[T3] The road trip blues

[Jim Adney]

On 28 Aug 2017 at 19:59, Daniel Nohejl wrote:

> I´ve never thought to cut the donuts.....that´s a good idea! It´s not
> possible to just cut one side to spread the donut open and then push
> it onto the heater box?

There are different versions of the donuts; it might be possible to cut just one 
side of the metal mesh ones. I would smear either kind with muffler putty to 
help seal.

> > Do you get the same amount of steering wheel turning to full left lock as to 
> > full right lock?
> 
> No, it turns more to the right than left. Always has and there´s a
> spot of bare metal in the wheel well from when the tire rubs. I only
> ever hear it rub occasionally when parallel parking so I´ve never done
> anything about it. 

The gearboxes have a "center" position, so when you install a "new" one you 
should set the steering wheel up so the spokes are horizontal when the box 
is centered. Then the tie rods should be adjusted so the spokes are 
horizontal when driving straight on a flat road. If you don't do this, you may 
end up with the gearbox off-center, which will give more play than 
necessary, wear faster, and may turn much farther in one direction than in 
the other. A little bit of off-center is common, as is a bit of rubbing on one 
side, but it's also possible to be WAY off-center, like having 1.5 turns in one 
direction and 2.5 turns in the other.

Note that late gearboxes have a ring marker on the input shaft that indicates 
the center position. On those boxes, the steering wheel should be, IIRC, 
horizontal when the gap in the ring faces straight up. Look at the gearbox I 
sent you to see that ring.

> > Is this a gearbox you got from me?
> 
> No, I never installed that one and then I got one from a guy on The
> Samba who rebuilds them with new FAG bearings, seals, etc. You want
> yours back? 

Would that be Tim Shreve? I think I heard that he's studied these. No, keep 
the one you got from me. Someone may need it.

> > Syncros live a hard life, so it's always kind to give them a little time to do 
> > their thing. Pausing in N while you take your foot off the throttle gives the 
> > engine time to slow down, so there's less syncing to do; then it's the N to 
> > gear transition where the work happens and you want to allow some time for 
> > the gears to sync.
> 
> Fair enough. I´m just concerned because I suddenly have to change the
> way I shift which makes me think something is amiss. 

Your driving style will have a large effect on the wear to the syncros. 
Slamming into gears may be the way they show it in the movies, and it's 
probably true that you'd do that in a race car, where you'd expect to rebuild 
the tranny and replace the clutch a few times each racing season, but it's not 
the best way to get good use out of a street car. A more relaxed approach, 
and letting the engine speed drop to the correct rpm, will give you lots of 
extra years out of both.

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Jim Adney, jadney at vwtype3.org
Madison, Wisconsin, USA
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