VW used two variants of steering box lubrication. Oil & grease. I have found no issue over the years cleaning the grease version out and using oil. Any gearbox oil works just fine. Be aware that many a repo box will drip oil from new  (From the large hex nut end) 

To be fair, my genuine one needed a drip tray 

You shouldn't need this Limebug bracket, the limits of the steering box is enough to prevent it hitting the sides of the tub, I'm planning on removing my one of these.

You shouldn't need this Limebug bracket, the limits of the steering box is enough to prevent it hitting the sides of the tub, I'm planning on removing my one of these.

Relying on the limits of the steering box can cause it strain and internal damage.

Relying on the limits of the steering box can cause it strain and internal damage.

Agreed - I would far rather a physical end stop than relying on the limits of a gear mashing itself until it can't move 

I think I may do something better than bolt heads though - just looks a bit "unfinished" to me

Swap them out for coach bolts with a nice rounded head

Time to connect the steering Column to the box. I am quite happy with the Golf Steering column I made last time and I am certainly not going back to a Beetle one, but of course, the universal joint on the end is a completely different diameter to the shaft of the Beetle steering box. I am fairly certain that the box has a very limited life with me as I really do want to go for a steering Rack, so rather than chop it about, or weld on yet another end piece, I thought this time I would just make a small adaptor that can easily be removed if and when I change the steering to something else without making a whole new column.

When I was previously playing with the Golf columns, I also ended up with a knackered Golf MK4 rack that I chopped the input shaft off, knowing that one day it may be useful. The idea was to weld this to a Beetle lower flange joint and then I have the perfect adaptor piece allowing my new column to fit an old box. Manxdavid came to the rescue here with a genuine flange for me as all of the new ones I could find were either chrome plated (difficult to weld) or made from Chinesium Cheese.




Another beauty of the VW Column is that the lower section is continuously telescopic which means that it can constantly adjust itself to any alignment imperfections from my bad welding in joining these two bits together. So far it all looks quite promising as everything seems to fit together very well. When I come to replace the box, I can now just slide this joint out of the way and refit it to something else.




I managed to liberate a set of tie rods from a mate of mine who has a rotten Beetle that has been sat in a wet ditch for many years and sadly beyond salvaging, but after striping them down and then pricing up a new set of ends and joints, it was actually cheaper to buy a complete kit from VWHeritage that also included both rods than to buy the bits separately.

Had a reprieve from Hospital visits for a few days and it has been really good to be back in the garage working on it again. 

Dave... Just an observation after having fitted two of these.....  They are simple to put on and equally easy to remove should you ever need to as long as your arm joint`s are not as ancient as mine. The bolt heads I agree do look unfinished just hanging there so in two instances I have used the black plastic dome shaped bolt/nut cap covers. These give a soft face when the steering is at it`s limit either direction. They fit tightly and they look better than a hex head bolt/nut.   

Dave... Just an observation after having fitted two of these.....  They are simple to put on and equally easy to remove should you ever need to as long as your arm joint`s are not as ancient as mine. The bolt heads I agree do look unfinished just hanging there so in two instances I have used the black plastic dome shaped bolt/nut cap covers. These give a soft face when the steering is at it`s limit either direction. They fit tightly and they look better than a hex head bolt/nut.

Brilliant !   Like that idea a lot   

Reprieve from hospital visits is the good news

Reprieve from hospital visits is the good news

  She's doing really well - Neuro rehab is worth all this effort for sure - should slow down a bit now until we get the results in

There are certainly times when the Buggy appears to be fighting back at me and I`m wondering if it wants to go back on on the road again?   

Today was one of those days. I recently asked in a previous thread about Brake Back Plates and if they were actually needed. They serve a useful purpose in keeping the muck and crap off the wheels and as someone also pointed out, the water also. Now it may have seemed a strange question to have asked, but here was my dilemma. Have you spotted the blindingly obvious problem yet?




If you are not sure of the problem, then lets play a game of "Can you see what's missing?" and start with looking at my old stub axles that have just been removed.




And then look at the brand new stub axles that Eva Resto supplied




Yep - you got it, there are no holes to attach this backplate to. Yet again I have been let down by the lack of attention to detail from one of the Major suppliers. The easy option here would be to try and give Max a ring, but that in itself can be a mission as he seldom answers his phone. So, as I no longer trust any of these "So called Major Players" to get anything right these days, I guess I have to crack on and see what I can do myself. Most of what I am doing to my car is a steep learning curve for me as you know from reading my ramblings on here, and what I am about to attempt I have never done before. I know the concept of drilling and tapping some holes, I even have some tools in the garage that I have used in the past for cleaning up old and rusty threads, I have just never done it before from scratch.

With the plate in place and centred around the spindle, I centre punched and then drilled some holes. I know I used a brand new drill for this, but I must confess to being somewhat alarmed as to how soft the metal appeared to be - the drill went through them like butter.



I then used my Tap to cut the new thread. I know not to just wind it in and that you must alternate clockwise and anticlockwise whilst advancing a quarter of a turn each time to keep the new threads clean and true - at least that is what I thought.



And sure enough it was not long before my holes now resembled threads. But again, I am a bit surprised as to how easy that was and how soft the metal is.



The bolts were then fitted whilst making sure that they were not overtightened in the soft metal - Job done and quite pleased with myself for that one.



The wheels bearings were then repacked and the axle reassembled - time to do the same on the other side.




With the other side now done, its past Beer O'Clock and a good point to stop for the day. 

I know that these are aftermarket parts and made from Chinesium Cheese, but I am a bit concerned by these and if truth be told, I would have been much happier if the bits holding the wheels on were not of such poor quality. Maybe something I need to investigate further at some point.

I know it doesn't help hold the wheel on but if the soft metal is a risk with the backplate threads why not use longer bolts and a locknut. After all you don't want the bolts working loose as they could damage the disks.

Glad Liz is progressing, give her our regards

I am 100% certain that the bolts won't come undone as decided to also add a bit of threadlock to them.

No, my concerns are a bit more fundamental than that and I am reminded of a conversation I had many years ago with Nathan Baker who made my raised spindles at the time in that he would only ever use genuine ones to modify as he had seen too many aftermarket ones fail with wheels falling off. There are so many out there using non-genuine ones that you tend to dismiss it a bit as heresay, but after seeing just how soft these are, I am starting to wonder (given my current luck thus far) if I may have some super soft ones here?

Has anyone out there actually seen or heard of these failing first hand? Not as part of the rumour mill - Just wondering?

I havn`t Dave but I understand your concern. Way back in 1970/71 I had a front wheel come off whilst driving along. (Stupid wheel reversing that was common back then and because they were 5 stud wheels that have the very short bolts there was insufficient thread on bolts going into hub). To this day I find myself double/triple checking wheel nuts/bolts when I have had a wheel off. I have, in the past, drilled into genuine hub carriers. They are very tough indeed needing the use of cobalt mix drills. I wonder if "buggypete" can advise here ?