Date:         Fri, 12 May 1995 10:42:49 -0400
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         drew@interport.net (Derek Drew)
Subject:      Re:locking diffs

>Hi Derek, 
>        Thanks to your urging I have gotten the reaf diff lock working 
>(almost) internals are fine, vacuum actuator fine, shaft binding in its 
>guide bushing! 

Excellent diagnostic work, tim.

>I am trying to get the bushing out 

never contemplated this/studied this

>to have it reamed true 
>again, looks like it has been abused. The tiny nuts on the vac unit mount 
>had been torched off by someone! 

If by "tiny nuts on the vac unit" you mean the nuts that hold those really
long slender bolts then I took some of these little nuts off a few weeks
ago. They came out fine. I cannot imagine having to torch them.

>Have you ever pulled that part out? 

You mean the shaft itself? The shaft itself slides out as easy as silk.
There should be *no* meaningful resistance at all.

>WD-40 
>and 15 minutes of push/pull work has made it smoother, but still tough to move.

When you are all done, make sure the grease you use to lubricate the shaft
is a grease that does not harden with age or stiffen in the cold. I have
found that the cold (e.g., 0 degrees F) freezes the shaft in place (either
in or out) and I suspect that the grease has become thicked by the
temperature. I know that arctic explorers remove the oil from their cameras
so they will still work in very low temperatures.

(Or perhaps the metal of the trans shrinks in the extreeme cold and grabs
ahold of the shaft a little bit. If this is the case, we need to think of
some way to warm up that hole so it will expand and allow the lubrication
and shaft to work. Uh....never mind.)

>        Joel sent a microfiche for the Syncro, and I've noticed a lot of 
>finishing touches missing, ie. the protective rubber boots and tubes that 
>enclosed the shift linkage bushings coupler, 

I remember that my rubber boots for the shift linkage coupler crack and
degrade and have been replaced frequently.

>and a big front skid plate that 
>would cover the entire spare tire area back to the subframe. 

Not a USA item. But there is a special manual telling you how to fabricate
your own front skid plate and still keep the spare tire up there. I don't
that that skid plate you mention allows you to store your spare tire up in
front there.

>Also a guard  
>at the junction between front and rear subframes protecting the nose of the 
>trans. 

Oh yea. I have that. A little cross piece with three holes in it that is a
little bigger than a short shoehorn.

>Two large diameter hoses on the trans. are shown also (vents?)

You probably *have* these. But the hoses are not large dimeter. They are the
size of a pencil. They run from the vents on each trans back to the motor
area and then up high in front of the motor over the gas tank. This keeps
water from entering your trans when you cross deep steams.

> Is 
>this me, North Amer, or what? Is your Westy properly armoured?

I have added reinforcements under there as follows: 

1. I bash the front tire carrier with abandon and it is all dented
2. I bash the front frame piece and it is dented
3. I reinforced the driveshaft protection rails with little pieces of angle
iron going from the rails up to the vehicle body. This is an easy job and I
highly recomend it cause these protection rails are not sufficient alone to
bear the weight of the body without them bending upwards, which will stress
the driveshaft u-joints and break them by effectively shortening the body.
4. I ran angle iron from the midpoint of the rear protection rails up to the
body to keep that rear rail from being pushed against the motor due to
bashing against rocks. If you ever try to duplicate this job let me know as
I can save you some engineering time.
5. I ran new protection rails out to protect rocks from knocking my rear
exhaust pipes off while driving through bolder fields. 
6. I bolted a flat piece of T-6 6061 aluminum alloy to the super heavy duty
protection peice under the front diff to keep rocks from hitting the diff. I
love this piece as I can smash down now on the diff without hitting it.
Also, the aluminum is sort of slippery so I can bash down and slide off.
7. I reinforced the skidplates to the propane tanks so they can be bashed.

>  Noticed that 
>there is a selectable 2/4WD version, 

middle east

>may be worth considering if the viscous 
>coupling goes, 

Ya, but I like the stock setup there.

>works via vacuum but I can't find all the components.
>         Also discovered that the previous owner has disconnected and 
>removed most of the plumbing for the hot water auxilliary heater,

What the heck is that? Do you mean you have the factory gas heater for the
coolent? Wow! if you do. I'd get that running! I don't think there *is* any
factory drinking water heater.

> so a new 
>quest begins. 

Uh...

...in which direction aside from freeing up the locking shaft?

bye, tim s.

___________________________________
Derek Drew
drew@interport.net (main address for e-mail)
derekdrew@aol.com (alternate/backup address, checked infrequently)