1957 Oval

[chuckspence]

WOW Sean! you finally pulled the trigger on that oval... I'll have to stop by and check it out, will this be Dawn's new daily summer driver once you're done with the reassembly? she must be unable to contain her excitment...

[Six Volt]

Appreciate all those positive comments. I've got way too much going on to be jumping into this, but here I am. Story of my life.

I don't know what it is about tires and "restos", but I've always felt more comfortable knowing that when I finally get something running I've got the rubber sorted out. So I try to get the tires sorted out first, right out of the box. I LOVE the GDR aka East Germany, aka "Commie", rubber as a conversation piece, but not at 55mph.

So I opted for radials. 165/80R15 87T. Picked them up today at Westown Tire down on Scranton Avenue from Rueben (great guy) for a good price.

I passed on using these even though they are technically "brand new", never driven, 6.00 X 15 bias ply set on wide five rims, but they're probably from the 1970's. Maybe one of you "trailer queen" guys can end up using them!


Rueben hooked me up with the radials.


Got caps? I had to find four decent ones. Got 'em with none to spare!


Starting to POR 15 the undercarriage.


I think these tires will end up looking ok

[obsoleteman]

Awesome. Enviable. It just needs a vintage Rev-Master; snicker.
My first was a 1956.
note to Howe; the scowl is
a) from looking into the sun
B) from having to wait for a photo at all
C) he had dirt in his eye
I know a few people who really value this "coming of age" bonding experience between parents and their children, not limited to gender. You will not know the full value of this for years, or so I have heard.
Tom

[Six Volt]

It seems we're all busy with projects in addition to everything else life throws at us. I figured I better get moving on this oval to at least sort out the tranny issues before dealing with the interior, glass and wiring. I've never pulled a transaxle before, so this was a good lesson. I read the Bentley, asked some veterans for some pointers, and then got to it.

This oval orginally came with a split case tranny, (non-syncro first gear). A prior PO, (not Shawn who I got it from), yanked it and put in a later beetle tranny. The job was shall we say, "hacked". When Chuck was over one day he kept staring at it and said; "That ain't right". Even the untrained observer could see the tranny didn't sit right. See for yourself.


The whole set up was cockeyed because instead of doing it "right", whoever did it hacked in a piece of steel and a mount to "make it fit". On closer inspection you can see the rusted "hack" steel here.


Here's another view with the mount in place.


On my way to pulling it, I learnd a little more about rear ends. When I pulled the first drum I encountered this?


Here's a closer look.


In pulling the second drum and turning it over I figured it out. See for yourself.


Not sure if this is a later brake set up with the later trans or a '57 brake set up w/ '57 axles mated to a later trans.


So after removing the clutch cable, brake lines, swing axle nuts, lower shock nuts, e-brake cables, the mounting hardware and the coupler nut inside, it finally came out.


So I found two numbers on the passenger side of the tranny. The first was in the middle in front (front is front) of the axle. It has a large "2" with the number 113.301.103 and a VW stamp. Here's a shot:


The second number was stamped vertically on the bell housing and read 113.301.184. Here's a shot


Here's that front mount that came off.


I've still got to pull off the "hacked" steel piece.


I'm going to give it a good powerwashing and replace the seal and throw out bearing.


To do it right, I need a '60-67 bus nose cone and hockey stick and the original mount to properly fit the later trans into an oval.

I just heard from a knowledgeable LEAKOLER insider that I've got to keep scraping to get the right number for that trans case.

[Six Volt]

A little follow up. I cleaned up the tranny and uncovered this number. Any idea about the origin of this trans?


Also, I see there are three holes on the nose cone that I'm unsure about. Are these breathers? Should they have some kind of plugs? Don't want to power wash it with water going inside the nose cone!

[blue71]

Great progress Sean. I used to have a spare 58 bug trans, but it was sold off when I parted out that rotten 58 I had.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/inf ... dating.php

I looked there and could your transmission be from Sept of 1960?


I have no clue about the extra holes. Best of luck with the swap/fix.

[wwebner]

Sean,I think those hole could be where there were plugs. Not 100% on that. Also,I have something you can use while yours trans is out. This bolts to the frame horns and you can roll the car around with the trans and axles out.

[Six Volt]

Sean,I think those hole could be where there were plugs. Not 100% on that. Also,I have something you can use while yours trans is out. This bolts to the frame horns and you can roll the car around with the trans and axles out.

IM002384.JPG

That roller is awesome! But I'm suggesting you keep it because this Oval is coming your way for the interior as soon as that "shop" of yours is ready for a vehicle. If I don't have the trans figured out by then, you'll need that little wheel!

Nick, thanks for that link. I'll keep working on the trans origin. All info is helpful. Ken has a possible solution as we speak. Also, Aaron has really helped out with a lot of great information.

[toolbox]

A little follow up. I cleaned up the tranny and uncovered this number. Any idea about the origin of this trans?


Also, I see there are three holes on the nose cone that I'm unsure about. Are these breathers? Should they have some kind of plugs? Don't want to power wash it with water going inside the nose cone!

There should be plugs in the holes. I would not worry about water getting in, it will leak gear oil if not plugged. Probably need to call Long Ent for the plugs or thread the holes for pipe plugs.

[Six Volt]

WOW! Thanks Ted. You'e a wealth of info! Here's a link for everyone else. http://www.longenterprises.com/