On Thu, 9 May 2013 01:59:20 +0000 (UTC), Przemek Klosowski
wrote:

On Mon, 06 May 2013 09:17:13 -0400, Ed Huntress wrote:

I liked the handstraps on the old VWs. I miss them. And the shims on the
fan belt drive pulley that were supposed to let you easily adjust the
tension, but which tended to rust into a unified lump.

That's brilliant engineering: as the car gets older, the belt loosens,
but simultaneously the shims rust and swell, and cause the pulley to
tension up the belt

Well, it would be, except that rust had the opposite effect. Fewer
shims = tighter belt. Shims that swell = looser belt. the shims went
between the two halves of the pulley.

Then, when you replaced the belt, and went looking for the shims you'd
taken out...and remember you "lent" them to a friend who needed some
but moved across the country since...jeez. g

--
Ed Huntress

On Wed, 08 May 2013 22:51:45 -0400, Ed Huntress
wrote:

On Thu, 9 May 2013 01:59:20 +0000 (UTC), Przemek Klosowski
wrote:

On Mon, 06 May 2013 09:17:13 -0400, Ed Huntress wrote:

I liked the handstraps on the old VWs. I miss them. And the shims on the
fan belt drive pulley that were supposed to let you easily adjust the
tension, but which tended to rust into a unified lump.

That's brilliant engineering: as the car gets older, the belt loosens,
but simultaneously the shims rust and swell, and cause the pulley to
tension up the belt

Well, it would be, except that rust had the opposite effect. Fewer
shims = tighter belt. Shims that swell = looser belt. the shims went
between the two halves of the pulley.

Then, when you replaced the belt, and went looking for the shims you'd
taken out...and remember you "lent" them to a friend who needed some
but moved across the country since...jeez. g
Those shims were not supposed to be removed - just MOVED. I always
kept the spare shims on the back side of the pulley, under the nut.

On Thu, 09 May 2013 00:05:30 -0400, wrote:

On Wed, 08 May 2013 22:51:45 -0400, Ed Huntress
wrote:

On Thu, 9 May 2013 01:59:20 +0000 (UTC), Przemek Klosowski
wrote:

On Mon, 06 May 2013 09:17:13 -0400, Ed Huntress wrote:

I liked the handstraps on the old VWs. I miss them. And the shims on the
fan belt drive pulley that were supposed to let you easily adjust the
tension, but which tended to rust into a unified lump.

That's brilliant engineering: as the car gets older, the belt loosens,
but simultaneously the shims rust and swell, and cause the pulley to
tension up the belt

Well, it would be, except that rust had the opposite effect. Fewer
shims = tighter belt. Shims that swell = looser belt. the shims went
between the two halves of the pulley.

Then, when you replaced the belt, and went looking for the shims you'd
taken out...and remember you "lent" them to a friend who needed some
but moved across the country since...jeez. g
Those shims were not supposed to be removed - just MOVED. I always
kept the spare shims on the back side of the pulley, under the nut.

Yes, that's where they were *supposed* to be.

--
Ed Huntress