82 Rabbit Diesel Clutch Replacement Information

[jasons]

Tear-down is complete and well, what an event!
Found out the front wheel bearings were absolutely shot. I've never had so much play in a hub before. The axle bolts are loose enough to spin off with a socket by hand.
The front motor mount bolts were loose by about 1/4" and the rear transmission mount was torn in half.
The shocks were gone and the struts were full of water and fluid
The transmission dumped out a nice variety of metal shavings when I drained the fluid, so I'm looking for another transmission right now.

I'll post pictures in a couple days. What a mess!

A friend of mine will be fabbing up a new exhaust for me. Nothing is wrong with my stock system, but I have a bunch of mandrel bent 2.5" exhaust that will make for a fun little project.

-Jason

[air-cooled or diesel]

too bad for the mess; i like having a fun time with a mess; thats if i get it fixed up

[82vdub]

Your strut assembly was likely filled with oil from the previous install. Struts are filled with oil so that the cartridge inside transmits the heat generated to the outside of the strut housing, for cooling. If you didn't fill the strut with oil, it will fail prematurely.

[jasons]

Considering the lack of concern given to the mechanics on this Rabbit, I'd be surprised if someone put oil in the strut, but who knows. There sure was a lot of water in there as well.

I did put some atf in the strut housing.

Supposed to pick up a transmission Friday evening. I'm hoping it's in better condition.

-Jason

[air-cooled or diesel]

the ole mk1's i had were the same way, if you replaced the strut cartridge theres oil in there, not water though obviously. atf may be ok, one of the other things with that was working the air out of the cartridge/housing, can be a hassle to get it right.

[jasons]

^^Please explain^^

-Jason