[T3] type3-vwtype3.org Digest, Vol 7, Issue 11

[Shari Hawkins]

Need front end parts for '68 Notchback...

My '68 Notch has its front end torn apart at the Bug Shop, and I don't  
have the right parts! I need help trying to find (at the very least)  
an upper right torsion arm and the right size (35mm I.D.) needle  
bearing. I had intended to replace ball joints also, so I'm leaning  
towards just getting a complete front axle assembly, if that makes  
sense. I'm obviously not doing the work myself, so I appreciate any  
help in locating parts as quickly as possible.

Shari (and Cloudy)







> Date: Sun, 10 Apr 2011 20:52:41 -0500
> From: "Jim Adney" <jadney at vwtype3.org>
> To: type3 at vwtype3.org
> Subject: Re: [T3] bushing for front control arm
> Message-ID: <4DA21899.1235.2C20285 at jadney.vwtype3.org>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
>
> On 10 Apr 2011 at 18:30, Shari Hawkins wrote:
>
>> I'm getting ready to get my '68 Notchback out again for the season,  
>> and I have a novice question for the group. Last autumn a mechanic  
>> told me I needed a "right front control arm bushing." When he had  
>> the car up, he grabbed the tire and showed me how he could jiggle  
>> the wheel. I had a really hard time finding a bushing, and the one  
>> part I could find ended up being the wrong size.
>>
>> Two questions:
>> 1)  Where can I find this part (if this is really even what I need)?
>> 2)  Is it okay to drive short distances until I replace the part?
>
> It seems likely that the first thing you need to replace is your
> mechanic. I don't think our cars have anything that could reasonably
> be called a control arm and there is no such thing as a control arm
> bushing on a Type 3.
>
> There are a couple of possibilities for what he showed you. It could
> be a worn or out of adjustment wheel bearing. That would be the
> simplest.
>
> Grab the top of either front tire and yank it sideways, back and
> forth rather hard. If you feel play go to the other side and see if
> it's the same on the other side. If it is, get a friend to do this
> while you lay on the ground and watch where the upper trailing arm
> comes out of the axle beam. Do you see it moving in and out as he
> yanks on the wheel. If you see it moving in and out more than a mm on
> both sides, then it's most likely that the upper torsion bar (the
> sway bar) has come loose. This is not too hard to fix. Do you have a
> Bentley manual?
>
> It could also be one of the needle bearings inside the axle beam.
> This is the hardest to fix.
>
> Let us know what you find and we can go from there.
>
> It's okay to drive short distances with any of these problems, but
> you want to minimize it. Otherwise, you can turn an easy problem into
> a very difficult one.
>
> Once you figure out exactly what the problem is, someone here will
> probably have the part.
>
> -- 
> *******************************
> Jim Adney, jadney at vwtype3.org
> Madison, Wisconsin, USA