Type 3 Front Beam reconditioning guide

[ataraxia]

Well, I've at least confirmed that the upper tube does NOT go all the way across:

The bore gauge that I bought was too short to measure at the space where the bushing would rest. I've ordered one and it should be at my house when I get back from my trip.

[Yabbadubbadoo]

Yup definitely looks a little different but I'm pretty sure they would be tapered like mine at the bush location.
Anyhow buying another bore gauge is an unecessary expense. Here's my 5 minute fix to extend it.

The cable tie length indicator is the most important part of it. Believe me when I say this. The cable tie is VERY important. You measure the distance to where the bush is located and put the cable tie to mark the depth to make sure you don't insert the bore gauge past the end of that tube or you will never get it back out like the barbs of a fishing hook it will not let you pull it back out if you go past the end of that tube. Just a friendly warning. I've used bore gauges a lot and its too easy to get them caught inside a step in the inner bore.
_________________
Sydney, Australia.
66 Type 3 Fastback

[ataraxia]

Well, this is likely the only thing the tool will be used for so I went ahead and ordered the proper tool with a 300mm handle length. As you may have noticed from the brake thread, I'm not a fan of cobbling things together...never mind that I don't have the time to do so.

The tube on the top doesn't appear to taper but I'll find out soon enough.

[Yabbadubbadoo]

[ataraxia]

Came home from the business trip, found the tool in my incoming mail and took it out to the garage.

Upper inner bushings: 43.30-43.35mm OD
Upper inner beam space: 42.43-42.46mm OD

Lower inner bushings: 42.80-42.83mm OD
Lower inner beam space: 39.05-39.08mm OD

So, it looks like if I can get them pressed in to the proper depth, they'll fit just fine. The beam has a very slight taper which is why it seemed like they were loose. I'm still not 100% sold on being able to get the top inner bushings in without losing them but I guess I'll see if I can put something together to create a 'stop' on the other side using either a wood stop or by putting a longer threaded rod on one of my bearing race installer fittings.

Probably looking like next weekend before I can get to it...

[Yabbadubbadoo]

Thanks for the measurements Josh. Makes sense now why VW specs the Bakelite to be reamed. They probably couldnt or chose not to engineer tight tolerance on the inner tubes like they did on the outer bearing cups. Was probably a cost decision.

So going by your measurements the top looks within a small margin of my built-to measurement which was 42.60. The lower is considerably smaller as I built to 42.00mm.
What this means is that I expect the top You'll notice it tight when you come to pushing the trailing arm shaft back in and the lower bushes will likely need reaming to 33mm once they are pressed in.

If you got time to wait I've ordered some more bushing stock for those inners as a contingency plan and can cut another set of lowers. The top are really close to the right fit so I'd be happy if you tried them and if they don't work I can either recut them too or find a reamer for you to use.

About fitting stoppers to the top tube I believe some or most beetles didn't have them either.
The Grease nipple encroaching on the inside tube gave me an idea a while back. I figured you could drill a hole dead centre of the bush location, drill and tap a thread for a grease nipple fitting then push the new bushes in. once they are in you can use a smaller drill bit to drill through the grease nipple hole into the bush then fit the nipple. The greas nipple sits in the bush about 1mm and create a bump to stop it migrating. That being said, I don't think it will migrate but if it makes you feel better there's no harm having a grease nipple you can pump grease straight into the bush. I would do it on the front side of the beam. That has the least amount of wear force because I noticed how my bushes were worn when I pulled them out. Most of the top arm wear is clearly caused by braking forces so the bushes wear on the rear side.
_________________
Sydney, Australia.
66 Type 3 Fastback

[ataraxia]

I've got plenty of time to wait for the right parts...I can install the top inner on one side and let you know how they turn out. What are the odds that the inner top will stay in place while I'm attempting to install the control arm?

I may try to install the grease nipples as you describe - I'm not 100% sure which direction I'll go though. I like the idea of being able to grease the bushings - even if they don't require it.

If you want the other pieces returned to you - let me know and I'll pop them in the mail.

[Yabbadubbadoo]

[ataraxia]

Unfortunately not much progress to report as of yet. I found more sand in the beam that I want to assemble with these bushings so I haven't installed them yet.

I did find a shop to dip my pan and suspension parts so I'm going to include the front beam and have it dipped as well. Once it's back in a couple of months, I'll get it painted along with the other suspension bits and hopefully get this thing put back together. My goal is to get the pan done and up on tires this Summer since I've got far fewer house projects this year. In theory that means that I will have more time to work on getting things done with the car.

At that stage, I'll assemble the front beam with the bushings and should have something more useful to report.

I will likely scale back my ambitious plan to build up two beams with the bushings, so I have an extra set now. I found a NOS beam that's complete so my plan is to use that one on one of my cars upon restoration.

[ibjack]

Any update of how this turned out?
_________________
'68 Lotus White T34 automatic sunroof
'64 Manila Yellow T34
'65 Sea Blue Square Panel
the1500club.com
Shop Lacky at the T3/34 Factory, https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100094313902074

[ataraxia]