1967 VW Bug Ball Joint Installation

My new parts came in on Friday, so the big day for the install was yesterday.

One of the new parts I ordered was the big orange VW Repair Guide by Bentley.  I should have ordered the blue one, for my year 1967, but ended up with the orange book which actually covers everything I was looking for.  You'll see I refer to the book in this blog prtimarily because I had questions and couldn't find the answers on the internet...imagine that!

First, I had to install the "torsion arms" that I removed previously.  (I think I was calling them trailing arms previously)  I had painted them and had the new ball joints installed.

I took the opportunity to scrap off alot of the dirt and crud on my shock tower.

I also replaced the old gaskets that sit between the torsion arm and the front axle.  The old came out easy enough using a pairs of pliers.

There's no real trick to putting the torsion arms back in.  I did use a stick with a towel on the end to get out the old grease inside the torsion arm.  I put in new grease then lined up the grub screw hole with indentation, pressed it in, gave it a little wiggle/jiggle and it lined.  Used the allen wrench to screw in the bolt then added the nut on top. I read somewhere where there's really only one way for this to get on and that's the right way.

Now for the hard part, installing the brake spindle.

When I took off the spindle, the disc brake  rotor was still attached to the spindle.  You'll want to take this apart and just install the spindle.  It's all about the weight - very awkward with the rotor on.

The bottom of the spindle goes on the torsion arm easy enough - but wait - there's two washers a little one and a big one where do they go?  Bentley shows the little washer on top of the bottom arm before the nut is screwed on.  The big washer goes on the bottom of the top arm.  This big washer keeps the top arm attached to the spindle.  (I knew this book would come in handy!)

The Bentley shows a special tool to use - kind of a spreader.  I used a jack and lifted the bottom arm up about an inch.  Then I took two 2X4s, one laid flat on the bottom arm and the other (one end was cut to a 45 degree angle) sits tall on top of the flat board.  I then used a 5 lb sledge hammer to pound the top board in between the top and bottom torsion arms.  From there I was able to pry the top arm up enough to get it to line up with the camber hole. (Make sure the camber nut is already attached.)  Once these guys are untied, it"s a pain to get them apart.  (The way marriage is supposed to be!) This took some manipulation of the spindle.

Before you add that big washer and tighten you'll need to make sure you have the camber nut properly aligned.  The new EMPI ones didn't have the notch the originals had so I had to mark them.

The Bentley book shows exactly how they're supposed to line up.

Notice the arrow.  It points toward the front of the car. That's looking at the driver's side.  Both sides, according to the book, the notches point toward the FRONT.

Now you can add the big washer and tighten up the bolts.  Not too much, they do need to turn. : )

Then I installed the disc brake rotors, the brake calipers and finally, the new tie rods.  Slap on the wheels and away I went for a test drive.  Whee!!!