Replacing Rear Axle Seal - cont'd - some handy hints

I have been asked to write some more about replacing a rear axle seal. Firstly please refer to my original posting about this subject. That will provide the basic information about how to do the repair along with some photos.
Here are some extra handy hints:

1. Use the correct tools. If you don't have such things as the torque multiplier go out and buy one. ( See my earlier posting for photos) The cost of the tools is not great and you will get a return on your investment every time you do a repair job. And your friends will just love to borrow them from you so your popularity will soar every time they have a repair job. One of my favorite tools is my 3/4 inch socket wrench which I purchased second hand. I use a reduction socket on it so I can use my 1/2 inch sockets. So much easier to use, especially if you are like me getting on in years. But be careful this wrench applies a lot of torque/pressure, so take things really easy and don't under estimate the amount of pressure you are applying otherwise you can do some real damage.
2. Keep the old axle oil seal after you have removed it from the housing/cover. You can use it to assist to drive/press the new oil seal into the housing/cover.
3. Before you attempt to press/drive the new oil seal into the housing/cover lubricate it with some spray on silicon lube. The seal will be really easy to insert.
4. Keep the packet that the seal kit comes in. That way you will always have the correct part number when you reorder a replacement. Order a replacement after using the unit you have so you have a spare on hand to do a quick repair job.
5. If you don't want to do the repair yourself,a professional will take about 1 to 1 1/2 hours to replace a rear axle oil seal plus parts if all goes well. Ask lots of questions if you are asked to pay more. Expect to pay as much as double the price of parts compared with what you would pay if you purchased them direct from a parts supplier - so don't be afraid to ask for a discount.
6. After pressing the new oil seal into the housing/cover insert the outer spacer into the seal. This will ensure that when you place the unit onto the axle everything will be lined up and the new seal will not be damaged. If you don't do this you risk damaging the oil seal when you bolt down the cover.
7. Before starting the job put down a drip tray to catch any gear box oil spill. And at the end of the job remember to top up the gear box oil.
8. 
   Email me at roso@clear.net.nz if you would like some additional (on line) support.

Carb tuning, axle seal, dwell meter et all.

Hello fellow dubbers. I have been out of action for a while with a busted shoulder. But I am slowly healing and can get back into things.
I have a few topics that I have been asked to blog about. They are

• How do you tune a BROSOL H30/31 carb?
• Does the dwell meter you put in the car work all that well?
• What tyre pressure do you run in THE 66?

I will do blogs over the coming week, so keep watching. I have also had a lot of hits about replacing the rear oil seal, so I will expand on the topic as well.
Cheers everyone. And apologies for being off line for so long.

Tachometer/Dwell Meter (click here for tune up instructions for your classic VW Beetle)

Over the weekend I decided that I would install an old 1960s tachometer (rev counter) that I had stored away from my teen age years, into the Beetle. I ran cable from the engine through to the dash and wired in the gauge. Surprise surprise, the poor old thing no longer worked. That was  a waste of time I thought but I rummaged about in my old gear and came across my father's old Dwell/tachometer that I had forgotten clean about.  Dad and I had used it to tune our cars way back in the 60s. I decided there and then that I would set up the meter permanently in the car. I wired it into the cable and now I have a tach/dwell meter fitted.
Now I must confess it's not the sort of thing you see in many classic VW bugs but why not monitor the car's distributor points before heading out or during a trip. And the tach I use as anyone uses a tach when driving. Mind you the numerals on the dial are quite small so I wrote larger ones on the plastic face of the meter so that I could see them when driving. And I need to install a cable tube to tidy up the cable. And the instrument doesn't harmonise with the car at all.
But now my Dad rides in the car with me, just like in the old days when he was still alive and that for me is really cool!.

Who visited THE 66 this week

This week KIWI66 was visited by fans from New Zealand, Germany, USA, Russia, Slovenia, Indonesia, South Africa, Montenegro and Kuwait.  Greetings fellow dubbers. I hope all is well with your classic vehicles.

Engine Running Hot (click here)

For quite some time I had the 1966 classic VW Beetle's ignition timing set at 10 degrees BTDC (before top dead centre). I was advised that this was the correct timing to get the best performance from the engine by one of the local lads. The engine worked well at this setting. However it always ran hot. A hot running engine is a worry, but THE 66 was only doing short hauls around town and I wasn't over concerned. I eventually decided to return the engine tuning back to it's original specs and set the ignition timing at 7.5 degrees BTDC. Immediately the engine temperature dropped. I don't know the technical ins and outs of why the drop in temperature but clearly it was due to the fuel ignition. So, a good tip is the check your ignition timing and carburetter settings if your engine is running hot, and don't always believe what the local VW enthusiast (expert)  tells you - stick to the designer's specs.

Rear Axle Seal - cont'd

Problems. I put THE 66 over the pit to change the gear box oil and found oil leaking from the right rear brake drum. Bad workmanship had resulting in me botching the rear axle seal replacement. I pulled everything down again and reinstalled a new seal, rubber O rings x 2, and gaskets x 2. I thought I had done everything correctly first time around but clearly I had not. The installation has done the job and there are no more oil leaks.

Replaced VW Beetle rear axle seal (click here to see VW type 1 Beetle seal kit)

The right hand rear axle seal was leaking which resulted in oil finding its way onto the brake shoes. This affected the braking of THE 66. Today I replaced the seal etc. I jacked up the car and removed the wheel. I next attached the torque meister (see photo) and after removing the cotter pin, I wound off the large hub nut. A very easy task with the TM tool. Next I removed the seal cover (see photo) by removing four bolts. The main seal was in the cover. The seal was very tight and took a bit of pressure to remove it. After cleaning up the cover ( make sure it it free of burrs and the oil drip hole is clear) I inserted metal oil deflector washer and the new seal. I next removed the outer spacer from the axle (see photo of axle with bearing cover removed). Again, this was very tight as the small rubber O ring behind the spacer had perished and was holding the spacer on tight. Again, quite an amount of pressure was required to remove it. I cleaned up the outer spacer then replaced the small metal washer, rubber O rings and then the outer spacer.


I then replaced the cover using the paper gasket, using gasket sealer to ensure a tight fit.

People told me that the job was quite easy. Well, after doing it a couple of times it may well be. However the first time took some time to think through and get sorted. All up the job took several hours to complete. Next time will be a lot quicker though. But the task is well within the ability of a do it yourself person, so give it a go. The parts cost me only $3. My guess that it would have cost at least $100 to have the work done by a mechanic IMPORTANT: Make sure you check the transmission oil after completing the work. You will see from a photo that quite a bit of oil was lost during the repair job. And yes, I cleaned up the brake shoes, back plate, drum etc etc before reassembling everything.

1966vwbeetle.com (click here)

Mike, aka Rokemester posted a comment: "Welcome to the world of 66 Bettles. There is an excellent website dedicated to 66 Bugs. We have members from all over the world. Tell the forum that Rokemester sent you".
I have been a member of this site for some time now. It is an excellent resource. Not only that you have the chance of meeting some really neat people on line. I have become friends with Blue Baron another forum user. BB has a fantastic collection of old and not so old Volkswagens. I suggest that you visit the forum sometime.

More Chilton Manuals available

Pat, who sold me the Chilton VW workshop manual advises that more are available. I suggest that you send off an email to Pat if you would like one. The address is jeepey@mac.com At $20 each they are great value especially as they are new books.

Who visited THE 66 this week

This week people visited KIWI 66 from: New Zealand, United States, Indonesia, Montenegro,Germany,Kuwait,and Uruguay. Hello and welcome to you all. I hope that you found the site interesting and useful.

Which grade (Octane) of fuel to use in a classic Volkswagen Beetle?

I asked Sean at WolfsburgWest which grade/octane of fuel/gasoline to use in THE 66 classic Volkswagen Beetle. Regular 91 Octane or Super 96 Octane. This is his reply "Choosing which octane gas to run will forever be in question to volkswagen owners. Many feel the need to run higher, whereas others don't see the reason to run more expensive fuel, when the costs of gas seem to only be rising. As for which one is correct for your engine, the only real answer is what does the engine like? You can run the higher octane, and as long as the engine doesn't 'ping', you're fine. However it's something you have to listen for and feel when you drive your kiwi thorugh different conditions. If the car isn't pinging with the higher gas, then you can run it, but you could also run the lower octane, and not hurt the engine. Ultimately your compression ratio is the underlying factor in this whole equation. If you have higher compression you may want to run the higher octane, but if your comression ratio is closer to stock, which I believe it to be,then run the lower octane and save some money for something else on your 66. Hope this helps". I then asked about what ignition to set up if I used 91 Octane and he replied: "7.5 should be fine, but it's really what the engine likes in different circumstances. You just have to play with it and see where the engine sounds and feels at it's strongest. Good luck.Sean"
So there it is from an expert in the USA. I have traditionally used 96 Octane but I plan to swtich to Regular 91 Octane at my next fill up of gasoline. Save some dollars.

VW Chilton workshop manual ( click for link)

I purchased another repair manual on Trade Me. It is a Chilton for Volkswagen 1949 to 1971. The cost was $20 which is really only the cost of a VW magazine, so pretty good value I thought. More bedtime reading.

Parts Arrived

The parts arrived from Sean at Wolfsburgwest today. A rear axle seal kit x 2, a grease seal for the front axle x 2 and some stickers and decals for tyre pressure, valve setting and air cleaner servicing. Wolfsburgewest also included some complimentary stickers, a pen, and a DVD of the factory, spare parts warehouse and handy hints on fitting a windscreen and new seat covers. So cool and very much appreciated. They are such a great company!
All being well I will replace the right rear axle seals on the weekend.

Parts

I ordered a rear axle seal kit from Wolfsburg West in the USA this week, along with a set of decals for typre pressure, tappet setting etc etc to stick on THE 66. When buying items or parts that dont require any expert support it is worthwhile considering buying them from sources outside of NZ. In the case of the US, international mail is good for shipping. The cost is low and the items arrive in about 10 days. You can save quite a bit of money. The seal kit will enable me to fix an oil leak on the right rear axle. Not a big job but an important one if you want to keep the brake shoes free of oil. I have found that Wolfsburg West are as good as any for parts. Competitive prices, easy to deal with via email and very reliable. If you click on the title of this posting you will be taken to the WW home page. Ask to receive one of their parts catalogue books with your first order. They are fantastic with lots of exploded diagrams of the Beetle. In my opinion, a must for any DYI classic VW Beetle fan or owner. Sean is a good contact. Email - STunstill@wolfsburgwest.com

Rear Brakes

I worked on the rear brakes over the weekend. And what an easy job it was thanks to my Torque Meister (TM). If you go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66PeguKXnds you can see the tool simliar to mine in action. It took me more time to jack up the car/remove the rear wheels, than to remove the axle nuts and brake drums. If you havent got a Torque Meister in your tool kit I recommend that you get one. One thing though, use a large socket wrench to wind on the tool rather than the sissy small one shown on U Tube. I used my large 3/4 drive wrench. As easy as to wind off the nuts. And as a bonus you can use the tool to allow you to use a coventional torque wrench to torque up the nuts to 270ftlbs. You use the TM, with your torque wrench set to 30ftlbs and you can wind out 270ftlbs. Great stuff!

Thank you Vernon!

Vernon, thank you very much for your $100 bid on the charity auction. Your donation is very much appreciated. I will post photos of Vernon, or his nominee taking their drive/ride.
Thanks Vernon, you are a champion!!!

Disabled people who lack mobility

On the TV show Campbell Live, tonight, they showed a family and children who got under a table everytime the ground began to shake in Christchurch. Spare a thought for people with disabilities who lack the mobility to seek refuge when the shaking starts. So vulnerable. So brave.

Christchurch Earthquake

A dreadful 7.1 earthquake has hit Christchurch. So bad. I have started a fundraiser on TM to try and raise some money to help disabled people affected by the tragedy. The link is http://www.trademe.co.nz/Home-living/Lifestyle/Other/auction-315616400.htm If you are reading this blog and bidding is not be your thing, it would be great if you would make a donation to my cause. Go to http://www.ccsdisabilityaction.org.nz/ and click on the donate now button. It is such a great cause and every dollar will help. I am sure that CCS will send you receipt. Click on the heading Christchurch Earthquake and you will be taken to the site. Thanks everyone

Brakes Fixed

Great news. I fitted the parts from the USA and bled the brakes. They are now working 100%. Roll on summer.

More brake problems

I completed fitting the new brake pads etc on the classic VW Beetle, but I contiune to have big problems getting the brakes to work. I bled the brakes several times but they stubornly refuse to work. In an attempt to solve the problem I have ordered a couple of replacement parts from Sean at Wolfburg West in the USA. Sean is a great guy to contact. His email address is STunstill@wolfsburgwest.com
With a bit of luck I should be up and running later this weekend.