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 M16S VW
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| posted on August 29th, 2010 at 09:10 PM |
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Sometimes it will come out just on it's own like above, or with the fulcrum plates and the gear behind it. Just remember what order it all came out
in.
I shoved a load of tissue in the gap so that no dirt could get in, and nothing else could fall out.
Anyway - I hope that is of use to someone tackling this job. It's really not that difficult - just messy. As with all jobs, it sounds scarier than it
is.
I couldn't do the otherside as I have a rounded off bolt:
Which I hope to get some inspiration for soon!
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M16S VW
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| posted on August 29th, 2010 at 09:11 PM |
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Finally got that pesky bolt out! We tried welding a bolt to it but couldn't get at a angle which enabled us to weld it strongly enough and the old
bolt wasn't clean enough. So we tried cutting a slot in it and using a impact driver... that didn't work. We tried drilling it out, and that didn't
work either - it took forever and kept either burning out or snapping the drill bits. So Steve cut the head off so we could remove it from the
gearbox.... cut another slot in it and put it in the vice. We tried the impact driver again and that didn't work, used the angley grinder key as
leverage - and it bent!
So we needed something stronger than the angle grinder key, which would fit in the slot.... hmm... what about a spade?
Yep - that worked!  So if in the future you can't get a bolt out,
try using a spade - it will save you a lot of time!
We then removed the old bearings. There's some kind of spacer/washer thing at the bottom, so make sure you don't lose it:
Popped the new bearing in and then heated it up:
So that we could put some 'Activ8' on it:
Which sticks to it and keeps the bearings lubricated. Bearings are normally lubricated by the gearbox oil, but on a lowered Bug, the gearbox is often
lower than the hubs, so the oil can't flow down to them, as demonstrated in this old pic:
With that all done, we turned to the new gearbox. First of all we needed to remove the old nose cone gasket - which appeared to have welded itself
on:
Lots of scraping later:
Luckily, whoever replaced the gearbox had fitted a Splitty nose cone, so I didn't need to source one:
Once that was on, we fitted a few bolts to secure it and bolted on the coupling so that we could 'feel' all the gears. It's important to make sure
that the selectors are all at the same height before you fit the nose cone and hockey stick otherwise you won't be able to get all the gears.
Always make sure you can find all the gears (inc reverse) before refitting the gearbox to the car, otherwise you might not be able to
find them all once it's in, or you might have 'locked' the car into one gear..... not that we learnt from our Split and had to take the whole thing
out and correct it... honest!
More to come next weekend.
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M16S VW
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| posted on August 29th, 2010 at 09:13 PM |
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I haven't done all that much on Bella lately. I've been very busy with work and we've had Joey to get ready for his MOT, which he passed 1st time
on Tuesday without a single advisory! Just wish Bella behaved as well as he did!
Anyway - we've got the new gearbox in. We refitted the axels and axel tubes, new starter motor bush so she can still have a 6v starter. Bolted the
starter in, and refitted the gearbox....
Removed gearbox again because we'd put the outer axel tubes on the wrong sides... :o swapped round and back in again!
Tubes on the right sides this time:
Bolted back onto the springplate and bearing refitted (make sure you don't forget the spacer behind the bearing):
That's where we're up to at the moment. Might get a few mins on her tonight, but I'm working till 4 so I'll see how I feel.
The clock is ticking down to CTTP and I want her to actually get there this year!
Last week Bella actually make it to her first show under her own steam! We took her to CTTP. She tried her best not to get there - the day before she was leaking gearbox oil like it was going out of fashion. I fell out
with her trying to change a boot and change the oil.... getting gearbox oil up your nose and in your eyes isn't fun! Steve ended up having to finish
the job for me because I lost my temper with her.
Anyway - the next day she seemed to be feeling sorry for being so naughty the day before. Give her her due, she ran perfectly there
and back. It was the longest journey I'd ever done in her (only 36 miles in one go, but it's double what I'd done in her before). She idled
perfectly, didn't cough or splutter and pulled nicely along the A roads and motorway 
Anyway - the show started at the cruise meeting point.... in the background you can see what's become her 'shadow' - Steve's T5, being the support
vehicle... (we may have some trust issues with her...).
Then on the DBS stand at the Beach Lawns at Weston:
Somehow we managed to fall down a hidden pot hole in the grass just before we lined up - made a rather scary bang noise... but nothing appears to have
fallen off, so I'm guessing all is ok!
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M16S VW
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| posted on August 29th, 2010 at 09:13 PM |
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Today Jim (Tofufi) and Will (Enfo) came over to help me with Bella - thanks guys, much appreciated!
Since I'd done the gearbox swap, there has been oil leaking out. We've managed to reduce it, but not get rid of it completely.
This is what leaked over night:
And after a week:
House training Bella wasn't going well, so I thought I'd chuck her in the kitty litter:
But that didn't work either.... so it was time to pull the engine and gearbox again...
Should have been a simple job, as it had only all been back in a month or 2, but no, this is Bella! She wouldn't let me have her rear passenger side
wheel... one of the bolts was spinning! Oh goodie....
Steve and I tried drilling it out and grinding it down, but wheel nuts are reasonably tough, so this wasn't really working very fast.
When Jim and Will came over I continued with the drilling whilst Jim and Will took the rear valance off and the engine out. Then Jim did some
drilling, and then Willl did some drilling. We gave up with the drill at this point as the drill bits were going blunt really quickly and progress was
slow. Will then removed the other wheel bolts and pulled on the wheel a bit which somehow managed to make the spinning wheel bolt grip, and he could
undo it with mole grips
Once the wheel was off, everything else came out with no problems and the gearbox was soon free.
There was nothing obvious to tell us why it was leaking though  so we
cleaned up the surfaces between where the axels come from the gearbox (as this is where it was leaking) and made sure there was no paint where the
gaskets go. At this point Jim and Will had to leave, so I continued with the gaskets. For some reason, the gasket kit didn't come with enough gaskets
 so I've done one side and need to order another kit
for the other side.
Some pics:
And this is why the wheel bolt was spinning. On the left is a bolt from Machine 7. The one in the middle is MWS and the one on the right is the broken
one. As you can see, the MWS bolts don't have thread all the way to the top, so if you do them up slightly too much, they strip the hub as the thread
tries to 'tap' the solid metal at the top of the bolt.
I'll order another new gasket set and hopefully get the rest of it done this week.
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M16S VW
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| posted on August 29th, 2010 at 09:14 PM |
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Today I've been bolting the gearbox all in properly as there's been no more leaks
Steve helped me bleed the brakes and set the play in the clutch pedal, but we didn't have the time or enthusiasm to fit the engine, so that will be
tomorrow's job.
I've also fitted wheel studs to the rear hubs (I'll do the fronts too) as I don't want another cross threaded bolt! This makes fitting the wheels
so much easier.
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M16S VW
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| posted on August 29th, 2010 at 09:15 PM |
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Decided to get Bella running and take her for a test drive today. Got the rear valance on, turned the reserve tap round so fuel could get in, and
turned the key - the engine turned over but didn't fire. Must have missed something.... engine lid up - ah, yep, didn't connect the oil wire or one
to the coil.
Tried to start the engine again, and nothing.... lights came on but no attempt to start. Went round to the engine bay to find smoke pouring out - oh
crap!!! Disconnected battery and opened the engine bay to our Splitty and found I'd connected the coil wire to the wrong connector.... ooops! Back on
the right place and she started instantly - yay!
Did a quick test drive and she drove pretty well. Got a bit of a juddering problem when braking (which I had before I did the gearbox work). Pretty
sure it's coming from the front brakes as I tried pulling the handbrake up gently on a back road and she slowed down without any juddering.
I need to take the front wheels off to fit the wheel studs, so I'll see if I can see if there's anything obviously wrong with them.
Last weekend I took Bella to the Retro Rides Gathering at Haynes. It was the first time I'd taken her out on my own without Steve shadowing me in a
support vehicle as he had to work got there ok, she ran fine but was slow
starting - when I got her out of the garage.
Got to the show, parked up and went to find people I knew. Found Jim and Purple Pete and moved Bella over to the Wilts Dub Club stand to make up the
numbers a bit - she started slowly (and noisly... like a grumbly bearing like noise) so when I parked up I asked Pete, Jim and anyone else who was
around to have a listen.... turned the key and 'click'..... oh goodie..... jump pack out - still just a click, added Pete's jump pack, and still
just a click. Battery ruled out, so Pete got his jack and hammer out and beat the starter and eventually the engine turned over - still slowly and
grumbly. When I came to leave a load of fellow VZIers helped me push start her, and off I set.
As soon as I got out of the gates I noticed that the semaphores weren't working, which meant the brake lights weren't either.... pulled over to find
the fuse had gone, and all the spare fuses I could find in the bonnet were also blown. So back to the show to see if Jim or Pete had any fuses and
found more in the glove box whilst trying to find my pass to get back in! Fitted that and then got home without any added drama.
So, once I got home we let her cool down and then Steve helped me to take the starter out. No obvious signs of brokeness, but there was obviously
something wrong. We found our spare 6v starter out of the shed which we originally bought for the Splitty. We'd had it since 2004 and never fitted it
so didn't know if it worked or not. Fitted that the next night and she wizzed into life. The new starter makes a much healthier noise than the old
one ever did, so we're thinking that we were lucky that it didn't die significantly earlier than it did!
Fast forward to today and we set off in Bella for Dubs At The Beach down in Paignton. This was to be the longest Journey Bella had ever done - around
65 miles each way. Steve came with me (another 1st as he's normally following!) and off we went down the M5:
She was running lovely, at an estimated speed of around 60mph most of the way down. The only bit she didn't like was Telegraph Hill just below Exeter
- but I don't think many cars particually like that much!
Got to the show:
Had a nice time at the show and set off home. Again she was very well behaved. We stopped off where Steve works on the way home as he had to do some
work, and I took some piccys of her:
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M16S VW
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| posted on August 29th, 2010 at 09:16 PM |
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Righty - sorry for all the posts all at once! But that should be all up to date now Hopefully it still makes sense as I copied and pasted it from another forum.
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benjicon
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| posted on August 29th, 2010 at 09:34 PM |
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Love this car man. Same shape as my 57. Such a great look with that paint. Interesting reading about all your hiccups too. Lots of things for me too
look forward too :P
No i'm not repainting it.
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M16S VW
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| posted on August 29th, 2010 at 09:37 PM |
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There have been very many hiccups! It's strange - we have an original UK Splitty which needed literally everything doing to him - bottom 9inches of
metal replacing, all bolt on panels, wiring, engine, gearbox, interior, suspension etc etc - he was our first project and we knew nothing before doing
him. Yet somehow, Bella took a lot, lot longer to do, and we had many more problems with her - doesn't make sense! On paper, she was the easiest
project in the world!
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benjicon
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| posted on August 30th, 2010 at 12:10 AM |
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Haha ... man how could you not be persistent and patient when you uncover a gem like this. I can imagine the look on your face when you stood back and
looked at the rubbed back red and realized how cool it looked..
Hey I saw you sanded Bella back to Red and then laid a clear coat of lacquer over the top. How has that held up ? Would you recommend it for someone
planning on protecting their patina ?
Ben.
No i'm not repainting it.
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68AutoBug
A.k.a.: Lee Noonan
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 posted on August 30th, 2010 at 12:23 AM |
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EXCELLENT WORK LUCY..
Very interesting photos too..
keep up the great work..
LEE
- [size=4]Helping keep Air Cooled VWs on the road - location: SCONE in the Upper Hunter Valley - Northern NSW 320 kms NNW of SYDNEY--- [/size]
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M16S VW
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| posted on August 30th, 2010 at 02:47 AM |
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| Quote: | Originally
posted by benjicon
Haha ... man how could you not be persistent and patient when you uncover a gem like this. I can imagine the look on your face when you stood back and
looked at the rubbed back red and realized how cool it looked..
Hey I saw you sanded Bella back to Red and then laid a clear coat of lacquer over the top. How has that held up ? Would you recommend it for someone
planning on protecting their patina ?
Ben.
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Personally I'm not that big a fan of rat look etc - I prefer my cars to be nice and shiny! But I must admit, it's a really easy car to take to a
show - don't need to wash her, polish her, smarten her up etc... and it doesn't matter if she gets scratched in the garage! I certainly like the
advantages!
The laquer is excellent - she's not deteriorated and when she gets wet, the water just beads off nicely. As it's matt laquer, it's not obvious that
she's got anything on her, which is what I wanted to achieve - I don't like it when people put normal laquer on and the old paint comes out all
shiny. A lot of people over here put 'ankor wax' on their cars (I don't know if you have it over there?) which does the same job, but can be a pain
for causing reactions in the paint if you ever want to respray it.
| Quote: | Originally
posted by 68AutoBug
EXCELLENT WORK LUCY..
Very interesting photos too..
keep up the great work..
LEE
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Thanks
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Pollywaffle
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| posted on August 30th, 2010 at 02:50 PM |
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This car is perfect.
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LUFTMEISTER
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| posted on August 30th, 2010 at 04:38 PM |
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You might want to source sealed wheel bearings if you plan on longer journeys as your grease may run out and cause bearing failure. Looks great.
Customer service is not dead in Australia.
Always after HAZET & MATRA & VW factory tools
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