Thought I would share my fun filled weekend.

I had the worst time trying to get my motor back in. I spent 4-5hrs before my dad came over and showed me what was wrong in 10 min. I thought it was the input shaft on the trans, after I checked the clutch alignment 4 times with the alignment tool. I pulled the bell housing off had to loosen the diff so I could slide it over to get the input shaft out. Bolted it all back up and tried putting the motor back in and still wasn’t going, so I gave up.

My dad came over and we tried again lifting the motor by hand and still no luck. He said the clutch isn’t lined up. I told him I checked it 4 times and “it’s lined up”. He told me to check it again. I stuck the alignment tool in and I said; “see it goes right into the gland nut with no problems”. He asked me to look at the alignment tool and see if it was centered with the pressure plate fingers. It was off by about ¼”. I loosened the pressure plate, centered the disc, tightened it back up and it went right in. Thank god I have an old man. I was so pissed I was about to throw out the buggy.

I have never had such a hard time getting a motor back in. Usually I just put the alignment tool in, tighten the pressure plate up, and it goes right in. I missed a day of riding all because of a 1/4”.
I guess you live and learn.

Thanks for all the suggestions Krist, Eric, Plumberbill, and Odynuck.

This is what I did wrong. See how its not centered in-between the fingers.

You are right, my Dad showed me the same thing, that happened to me too, he told me to leave the alignment tool in the clutch and the gland nut then torque the pressure plate down and there she went. It took me about 3 hours of trying and once he told me this, it went right in 5 mins, you talk about a hell of a day after I went through a 12 pk of Bud Light!! LOL

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"Loud pipes saves lives"

I did it that way but somehow it still wasn't lined up. This was about the 100th time I’ve put a VW motor in and never had this problem. I’m still pissed; I flattened the tires so the buggy knows I’m mad.

I flattened the tires so the buggy knows I’m mad. [/quote]

now i've heard it all brad

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i wana ride, i wana ride, i wana ride

I'll bet after you blew the tires up, the buggy loved ya again,