VL Front Bearing Problems

[t1mmyc]

Hey guys,
just wondering what peoples opinion was on what I should do with my car.

Its a manual 1987 VL, about 300000k's (odometer stopped about 2 years ago).
I think the front bearing is gone as it makes a bit of a "grinding" noise in 1st-3rd when driving and goes away when I push the Clutch in.

Its not in perfect condition, but pretty good, a few bumps on the bumpers- I have owned it for about 7 years and the only issue I have had is the CAS packed it in in 2005.

Should it cost alot to fix? I have moved this year so don't have a good local mechanic and one guy i took it to said he would look at it for 1k and then parts and labour would be on top of that......

I don't have a lift or anything so it would be hard to do it myself, Rego is coming up in a month so is it worth just taking it to the wreckers and seeing what they will give for it?

Any help would be appreciated,

Tim

[harry3]

VLs are in demand from teenage boys who want to restore them but they arent yet worth much, you would try to get about $500 to $1000, sell before rego runs out

get a workshop manual if fixing it, elleries VL isnt bad, if you like the VL, maybe look for another better one, there are plenty around

[Nackerz]

there not hard to fix mate all i did when i changed from auto to manual is jack the car up and stick a rim upside down under the fronts wheels and i lifted the manual by hand to put it in, really not that hard at all!!!

[t1mmyc]

cool,

I have the Gregorys for it and a pretty good set of spanners, and Saturday afternoon pretty free..

I will do some calling around the local wreckers tomorrow morning and see if they have anything (i.e. a new box) could I just need a new bearing or would it be worthwhile changing the lot? I went for a bit of a spin today and heard a little bit of a squeal in 2nd as I was accelerating? Does this mean more?

Thanks for the help so far..

Tim

[Goon]

cool,

I have the Gregorys for it and a pretty good set of spanners, and Saturday afternoon pretty free..

I will do some calling around the local wreckers tomorrow morning and see if they have anything (i.e. a new box) could I just need a new bearing or would it be worthwhile changing the lot? I went for a bit of a spin today and heard a little bit of a squeal in 2nd as I was accelerating? Does this mean more?

Thanks for the help so far..

Tim

Best of luck mate

[Nackerz]

nah should only be the bearing mate if its only doing it when the clutch is out theres no pressure on it when its in theres pressure on it and it stops spinning

[t1mmyc]

Thanks guys,

Going to have a crack at it tomorrow, if not, will see what the wreckers will give me for her (not directly telling them about the gearbox problem, unless they ask :P )

Will sure miss her..

fyi: the 2nd pic had the bonnet popped :P

[Goon]

wreckers wont give u much, well i dont think so.. probley get what u want with a private sale in ur front yard.

Have a go at it yourself for sure mate! just have patience

[t1mmyc]

Rego is up in 2 weeks so wont get much for it private....
maby i should try selling it for wrecking privately, I would wreck it myself but I dont have any room for it...

Need another 2 months in the forums before I can advertise it here :P

Tim

[Nackerz]

it takes about half an hour to get the box out 2 seconds to change the bearing and half an hour back in mate just fix it and keep it

guaranteed that it will only be the bearing im 100%

[t1mmyc]

any ideas on where i can pick one up from? (new bearing that is :P )
also I think I will need a tool to drain the gearbox, what size should I be looking for?
are there any other special tools i will need?

[Nackerz]

well in vic we have bursons, repco and autoparts plus others so if you have a repco or something in the lines of repco go there they will have it
if not they will point you in the right dirrection

you shouldnt have to drain the gearbox just keep it level and you wont loose any fluid might a little from tailshaft but thats about it

and for special tools

none if its the thrust bearing, but if you are changing the spigot bearing too you will need to get that out, most people use either a grease gun and pump heaps of grease into it with it sealed so the pressure of the grease push it out )if ya know what i mean)

to pull the gearbox out you will need of the top of my head

14mm or 9/16 open ended spanner and socket (bell housing bolts and tailshaft bolts)
19mm or 3/4 Socket (cross member bolts x 4)
5/8 open ended spanner (to hold the other side of tailshaft bolts at the dif)
10mm open ended spanner for clutch line (just undo at the slave cylinder)
13mm socket and spanner (cover under tailshaft ie. plate sorta like cross member but not is only there just incase the tailshaft drops out of the gear box or unis snap, it catches the tailshaft so it doesnt flip ur car when traveling if it happens)

might be some others that i missed

[t1mmyc]

well, i tried and failed... after going to repco (the only place open on a Sunday) they had no idea what I was talking about "do you want wheel bearings?"..... so I needed to take it out and bring it to them- they said they could get it in the same day though.

Jacked her up and put spare tyres under the front wheels, put a jack under the gearbox, I got the cross member off and started on the front of the transmission housing and realised that I couldnt get the 4 from the top off unless i went through the top of the engine somehow.... so thats when it all got to hard :P. May have to take it to the expert or just sell it as is.

Tim

[t1mmyc]

p.s. the cross member are 17mm- and hard to get off, esp passenger side.

[Nackerz]

oh yeah that was off the top of my head....and you get the 2 at top with a spanner and paitents or a few extensions under neath with a nuckle

[Holdfast]

well, i tried and failed... after going to repco (the only place open on a Sunday) they had no idea what I was talking about "do you want wheel bearings?"..... so I needed to take it out and bring it to them- they said they could get it in the same day though.

Jacked her up and put spare tyres under the front wheels, put a jack under the gearbox, I got the cross member off and started on the front of the transmission housing and realised that I couldnt get the 4 from the top off unless i went through the top of the engine somehow.... so thats when it all got to hard :P. May have to take it to the expert or just sell it as is.

Tim

Tim, I did a complete rebuild of mine in October 2006; as you have found out it takes a lot of time to do. What we sometimes think is a quick job can turn into a nightmare.
There's tricks to get the box out and back in; if it wasn't for this forum I'd still be swearing.

In hindsight, I enjoyed the experience especially making bits of home made tools to get the job done; the knowledge I gained was excellent and the gear box is still working well.

Having said that, sometimes you are better off at work or doing some over-time and let the experts do the job.

Anyway, I'm glad you stopped when you did; I bet it took quite awhile.

Hope things turn out ok

[Nackerz]

i did mine in a day and that was coverting from auto to manual its not that hard and yes sometimes a small job can turn into a big job but hey why not do it yourself and save big bux and learn a shitload on your journey... I had very limited tools but still managed to get it done in one day

if you where closer i would come over and give you a hand

[dynoryder]

how much will you sell this for send me a pm im in canberra but am very intrested in a vl manual if you just selling to wreckers they will only give you $150 pm me for a deal starter