if the Westy configuration is to PUSH a rod into the Clutch Slave Cyl, I must ask...were there any configurations of this chassis or even other VW/Audi platforms, where that pedal was fitted, but a clutch cable was used, because on the other side of the pedal pivot, it would obviously be a PULL action...I know from vintage Volvos, they went from hydraulically actuated clutches, to cable actuated in '67, so the pedal config also had to change.

Cheers

[Sodo]

I bet you’re right about cable operation.
Dang, now I feel like I callously obscurred a relic of my van’s classic roots.

[Nuthin2It]

I have wondered about this for a while: Will grease work its way into the pivot or, short of disassembling it to apply grease, is it more effective to use oil?
_________________
1985 Westfalia 15 degree EA288 Boxeer

[Sodo]

If you can get some help from someone who understands this pic, and has small hands....its more likely.
I tested this finger-packing pivot lube method ”on the bench” with an extracted clutch/brake pedal cluster. Packing the clevis with grease then wiggling it appeared to suck the grease into the clevis joint. I took a video but YouTube hates me so can’t post it easily. Anyway it seems possible to get grease in there without removing the clutch pedal.

============= From other thread: ==========
How to make clutch disengage higher up?

[Ronzo_volvo_guy]

Guys;

If Sodo took that picture, it would seem to me that a can of spray lithium or white grease, equipped with a snoozle should be able to get it there even better than Sodo's fat, greasy finger (with apologies to Sodo about the fat, greasy finger remark!).

...and regarding which is better...oil or grease...dry and under high bearing force is the killer...ANY lube is an improvement! ...notably NOT including WD, which sucks as a lube (unless of course you'd like to have to reapply it in a week!) Apologies for that remark also, but I absolutely stand by it!

Cheers

[joetiger]

My clutch pedal has started making an awful buzzing, vibrating noise from time to time. I reached up in there and could feel the looseness of the pin. Looks like I'm doing this procedure soon.

Figured I'd bring it back to the top for any recent updates to the process.
_________________
Joe T.

'86 NAHT Vanagon GL Syncro/ supercharged ABA 2.0 "Pigpen"
'04 GTI 1.8T
'04 Golf R32

"get metaphysical with it. if it's simply a means to get to and from places, it will let you down. if it becomes your zen, it can't fail you." -dabaron

"Still, it's good to be afield."--VWagabond

Available Now! Vanagon to Louisiana--A Two-Lane Reckoning Through Past and Present

www.josephtrussell.com

[Sodo]

Pull up/down on your clutch pedal and measure.
How much slop?

Would be useful to have "a GO / NOGO clutch pedal slop measurement" for Vanagon science.

I'm pretty sure one inch is "fix it NOW".
_________________


'90 Westy EJ25, 2Peloquins, 3knobs, pressure-oiled GT mainshaft, filtered, cooled gearbox
'87 Tintop w 47k 53k, '12 SmallCar EJ25, cooled filtered gearbox
....KTMs, GasGas, SPOT mtb

[DanHoug]

all y'all don't forget the root cause of clutch pivot wear... dry, rusty clutch splines. lubing the trans input shaft splines with a high solids moly does WONDERS for reduced clutch pedal pressure. that and clean, oiled, cross arm shaft bushings.

after i refurbed my cross arm bushings and lubed the shaft, i thought my clutch was disconnected it was so easy to push in. it would be an interesting collective data point... lbs pressure to depress pedal to floor. my fixed 87 is super easy, the gorgeous 89 not so much.
_________________
-dan
60% of what you find on the internet is wrong, including this post.

'87 Westy & '89 Westy both 2.1 4spd

Past projects can be found at--
www.thefixitworkshop.com

[Sodo]

[joetiger]

Wow, that's a crazy job. I put it off for a year but the constant rattle/vibration was driving me nuts.

Buslab has rebuilt clutch pedals in stock; I bit the bullet last week. The core charge is steep but for convenience sake, I'll take it.

https://www.buslab.com/product-p/251721315ax.htm

(Also, their shipping is lightning fast. And, I was having trouble on their site, sent a message, and they called me to see how they could help. GREAT vendor.)

After a bad day at work yesterday, I thought I'd make the day worse and get into this project. I got all set up, removed the seat, and laid down an old floor mat.

...which was then covered with a luxurious green velvet blanket, usually reserved for saving seats at Red Rocks. I discovered that the hippie foot smell never truly leaves velvet.

Removed the clutch spring, stared up in there, grabbed a pile of tools, tried a mirror, then convinced myself that it was impossible.

After another awful day at work today, I was back at it. Misery loves misery.

But I quickly realized that my problem last night was an unwillingness to sacrifice the body. You really have to get in there and get twisted up, with reckless abandon.

Is it weird that I'm disappointed that it wasn't worse? It sure felt worse.

I wrestled some with getting the big pin back through the clutch pedal. This big ratchet extension...I got it up there and aligned on the brake end, pushed it once, and it all slid into place.

I tried the powerful magnet/screwdriver trick for the ring, but I kept hitting the metal of the van and screwing it up. Tape ended up working fine.

All buttoned up in just under two hours. Unbelievable! And what a difference in clutch action.

Thanks to the trailblazers in this thread. And thanks to my dainty, slender hands.
_________________
Joe T.

'86 NAHT Vanagon GL Syncro/ supercharged ABA 2.0 "Pigpen"
'04 GTI 1.8T
'04 Golf R32

"get metaphysical with it. if it's simply a means to get to and from places, it will let you down. if it becomes your zen, it can't fail you." -dabaron

"Still, it's good to be afield."--VWagabond

Available Now! Vanagon to Louisiana--A Two-Lane Reckoning Through Past and Present

www.josephtrussell.com

[remraf]

[joetiger]