tried to change same today ,cannot get the shaft the spring fits over ,off . according to The Bentley there should be a mounting bolt on shaft end(mounting tube?) for me to remove ,well on my earlylate crossover bay there is deffo not ,there is a pinch bolt and looks to me like I should push/press shaft out ,towards vehicle n/s so allowing spring to fall thus allowing fitting of new one.Thing is ,I am compromised re space to swing a lump hammer at shaft end ,but Voltswagen have very kindly designed a hole cut thru chassis leg to facilitate same , expect I need a gas axe to heat this job (bet I do ,I bet I need a jeffing gas axe!)ta 4 advice(I have no gas axe to hand)
Mine was just a nut and shoulderd bolt dude If the bolt is siezed in place try soaking it in plusgas and punching it out with a pin punch
I did this job about 2 weeks ago, and spent all day with plus-gas, puller, lump hammer and eventually a blowtorch. Nothing worked, and then I tried holding the bolt up ou of the clamp whilst I levered it apart - and it worked easily. The thing is it isn't just a clamp, but the shaft has a notch cut out of it and the bolt goes through this so if in place it won't shift! My advice, soak it with plusgas or wd40 and then undo nut as far as you can, try and get a chisel or screwdriver in the bit where the clamp ends on the shaft and then holding the bolt up out of the way, lever apart. Dave
I'm guessing yours might look like mine? there ws a pinch bolt that went through the shaft end, undo and remove the bolt completely as there is a recess in the shaft from memory that the bolt rests in as it passes through the arm....so if youdont remove the bolt I dont think you can remove the arm .....then getting the arm off isnt easy!!!!, it took me quite a while, in the end I managed to get a puller on the arm through the hole in the chassis leg, with a bit of heat and the puller I eventually got it off ......but I think you could remove the master cylinder actuating rod from the other end of the shaft (opposite side of the chassis rail to the arm) then drive the shaft through the chassis...and thus through the arm at the same time using a big hammer and some thing sturdy getting it on was a bit easier as I ad 'opened' up the pinch bit of the arm a little, derusted eveything and used some copper grease as a bit of lube .......obviously remember to put the spring on first then it is a bit of fiddling to hook the spring on
Once again chaps ! >>Coolio info ! yup (just as I thought ) a bummer of a removal ! reckon I will refit parts removed and run it to my mates commercial garage to avail myself of his kit ,especially the gas axe, >Ta.
Hey Diddyman and all , yeah just like that ,got it off today ,employed a half house brick(not in any financial sense ,y"realise) and found there is fitted to this system a Woodruff key which was A>swung thru 90bdegree so ,B>piggin diff.to remove but got there eventually, looking forward (not) to getting that spring hooked up!
