"Just" need to slide engine back ~4" to get bolts in bell housing for rear trans mounts and then slide the transaxle 2" to get to front trans mount. Rear tin would have to come off and maybe exhaust but no need to drop engine down. Need couple floor jacks. Not sure it's for us old guys though.
Can be done pulling the motor back so that the alternator pulley is against the rear 2x2 steel but should something move your fingers are going to hurt like all hell.
Always better to be safe, best to lower the motor to the floor. Do a full safety and mechanical check while it's out. Check out the throw out bearing, rear main seal, clutch cross bar, flywheel face, fuel lines, a good time to change out the clutch, and or cable, accelerator cable, bowden tube ( if needed) ... you're there anyway... and take a good look at the motor for possible problems.
Originally Posted by BobG '57 VS:
Misery loves company, David. Thanks.
Love hurts, Bob. I could send Suzanne over to help but she's tired on the East Coast.
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Yeah, don't mess around and hurt yourself. Lower it to the floor, replace all three mounts, and put it back in, not a big deal.
Red urethane belongs in super balls, and that's about it. Junk.
Either HD rubber OEM or CB Rhino yellow mounts.
You should be able to remove the rear mounts and hold the trans with a floor jack. Use a prybar or a ratchet strap like Al to pull the trans rearward enough to swap the front mount. The swing axles will swing with some force. No need to loosen the spring plates. After you're done it would be a good idea to check the rear toe-in though.
Another thing you may want to consider is buying an Hydraulic engine hoist. They're dirt cheap even for a foldaway model. Like under $200. Some advocate the use of a jack under the engine but when it's lowered, where do you go then ?
With an engine hoist, you can lift the engine, jockey it around and away from the tranny, lower it to a dolly, disconnect and slide away from under the car. Then you can lift the motor up to a work station or to your vehicle to transport to a repair place.
I guess I cheat, David. I have a ceiling-mounted chain hoist that I lift the car and drop the engine with. Plus I made a dolly so rolling the car in and out of the way is easy.
Pretty easy to make a cradle for the engine so a jack slides under, but then you need to get the car higher to slide it out. 2 x 4s and 2 x 6s. Heck, put wheels on it!
You're not average, Danny and I'm OK with that ! Nice setup. :
Yup, yup and certainly.
A trick that worked for me was one of those furniture dollies with a piece of plywood on it and a scissor jack holding up the Tranny while you pull it back. The scissor jack doesn't creep like a hydraulic might and the whole thing slides back together, so you have plenty of time to scratch your head or skin your knuckles. I might not have had to loosen up the axle bolts, but that stuff moved a little, so it made it easier for me.
After reading this thread, I decided I would be stupid not to replace the (almost new) urethane mounts with a Rhino set as long as I have the guts out. Just ordered them.
I had overhead engine hoists in my last three shops. This shop? Nope, that one got deleted during the build, so instead I use a Craftsman motorcycle jack and suitable wood blocks or rails to cradle stuff on. I pull the engine with the car level, up about 2 feet on and jack stands, then, with it still on the jack I pull the lowered engine/jack rearwards while tilting the top of the fan shroud forward enough (and at the right time) that the alternator pulley and then the fan shroud clears the bottom of the rear valence. All this is usually done solo, no helpers and it seems relatively easy.
I have, on occasion, jacked the rear of the car WAY up (like three feet) but never liked having it up there and have worked up the other process instead.
Getting the transaxle out by itself is the same process, just with different wooden blocks and rails (2' X 4's ) to cradle it right (remember - I have IRS so I don't have to mess around with the swing axles, but those can be unbolted and lowered and then just slid across the floor to the rear).
David Stroud, Since the nose mount in question, has been identified I will talk about the mounts on my Berg transaxle mount. You are correct about the placement of the bushings, with the large white teflon bushings above the silver horizontal bar and much smaller rubber bushings below. I think I even made thin rubber washers out of some sheet rubber I had laying around for each end of the teflon bushings. As I recall I used fine thread mounting bolts with locking nuts for adjustability. I used trial and error to come up with this set up and no Gordon there is no noticeable vibration transfer from this mount, but noticeably less transaxle movement. Bob G, I brought this whole trans mount discussion up when I noticed the transaxle strap that was installed on your car. Any system to aid in limiting the movement of the transaxle must be fairly tight or it will not be effective as can be seen in the failure of your nose mount. Those inexpensive transaxle straps if installed tightly will provide a limited amount of support and will also transfer very noticeable engine vibration. Installing new rear engine mounts is a good idea. Have fun with your project and Good Luck!
^ This guy (Joel) never does something twice. Ever. He is the definition of "ready, aim, fire= bullseye".
Alternately, you can take the "ready, fire, aim= blasted off foot" approach, but I'm learning that Joel's way is a lot less painful.
I used the rubber snubbers that came from Berg with the support, but when I installed the welded-in frame mounts I put everything together with a couple of thin washers between the rubber and the mounting bracket and welded the brackets in with that spacing. After they were securly welded, I deleted the washers and snug everything up tight for zero clearance and a very slight pre-load. Seems to work, and transfered less vibration to the frame than the un-cushioned Kafer brace does! The rotational action of the tranny nose on acceleration compresses the cushions so I don't have to worry about tearing anything apart and, like Joel's set-up, that transaxle isn't going anywhere...
As Joel (and Stan) said, those trans strap kits are not for street cars. The non insulated straps were originally developed for offroad, where the car leaving the ground and coming back down would tear the trans mounts in half, sometimes breaking the nose cone and/or the bellhousing as well. The trade off- they solid mount the trans/engine to the car, which makes the car noisy, and the vibrations cause hardware to loosen and fall off left, right, and center. Pop riveting on the rubber mat material helps quiet things down somewhat, but now there is enough movement to still break the front mount and/or the nose cone. The Berg mid-mount does what it sets out to do (which is keeping hard acceleration from trying to lift the nose cone and twisting the trans, stock mounts and frame horns), without creating a path for vibrations and noise to enter the rest of the car. Drill some holes in it before installing, though, because like so many Berg designed products, it's heavy.
The red polyurethane trans mounts, for those thinking they're an upgrade/improvement, are junk. I trashed a set in a couple thousand miles, and the people I know in the VW world have gone back to factory mounts. If you look closely, they have no support built into them. Regular stock (or the hd stock truck mounts that Berg and others also sell) are the way to go, along with the mid-mount and a kafer bar. VW's set up (only the stock mounts) are fine for a stock, commuter car that's driven as intended. Roaring around in a Speedster with a bigger/more powerful engine is not driving as the factory intended. Even "spirited" driving in a completely stock bug will (over time) bend the frame horns, and wheelspin will cause the back end to "hop" and destroy the transaxle.
I know, there are those out there that say they never drive their car that hard. All it takes is 1 moment...Al
Gordon- My Berg mount came with a pair of washers for set up, and the instructions specifically stated to leave them out during assembly. Was yours different?
"Gordon- My Berg mount came with a pair of washers for set up, and the instructions specifically stated to leave them out during assembly. Was yours different?"
Nope - same thing.