Ok - 88 GL Manual Tranny is sitting on the shop floor on a dolly.
Flywheel removed, old oil seal removed, old pilot bearing removed, seat
for both cleaned up. Flywheel clutch disc contact face cleaned and
scuffed, new flywheel "O" ring installed, new pilot bearing greased and
installed, New oil seal put in place and tapped down per Bob Donalds and
bottomed out.

But WTF! The new seal won't recess the 1/16 below the surface of the
case as Bob  specifies! It only recesses 1/32 of an inch. Hmmm~wrong
seal perhaps?  A quick call to Ken Wilford, my supplier for the seal.
raised an interesting queston. How did the seal supplied copair with
others of other brand names. Well, as it turns out the two after market
seals he sell and the genuine Volkswagen OEM seals he handles are all
the same thickness. So no discrepancy there.

This raises a question. I understand fully why Bob insisted the seal be
recessed - to avoid ripping the thing out at some point and having to do
it all over again. So with this apparent difference between how the
seals are made vs how Bob says the need to be installed - it appears
there is something missing.if the information on how to get this done best.

So the question. Can I remove 1/32 of material from the seal lip to get
the recess correct? Is there enough rubber that when cut back I will
still not be into the metal n the seal? It's easy enought to remove the
rubbe - simply by grinding away on a flat surface on some 320 - 600 grit
wet/dry sand paper. That will keep the lip of the seal true.

Any suggestions anyone?

Also, what is the proper relation of the felt washer to the pilot
bearing? Is there some other sleeve or something that goes in the Flywheel?

Need to know.

Thanks,

John Rodgers
88 GL Driver
Chelsea, AL