Yes, but it need one for the future surely.

I'm all for borrowing tools now and again - just ask my Dad, but I'd like to own my own, as this won't be the only car I'll ever work on and I like to be self sufficient.

Having looked around, that ebay bearing puller set looks amazing value...

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My oval's roof has proper dents in it. But also a super almost perfect still fluffy og headliner. The one thing I have learned over a lot of years is that sometimes the skill is in knowing/learning when not to touch!
We live by the 'if it's not broke, dont touch it' theory.
The dents dont bother me so much as a ripped headliner would which is almost inevitable as og ones are 99% impossible to get out without damage.
(Actually both my 50 & 55 have badly dented roofs, and I almost prefer them that way. And some might say that they suit me :lol:)

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On the basis that you'd probably have to have the dents pointed out to you, and that the head liner is mint, I'm starting to come to the same conclusion...

It's only that the dents are my fault, that I'm so keen to sort them out! :lol:

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Maybe your lovely oval will accept a guilt ridden down on knees tearful apology instead :lol: actually I bet it is just happy to have you pampering it like you are.

Maybe a pic of my dents will cheer you up and put yours into perspective. I just love them regardless. A lot like boyfriend defects :lol:

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...I didn't realise Owen was defective.

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HI

It's funny I much prefer to see dents, scuffs and the like. As opposed to cosmetic messing about. A bit like girlfriends with pumped up lips! You try and remember what they were like before the work, and wish she hadn't done it!

And that's the position I spent most of today in... livin' the dream, 'eh?

I bought one of those scissor type ball joint separators as a bit of an investment for the future and once I'd modified it so it actually worked, it popped the remaining ball jonits no sweat.









This allowed me to disassemble the steering mechanism for inspection and cleaning. There's a steering box in there somewhere...





The dirt on all these parts isn't just oil and grease, it;s a kind of baked on dry paste that is an absolute pig to get off, even with hours of jet fuel scrubbing with a soft wire brush, but in the end it cleaned up really nice. I'll check the levels and top up as required, but it has no play and is very smooth so that's one area I can leave alone.





Next up was to remove the steering knuckles and spindles from the ends of the trailing arms. Anyone notice how the pictures in the workshop manuals don't look like this...







To remove that lot you need to undo the 19mm clamp nuts that secure the link pins in place.





Then once removed, only very gentle tapping is required to push the link pin out of the other side. Make sure you retrieve all the shim washers that go either side of the link pin to set up the correct camber.







I was actually quite pleased with this next shot, as it reinforces the decision and need to replace all the pins and bushes - check out the wear on the pins! Grease those link pins boys and girls!





Next up was to clean everything up, and that is what killed the majority of the day. Just mind numbing, cold, wet, sore ass work - but strangely satisfying at the same time. The steering knuckles were a pig to clean as there are so many nook, crannies and corners that stop you getting a brush into, but hey...





The steering coupling has seen better days and needs to be replaced. Can you still get hold of genuine VW round ones instead of the squarer style later on





The rest of the steering stuff came up nicely too...





The 10 degree crank in the shorter steering arm is meant to be there and was a modification the factory made, mid way through oval production. I was curious about the 1 piece non-adjustable design of the shorter arm, and at first thought that this was a replacement part, but a quick check of the Bentley manual confirmed it was the original piece.





Is that arm a throw away item, or do those tire rods actually come out, because it looks like they are 'crimped' in there for good....? Unlike the more conventional adjustable type on the longer arm. These were just a solid blob of dirt before I started. The great thing is that the ball joints are actually in perfect condition - nice and smooth, yet still 'tight' like a new one. Even the rubber cups are fine, if a little loose. I guess I can stretch to new rubber caps.





Eventually, after about two hours a each, I got the steering knuckles and spindles clean and they came up nicely after all the effort.







I'll now send these away to be be correctly re-pinned, re-bushed, reamed and shimmed with the correct press and tools, rather than having to smash the crap out of stuff with a big hammer doing it at home.

I then tuned to the filthy beam that lay before me, but caught a glimpse of the clock and realised that I'd lost 3 hours in a cleaning vortex so decided to call it quits. Just before packing away, I couldn't resist a quick poke at the seals on the ends of the beam tubes and was pleasantly surprised to find them in A1 condition.





Anyway, my arms are aching now and I'm done for the day.

Question... do I need to remove the trailing arms for any reason, or am I best cleaning the beam up with them still attached to avoid getting crud in and amongst the torsion leaves?

Night all!

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No, just perfect ( well for me anyway, but that might say something :lol: )




I am going to throw in the cat amongst the pidgeons risky comment here, and say that given the low mileage of your car, I would never have taken it apart as much as you have already, but there is certainly no reason to take the beam apart, as although rubber parts might age (though I would'nt replace these unless gone rock hard or split/completely un-useable) there is no way that any of the beam should be remotely worn under 100k miles.

My 50 beam has never been apart and that car has had a hard life on rough swedish roads, certainly not low mileage! yet the beam went through an mot fine complete and original apart from a steering box swap (& good clean, grease/brakes maintenance etc)

The more things you take apart the more you will go away from the original factory feel drive.

Just my opinion though.

Saying all that, I dont want you to stop as I love all the pics and detail as its really interesting (& funny!) :lol:

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Fair point, although I'd point out that (almost) without exception, I;ve only dismantled what has been necessary.

Motor - had to be done.
Box and drive shafts - had to be done to fit the correct axle boots - didn't touch the gearbox, just cleaned it and replaced the worn mounts
Fuel tank - gunked up and rusty - needed doing
Brakes - Safety, and a no brainer on a car that hasn't been used since '81
Shocks - Worn, needed doing.
Front spindles and steering knuckles - worn with play - had to be done
Rubber componenets - only replaced those beyond service.

So in reality, the only item you could say wasn't essential to remnove was the front beam, but as it is only four bolts and removal allows me much better access to clean inspect and protect both the beam and the front body work, it's no big deal.

I've not removed any interior items, any panels or anything else that wasn't needed to effect repairs that would have otherwise been done anyway as part of a thorough maintainence program through out it's life.

:d

To have done anything to a lesser degree would have in someway involved compromising the thoroughness and quality of parts used and work completed, and I'm not prepared to compromise.

In my opinion, the car is far healthier and safer with a longer service life than if I;d not bothered to change this, or lef that alone in a heavily worn state etc.

Don;t get me wrong, I hope I don't sound deffensive, it's just that everything I have done has been carfully thought out, planned and executed with the car's best interests at heart.

:beer:

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My 65 is ex-swedish and low mileage 55k kilometers yet my shocker mounting eyes had been pounded oval. The king and link pins were just on "serviceable" So I too did a strip down for peace of mind.

Note transmission horn have been sprayed only with black wax, they look like bran-fire new!

Pic of WW gearbox mount(Knew I had it somewhere) cockeyed!!  IMG_1848.jpg You have insufficient rights to see the content.  IMG_1859.jpg You have insufficient rights to see the content.

Interesting on the box mount being crooked.

The original one is straight and the mounting holes are in line when the box is square. The picture I have of the NOS one also matches my original one too, so I'm happy that they should be square...

I guess we'll know for sure if the NOS one ever turns up... :roll:

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Hi

Reference gearbox mount. It's a manufacturing defect. The NOS I fitted was square. The WW one has been stuck together/formed wrong.

Ps what do you think to the black wax?

glad you posted that, as you know I have the same beetle as you and am going to be stripping the underseal off this year, are you using black wax oil and just brushing it on ?

Sorry, can't agree in this case Anna (now I'm scared :lol: )
With the amount of care LT is taking to ensure every thing he touches is rteturned to within (or should I say bang on) 'Factory' tolerence, I can only imagine it will feel more like a 'factory feel drive' than if the worn parts had been left.

"Keep up the good work LT"

Agree with you though on leaving the headliner well alone, that could be emotional.

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I agree, my bug has only done 55K but I still have gone through everything, to ensure it is all tip top,

brake hoses
brake cylinders
shoes
master cylinder
shocks all round
front bearings
track rod ends
steering box
etc etc, I want know when I drive my car it will drive the best it can be, and takes away any doubt of anything failing, I think Last Triumphs approach is spot on !! keep it up !:d

Thought the 65 was for sale? The stuff I sprayed on is Techtyl Bodysafe. Its a black waxy spray on aerosol which goes off dull.

The black wax looks great and I was tempted, but for the direction I'm going with my car, the transparent stuff was more suitable in my case.
:beer:

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Bit more progress tonight and a voyage of discovery as I stripped the inner bearing race and spacers off the front spindles and also removed the other bearing race halves from the drum.

These are a pig to get off as they are a press fit and very difficult to remove.

Here is the spacer and bearing race stuck on the spindle...





Whilst discussing this issue with one of my technician colleagues in work, I described the tool I was intending to buy and he responded with "what, like this one....." Always nice to hear!

So, with the correct bearing puller borrowed from work, I used it to pull off the bearing race and the spacer.







I love shots like this next picture of the heavily corroded bearing race which satisfyingly reassures me that I made the right decision to replace the wheel bearings...





Likewise, the the spacer is quite worn where the hub seal rides, so I'll replace these whilst I'm at it.





After my issues removing the gearbox output shaft seal, I decided to invest in my new favourite tool - a specific seal puller to remove the hub seals - does what it says on the tin and a fantastic tool!





Next was to remove the opposite bearing races that are a tight press fit in the drum. There isn't enough shoulder on the inside to grip with conventional pullers and the Bentley manual goes on about using special tools and a press to get them out. I was told there might be a couple of notches behind the races in the housing to help, but this was not the case. In this picture, you can just make out the shallow ridge of less than 1mm which is all you have to play with to get these out.





The only thing left to do was to select a sturdy flat tipped screw driver and carefully but firmly drift them out from behind using taps at 12, 6, 9, 3 o'clock in sequence until they came out. I'd say it took a good 15 mins to get each one out x 4 means I was hammer wielding for an hour!





I was always curious to see the front hub components and until I'd done this job I was still in the dark as to exactly what is in there, so for anyone who wants to see how everything fits together on the spindle, here is a row of parts for each spindle, the lower row shows the bearings in their three component pieces.





As I need new bearings, I kind of remembered there being something bearing like in my NOS treasure chest so I ventured back up to the cave and discovered a NOS set of inner roller bearings still in their oily bags. VW very quickly offered these as a superior replacement to the short lived ball and cage design and they appear in a 50's parts book I have as a new and improved item!





I ordered a matching set of roller bearings for the outside this morning, so looking forwards to them turning up.

That's all for now!

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it was for about a day I came to my senses!

https://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/NOS-Left-Tie-Rod-Short-VW-Oval-Beetle-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem4155ba6f89QQitemZ280611155849QQptZVintageQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories 


any good to you chap?