Doc Explains Brake Removal and Tranny Removal

[david58]

Here's where we're starting.

Car on jackstands. Rear wheels and hubs off.

Engine out. And fluid drained from the trans. There's a drain plug on the bottom.

On each side, we have to take the brakes off. Here's what we see under the hubs.



First, the brake shoe spring keepers have to come off. Push and twist. Below they have been removed.



Next, remove the two springs holding the brake shoes in place. But before you do this, take note of the difference in the springs and how they lay, which holes they use in the shoes and any little clips or retainers that might be involved. The picture above shows most of the pieces.

To get the springs off, I use a pair of dykes to grab the most available side of the spring and pry it out of the hole. The springs are stiff. It's a strongman job. Watch your knuckles. You might want to hold a rag over the assembly as you do this just to insure nothing goes flying. There is no chance of cutting through the springs with your dykes.

Here's a pic with the springs loose.



Now is a good time to take a look at the star brake shoe adjusters at the bottom of the brake shoes. It's a lot easier to see just how they work now than shining a flashlight through the little hole later.

Stuff is starting to come loose quickly now, so note how the E brake cable is attached and how everything fits together. With a little wiggling the brake shoes and related components will come right away. Here are pics of the shoes and the backing plate after the shoes have been removed.

OK, let's continue the teardown. The next steps will be to unscrew the brake line from the back of the wheel cylinder and then remove the wheel cylinder from the car. Here's a pic of the back (inside) of the backing plate. You can see where the brake line enters and the bolt that holds the wheel cylinder to the backing plate.



Unscrew the brake line (11mm) from the wheel cylinder. You may start to leak fluid, so be prepared to gently pull the line away from the wheel cylinder and cap it. The little bleeder valve rubber top does a pretty good job. Unscrew the wheel cylinder 13mm retaining bolt (it's red in the pic, below the green wheel cylinder). Carefully wiggle the whole wheel cylinder free of it's hole in the backing plate from the front side. Below is a pic of the wheel cylinder and the backing plate with the wheel cylinder removed.





Next, we'll detach the E brake cable from the backing plate. Like the wheel cylinder, the E brake is retained by a 13mm bolt on the back side of the backing plate. The E brake has a special little retainer/clamp (green in the pic) where it enters the backing plate. Note how it goes (only one way). Remove the bolt and wiggle the whole assembly out through the inside (back of plate). Here is a pic of the E brake and retainer/clamp after removal and another of the plate without the E brake cable.




Next, we'll remove the bearing housing and the backing plate. There are four 14mm bolts to remove. They have already been removed in the above pic from the yellow bearing housing. Once the four bolts are removed, the whole assembly of bearing housing (yellow), the seal (black ring inside bearing housing), the big spacer inside (it's the smallest silver ring around the axle shaft in the above pic), the paper gasket in between the bearing housing and the backing plate, the big rubber O-ring and the backing plate itself should wiggle off the axle shaft. You might start to drip some fluid, so be ready. Note the orientation of the big spacer with the chamfer in, flat side out. Here are pics of the axle shaft after removal of the bearing housing and backing plate and of the backing plate and bearing housing.


You can see the big rear bearing.



Please move on to Chapter 3.

The next step is to remove the bottom shock bolt. 19mm nut and bolt on my car. Here's a pic of the shock bolt and the shock hanging free once removed.





Next, we'll detach the brake line from the axle tube. Here's a pic of the situation.



The red thing is the retaining clip and needs to be knocked backwards out of it's pressure fit. I used a punch and a hammer and just kept tapping side to side until it worked off. Once the clip is off, you'll be able to work the whole brake line backward out of the holder. Here's a pic of the brake line removed.



The next step will be removing the axle tube from the swingarm. They're held together by three big (19mm) nuts, washers and bolts. Here's a pic of the set up. The third nut and bolt is on the bottom.



Unscrew the three large nuts and bolts, then work the bumpstop assembly off. Here's a pic of the bumpstop and bracket.



With the bumpstop bracket off and the three nuts and bolts out, you should be able to just work the outer end of the axle tube away from the swing arm. Might have to bang it a little, but it will come loose in a backward direction. Be careful what you hit. You can't bugger up the axle threads or the bearing. Here's a pic.



Other side is the same. Repeat all steps to free the other tube.

Next, we'll start to remove the transaxle.

Please follow along to Chapter 4.

Ok, next step is to disconnect the starter motor wiring. You've disconnected the battery long ago, so just find the starter high on the bell housing on the passenger side front. Here's a pic.



The big cylinder is the starter motor and the little one is the solenoid. All your wires are hooked to the solenoid. They might just be clips, but more likely will be screwed on. You gotta get them off. Here's a pic of the front of the solenoid, so you know what you're dealing with. Get all wires free.



The next step is to disconnect the clutch cable from it's termination point on the trans housing. Here's a pic of the set up.



On my car, there are two nuts; a 14mm round ended nut that fits down into the cavity provided by the throw out bearing arm and the 11mm lock nut. Note the straight screw slot in the top end of the clutch cable. Use a screwdriver in the slot to hold the cable while you screw off the nuts. Many of you will find a big wing nut instead of the two smaller nuts. One way or the other, take this hardware off and slip the clutch cable back through the arm. Here's a pic of mine hanging free.



The next step is to disconnect the front mount. The front mount is what holds the trans in place at the farthest point forward. Here's a pic.



The transaxle mounts on my car (all bright red) are aftermarket urethane mounts. Likely you may be looking at original VW mounts which are black and ugly, but they work just about like these. Get the front mount loose the best way you can. In my case, the mount is going to stay bolted to the frame. Here's a pic of my front mount bolts removed.



The next step is to disconnect the shifter inside the cab of the car. Lift your back seat out of the car and you will see a small cover plate where the center tunnel fans out at the rear. Remove this cover plate and there will be a connection between your shifter and the transaxle. It's usually a small square headed bolt and might have a wire through it. Remove the wire and loosen the bolt. Carefully slide the shifter free of the transmission shift rod. Here's a pic of the tran shift rod where it enters the cabin.



The next step is to remove the frame horn bolts. It's the two giant bolts in the green frame in this pic. The urethane mounts are bright red.



I don't have the right metric socket for these, but a 1 1/16" worked fine. These are big bolts. An impact gun and air really make the job easier. Get them off any way you can. Here's a pic with bolts out.



We're getting close! Grab the whole tranaxle and wiggle it toward the rear of the car. It ought to be free and start moving. Move it just an inch or so backward and just let it sit there. It'll just lay there on the frame horns. The whole unit in my car, I think, weighs 70-80 lbs. I'm guessing, but my point is, one person can move this thing around pretty easily. It's a little awkward, but not real heavy.

Look over on the driver's side and pull the Bowden tube free. Here's a pic of the set up.



The yellow end of the tube pulls FORWARD out of it's home in the red trans cover plate. The fat piece of the yellow tube right next to the red trans cover is a big washer that you will need. Don't lose it.

With the whole tranny already slid forward, the tube should come free. Be careful. This is a good place to skin a knuckle. Here's a pic of the Bowden tube free of the trans side plate and then pulled back off the clutch cable (so it can be cleaned).



That's it. Everything should be loose. Double check everything. Especially jackstands and jacks. Get under there and lift the whole rear end right out. It's cumbersome but not particularly heavy. One able bodied person can do it. I just lowered it onto an old piece of carpet, then pulled the carpet out from under the car. Here's the results.



Look for the next chapter titled "Switch Axles & Tubes". Coming soon.

Hope it helps,

doc

Great explanations and pics.

[landrocket]

GREAT STUFF!!!!! Need more of this, thx.

[^cuz^]

Pics are broke!

[david58]

This is the url to the first pic. Can the pics be recovered doc?
shoptalkforums.com/imagetemp/Driverssidefullview2500.jpg
It looks like they were saved by using the attache file method back in the day. We may have lost a lot of great pics.

[doc]

Hmm....wonder what happened? I'll try to replace.

doc