Skip to main content

OEM German is the best you can find.  OEM Brazilian is second best but rare (and they were actually made in Mexico, but still good).

This place has the german ones, some used, some new. You probably want the 64 - 79 version (the round ones are very early VW) and they have them, rebuilt, for about $50 bucks.  What you really want are OEM German bushings and one of them has that for about $30 bucks, but if your current coupler looks like the metal parts are a little flimsy, then I would spring for the $50 rebuilt German one.

Cry once, buy once.  Sorry....

https://www.bugcity.com/shop/s...pquery=shift+coupler

Ok guys, and gals, I’m going to change my oil. Does the complete oil drain circle have to be removed or can I just drain the oil thru the bolt in the middle? It shows an oil strainer, I have an external oil filter and oil cooler. Should I use a synthetic oil or regular oil?

Where can I find the gaskets needed for the oil change? I’m in Tustin. Maybe Napa?

Depends ..do you have an external oil filter? If not then you need to drain the oil, drop the oil plate, remove two gaskets and strainer, clean the strainer and reassemble. Best way to tighten the 10mm acorn nuts is with a short 1/4" ratchet and just tighten   with your pinky finger...   Regular 30 weight oil with zinc content.... there will be other oil opinions.

@Popee posted:

Ok guys, and gals, I’m going to change my oil. Does the complete oil drain circle have to be removed or can I just drain the oil thru the bolt in the middle? It shows an oil strainer, I have an external oil filter and oil cooler. Should I use a synthetic oil or regular oil?

Where can I find the gaskets needed for the oil change? I’m in Tustin. Maybe Napa?

You can just drain through the bolt (drain plug) in the middle. Make sure the engine is warm/hot so the oil will drain easily. Valvoline VR1 Racing oil 20-50 (5 qt) and a Napa 1515 gold filter should get you going. Oil discussions can go on forever, but the important thing for our cars is that the oil have higher levels of zinc and phosphorus to aid in lubrication.

I suspect the only gasket you'll possibly need is for the oil drain plug. I use a 14mm oil drain plug gasket from Ace Hardware.

Cheers!

@Popee posted:

Ok guys, and gals, I’m going to change my oil. Does the complete oil drain circle have to be removed or can I just drain the oil thru the bolt in the middle? It shows an oil strainer, I have an external oil filter and oil cooler. Should I use a synthetic oil or regular oil?

Where can I find the gaskets needed for the oil change? I’m in Tustin. Maybe Napa?

Echoing the previous posts; since you have an external oil filter it is not imperative you drop the strainer every time, and of course we assume you are changing the oil filter. However if it has been a long time since this was done there is no harm in dropping it to see if there’s any bigger particles.

One final note seems appropriate: If you drop the screen plate, and I would recommend doing so at least once, just to see.  How many miles on the engine??. New gaskets, of course. Lots of VW parts suppliers on the web. Autozone and Advance Auto, NAPA, et al. may be able to supply also.  I use some red silicone on these (as well as other gaskets and such where I want the oil to stay on the inside).  The admonition to just go snug on all those little nuts that hold the plate in place is very good advice.  Stripping out the studs in that aluminum case will ruin your day, and several more to follow. You will have to learn all about Helicoils. 

@Popee

I have a deeper sump with an external cooler and external filter, just like you.

I remove the old spin-on filter and then fill the new filter with fresh oil before I spin it on (mine spins on with the threads at the top - If yours is horizontal or other than threads up, ignore all this).  

Pour fresh oil into the center well of the filter up to the top, let it settle and repeat a few times until it slows down while settling, then smear a little oil on the filter's rubber o-ring and spin it on.  Why do I do all this?  Because the engine oil pump would have to push air out of the new filter with pumped oil from the sump.  I'm shortening that air interval by pre-loading the filter with oil.  

The engine case takes 2.5 quarts.  Valvoline VR1 Racing oil 20-50 (5 qt)
If all you can find is 10W-40 that is OK, too (I use 10W-40).

The deeper sump takes about another quart (not quite).

The filter takes about 2/3's of a quart.  (NAPA Gold 1515)

All this adds up to about 4-1/2 quarts or so.

Once everything is buttoned up, start it up and let it idle for a minute or two, then shut it off, wait a minute or two and check the oil level on the dipstick.  Most of us keep the oil level centered between the lo and full marks on the dipstick.  Often, if you raise the oil level to the full mark the engine will pressurize the case and push oil out the dipstick tube or elsewhere.  This is minimized by running it in the middle of the range and besides - with the deeper sump there is nothing to worry about.

Hope this helps!   Gordon

.

And as long as we old farts are gathered around the digital campfire exchanging old oil stories, there's this to keep in mind, too.

The 'high' and 'low' marks on the dipstick were, of course, calibrated for the stock VW engine — with no extended sump. When you bolt on an extended sump, the 'low' mark is no longer nearly as low as it used to be. When it says 'low', you now still have lots of oil in your extended sump. You could probably run the car with the oil at 'low' all the time without mucking anything up.

But, don't do that. Just keep in mind what those marks are now telling you.

I also have an extended sump, external filter, external cooler, and all the external oil lines that connect it all together. All of that holds about 4.5 quarts.

So five quarts should more than do you. Pour in about 3.5 quarts, fire it up and idle a bit to fill up the filter, cooler, connecting lines and such. Shut it down and check the dipstick. That should tell you how much more to add. It's still about a quart twixt low and high.

And, as noted above, you'll probably want to run it a skosh below the 'high' mark to keep the crank from frothing things up. It's plenty OK to do that now, since you've got so much more oil than any original engine did.

.

@Sacto Mitch posted:

.And as long as we old farts are gathered around the digital campfire exchanging old oil stories, there's this to keep in mind, too.

The 'high' and 'low' marks on the dipstick were, of course, calibrated for the stock VW engine — with no extended sump. When you bolt on an extended sump, the 'low' mark is no longer nearly as low as it used to be. When it says 'low', you now still have lots of oil in your extended sump. You could probably run the car with the oil at 'low' all the time without mucking anything up.

Because he's a "half-full" kind of guy, our fearless leader Mitch is giving the Chinese dipstick makers cabal the benefit of the calibration doubt. It's good to remember, however, that the engines on the vast majority of engines in Speedster replicas are built up from parts, not from any particular core.

This means that the case was an Autolinea from Brazil (most likely) and that the heads are either Brazilian, Mexican, or Chinese cores... unless of course, they were cast in the USA (Mofoco, etc.).

The cams are from the USA, but the lifters could be from anywhere... and on and on until we get to the "bits" - the engine tin, the alternator stand, the dipstick, et al. These are almost universally EMPI parts, made with all the care and pride you would suppose would be mustered up by a 3rd world peasant working for 16 hours/day in an East Asian "factory" at a rate not to exceed $1/hr.

(the aforementioned is way closer to the truth than anybody "looking for a deal" is willing to admit)

... but I digress. The end product of this 21st century global commerce is dipsticks which may (or may not) actually indicate the optimal oil level in any given crankcase, given (as is the situation) that neither the case manufacturer nor the dipstick maker knows which part will go where (creating a situation where nobody knows their dipstick from a hole in the ground).

On my Type 1s with extended sumps (not the dry-sump motors), I try to keep the oil level high enough to keep the pickup covered and low enough that there isn't a bunch of windage. You'll know when the oil level is too high when the crank pulley area looks like the Exxon Valdez. I don't like to run it lower than the bottom mark... but again, the marks are somewhat arbitrary.

I like the thinline sumps - Scat sells one that uses the stock sump-plate gasket, CB makes one that uses a size giant sump-plate. I'd get the 1-1/2 qt. thin-line from either one.

Forewarned is forearmed. Be well.

Last edited by Stan Galat
@Popee posted:

Ok, found bushings missing on the rear (sway bar)? See picture. Where can I get these? Anyone have a picture of the normal way these look?

That's a swaybar on a swing-axle rear end, which I find to be somewhat terrifying. You really don't want a rear swaybar on a swing-axle.

I'd take it off. Legit - for safety's sake, please take it off and get a Camber Compensator from CB Performance.

*Click on the blue font. It's a link to what you want.

Last edited by Stan Galat

@Popee

As Stan mentioned, you have what's called "Swing Arm" rear axles.  When they go up and down over bumps, they move in an arc that starts at the transaxle.  If you look at the upright angle of the rear tires as they go up and down, the line they follow is not straight.  It follows a curve like the skin of a large beach ball.  The attach point of your anti-sway bar is the bottom of the shock absorber and that will be swinging up and down in the same curve.

OK, so the anti-sway bar you have mounted on there is made for a different rear suspension - The so-called IRS version - that VW began shipping in 1969.  That version doesn't have a tube covering the wheel drive shafts as you have, and has a pair of drive shafts with CV joints on both ends, allowing the wheel to go straight up and down without curving.  The anti-sway bar you have is designed for that later axle version.  It is not designed to follow a curve which would force the sway bar ends to squeeze in and out as it moves, along with traveling up and down and THAT is why it destroyed your red bushings - It is forcing them to move in a way they are not designed for and shattering them.  Putting new ones in there will just shatter them all over again.

The cure is to completely remove that wrong anti-sway bar (you can probably sell it on here to someone with an IRS car) and replace it with what's called a "Camber Compensator" specifically designed for swing arm suspension, like this:

https://www.cbperformance.com/product-p/2819.htm

Or this:

https://www.jbugs.com/product/9615.html

You should notice a handling improvement when you get the camber compensator installed, especially on twistie roads at moderate speeds.

.

VS would install front sway bars as an option, and they looked swell when the car was at rest. Rolling down the road, though, they would interfere with the front bumper brackets, requiring some modification to the latter. But, again, parked in the garage, those sway bars looked just marvelous.

In the rear, the VS handling improvement option was the EMPI camber compensator (Gordon's second link above). And it too looked just swell - those red urethane pieces being the height of fashion. What I found, though, was that the screw holding the end pads on was somehow glued in place. Right up until the glue gave up, those pads, too, did look just marvelous.

I ordered a replacement pad and the glue on that one fared no better. Eventually, I gave up and removed the whole deal when we swapped out transaxles (a whole nother story).

So, I would vote as many times as the law will allow for the CB Performance compensator (Gordon's first link).

Life is too short to place it in the hands of EMPI.

.

@Popee posted:

WOW, awesome information guys. So I’m removing the sway bar and installing a CB performance compensator.

Whats this sway bar worth?

Again,  such valuable information. Thanks a Bugzillion.

Popee

New, with good bushings, CIP1 sells them for $152 (again, the blue font is a link). Shipping is free for orders over $99 with that outfit.

If you decide you want to go to the trouble, you might want try to sell to somebody local to you, as I'm sure it'll be $50+ to ship.

Good luck.

Well, I learned something here: IRS vs swing-axel :: sway bar vs camber compensator.  I never had that sorted.  My car is IRS so at least I know what I have: a sway bar.  Works great.  As to bushings, I have a note to add.  The polyurethane ones (often red) sounded like a good thing.  Turns out: nuh-uh. They are stiffer, so maybe more responsive, if that is even an issue. I dunno.  But I do know that stiffer can mean brittle, either after a while (lots of flexing, or just age.) And so the ones I have in back  crumbled, as it looks like yours did.  The better material is neoprene rubber, so I recommend that to those who might need.  I got some that work at my local Do-It-Best hardware store.  Seems to work fine.20210527_16493620210527_16501220230106_191049.

Attachments

Images (3)
  • 20210527_164936
  • 20210527_165012
  • 20230106_191049

@Popee,  the illustration in your classified ad says it is for swing axle cars.  The pieces shown look like what I bought many years ago that was sold for a swing axle car.  The swing axle package includes the shown 90-degree u-bolts that fit through drilled holes in the frame horns.   IRS sway bars don't use these.

Whether or not people think they are a good idea, I really think this is a bar for a swing-axle car.

Well several fourm users said this is for a IRS setup. It was causing a horrible clatter and clunking on my swing arm car going over driveways and speed bumps. After several shops couldn’t figure out the noise issue I removed the sway bar and problem solved. Suggestions were to add a Camber Compensator which is the right application for a swing arm chassis. Car is driving great so I’m not adding the compensator.

@Popee posted:

Well several fourm users said this is for a IRS setup. It was causing a horrible clatter and clunking on my swing arm car going over driveways and speed bumps. After several shops couldn’t figure out the noise issue I removed the sway bar and problem solved. Suggestions were to add a Camber Compensator which is the right application for a swing arm chassis. Car is driving great so I’m not adding the compensator.

You are correct, that is for an IRS car, Ron. A swing axle car uses a camber compensator that looks like this:

ac5019615_1_1.jpg

Although on Shop Talk Forums the writer says a Z-bar can be used on a swing axle car also. Here is the link: https://www.shoptalkforums.com...php?t=122651Although they don't really become engaged until it's almost too late. If you have a swing axle just get the camber compensator. https://www.cbperformance.com/product-p/2819.htm

Attachments

Images (1)
  • ac5019615_1_1.jpg
Last edited by Robert M
@Popee posted:

Suggestions were to add a Camber Compensator which is the right application for a swing arm chassis. Car is driving great so I’m not adding the compensator.

@Impala posted:

Camber compensators are added for extra peace of mind but if you’re not driving aggressively most probably you don’t need it; especially when these cars ride lower and the risk of the wheels tucking under and making the car roll over is less.

Sure.

You probably don't need a crush cage or similar in your steering column either. I mean, who'd going to crash anyhow? I'd drop the insurance too - there's no point, really.

The car IS pretty low to the ground, so it's not like you might roll the car in an overcorrection. Your roads are perfect, right? Besides, the sway bar everybody told you to take off didn't do anything - what makes us think the right part will work any better?

I mean, who has $108 for something that might save their life? That's money you can spend on more important things, like a dinner at Chili's or a half-tank of gas in a pickup truck.

Back in my day, we weren't sissies. People died in crashes like men, and we were better for it.

Last edited by Stan Galat

You're right; when swapping my steering wheel and column to a '57 unit I had to do away with the crush cage. And yes I have a camber compensator and a front anti sway bar unit that I had to add because the car didn't have one from the shop where it was built. The roads aren't too bad here but they're not perfect; Puerto Rico and New Orleans were real disasters as I recall. And yes; I just increased my insurance with Hagerty.

Last edited by Impala
Post Content
×
×
×
×
Link copied to your clipboard.
×
×