Need some help with SWB suspension. . .

[304065]

Two questions come to mind. . .

#1-- I managed to LOSE the little square-section o-rings that go on the stub axle after the bearing retainer cup. Part number 901 331 283 00-- NLA! Photo attached so you can see what I mean-- also shown as Nr. 17 in the diagram, or #11 in the cutaway view of the axle.

The diameter of the stub axle is 30mm. I remember what these looked and felt like, they were square section, and about four or five mm on a side.

Mcmaster has some square-section O-rings that are 1-3/16 (30.16mm) ID, 1-7/16 OD (36.5mm), I'm going to give those a shot unless anyone knows a better substitute.

Ultimately I think these are intended to keep moisture out of the gap between the hub and the stub axle. If you look VERY closely at the diagram, you can see that the hub (and its projecting "outer" part of the stub axle) makes contact with the spacer (you can even see the spacer tube, with the "recess" and "wide thrust surface" facing the roller bearing) and also with the inner race of the roller bearing. The stub axle engages inside the hub's female splines, and the gasket is used at the very end, presumably to keep water from getting in between them and rusting them together.

Now someone more experienced than I is going to say, "I never used those, have put dozens together without them!" Or is this a critical piece, such that folks have engineered a workaround?

Any assistance would be much appreciated.

Question #2. How in the world do you get the flanblocks off the end of the SWB front control arms? The factory is no help, they say that they cannot be removed without destroying the arm, and that new control arms must be purchased.

As a refresher, the rear SWB bushings consist of an inner metal race, a rubber bushing, and an outer metal race. When the suspension is installed in the car, the correct droop angle is established and then a pinch bolt is tightened around the outer race, which locks the outer race to the front crossmember. Suspension movement is then facilitated by the flexing of the rubber. As such, it's a pretty tight connection between the control arm and the inner race of the bushing.

I tried a puller, I tried my press, nada. Those suckers are ON THERE.

I haven't tried heat yet, but I am thinking of using my MAPP torch outdoors to melt the rubber to get the outer race off, then dremel the inner race to weaken it and use vice-grips and PB blaster to turn it on the control arm. Just wondering if anyone else has managed to wrangle this off without "replacement of the arm."

THANKS in advance to those who have come this way before!

JFC

[Cliff]

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifie....php?id=869977 check this guy out.......

[buddeman]

John,
Can't help with #1, but for #2 I just pulled my fanblocks off a few months back. Method was very similar to what you are thinking of... May make some folks cringe, but got them off with no damage to the arms. Used a cutting wheel to remove the outer metal... a propane torch to heat the rubber after which it could get pried off with some persuasion. The deft touch method was required for the inner metal as it wouldn't budge. I used a dremel to make a seam along the length of the metal, almost all the way through... then used a chisel parallel to the arm to gently split open the seam and get some penetrating oil in. Once the seam was split on the end, it made it easier to cut a little deeper (as the seam raised up), then split, then dremel, then split... Applied some heat to the metal, then used a pipe wrench with a breaker bar to get the thing to move... which it eventually did <whew!>. It will come off!
Good luck,
Pat

[chris_seven]

#1 - I would think any decent NBR seal would do this job without too much to worry about.

#2 - The 'Fanblock' 901.341.421.03 is still available and generally can be removed from the control arm without too much trouble. The problem is the price is around £250 each + Sales Tax which work out to around $450 each

I have seen a post recently, but don't remember where, that a company in the US was re-manufacturing this part at a lower price than the Porsche component but needed the steel sleeves to start with , so don't cut them off!

The other problem is that the end of the control arm can be badly corroded in this area and makes the arm quite weak. If they need to be repaired with a sleeve the original fan block won't fit and you may need to custom manufacture a new bush.

The rubber bush on the other end is still available as a 914 part
(914.341.422.00) at around $20 each.

[304065]

Thanks Gents. I was able to get a new set of the factory bushings for a fair price, around $240 each. I will use the MAPP torch to burn the outer race off, then slit the inner with a dremel and chisel it free. Fortunately, this end of the arm doesn't carry the torsion bar.

This is one of those jobs that is just going to require brute force and patience.

I ordered a bag of 100 of the O-rings today, if they work out I'll have 98 extras. . .

[304065]

Did I mention Brute Force? How about tools and technologies that evoke a Dickensian steel mill from the First Industrial Revolution, an admixture of fire, smoke, petroleum distillates, iron tools and foul language. "And was Jerusalem builded here, amongst these Dark, Satanic Mills?" You get the idea.

Three hours of consternation and ONE side is done. There is just no easy way. I chucked the arm up in a vise, heated the outer sleeve until the bushing sizzled , then wrenched it off with a pair of giant water pump pliers. This left the inner sleeve, which is a steel tube of about 3mm wall thickness, it didn't budge.

Again with the Propylene (f/k/a MAPP) torch, and a pipe wrench. Managed to rip the bench vise from its mountings. Took it down to a block of wood, used the dremel to slit the inner sleeve, then a cold chisel to peel it back. More torch. Finally, with a croak that sounded like the Titanic being raised, the bushing began to turn. And turn. And turn. It would NOT screw off of the arm.

After literally an hour of working it back and forth, I finally got the idea to strike the "Spacer" which is the thick washer between the bushing and the arm with a drift and two pound engineers hammer, in an axial direction. FINALLY it began to shift, and after my own version of a Wagnerian Anvil Chorus, it was free.

The arm underneath appears to be made of the finest steel and was turned on a lathe. Any small nicks were dressed with a file to eliminate stress risers. Putting the bushing on was another exercise in improvisation, insofar as the throat depth of my hydraulic press is inadequate to accomodate the arm either in the vertical or horizontal dimension, so I had to push on the right angle part of the arm and use bridge plates to hold the inner sleeve of the new bushing-- not perfect alignment, but close enough to seat the bushing!

The feeling of success I experienced is mirrored by dread of doing the other side! But I will "press on regardless!"

[VintageExcellen]

Funny, I just removed my bushings on a 66 car the other day. Mapp gas cooked the rubber bushing, very large channel locks yanked off the outer sleeve and rubber bushing. Finally that inner metal sleeve really is made to fit the arm, it is as tight as you can get, my solution...

I happened to buy a Harbor Freight air hammer the same day with chisels. I used a flat chisel and buzzed the inner sleeves of both arms off in about 15min. Gotta hand it to China for making things cheap, a $16 air chisel, the thing I worry about is the item breaking so we throw the cheap china products into our landfills which really is a waste of resources (tell your grand kids to look to landfill mines as a great source of raw materials). Politics aside I hope my post saves someone time.

Now onto those overpriced arm bushings - they are priced around $500 a pair for the ones in the cross member, too much! I am thinking Elephant Racing bushings look good as they are only $260 a pair and improve precision of the arm.


*** IF YOU ARE GOING TO USE ELEPHANT RACING BUSHINGS THEN DO NOT REMOVE THE INNER SLEEVE FROM YOUR OLD BUSHING!! The aftermarket bushings require that you use a piece of the old bushing to make the new part work. I opted for the Elephant bushings because they are good quality and a lower cost than originals. Since I got anxious I removed all of the old bushings before I purchased the new ones and had to look for new arms to make the Elephant bushings work, its does not mention this on their website.

On another note I have a pair of front arms for sale from a 66 with 35,000 original miles, they are completely stripped of all bushings and paint. $150? if anyone needs them.

[VintageExcellen]

pictures of my struggle which was not as bad ad cutting a slit in the sleeve and chiseling off, which was my first thought.

[Neil '67 911S]

I have seen a post recently, but don't remember where, that a company in the US was re-manufacturing this part at a lower price than the Porsche component but needed the steel sleeves to start with , so don't cut them off!

I made that post. Rainer Cooney at Meister Restoration in Cow Hampsha' makes bushings of all sorts for 550 Spider customers. They don't need no steenkin' website. 603-776-3561

I lent him a new SWB fanbloc bushing. He measured the bushing's hardness with a durometer and he made a mold. He does indeed need the inner and outer steel sleeves from the original fanbloc. While he could make new sleeves, it would be a PIA. PB Blaster, a MAPP torch and patience are your friends. With luck you can save yourself some coin.

FWIW, 30 years ago, the fanbloc bushings were virtually impossible to find. The rear trailing arm fanblocs are still available for less than a small fortune. If you plan to keep your car for the long run, buy some spares for your stash now while you can.

[304065]

The air chisel trick worked, along with a liberal application of the Propylene torch. Actually, I should have used an air chisel in the first place. I made two slits with the dremel axially, then heated the inner bushing, then ran the air chisel pretty hard (ear protection is a must) to remove it. Took an hour instead of a whole day. Chalk this up as one of my least favorite jobs.