Another thing, VW IRS axles are tough. The Empi axle, who knows what kind of steel they are made from.
Pulled the motor today. One of the lower nuts was missing and one of the upper bolts. Also found out that I don’t have the thermostat mechanism for the fan shroud vanes and the linkage that operates them. I will have to remove the shroud and see if the vanes are in there. Also found that the header and muffler were full of rust, so I’ll add that to the list to replace.
I had my best helpers with me. I can just imagine what the conversation will be when they go back to school after Christmas: “friend - I programmed my new cell phone over the break. My daughter - That sounds boring. I helped my Dad pull a motor out of his Porsche. My Dad is the coolest.” (Maybe that’s close to what they will say anyway....)
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Good deal! You can tell if you have the vanes installed in the fan housing just by looking at the front two bottom sides of it; if you see cheesehead bolts (the flathead ones that hold all the tins in place) sticking out you know you've got them; if you only see holes you don't.
@Impala posted:Good deal! You can tell if you have the vanes installed in the fan housing just by looking at the front two bottom sides of it; if you see cheesehead bolts (the flathead ones that hold all the tins in place) sticking out you know you've got them; if you only see holes you don't.
Thanks Impala, I’ll check that out today.
I think you will also be able to see posts sticking out from the vanes that the linkage attaches to.
Years ago the rage was to remove and throw them away!
Looks like I am missing the entire system. No screws in the tin and no posts sticking out.
I’ll add this to the parts!
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Finding a set of air vanes with the associated linkage bar, thermostat and thermostat actuator rod is the hard part. Once you get them delivered we can walk you through the installation and adjustment to make them work smoothly. The newer spring-style thermostat doesn’t look like the older, bellows style, but from what I’ve heard they work just as well. Don’t forget to check local salvage yards to see if you could find a whole fan shroud with the vanes intact. You have the older, “36 hp” style fan shroud. There is a newer version with a bigger fan, but it is flat across the top, rather than rounded like yours. For that, you can fit a bigger oil cooler and bigger fan and it’ll cool better - A must for engines 1,915cc and larger.
The German hardware to install them was slotted 6mm screws. Unless you wish to grow up as a sainted Purist, I would suggest going to a local hardware store and get a box of 6mm X 1.0 pitch X 12mm long (1/2”) Phillips Pan-Head screws and flat washers to fit. Those screws come in handy for a lot of stuff on these engines and a box of them is cheap - washers, too. Don’t forget some metric lock washers, just in case, too.
Don't waste your time with old crap. Get a brand new set from Clark.
http://www.awesomepowdercoat.c...hermostat_flaps.html
I put a set in my engine when I replaced my crappy Chinese shroud with a Cooled1 replica thing shroud. Couldn't be happier. Solved the overheating issues I had on long freeway and 5%< grade runs.
Per Gordon's post, Clark has the older bellows-style thermostats, but they're pricey because they're getting rare. On my Spyder, I couldn't use one because the exhaust is in the way, so I fabbed up a Triumph choke cable to operate the flaps manually
And +1 on ditching the OEM straight blade cheesehead screws I used SS pan head allens, spring washers, and locktite on mine.
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The flaps in the ebay link are for a single port engine. Probably, what is needed in this case is flaps for a dual port engine.
@TreyG posted:Looks like I am missing the entire system. No screws in the tin and no posts sticking out.
I’ll add this to the parts!
When you get it apart, take a good look at an exploded cooling parts diagram. I think the "what is this crap? I don't need this" mentality that led to leaving off the thermostat flappers also led to leaving off the internal baffles which channel the airflow to where it needs to go.
When I got mine all apart, it was also missing these.
Clark sells great reproductions of all the necessary bits to get your cooling system back to the way the VW engineers designed it to work.
ETA: From your your pic it looks like you're also missing the ducting for your oil cooler, which means you're dumping hot air into your engine compartment or blowing it right in one if your carbs (if you have dual carbs). Numbers 2&3 in the parts pic.
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Thanks guys, this is good info! I found Clark’s website the other day and was thinking that getting a full set from him is probably the best route. Then I have all that stuff correct. Good tip on the fasteners Gordon and dlearl476.
@TreyG posted:Thanks guys, this is good info! I found Clark’s website the other day and was thinking that getting a full set from him is probably the best route. Then I have all that stuff correct. Good tip on the fasteners Gordon and dlearl476.
Clark is a great guy. Very responsive to emails, too. If it strikes your fancy, his threads on The Samba are pretty informative. Other than Jake Raby, he's probably done more research into AirCooled VW cooling than anyone else. His username in The Samba is Volksaholic.
@Michael McKelvey posted:The flaps in the ebay link are for a single port engine. Probably, what is needed in this case is flaps for a dual port engine.
Thanks for pointing that out; I didn't look closely.
@TreyG posted:Thanks guys, this is good info! I found Clark’s website the other day and was thinking that getting a full set from him is probably the best route. Then I have all that stuff correct. Good tip on the fasteners Gordon and dlearl476.
By all means; probably the best way to go.
Happy New Year!
I tried to drain my transaxle today to remove it. I don’t have 17mm hex wrench. I tried using a bolt with a couple nuts jammed on it, but that failed. (25 years ago I welded a bolt to a piece of rebar for a homemade wrench, I guess I should have kept it!)
Y’all know any tricks to getting it out other than the correct tool? I am going to look around town tomorrow to see if I can get a wrench or socket locally, but don’t have high hopes for finding it local.
might have to do ebay
@TreyG posted:Happy New Year!
I tried to drain my transaxle today to remove it. I don’t have 17mm hex wrench. I tried using a bolt with a couple nuts jammed on it, but that failed. (25 years ago I welded a bolt to a piece of rebar for a homemade wrench, I guess I should have kept it!)Y’all know any tricks to getting it out other than the correct tool? I am going to look around town tomorrow to see if I can get a wrench or socket locally, but don’t have high hopes for finding it local.
I had no luck with a double-nutted 17mm bolt either when I couldn't find my socket. (I turned up in the door pocket after an extensive search. DOH!)
IIRC, it was <$10 at Lowes.
FWIW, this is the wrong time if year to be messing with gear lube. 
My suggestion? Put the new stuff in a pan of hot water for a while, and either go for a long drive or put a heat lamp on your trans for a few hours before you drain it.
I looked at Lowe’s today, no luck. However I google searched and it looks like my local Autozone has one in stock. I’m going to run there in the morning and see if it is indeed in stock!