Almost two weeks ago I lost the clutch when I was 30 miles from home. I knew the cable wasn't broken because there was resistance when when I pushed on the pedal. I got home by jamming into 1st and using the starter motor to move the car and get started-then reving the engine to find subsequent gears. It was 95 degrees so I put the car away.
Two days later I put the car on jack stands, took off the left rear wheel and discovered the problem-the wing nut on the end of the cable had broken almost in half and unwound almost to the end and the cable end had stripped due to movement on the clutch lever. With a great deal of effort and time I got the broken nut off, dropped the bowden tube and rethreaded ( m7 x1 die) the shaft. Installed a new wing nut and backed it up with 2 locking nuts. Have had a house full of grandkids so could only work on it a little bit at a time. Tried it today and its back to normal.
Lessends learned:
1. Would have been quicker to install a new cable but I hate that job.
2. Don't buy the $18 wing nut adj . tool -there's not enough room to swing it past the bell housing even with the clutch lever wedged forward.
3. I carry a spare cable and a Empi cable shortening kit which doesn't look like it would hold so I bought some 1/4 inch cable clamps .
4.There is a Vw air-cooled shop and store named Pegasus where I bought new wing nuts. Its located in Linden, NJ near Kennedy Airport.
5. These cars are a PIA to work on because there's little room to maneuver unless I'm getting too old for this sh-t. Anyway I'm happy until the next episode.
Joel
