There was a posting somewhere recently, maybe not here, but the dialog centered around the dwindling availablity of parts for AS. One contributor reported certain seals were totally unavailable.
Is this true? Are there (critical) AS parts that are unavailable?
Kimbill
Hi Kimbill,
Most ? AutoStick parts are still available in the USA...
I found that the small oil seals in the ATF/engine oil pump and the torque converter seals are no longer available in Australia...
The torque converter oil seals are available from CIP1 in the USA...
I've seen the bottom gearbox gasket , clutch plates etc, gearshift contact points, and the servo repair kits for sale in the USA...
I think most from CIP1...
I don't know if any parts are avaiable for the Electromagnetic vacuum switch [LH side of engine bay]..
Most AutoStick owners in Australia have a 2nd set of used parts for just in case....
cheers
Lee Noonan 68AutoBug
Kimbill,
The two threads I can think of were the oil pump seal thread and one to do with transaxles. For us here in OZ, some parts we can't get (Lee has mentioned the oil pump seals...I bought two off him myself!) but are readily available in the US....but at a co$t.
Mike (Bookwus) in the transaxle discussion mentioned that the boys at German Transaxle say they have all the parts/techo stuff to rebuild the transmissions....but they are forced to re-use good second hand seals (depending on what you want I guess). Mike got GT's last full set of new ones a while ago.
Most of us trawl for good second hand spares and generally find them, or find substitutes that work (hoses in particular!).
Volkenstein
Control valve rebuild kits (there are 3 different ones) are very rare, if not impossible to find. I working on putting a new single kit together, working with a plastics company.
Hiya Kim,
Here in the USA the AutoStick parts which are very hard (maybe close to impossible) to find are........
1. ALL seals needed for a complete rebuild
2. Certain clutch related parts such as the throwout bearing
3. Rebuild kits for the control valve
A lot of the other AS parts take a little looking, but they can be found.
Mike
Which reminds me, I should probably harvest the seals from the blown trans I took out this morning. :) Oh yes, and the bearing, clutch disk, and pressure plate too. All the harder to come by bits.
Yes, its best to keep whatever spare You have....
as You never know what may be needed to keep these great cars on the road...
They certainly did a good job of engineering and quality of parts...
to see so many still on the road....
Lee 68AutoBug
Yup yup. While mine did die on me, I can't really fault it. 34 years of service, 300k+ miles, and 3 motors. LOL.
Are You going to replace it Cobey???
Lee 68AutoBug
http://community.webshots.com/user/vw68autobug
Yup. I had bought a spare setup from a Ghia that had been wrecked. I'm almost done (see post "Tranny Translplant Q's"). Trans is in, but ran into a problem when the motor was going back in. Apparently, one of the lower bolts that hold the motor and tranny together broke off and the person rebuilding it put in a heli-coil, rather poorly. So, I've had to find a replacement, which I just got today. A little luck, and I'll be able to drive her again next week. :)
Hey all, I'm inquiring for where I can get a rebuild kit for the Control Valve, any ideas??
Hiya jr,
Crafted from pure unobtanium, these kits are avaialable at the same place you buy your perpetual motion machines.
Yeah, I know, smartass!
The fact of the matter is that there never was A control valve rebuild kit. There were actually three different kits one needed in order to rebuild the entire control valve. I did have the VW parts number for those kits at one time. Dunno what I've done with them though.
All of these kits went NLA in the early nineties. That's NOT to say you couldn't find one. It's surprising at what turns up out there. However, these kits are definitely out of the parts loop and will require a great deal of searching if they can be found.
In lieu of the rebuild kits I would direct you toward Volkenstein and Cobey, both of whom have spent a bunch of time taking apart and analyzing the innards of control valves in an effort to understand the emchanism and possibly replicate parts.
In the meantime know this........... if you are having problems with your shift action, it is far more likely that the source of those problems is something other than your control valve. Even the really dirty ones I've had apart are nearly pristine clean inside and the internal parts, while worn, seem to be still within spec.
Take it all for what it might be worth..........
Thanx,
I've had my AS for 8 yrs. In 1991 I bought a 63 buggy I bought for 400 bones with a blown engine and rebuilt it into a 1776 dual card with S & S dual can flippn runner.
This is the first time I've had problems, so i'm becoming quite envoled into the autostick finally. What a system.
Thank you for the input and much appreciated. I did however finally check the servo and it does hold air pressure.
I'm still trouble shooting since I have some time off from work , I would like to upload some pics, but find it quite cumbersome..
68 AS not going into gear fool...
aaawwwwggggggggggg
Hiya jr,
Well, in any event, welcome to the group!
Tell you what...............shoot us some of the symptoms you are now experiencing (the more details, the better) and maybe one or two of two of us can chime in with an idea. You don't have anything to lose except for a couple of minutes at the keyboard.