The first step was to use my label tool to badge all the electrical wiring. Removed some engine compartment floor shielding. Heater cables and hoses were next. Then four bolts and she dropped out.

Now for the bad news. The clutch, pressure plate and throwout bearing are all in great shape. The clutch still has the manufactures ink stank visible on it.

So now I am surfing the net to try and find some more information.  I am at  a loss to the cause of the vibration.  It was vibrating when the clutch was released.

The tranny shaft does have some up and down movement, but nothing more than 1/32 of an inch.  Slight pressure yields a tick/tock tick/tock clicking as the shaft moves up and down. This could mean a bad bearing inside the tranny. I would expect more movement if that was the case though.

The Samba has give me some ideas. One poster said that it may have been as simple as adjusting the clutch cable. Gosh…I hope not. Pulling the motor when all I needed was a simple adjustment would be the ultimate screw up on my part.

MORE PICTURES

Since this classic car is fairly new to us I had no idea if the engine and tranny matched the body.  The previous owner told me everything was original.  I just wanted to make sure before I started pulling the motor off the tranny.

I started my VIN/Chassis/Engine block number matching at The Samba.com.  It’s a huge source for information about VW production cars.  The link previous stated takes you to products years and VIN numbers.  Thier info helped me come to the conclusion that our 1970 Ghia Convertible is all stock.  The VIN and Chassis match, and the engine block number was produced with a few months of the VIN.  Perfect.  This is great news!

Now that I know the engine and tranny are alos 1970. I headed up to Painter’s Grinding.  This is a great little machine shop up in Denver that specizes in VW restoration parts and hot rodding them.  They hooked me up with a clutch kit.  The kit includes clutch, plate, and throwout bearing.  They also tossed in a clutch alignment tool.  I also picked up a main seal.  Since I’m already in there I might as well replace it too.

The plan right now is to pull it apart Friday morning.