Date:         Fri, 17 Mar 2000 07:48:52 -0000
Reply-To:     Phil Marston <pmarston@INSTECH.CO.UK>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Phil Marston <pmarston@INSTECH.CO.UK>
Subject:      Re: Clutch Cable

> At 3:28 PM +0000 3/16/00, Phil Marston wrote:
> >I think 1600 Aircooled vans were clutch cable & 2000 Aircooled vans were
> >hydraulic.
>
> (The following speaks only to North American spec vehicles.  I have
> no clue what kinda crazy stuff they were up to elsewhere).
>
> All buses up to 1979 (the old "breadloaf" body style) used clutch
> cables.  They switched to hydraulics in vanagons.  I *think* all
> vanagons starting in 1980 had hydraulics, including air-cooled
> vanagons.  I believe the cable/hydraulic change occured with the
> breadloaf/vanagon design change and was independent of engine size or
> cooling system.
>
> As regards Phil's comment, I know all 2000cc (OK, 1970cc for you
> picky types) breadloaf aircooleds (1976 - 1979) sold in the US/Canada
> have clutch cables.  But maybe they have something different in the
> UK?

Yes, as you can imagine, my first T25 (an '80 model) came with a 1600 engine
& a cable clutch.  My later rolling shell (an '81 model) came without a 2l
engine but with a hydraulic clutch gearbox.  So now I have an '81 rolling
chassis with a 1600 aircooled (rebuilt with 1600 beetle parts) so no head
gasket problems, waterleaks, green or orange anti-freeze...blah blah..) with
a hydraulic clutch.
To be honest a new clutch cable is about $20 to replace, whereas to replace
the hydraulics must cost at least $250, plus you can change a broken clutch
cable at the side of the road unlike a hydraulic system.  So which is really
better ?

Phil T25.