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Post by Volktales on Jan 17, 2016 21:18:34 GMT -8
Once the nut was removed, the drum slipped off easily. The brakes on this side looked OK as well. (They were replaced in Chuck's ownership) I cleaned everything using "good" brake clean to wash away the dust. Note that "good" brake clean is available behind the counter at auto parts stores and you have to ask for it specifically. The on the shelf stuff is probably safer, but less effective...
The brakes, cable, wheel cylinder, bearing housing, and backing plates are all straight forward to remove. You must remember the order of seals and spacers with regards to the bearings however. And check it against your manual to see if the previous owner got it right. Many do not...
Next is to clean around this flange before you remove those nuts. Though it is unlikely this trans will be used again by me, no point in contaminating the insides with dirty goo. This trans was leaking from pretty much everywhere it can EXCEPT the axle boots! What are the odds of that? They seem completely undamaged, and I think I might just re-use them...
Goo removed, axle boot carefully removed, ready to remove the flange bolts...
In order for the axle tube to slide off the axle, the bearing must come with it. I have remove some that just slide right off. Not today, this required some thinking and modification of my puller to get if off. A little hokey, but it worked fine.
Once the axle tube is removed, then you just pull out that plastic packing piece, sometimes referred to as the "daisy". Also carefully remove those stacked gaskets, because they are used as shims to adjust the freeplay of the swing axle tubes.
You then need to remove a snap-ring and retainer that hold the blade end of the axle into the differential unit. Those two metal objects on the right are the fulcrum plates that are part of how the swing-axle suspension works. I was lucky to have the correct snap- ring pliers for this job, thanks to a trade with Reagh awhile back. And I should thank whoever Fred was, that once owned them for looking after them too! Next up is cleaning these parts in order to transfer them to the new transmission...
I took the axle tubes and backing plates over to Dad's and bead-blasted them in his cabinet. This revealed not a rust hole, but a wear-through hole from the brake shoes rubbing back and forth in one spot for the last 52 years. This is not something that we run across that often, and just goes to show the extreme high mileage this car has covered. The total mileage is unknown, but given that pretty much every part of this car was mechanically beyond worn out, I can assume it is LOTS! This hole will be welded up and ground to the original level. Re-assembly of the transaxle will start soon!
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Post by Brenticon on Jan 17, 2016 23:01:30 GMT -8
Smooooooooiooooooooth ....
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Post by PICTUP on Jan 21, 2016 19:19:46 GMT -8
Looking great Russ! Nice write up with some good pics. It'll be cool to see your Ghia back on the road….and not leaving a trail of oil behind
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Post by tony on Jan 21, 2016 20:13:42 GMT -8
Leaving a trail of oil is good , it's not leaving a trail that is bad
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Post by Volktales on Jan 22, 2016 20:22:55 GMT -8
Soooo, with everything all cleaned up and ready to go, it is time for some reassembly! The first thing is to make use of my new Costco metal top work table. This was a Christmas present to myself as I have very limited bench space in my basement shop. It was so clean and shiny, I didn't want to scratch it up, but I got over that soon enough...
Here we have one of the differential side gears removed, and are measuring the clearance of the axle shaft to gear fit. The range is 0.001" to 0.004". This one was just acceptable at a "tight" 0.004". Given the age of these components, you have to expect some wear by now...
Now we do the same thing, except at the face of the bladed section of the axle shaft. Range is a large 0.001" to 0.010". This one came in at 0.008" so this is acceptable too.
If you look carefully, you will see the blue paint spots on both the axle and differential side gear. This shows they were originally a select fit to each other at the factory. Luckily I used the original 1964 axles with the newer 1972 transmission side gears, and both were the same select fit class.
Not the clearest picture, but here are the components reinstalled into the transmission. Getting the fulcrum plates to stay in position while assembling was a bit of a chore. Make sure these parts have some gear oil on them while installing. Install the retainer and snap ring, and this part of the job is done
Continued...
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Post by Volktales on Jan 22, 2016 20:47:46 GMT -8
Now it is time to install the axle tubes. The first thing to go on are the plastic packing pieces. These just push on, but make sure they are fully seated. I used the '72 parts as they were in significantly better condition.
Now you have to think about gaskets. I had bits and pieces of several gasket sets lying around, including some genuine NOS VW ones. First thing to be aware of, is that these thin paper gaskets are actually referred to as shims. And that is exactly what you do with them. They don't just act as an oil seal, but in fact set the endplay of the axle tubes to the transmission. Basically what you are supposed to do is add or remove shims as required to adjust the tube endplay to zero, but with free movement of the tube on the bell shaped seating surface of the transmission side plates. This is very important for the swing-axle suspension to work correctly. VW actually does allow very slight endplay of 0.008" to exist, but you really don't want any. At one time gaskets (shims) were available in different thicknesses to do this just right, but of course this is not true anymore... Originally it seems VW usually had about three shims per side, but it doesn't really matter how many (within reason), as long as the endplay is correct. I used five on the right side, and all were the same thickness. The left side was more problematic, and I used four shims of one thickness, and one much thinner one. It was a good thing I had lots of extras lying around. Each time you trial and error this job, you MUST torque the axle tube flange to 14 ft/lbs. After I was happy with the right shim stack, then I had to think about sealing...
Originally it was unnecessary to use any sealant on these shims. Given the sealing surfaces are possibly no longer flat and true, it is advisable to use some sort of sealer nowadays. I used the same black silicone as the side plates earlier. In this case I applied just a bit to each shim and smeared it with my finger. You don't really want to goop it on here, as it will just ooze out when tightened anyway. Was tedious for sure...
A LITTLE bit of gear oil was smoothed on the bell end of the axle tube and the surface which rides against the plastic packing piece. Just a touch as you do not want it to run out and contaminate your drying silicone... And yes you can see signs of wear on the axle tube bell surfaces, but there is not much you can do about that...
Installed and again torqued up to 14 ft/lbs. The tube has full motion in any direction without binding, and without end play. But we are not done yet...
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Post by PICTUP on Jan 22, 2016 20:54:30 GMT -8
C'mon! I am waiting with baited breath here!!!!!
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Post by Volktales on Jan 22, 2016 21:08:29 GMT -8
Now it is time to reinstall the bearings. Again I did some parts mixing and matching and decided to use the bearings and inner spacers from the '72. This was due to them being a matched and likely low mileage set, unlike the mismatched originals from the '64 transaxle. One of the original spacers had some damage to it, likely when the bearing was changed long ago.
In theory you just slide on the spacer (easy), and push on the bearing. The bearing will likely require more then that. You can very gently try tapping it (NOT clobbering) with a hammer and brass drift. This side went on without drama.
When the bearing is seated in the housing (outer race), and axle (inner race), the whole axle tube assembly should easily move about in all directions without any binding at all. Without the bearing in place, it is possible for the axle shaft to bind if the axle is in or out too far in the side gear. Keep this in mind when adjust the axle tube endplay...
Of course the left side did not co-operate nicely. This was the side in which the bearing was once replaced. It looks like the shaft was slightly damaged and the bearing would not just slide on nicely. Because I could not tap it any harder without the risk of damaging the differential internals, plan B had to be put in effect. The brake drum was temporarily installed backwards to hold the shaft from spinning. Then some extra spacers were used as required and the 36mm drum nut was wound on with the ratchet. This worked fine and the bearing was pulled into place on the shaft without incident
After this you need to once again check that the axle tubes easily move about in all directions with NO binding. The axles themselves should spin freely in all positions too. There, wasn't that fun? Next will be the installation of the brake backing plates and wheel bearing retainer and various seals...
And just a reminder, the above procedures were undertaken because I had to swap the 1964 "short" axles, onto a 1972 trans that would have originally featured the incompatible "long" axles. Even if you just went into your trans to replace leaking axle tube shims, you still need to make the necessary adjustment. And no, it is not something you should attempt to do with the transaxle installed in the car...
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Post by stude on Jan 25, 2016 8:32:40 GMT -8
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Post by PICTUP on Jan 25, 2016 18:38:36 GMT -8
Dumb question…Does axle itself have a collar of some sort that the bearing spacer is pressed up against? That is, when you push (or draw) the bearing on after the spacer, is its endpoint determined by the axle or the bearing housing(with tube attached)?
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Post by Volktales on Jan 25, 2016 21:10:27 GMT -8
In answer to Don's question first... The inner spacer does press up against a "step" machined in the axle shaft itself. The bearing inner race seats against this. This relationship determines how the axle shaft itself positions itself in the differential side gear... Terry's question will be explained in the near future when I get the new bearing seal kit which will be arriving shortly...
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Post by babyeric on Feb 1, 2016 4:15:17 GMT -8
Uncle Russ,great job!! We all love it!
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Post by babyeric on Feb 1, 2016 4:19:51 GMT -8
your car is cool, and cute
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Post by babyeric on Feb 1, 2016 4:27:37 GMT -8
I am your fan. love your car !!!
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Post by Volktales on Feb 1, 2016 8:24:11 GMT -8
Hi Eric, I am glad you found the site! Eric is the son of our previous tenant. He is an 8 year old kid from China, and a car fanatic! Hope you enjoy looking around the site and see what all the Volkswagen people are up to!
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