Bella - 1958 Australian Beetle

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.

The gear hocky stick ....wasn't correctly located in my ghia ,when I fitted the GT box in it, you can just about remove the nose cone off the gearbox ,when the car is on axle stands enough to correctly relocate it .....by supporting the box on a jack undoing all the mounts ......and even letting the tyres down on the back ......but its a right arse ache .........


you are so right ,check the gear selectors in all gears first

Yeah it's much easier if it's in right to start with!

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... 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!

How did you find putting the shafts back in to the fulcrum plates? its one of the most fiddly job i find on VW's, the amount of times i loose my rag trying to do it..

Oh that and hub seal, get them on to find they leak... Arghhhhh

Good job though..

Yeah it was a bit fiddly. We ended up putting some oil on the sides of them so they stuck to the gear bit, then I got Steve to put the shaft back in as I have terrible co-ordination

Yeah, I've done the hub seals before and they're a nightmare to get sealed right! I remember last time I found the nack to stopping them leaking... but I can't for the life of me remember what it was now!

Everything is bolted back together now. Engine is back in, wired up, fuel lines connected, brake lines connected, bled and adjusted.

Bit of a false start when trying to get her running again - the battery to starter motor wire wasn't done up tight - once that was fixed she rattled into life.

Took her on a brief test drive and she was very well behaved - I appear to have all 4 forward gears and 1 reverse gear, all pretty much in the places that they should be (nice change!), and she stays in 4th gear all on her own now - excellent!

such a cool car i see ur learner bug all the time, saw it 3 times last week i think

I'm out in him from 7am till 9pm most days so he's on the road pretty much all day. Feel free to wave if you see me - I'll try and wave back if I can - sometimes I'm watching the pupil so don't notice or trying to work out if the car waving at me is someone I know or waving at the person behind lol

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!

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 :rolleyes: 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.

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.

nice work as usual ....but, can you please stop having issues with bella ......as my car ,howard seems to want to join in ....perhaps he's in love ? .......


just had to remove the engone ,and gearbox from howard ....aaaaaaaaaarrrrgggghhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!....LOL

Oh no, naughty Howard! Why are you having to take the engine and gearbox out?

I'm hoping this will be the last of the issues!

my expensive GT box has no 3rd gear

Bummer is it just adjustment or is it foobarred?

I thinks its a selector inside the box , but not sure ,as I've been real busy trying to get back to square one ..lol

Fingers crossed that's all it is.

nope it fubered,.....so like bella ,engine out ,gearbox out,brakes off ,transaxles off ...new box in ,axles back on ,brakes back on ect ect ............



guess what ....oil leak from the same place as yours ..lol , i'm sure howards doing it to copy bella !!

Oh dear, I'm sorry! Naughty Bella trying to influnce other Bugs to be as naughty as her!

Did you use any sealant with the gaskets? I did the 2nd time and (touch wood) all is ok this time. Also made sure that the gearbox and plates which go onto the gaskets were all cleared of any paint etc.

i fixed the gear box leak today ....yay ,quite easy ......I left the box in it ....loosened the small jubilee clip on the rubber boots .....removed all the nuts on the cover plates ....drained the oil .......sprayed some white spirit around the leak ...and wiped it clean with paper towel .....then using a 1 inch filler scraper ....I spooned some jet blue (plumbing stuff) in the tiny gap between the gasket and the plates ,took it for a drive ....no leaks ,not even a small one ....cool

ace

So is the third gear issue sorted now Dude?

yes .....i put another gearbox in it .....lol....still lots to do tho

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.



p.s nomates - really sorry if your brakes start juddering!