Monthly Archives: June 2012

Replace Front Outer Bearing Race On Wheel Drum – 1966 VW Beetle Project

While removing the narrowed beam, I inspected the bearings and races on the front drums. They weren’t too bad, but not perfect either. I decided now was a good time to replace them since it was all apart anyway. What follows hopefully illustrates how to remove/replace the race from a drum. To learn how to remove the drums, read my previous blog post where I removed the shockless 6″ narrowed beam from the car.

The old bearings…

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The old race, still installed in the drum (2 pictures)…

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I used my shop press and a homemade tool to remove the old races. This homemade tool was needed in order to press them out. I went to the hardware store to buy a piece of steel bar, which I ground down to fit inside the drum.

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In the picture below, you can see the notches that the tool must fit within. I’ve circled the inner race notch and outer race notch in this picture. This blog post shows removing the outer race only. The steps would be the same for the inner race.

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Here’s what it looks like when the tool is seated in the notches, ready to push the outer race out…

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Here’s a sequence showing the race being pushed out. In the first shot, you can see the race is still up in the drum.

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Here’s the drum with the outer race removed. This actually shows the internal notches better than the earlier image in this post.

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Time to put the new race in…

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You’ll need a bearing race driver in order to press the new races into the drum. You can rent a bearing race driver set (usually for free) from your local autoparts store. The set comes with different size bases, which screw on to the handle. I chose the one closest in size to the bearing race outer diameter. You can see it’s just a tiny bit smaller than the actual race outer diameter. All set up in the press, ready to go…

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Pressing the race down into the drum…

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All done! The new race is now inserted in the drum…

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Remove The Shockless 6″ Narrowed Beam – 1966 VW Beetle Project

When I purchased the vehicle, I knew it had a shockless 6″ narrowed beam. Never having a narrowed beam before, I thought it would be fun to try it out. I knew that if I didn’t like it then I could switch it out for a stock beam at some later time. Well, the time has come. The narrowed beam looks good, but it’s just not practical for these horrible Michigan roads. I got tired of having to brace myself for impact every time I’d go over a speed bump or highway overpass. The beam was so low that the smallest of bumps would cause me to bottom out on the beam. The beam would hit the road on it’s lowest point, which was the adjuster bolt on the beam. Honestly, I’m quite surprised that bolt didn’t break off on impact. I actually dug some blacktop out of the center of the bolt at one point. I’m looking forward to my stock beam!

Here’s the beam from below before starting the project. Let’s get those tires off…

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Next, I removed the drums from the spindles starting with the driver side. The first thing I did was remove the speedo cable. Unclip the e-clip in the center of the cap, as shown here:

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Remove the cap.

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Loosen the wheel bearing clamp nut bolt, and then remove the clamp nut…

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Remove thrust washer and outer wheel bearing…

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Loosen brake shoes so drum can be removed.

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Remove drum…

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Remove the backing plate via the 3 bolts surrounding the spindle. The backing plate is still connected to the brake line. Set the whole assembly to the side, as shown below.

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Repeat on the passenger side. Note there is no speedo cable on the passenger side…

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Detach tie-rod from driver side spindle…

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Detach tie-rod from passenger side spindle

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Remove gas tank. First, clamp off fuel supply and then detach from fuel line on chassis tunnel.

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Time to remove the tie-rods from the steering box pitman arm.

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You’ll need a ball joint puller/separator tool in order to remove the tie-rod end from the pitman arm. You can find this tool at most of the online vintage VW parts shops or even Harbor Freight. It works very well. Removing the driver side tie-rod…

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Removing the passenger side tie-rod…

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Both removed…

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Next, detach the steering shaft from the steering box…

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Next, remove the spindles from the trailing arms..

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First, the top trailing arm on the driver side:

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Then the bottom one on the driver side. That ball joint separator tool will be needed again…

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The spindle is now off…

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Repeat on the passenger side…

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Remove 2 body bolts that hold body to beam. Also, remove steering box from beam…

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Finally, remove the beam from the chassis. There are 4 bolts that hold the beam to the chassis. The beam is quite heavy, so I used my jack to support it as I unbolted it from the chassis. Once detached, I slowly lowered it to the floor.

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There it is! The beam has been removed…

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Door Panels & Moisture Barrier – 1966 VW Beetle Project

Now that the door mechanics are all installed, it’s time to install the door panels and moisture barrier. The moisture barrier is a good idea because the interior door panels are made of hard cardboard (much more durable than a cardboard box that’s for sure).

The first thing I did was go down to the hardware store and purchase some “weather-strip & caulking cord”. It’s inexpensive and works great for tacking the moisture barrier to the inside of the door frame. I also purchased some Visqueen plastic sheeting, which serves as the moisture barrier. I got the thickest Visqueen they had, which I think was 6mil (I’d have to confirm though).

Here’s the weather-stripping I purchased:

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Here’s one of the doors, all ready to go:

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First, install all the rubber door panel clip seals. These get installed in the holes where the door panel clips connect to the door.

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Next, install the weather-strip cord around the perimeter of the door, like this.

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Cut the Visqueen to shape, and then tack on to the weather-stripping.

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Punch little holes through the visqueen where the door panel clips push through to the doors. These are the holes where the door panel clip seals were installed above.

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Repeat for the other door…

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Next, install the interior door panels.

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Finally, the door handles and window cranks. I love it! Looks great!

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