heavy duty cross shafts ?

[Brown-nose]

i have to replace my clutch and pressure plate. i have the stock cross shaft and early style release bearing with the clips. seems the clips came off and one the cross shaft arms bent,also damaging the disc
i plan to use the later bearing with the integral clips,and the guide tube (rhino case that can be used with or without)
is it worth going to the heavy duty cross shaft like the bugpack version with the fully welded arms ? i have read these can be a real pain to fit,especially the eurothane bushed ones. they also do a new bronze version which may be better ?
i only plan to use a stage 1 with a Daiken.
do you think i should go for the H/D while it is all apart,or maybe get a new stock shaft/bushing etc ?
any fittings experiences or general input gratefully received !
thanks

[Bruce]

Get a stock genuine VW one, and then weld the arms all the way round.
My preference would be the bronze bushing over urethane.

[Brown-nose]

thanks Bruce,i thought you might reply
anything i should look for when buying my new stage 1 and daiken ?

[Bruce]

Your new pressure plate needs to be balanced.

You need this to enhance your car's driveablity:

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=473781

[Brown-nose]

thanks Bruce. i have seen those arms,and am considering it. someone told me the bolt on conduit bracket supplied on most gearboxes are in the wrong place and the ones from an IRS box is better,allowing less force needed on the pedal.

[Bruce]

I wouldn't say the bracket is in the "wrong" place.  Just not ideal relative to the arm on the cross shaft.  The positioning of that bracket won't have any effect on the pedal effort.  The length of the arm will.

History as I know it:

The first bracket was the one cast into the side cover.  This was used with the earliest arm that had the big curve in it placing the adjusting nut almost in conflict with the upper trans to engine bolt.

The next arm was the short straight arm (73mm).  This placed the adjusting wing nut over to the left of the car by about 1" compared to the curved arm.  Gearboxes with this arm continued to use the exact same side cover with the integral bowden tube support.

I don't know when the cast-in tube support changed to the early steel one, but I know this new bracket was used with the same short 73mm arm.

In '72, the arm was increased to 90mm.  This new arm continued to use the same bracket.

In late 75, the arm got longer again, this time 100mm.  I am not sure when, but a new bracket appeared around the same time. This new bracket aims the bowden tube higher compared to the earlier one.

I know many guys using the earlier bolt-on bracket with the 100mm arm with no ill effects.  If you had the early bolt-on bracket and the 100mm arm and don't like it, you can just file the holes a tiny bit to aim it higher.