Center Pin Bushings II

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Amskeptic
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Center Pin Bushings II

Post by Amskeptic » Thu Nov 15, 2007 2:49 pm

We're at maximum disassembly which is just another word for "start cleaning." Clean the center pin bore in the front beam with particular attention to the grease fitting hole. Look up the bore to see if your driver nicked the bore. You can dress any gouges with a light pass with a small round file. Clean again. And again. Clean the relay lever hole where the thin metal and little plastic washer go. There is a slot in the relay lever. This slot allows it to clamp the center pin as you tighten the 19mm bolt. Clean the slot.

Have your grease gun ready and a tub of your favorite Valvoline DuraBlend semi-synthetic molybdenum disulfide grease and some paper towels. Lay out the parts in your new bushing kit. Grab a new bushing out the kit and slip it over your freshly cleaned old center pin/driver. Won't go on easily? Did the upper end get mushroomed by all of your hammering? The chamfer I recommended prevents this. . . . go chamfer it so it has a 1/4" 45* bevel around the top edge and the new bushing cleanly slips on. Install the pin as it would normally go, with the new bushing sitting on the small shoulder down at the bottom end. Orient the oil hole facing forward:
Image

Tap the pin/driver up until the bushing starts squarely in the hole:
Image

Once the bushing is started and well into the hole, slip the old pin out and turn it over so you can drive the bushing up to the top of the bore. You have to place a finger up there to monitor the action. Pretend that this photograph is actually the top of the bore. You need the bushing to stick out the top 1mm. No more. . . . no less [this protrusion centers the plastic (Meyle) or metal (Febi) broad thrust washer]. Now we have to get the lower bushing started into the hole. Slip the new bushing onto the pin/driver and insert it up the bore until the bushing is ready to be started squarely. Just a couple of taps to get it going. You don't want to get the pin/driver stuck in the hole. Drive this bushing up until it is flush with the bottom of the bore:
Image

Now clean everything again (driving bushings can leave metal particles)
Install the big plastic seal on the top of the bore. Meyles are easy and flexible, Febis use a PIA harder plastic. The "groove" faces down. Now get the broad thrust washer and grease it and stick it inside the metal cap:
Image


The metal cap-with-thrust-washer now goes over your just-installed sealing ring atop the bore. The Meyle sealing rings sort of try to ooze the metal cap off because of flexible material, the Febis click right on:
Image

Insert the thin metal ring inside the relay lever hole, use grease to make it stay if it wants to fall out, follow with the little plastic ring:
Image

Now turn the steering coupler towards a right turn and you will see the relay lever magically glide back over the bore. Then the plastic ring falls out of the relay lever. Maybe not, but if it does, stick it back into the relay lever temporarily and let the center pin guide it back into its hole during final assembly. You first must grease the hole with the new bushings and fill the void between the bushings. Grease the new even more serious wavy washer and new center pin. Note that the center pin has a cut-out for the 19mm bolt. You have got to align this cut-out with the relay lever bolt hole before you drive the new center pin up. Drive the new center pin up until it just starts to bang the new metal cap at the top of the bore right off the plastic sealing ring. Hold the metal cap down and tap the center pin up just enough to get through the metal cap at the top. If your little plastic ring keeps falling out of the relay lever, just stick on the newly protruding center pin throught the metal cap. Now you will have to futz a bit with the steering coupler/front wheel position/relay lever position as you get the new center pin through the relay lever. Re-c-clamp the relay lever and the bottom of the new center pin. You will see the wavy washer get flattened as the c-clamp drives the center pin up against the bottom of the hole:
Image


The nicely cleaned slot in the relay lever will help you visualize and align the cut out in the center pin so that the 19mm bolt-with-new-tab-washer can make it through the relay lever without stripping. It should go in easily and start threading with no drama. You may have to adjust the c-clamp and you may have to adjust the relay lever in relation to the center pin. A pair of visegrips on the head of the pin and your hand on the steering coupler to turn this way or that will help you get the alignment. Use a flashlight to see into the slot if necessary:
Image

Tighten the 19mm bolt as you hold the tabbed washer with the small tab against the relay lever and the longer tab sticking straight up. It will lock into position as you tighten the 19mm bolt. The c-clamp can be released once the bolt is tight, you should not see the head of the center pin drop down as you release the c-clamp. If it does, re-c-clamp, loosen the 19mm bolt, make sure the c-clamp is on the relay lever only at the top, squish the wavy washer as you tighten the c-clamp, get the 19mm bolt secure, then un clamp. See, people think the cut-out in the center pin "holds" the relay lever on the center pin, but they'd be wrong. It is only a safety back-up. The relay lever grips the center pin where you say it should. I say, make sure the 19mm bolt is unfettered by contact with the cut-out in the center pin. Tap the tab down over the bolt flat. Bang a little lock action by tapping the tab over the front of the bolt. Install the grease fitting. Lubricate the new center pin whilst moving the wheels left-to-right. Grease will squirt down around the wavy washer/head of the center pin. So put the new grease cap on now. Tap it on so delicately that no dents occur. A couple of more pumps with the grease gun to fill the cap and squirt out the weep hole with no air bubbles, and the greasy part is over:
Image

If this is an Itinerant Air-Cooled sort of restorative job, wax the Konis and paint the cap and relay lever bolt/tab washer and catch the fronts of the tie rods. Lower the car and check the clock:
Image

57 minutes (only because I had been down here so recently):
Image

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bretski
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Post by bretski » Thu Nov 15, 2007 2:57 pm

Good stuff, Colin. :cheers:

There was a big discussion about this repair on the type2 email list a couple of months ago. The original poster (who I believe is registered on this forum, BTW) could have saved himself a lot of pain and suffering.
1978 Deluxe Westfalia - "Klaus"

"transcripts are overrated. hardware store receipts: those are useful." --skin daddio

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Amskeptic
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Post by Amskeptic » Thu Nov 15, 2007 3:24 pm

bretski wrote:Good stuff, Colin. :cheers:

There was a big discussion about this repair on the type2 email list a couple of months ago. The original poster (who I believe is registered on this forum, BTW) could have saved himself a lot of pain and suffering.
There is pain and suffering to save yourself from by leaving the beaten path in the Bentley manual. Just by rotating the steering coupler and jerking the wheels a bit, you can dispense with removing the tie rods, the drag link, the steering damper. . . . . ayeee.
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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Post by spiffy » Thu Nov 15, 2007 3:31 pm

speaking of greasing the front end, I noticed that the 67 owners manual says to jack up the front of the bus to put grease into the zerks....is this necessary?
78 Riviera "Spiffy"
67 Riviera "Bill"

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Post by Westy78 » Thu Nov 15, 2007 5:31 pm

spiffy wrote:speaking of greasing the front end, I noticed that the 67 owners manual says to jack up the front of the bus to put grease into the zerks....is this necessary?
Yep, same as it is with the bays.
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Post by spiffy » Thu Nov 15, 2007 10:04 pm

Westy78 wrote:
spiffy wrote:speaking of greasing the front end, I noticed that the 67 owners manual says to jack up the front of the bus to put grease into the zerks....is this necessary?
Yep, same as it is with the bays.
Doh!! I've been doin' it wrong! :cyclopsani:
78 Riviera "Spiffy"
67 Riviera "Bill"

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Post by hambone » Fri Nov 16, 2007 11:14 pm

Sho' nuff. Me too until I lern't th' booky-way.
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Post by JereandJess » Sun Jun 01, 2008 5:29 pm

Hey Colin, this was great, as was Part I. It took a while to get it all back together, parts took a little longer than they should have, and life got in the way, but the good news is that it's all back together.

Your pictures were great as are the descriptions.

My only concern is that as I pumped the grease in there and my 3 1/2 year old turned the wheel all the way one way and then all the way the other way, I lay there and watched the grease seep out of the hole at the bottom that you mention, and then it started coming back out the grease zerk.

Weird, right?

I will let it sit down off jack stands for the first time in a while and check it back out tomorrow and see if it changed at all.

One thing I will say is that I can't believe how much tighter the steering seems already, and I have not really driven it yet. I can't wait.
Jeremy

~Jeremy (and Jessica)
77 Sage Green Westfalia 2.0 FI
78 Blue Landmark camper 2.0 FI
69 Beetle

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Post by dtrumbo » Sun Feb 15, 2009 8:54 am

I just finished this job using this procedure and I'd like to add a couple of things.

First, here's a thread I started discussing how my experience went.
viewtopic.php?t=5732

Second, I found it extremely helpful to chamfer the edges of the grease cap prior to any attempt at installing it. This was the second-hardest part of the job for me (see the thread linked above for the first-hardest), when it seems like it should be one of the more simple steps.
- Dick

1970 Transporter. 2015cc, dual Weber IDF 40's
1978 Riviera Camper. Bone stock GE 2.0L F.I.
1979 Super Beetle convertible.

... as it turns out, it was the coil!

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Post by bretski » Thu Aug 20, 2009 8:10 am

This job is now on my to-do list. Are you generally happy with the quality of the Meyle kit, dtrumbo?

The only vendor selling the Febi kit (that I have found) is German Supply, and it's expensive...
1978 Deluxe Westfalia - "Klaus"

"transcripts are overrated. hardware store receipts: those are useful." --skin daddio

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Post by dtrumbo » Thu Aug 20, 2009 8:19 am

bretski wrote:This job is now on my to-do list. Are you generally happy with the quality of the Meyle kit, dtrumbo?

The only vendor selling the Febi kit (that I have found) is German Supply, and it's expensive...
So far so good on the Meyle. That said, I bought the Febi kit from Scott to do my wife's bus. I haven't gotten around to it yet, so I don't know what difference, besides price, there is.

F.Y.I. I called Wolfsburg West awhile back and asked what brand they sold. At the time I called they said Febi. I then ordered the kit last month and a Meyle kit arrived. I called and they explained they sell what they have and sometimes the have Febi and sometimes they have Meyle. I returned the Meyle kit to WW and ordered the Febi from Scott. I'll report back when I finally find time to put it in.
- Dick

1970 Transporter. 2015cc, dual Weber IDF 40's
1978 Riviera Camper. Bone stock GE 2.0L F.I.
1979 Super Beetle convertible.

... as it turns out, it was the coil!

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Post by bretski » Thu Aug 20, 2009 8:33 am

Funny, I called WW yesterday to ask what brand it was, and he asked, "Did you just call me about this recently?" Must've been you...

He went into a mini-rant about how this is a hobby car, and you get what you get. Apparently, I should also never complain about this job to a splittie-owner, lest I be beaten into a pulp at the next VW show. I rolled my eyes and thought, "attitudes like this are why we git...shit."
1978 Deluxe Westfalia - "Klaus"

"transcripts are overrated. hardware store receipts: those are useful." --skin daddio

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Post by dtrumbo » Thu Aug 20, 2009 8:42 am

That's too bad you got 'tude from WW. I guess everybody has a bad day here and there. Apparently he forgot that the customer and their money is always right. That's why Scott has some more of mine.
- Dick

1970 Transporter. 2015cc, dual Weber IDF 40's
1978 Riviera Camper. Bone stock GE 2.0L F.I.
1979 Super Beetle convertible.

... as it turns out, it was the coil!

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bretski
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Post by bretski » Fri Aug 21, 2009 6:53 am

I posted a message on the T2 list, and everyone who replied strongly recommended the Febi kit over the Meyle. Hopefully the bushings in your kit hold up, but I think you made the right decision in getting the Febi for the other car.

Old Volks Home in AZ has the Febi kits, so I ordered from them. Ronnie was really helpful when I called, and even gave me some tips on installation. He was also of the mind that the Meyle bushings being made today are garbage, so he won't sell 'em. He earned the business! :cheers:
1978 Deluxe Westfalia - "Klaus"

"transcripts are overrated. hardware store receipts: those are useful." --skin daddio

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Post by dtrumbo » Fri Aug 21, 2009 7:28 am

Good to know! The only reason I used the Meyle kit in the first place is because it came in the parts stash when we bought my wife's bus years ago. Even after the experience I had, I can honestly say the job really isn't all that hard. Especially after you've done it once so if I have to do it again, it'll be no biggie. Thanks for the tip on Old Volks Home. I'm always looking for vendors that earn our business.
- Dick

1970 Transporter. 2015cc, dual Weber IDF 40's
1978 Riviera Camper. Bone stock GE 2.0L F.I.
1979 Super Beetle convertible.

... as it turns out, it was the coil!

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