Aaaarrrrrrggghhhh...

[fahrvergnugen at cox.net (David Utley)]

Mark F. wrote:
> I noticed yesterday that my clutch was slipping a bit when I "dropped"
> the clutch in 4th or 5th - the first signs that the end is near... 
> Since I'm heading to Baltimore this weekend to dolly home Mark Peele's
> 82 I thought it'd be a good idea to swap out the clutch.  So today
> Sean and I rented a hoist a semi-local DIY garage to make quick work
> of clutch job #1044 of my DIY VW career.  I had a brand new pressure
> plate and clutch disc on the shelf anyways, as well as a complete
> tranny/clutch swap "kit" I bought at Waterfest (all bolts, seals,
> etc.), so what the hell...
>
> Everything came apart fine, with no rusted/seized bolts, and we had
> the tranny out (and both lower control arms/spindles to be swapped) in
> an hour.  It turned out the engine rear main seal was seeping a bit of
> oil, and had oiled-down the clutch (which still had about 1/2 it's
> life left).
>
> Things took a turn for the worse when we went to put everything back
> together.  The first sign of trouble was the dowel on the flywheel
> wasn't fitting in the slot on the new pressure plate.  Even liberal
> use of a BFH yielded only more frustration.  So, off came the freshly
> installed pressure plate, to be replaced by the used (still good) one
> I just removed.  Had it all torqued up, and flywheel bolted to it,
> before realizing I forgot to install the pushrod plate dealie...  
> F**K!!!  So, off came the flywheel.  Put the mess all together AGAIN,
> and prepped the tranny to reinstall...
>
>
> Mark,
  Believe it or not, I did near the same thing a few weeks back...  I 
was at the dealership with the pickup on a lift.  Had the tranny out in 
about 1.5 hours, tried to replace the rear main seal.  I had a 
baffle/oil pan seal combo on the bottom of the engine, and I did not 
loosen the bolts well enough to safely slide on the flange and new 
seal...  SNAP.  Okay, off to a local yard, got another one and installed 
it.  Now it is about 2.  Put the clutch and disk in fine, and did what 
you did, forgot the fucking P/P clutch rod actuator plate whooozit.  
Fuck!  The tranny was stabbed at this point.  Okay, all of it come off 
again, got that on, restabbed, then got a call from a friend (Don) who 
knew the correct tightening torque.  Okay, so that means I did it wrong, 
twice...  Off it all comes again, to do it up right, all just before 6 
when they closed...  That day sucked, and apparently so do I as a 
mechanic...

I think I am much better with the theoretics than the hands on.  I 
remember what folks tell me, but without a more consistent backbone of 
actual hands on, often it is nothing but oral masturbation...  Oh well, 
I keep trying...

David