Something is very wrong

[Ignatzcatz]

To continue . . . with documentation received I pressed on and endeavoured to determine the axial play of the rear wheel bearing. Actually I have only measured the offside one but here it is. Taking readings from 12, 3, 6 and 9 0'clock positions and then averaging them, the space between the axle and bearing housing with all components in place and tightened up is 4.73mm. Similarly the average of the clock positions of the VW backplate was 5.63mm. So doing my sums hopefully in the correct way (I left skool at 15) gives me a .90mm space which when reduced by the 4 mil (.1mm) compression amount required, equates to a requirement for 8 x .1mm shims.
Is this right or am I bonkers. In most cases I find I am in the latter division but I would have thought that as the dimensions stand, tightening up the bearing housing should have made the assembly all nice and tight with the brake backplate securely fastened and therefore should not have had any oil loss.
So next job is to get some more shims as I only have seven at the moment, and then I shall bolt it all up and have another go.
Oh dear, and I used to think my Morris Minor was complicated.

[roy mawbey]

Graham,

Re-reading the factory workshop manual I noticed I may have led you little astray. The width of the 356 brake back plate is 5.00mm ( not 4.5mm like I previously advised. ). On the info I sent you this 5.00mm back plate value is stated as dimension ' S '

To check the axial clearance I hope you followed the written info:

1). measure the width of the back plate in various places to see if it varies slightly no burs or bumps!
Your VW plate might be different in width size.

With the bearing in place and the all the components in place like the oil seal in the cover and as directed by the info bolt it up in place to check the clearance. Note!! At this stage do not have any 0.4mm shims in place!!

Then the space for checking the axial clearance can be checked with a feeler gauge or vernier. The
result might be as follows:

Dimension 'S' ( the back plate width ) = 5.00mm

Dimension 'R' ( the gap you have measured) = 4.50mm
-----------
Difference between the two = 0.50mm

Average compression value = 0.10mm

Therefore the thickness of all the shims = 0.40mm ( 4 shims required each one 0.10mm thick.

Insert your values like to check your results. I presume the half shaft is 356 and the only difference is you are using a VW brake back plate. Its good you are getting then correct oil seal which must be pressed in perfectly square. The other parts should all fit the 356 half shaft okay. The drums I have
no idea on if they are VW. The nut should be torqued to 400 ftlb.

Roy

[roy mawbey]

Graham,

finger trouble again it is important not to have any 0.010mm shims in place when you check the clearance ! ( I put 0.40mm instead of 0.01mm on my last mail above)

I must learn to check posts before sending

Sorry

Roy

[Ignatzcatz]

Thanks everso Roy, no I don't think I've been led astray, well not for a few years anyway, so as per yours and my notations the 'S' value is 5.63mm - the backplate and the 'R' value is 4.73mm - the bearing gap, which gives a difference of .9mm so with the compression value of .1, as I mentioned before I should need 8 x .1mm shims. Also as mentioned prior to this I cannot understand why I had such loss of oil when the overall assembly was tightened up without the addition of these shims. Just checking the figures I took off the four positions on the bankplate the greatest difference was only 0.4mm, surely insufficient to allow major oil loss.
I have some axle kits coming from Stoddards which should be dropping though my letterbox anyday now so when they are with me I shall fit them all, fill up the trans, once again, and hope for the best.
And just to add that I did check the VW brake drum on the axle and it did fit the splines perfectly and the depth travel was certainly sufficient to keep all components in correct situ.

[Mike Smith]

I have some axle kits coming from Stoddards

111-598-051-A Meistersatz Rear Bearing Seal Kit Set Fits 356 111598051A
$10.04

If this is the Axle Kit that you have bought from Stoddard - It is a VW Kit

Before you fit it --- attempt to bend the large Flat washer that goes against the Bearing
If it is soft - throw it away and buy the proper Hard washer

In addition there are no shims in that kit - maybe you ordered them separately ?

Also do not use the Paper Gaskets (That is also a VW thing)

[Ignatzcatz]

Hi Mike,
I already got a seal kit from you guys and fitted it without success. Now let me say I would not for one minute infer that there was anything at all wrong with your kit, I have had all my front suspension parts from you and it's all been perfect, it's just that having fitted it I would have thought that I have now messed up the 'O' rings and these should not be re-used. Obviously from previous listings I am still not doing the job correctly, the fault is all mine. But in the past during the build up of my old beast I have got stuff from Stoddards so I thought I would give them a go. The seal kit I have ordered is part no. NLA-34-411 which they say replaces 3563441164434411. (maybe the typewriter got stuck there). Anyway please don't tell me this is a VW kit, I know I don't use any paper gaskets that might be in it and as for washers, oo I do like them hard.
So apologies for the error of my ways, I'll be on the dog and bone soon to order some shims at the very least.

[Mike Smith]

I work from home these days, so I am out of touch with who buys what and when – apologies for not realising that we were already, in touch and thank you for your orders

In addition these bloody silly Pseudonyms, that everybody uses, does not help an old man

You are correct not to re-use the old `O` Rings especially as you have a problem – you need to know that you are starting fresh. However, a phone call to Kevin and he would have supplied New `O` Rings and a split pin for the cost of postage and I am always available on 01268 711 142

The Kit you have ordered is actually an NLA Kit, so it was Brad Ripley who arranged to have the parts put together. It will almost certainly be OK (Brad knows what he is doing)
It is illustrated as being supplied with 1 x shim

Hang on to the Hard washers in the PRS Kit - they are reusable, if required

[Ignatzcatz]

I've fixed it. No more leaks. But I have had to do stuff which really should not have been needed. The problem has been the VW backplates. They were thicker than the Porsche items, so I milled them down to the same thickness as the Porsche parts. But another problem was that the central hole was also bigger than the Porsche spec. only by about 1.1mm. Fitting it all up for the, which seemed like twentieth time plus refilling the trans, and using the newly received Stoddard seal kits resulted in - leaks. I thought long and hard about all the previous and current problems and so this was what I ended up doing. I fitted two large O rings to take up the additional space then made gaskets to fit between the backplate and bearing carrier. All totally incorrect I know, I didn't want to do this, I wanted to be able to do it as per the factory instruction but this has taken two weeks to sort out, I'm not happy about it but the result is no leakage and this is the result I wanted.

[roy mawbey]

Graham,

If it behaves itself on the road and stays dry then you did well. Not an easy job if some parts are non-Porsche. I can understand how that job must have been so frustrating.

Lucky you had a milling machine nearby to resolve the thickness.

Roy