A/C Removal

["Brubaker, John" <JBrubaker@AMF.com>]

Well, I finally got around to removing the A/C from my Scirocco this 
weekend.  It was and wasn't as tough as I expected.  For those that know 
me, this will be a long winded recount of the entire ordeal (which hasn't 
been completed yet).  This is not for the faint at heart or those who just 
scan messages.  This is a detailed account so that anyone reading may let 
me know where I have erred or may know of a better way to do things, or for 
pure entertainment (even though it may not be entertaining, but I will put 
all of my measly literary talent into it).  I will put my questions in bold 
so that If you don't care to waste your time, I at least hope someone will 
help me with the problems I have encountered so far.

First, I must mention what I had to go through to get the new mounts and 
such for the alternator, etc.  It all starts at the my local junkyard where 
you pay a buck and your allowed to spend all day doing whatever the hell 
you want - which for me means tearing apart VW's (sometimes Audi's, 
sometimes Porsches) for spare parts and know how for my next job on my own 
vehicle.  Well the only vehicle I really need for that day happens to be an 
old '78 Scirocco which is all rusted out but has a stock no A/C engine bay 
(the only VW in the yard).  One problem, there is a wasps nest in the door 
and they don't like me.  Two weeks earlier while trying to get the 
necessary parts from this car I was stung on the ear by one of these wasps 
causing quite a commotion within the yard (I'm running around cussing, 
holding my head).  Anyway, I was hoping after two weeks and cooler weather 
the wasps would be gone.  No dice.  So I move on to a 924 and find a 
perfectly good working (at least looks good) VDO oil pressure gauge.  I 
snag the gauge and the switch/sender/whatever off the block.  That brings 
about my first question.  What do I need to do to hook this up and where do 
I attach the sender to (right above the oil filter)?  After I get the guage 
I decide to run to the local K-mart and purchase some bug spray.  Come 
back, spray bugs, now have dead wasps.  I was very happy at this point and 
everything I needed came off fairly easy (how often does that happen).
Now for the fun part.  I go home, jack up the front of the car and begin by 
removing any bolts in my view that are attached to that conundrum we call 
the a/c (the old square medieval looking thing).  Well, after removing 
about 30 bolts, the thing still isn't coming off, I first tried to remove 
the actual a/c from the housing but was not able to remove the final bolt 
which is between the back of the a/c and the head.  Then I remember that I 
need to remove the timing belt cover and remove the final two bolts on the 
side of the block which support the a/c housing. Ta dahh!  No more A/C, 
it's so cool looking into my car and seeing all that room, more room to 
work, less weight, better handling (from what I've heard); I can't wait 
till I get the car actually running again.  Well, getting the a/c out 
wasn't that bad, all my problems really began once I decided to completely 
remove the timing belt cover - all of it - not just the metal cover, but 
the plastic lower part and the metal middle part.  Neither of these two 
were, or are being for that matter, very cooperative.  Was I supposed to 
remove these in the first place?  I know there are different opinions on 
whether to do this or not, but from the autoxer's I've seen, it seems to be 
the preferred way to go.  I just can't remember if they pulled the entire 
assembly off.  I spent plenty of time finding all (maybe not all?) of the 
bolts that attach these two parts to the block but neither would come out. 
 I looked and looked and looked and couldn't quite figure out why the 
plastic one wouldn't budge so....I broke out the soldering iron and melted 
my way through being careful of the timing belt (which looked about 100k 
miles overdue for replacement - I'll ask about this later).  Even after 
this butcher job, the part that surrounds the crankshaft pulley STILL 
wouldn't come off (and yes I did cut through the bottom part which wraps 
around the pulley).  I figure the hell with it and start to work on the 
other metal piece.  I pull on it a little, it seems like it's ready to come 
out, except for the bottom right corner which disappears behind the other 
timing belt pulley to the right of the crankshaft pulley.  Has anyone 
figured out that I really only have a vague idea of what I'm doing here. 
 No, I'm not stupid, I've just been working on this thing all day and am 
anxious to get it done.  At this point it's just sorta fun poking and 
yanking at things.  Well, I yank and yank and look again and again and I 
can't figure out why this stupid thing isn't coming out from behind that 
gear/pulley.  That's where the story ends (I gave up, too many cuts for the 
day and not enough sunlight - my garage doesn't have enough light as of 
yet, plus it was Saturday and I needed to do some drinkin') and the 
questions begin.
1)	Any ideas on what I need to do to remove each one of these timing belt 
pieces.  Do I need to remove the pulleys/gears?  Is there a simpler way?
2)	Now that I see what kind of condition my timing belt is in (and since 
that area is completely open), I want to replace it.  How bad am I going to 
screw up my car if I don't do this right.  I haven't had a chance to do it, 
but is there adequate info in my Bentley to correctly complete this switch? 
 Any hints or mysteries I should know about?
3)	How much does a new timing belt usually cost (this is my first 
purchase)?

Well, that's all I have for now.  I hope I haven't bored anyone too much. 
 Please let me know what you think (I prefer not to get any replies simply 
stating I'm a bonehead :-)).

John
80 Scirocco S
85 GTI

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