replaced pedal array. won't go into gear

[vdubnewb]

So I just bought a rusted out 66ish-70s beetle. that is to say noone yet knows what this bug is model wise. I have Solex Pict 34-3 carb and im on the 12v system. thats all i know so far. the lighting kit and electrical and gauges are all missing or unhooked aside for the generator and other motor electrical that runs from the battery. Anyway she was missing an accelerator pedal and i grabbed a replacement for about 8 bux. its the cheap rubber wheel on a shaft. nothing fancy. anyway i took the pedal array out and that clutch cable gave me hell. Of course being new to this car I rigged it so that it was tight. Couldnt get into gear while the car was on. So i killed it and read up about this clutch cable and came across some posts about the 3/8"-1" "slop" or slack in the clutch pedal. So i loosened the wingnut but I still cant get into gear. Now Im trying first gear obviously so before anyone tells me to try a lower gear I already have that covered. This tranny though rusted, oily, and ugly still worked like a dream when i got it yesterday. when i put the car into first gear and try to start it its obvious that the tranny itself is still good. for some reason i just cant get into any gear when shes alive. Anyone have any ideas? I know im probably lacking a lot of info here, so if anything else will help just ask and ill do the research...

[Blue Baron]

There should be a half inch to an inch of free play at the pedal.

As John Muir says, "you use your hand to check the free play don't you?"

Assuming the first two numbers of the chassis number are 11, the third number should indicate model year. (Example: 116XXXXXX would indicate a '66.)

What does the title say?

[fatalifeaten]

So for the clutch, can you select gears when the car's off? When it's running, does it grind? Can you have a buddy work the clutch pedal while you watch the clutch arm to make sure it's actually moving when pressed? Can you actually feel tension on the pedal when you're pressing it? Doesn't drop right to the floor? Do you have the appropriate amount of sag in your bowden tube? Blue Baron's on the right track here, the adjustment's not quite right, and if you swapped the pedal cluster out then it probably needs to be readjusted.

Your best bet if you can't get it dialed in after futzing around with it for a half an hour or so is to pull the pedal cluster back out and make sure the clutch cable's correctly hooked to the clutch hook. Loosen the wing nut until the cable has enough slack to pull the loop out of the tunnel just barely. Then safety wire that bad boy around the clutch hook so it doesn't move, and slide the whole assembly back into place. Once you've got it bolted in, then go back and adjust the wing nut until you have 1/2 to 3/4 inch of free play in the pedal before it starts moving the clutch arm. See if you can get it into gear there, and adjust as necessary until it can. (shouldn't have to take all the free play out of the pedal for this.)

Some other good model year indicators are obvious body changes. Assuming you have a US market LHD car, The dates in () below are the first appearance of that feature.
Is there a gas filler door on the front passenger quarter panel? (1968)

Does the car have quarter moon vents in the body behind the rear quarter windows?(1970)

Is the dash solid metal and mostly flat (-1967), or plastic?(1968 and on)

Is the rear drivetrain swingaxle or IRS (1968) 4 (1968)or 5(-1967) lug wheels?

Are the tail lights oval shaped, shaped more like a tombstone, Gigantic and round? Assuming it has the stock lights still you can nail a car down pretty quickly by the tail lights and decklid.

Is the front windshield flat or curved (super beetle)? (except '70 and '71 supers. they had flat windshields and are exceptions)

Does the car have mcpherson strut suspension up front (super beetle)?

See if this helps a bit.
http://www.vw-resource.com/years.html#1961-1970
http://www.vw-resource.com/years.html#1971-1980

[vdubnewb]

Yes I can select gears when the car is off. When it is on and i try to select the gears i get a nasty grinding. Like listening to someone learn to drive a manual. i cant seem to hit a gear. Ive also taken the shifter out and put it back on. i had the reverse plate on backwards, but i fixed that as it was preventing me from getting into gear when the car was off. I do have someone who can help me with the clutch pedal and such. the cable is good. the hook from the clutch pedal shaft is good. the hockey stick still gets pulled by the cable. so as far as i can tell everything thats part of the clutch system that i can see without dropping the motor, I.E. the pedal, cable, hockey stick and forks, are all good. the clutch worked up until i pulled the pedal array out and put the cable and pedal system back in. thats when i lost the clutch. it sounds like an easy fix hear but i havent got a clue.
also from the from the tips i was given about finding the model i think im in possession of a 68 super beetle. if that helps.

[fatalifeaten]

You took the shifter off too? That could open up another can of worms by itself, but lets start with eliminating the grinding. You're definitely out of adjustment on the pedal if it's grinding. Wind the wing nut up a half turn at a time until the grinding stops, and see if you can get a gear. Once you've got that, make sure you can get all the gears, and if not, then that is likely related to taking the shifter out.

Earliest supers were 1970.

[vdubnewb]

So lets assume that ive literally tried every thread on the back of this clutch cable and i cant get a gear. how having pulled out the shifter caused this. also is it possible that jacking this car up somehow may have been the culprit. I just want to eliminate everything i can before i try to drop this motor. as i have NEVER done anything with a bug. this is in fact my first project with my first bug...

[fatalifeaten]

Pulling the shifter shouldn't cause grinding. If it's not correctly aligned you won't have all your gears (like you'd have 3 and 4 but not 1/2/reverse if the shifter alignment's off as an example), but that is a different type of problem.

You replaced the throttle cable, but it's the same clutch cable, correct? Have you tried loosening it all the way up as well?

How's the sag in your bowdin tube? 3/4 in there too? (The bowdin tube's the rubber tube that puts a "U" shaped bend in the clutch cable as it comes out of the pan at the rear of the car. should have 3/4" of bend in it.)

If the cable's the same, you have the correct amount of sag, and you are grinding no matter the adjustment on the wing nut, then you may have just gotten to the point where that cable's stretched out too much and needs replacing. If the clutch cable was replaced, it's possible you got the wrong one, they do vary in length between model years and one that's too long or short will hose you every time.

Beyond that, you're starting to get into pulling the engine and checking the throw-out bearing, clutch, and pressure plate. The good news is that 2 guys, a floor jack (or an ATV/motorcycle jack is way better), and some patience, will get a VW engine out. Literally 2 bolts up top and 2 nuts at the bottom of the bell housing and it'll back right off the input shaft of the transmission. It's a good afternoon's work, but it's not as much of a headache as a small block, for example.

[vdubnewb]

I'm still of the mind that i might just be getting my adjustment wrong. All I did was replace an accelerator pedal. I couldnt have done any real damage. I'm just having a bear of a time trying to get the adjust right. I hope lol... We'll see in the morning when I try again. ill post my results

[vdubnewb]

well the numbers on the bug are 1160, im assuming it is a 66. Also some how in fiddling with this damned pedal array and clutch cable ive managed to get the to idle right. dont know how that happened. I still cant hit a gear while the car is running. NONE of them. everything grinds when i try. Is it really this hard to get that adjustment right? i mean shouldnt it at least TRY to grab the gear? Ive tried it with play from as loose as four inches almost dropping the cable off of the hook to as tight as no movement at all. Still i get nothing. When i go underneath of the car and pull the hockey stick by hand I can hear all the mechanics in the clutch working. I dont feel any grinding or nasty snagging when I pull the clutch lever so im assuming theres nothing broken in there. when i push the pedal i can hear the cable engage on the hook. I can hear and feel it pull clutch lever in the back. I can even feel in the pedal what seems like the plate coming loose from motor fly wheel, but for some goofy reason I cant for the life of me get this to actually engage a gear while its alive. If i start the car in gear I dont get any slipping. I dont have enough room to try to do the plate/TO bearing "pop" trick and I dont think anythings stuck anyway. Im pretty well convinced that everything's fine as I drove it almost 35 miles home changing through all the gears all the way back and thoroughly testing the clutch and tranny all the way back. i got no grinding or stall or slipping from the clutch. the only stalling was from a bad idle thats mysteriously fixed itself. Vdub jesus came and saved the wrong system!

[vdubnewb]

I know this wont help too much but heres a video i posted about this issue maybe hearing the clutch and being able to see whats going on might help.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOc_EWq7o60

[Blue Baron]

I had the same symptoms and it turned out the roller bearings were stripped out of the flywheel gland nut. These are the bearings that support the engine end of the transmission mainshaft, and stripping them is caused by not greasing the end of the mainshaft before installing the engine. (Commonly overlooked.). Strip these badboys and no shifty, lots o' bad noises. The fix is to install a new gland nut.

It could also be a broken throwout bearing fork, which is very common.

[fatalifeaten]

^^^^

Sounds like it's time to pull the engine and visually inspect everything.