1960 Beetle 6v - Gearshift Housing Bushing / Shifting issues

[EVfun]

Where is the oil coming from? Is that gear oil or motor oil? That concerns me some. I would do some clean-up in there and I would wiggle the operating shaft to see how loose it is in the transaxle case.

I think the cross shaft is fine and the clips you have are better than original. Next I would take the clutch pressure plate off and see how the disc and flywheel surface look. I would replace the pressure plate, throwout bearing, and clutch disc. Hopefully that is all that is needed and you don't find a barked up flywheel.
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[RCJH77]

[RCJH77]

[Eric&Barb]

Amount of oil in the bell housing looks fine. Even in the workshop manuals they mention some must get by to lubricate the seals.

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In Stereo, Where Available!

[VW_Jimbo]

[67rustavenger]

[EVfun]

[Eric&Barb]

[Eric&Barb]

Big problem is with the split case transaxle to replace the operating shaft requires removing transaxle from the VW and splitting it in half.

There was an aftermarket replacement operating shaft that could be installed without transaxle removal, but those are near rare to find new.
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In Stereo, Where Available!

[RCJH77]

Upon closer inspection of the clutch and pressure plate, it sure seems like the PO didn't follow instructions when installing these parts. 🤦‍♂️

Looking forward to seeing that FedEx truck tomorrow!

[RCJH77]

I installed a new transmission shaft seal tonight and I'm wondering if this looks correct to you all. For reference, here's the old seal:

And here's the new seal. To be clear, they're definitely different seals. The old one has the VW stamp on it, while the new one is from Wolfsburg West, and not an authentic VW seal.

I tapped away at this thing as much as I could and without really smashing it, it doesn't seem to want to go in anymore than this.

[RCJH77]

Confirmed with a WW rep that the seal is good as-is. 👍

Onto the next issue. I finally got the flywheel off, only to discover that there was only one shim behind the gland nut and it was broken. Back to the books and YouTube. 🤦‍♂️

[esde]

sooooo,
re shimming a running engine is sort of Russian roulette if you don't know what to measure, and how to account for any movement if the #1 main is loose in the case.
With a new engine, you mount the flywheel, and tap it forward, then back, and measure how much it moves. You add enough shims to take up the slack, but not so tight that it seizes tight when it gets hot and expands.
But if the bearing is loose in the case, it's easy to end up too tightly shimmed and seize things. Knock the crank back and forth, can you feel the bearing move if you have a finger on it while tapping on the pulley? Push the bearing towards the pulley while tapping the pulley towards your finger. If it's loose you will feel it.
SD
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modok wrote:
Bent cranks are silent but gather no moss. I mean, ah, something like that.

[RCJH77]

I jumped the gun. Sorry about that. What I thought was a shim was actually the gland nut washer. Still needs to be replaced, but just needed to clarify that.

That said, @esde, if my shims are good, do you still recommend going through that process?

[esde]

No, then just reinstall them and get a new seal
Good luck
SD
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modok wrote:
Bent cranks are silent but gather no moss. I mean, ah, something like that.

[RCJH77]

**New potential problem**

Reading through the flywheel removal/installation steps in my Bentley workshop manual, there's a note that says:

"From engine No. 2 542 727, the teeth of the flywheel will no longer be chamfered at the side where the starting motor pinion engages."

The motor I'm working with is No. 2 826 300, but my flywheel is chamfered. (This motor is not the original, but is the one that's been paired with this flywheel since I took ownership of the bug.)

Should I be concerned about this? Do I need a different flywheel? I'm thinking it's not an issue, but I'm just not sure why they would switch from chamfered to not chamfered.

[EVfun]

That should not be a problem. My guess is they figured out the chamfer wasn't needed so it was dropped to save money. I've never even looked for that, only the condition of the gear teeth.
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[RCJH77]

[RCJH77]

So I'm waiting on two more parts that should be here by Friday and then I'll have everything I need to put this motor (36 hp) back in. In the meantime, I've been researching the flywheel and clutch install (including checking the end play). What I'm most concerned about at this point is the "permissible unbalance" of the crankshaft, flywheel, and clutch. Best I can tell, I have no paint marks (see excerpt below), and only the two drilled spots on the flywheel (4-dowel version). According to my Bentley Workshop Manual (1958-1960):

"In order to counteract the existing permissible unbalance of crankshaft, flywheel, and clutch, the heaviest points of these parts are marked. In assembly, it should be made sure that these marks are 120 degrees apart. If only two of the three parts are marked, the marks should be 180 degrees apart."

To me, this seems like a pretty important step, yet according to this post (https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=423100&highlight=flywheel+installation), it says not to worry about it.

So 13 years after that post, do you all agree that it's not important?

[RCJH77]

Adding this for future reference for the group.

I just heard back from a VW engine builder and here's what he had to say. I'm going to go this route.

"Put crank top dead center of number 1. Flywheel has hp weight drill markings behind the teeth. Those go at the 4 o'clock setting. The clutch has weight drill marks on the edge. They go at the 9 o'clock setting."