[T3] Clutch question

J. Jonik j_jonik at yahoo.com
Sat Nov 26 16:39:31 PST 2011


Since the real experts here may be napping off their turkey leftovers, I'll just jump in to say that IF that Beetle pedal assembly is anything like a T 3 (I forget), there will be a stop plate ( a right angle bit of metal ) bolted to the floor behind and under the bottom of the clutch pedal. That prevents the pedal from falling to the floor.  It's slightly adjustable, as I remember. Feel under that pedal for the protrusion that's supposed to bump into that stop plate.
  People who Pop Their Clutches a lot tend to get less life out of that bumper-stop plate feature.

  That floor area is a vulnerable rust spot, being right under where ones snow and rain covered feet go....and where compost develops.   If floor mounting area is rusted out, you can do a pro job with some welder, or simply rig up some metal pieces to bolt to what's left of the floor to re-mount that clutch pedal stop.  Bolt it on right through the floor, with maybe some plates top and bottom to serve as "washers". People advise care about what metal ought not touch what other metal to prevent corrosion...but I've just tarred everything up so that there's no contact between kinds of metal.
  Thing is...doesn't the clutch cable get disconnected when the pedal falls to the floor? Then... the pain of taking out the pedal assembly and starting over...but now with nice strong stop plate, and making sure that pedal doesn't fall before it's all in place.

  In that area, with pedal assembly off...over the years I've taken care to clean the area, above and below the floor, use one of those rust preventing sprays, and undercoating inside and out.
  I've usually ground off any length of bolt sticking down through the 
floor so it doesn't rake in too many weeds or plastic bags while driving
 along.

Related:   Along that stretch of floor (driver side along the center hump) goes the metal brake line.   If that area starts getting damp and "composted", one fine day brakes will go and, voila!...the brake line leak will be from a rusted out part running along that under the carpet floor.   That area needs to be, again, cleaned, and rust sprayed and tar coated to prevent brake line failure.  In any case, if brakes go, and there's no sign of fluid leaks in the visible areas under front or rear...pull up the driver side rug to find the puddle.
  I forget if this applies to Beetles.



Message: 5
Date: Sat, 26 Nov 2011 11:28:41 -0800
From: James Lingenfelter <jimmyandcher at yahoo.com>
To: type3 at vwtype3.org
Subject: [T3] Clutch question
Message-ID: <CAB7A57B-DD94-4F2C-83B7-2CE894A5873E at yahoo.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed

Forgive me for asking a question about a type I on here, but you guys  
are a wealth of knowledge, and nobody else has been able to answer  
this question: a friend of mine just replaced the clutch in his '70  
Beetle. Now that it's back together with the motor in, the clutch  
cable is 2-3" too short to reach the arm. How is this possible? One  
thing that sounds fishy to me is that he says he can rotate the  
clutch pedal all the way BACKWARD onto the floor TOWARD the driver  
seat. Isn't there something within the pedal assembly that should  
absolutely prevent this? Is there something screwed up in the pedal  
assembly?
   Any help is greatly appreciated, this is his first experience with  
an aircooled VW, so he needs all the help he can get.
   Thanks,
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