Ok folks here's the sequel to "A passage in time"... :o
Another rough write-up what happened to my Bug during the last few years.
Summer 2013
The Bug in June...
I was always bothered by the inaccurate and inadequate speedometer. So I dug up this spare from the parts hoard...
...and had it revised and calibrated by Tacho Thomas.
On the left the previously used speedo, on the right the restored one - Thomas did a great job IMHO...
wow, Thomas really knows how to make 'em look good :)
And what a beautiful ride!
schwim wrote:
wow, Thomas really knows how to make 'em look good :)
Besides the nice stock look the revised speedometer is calibrated very well too - speed indication is quite accurate.
Unlike with the stock one which tends to display "upbeat" speeds. :D
Autumn 2013
The infamous fuel smell in the trunk... The Bug always had it but I put the matter off again and again.
So at length the day had come to tackle the fuel "system".
Below the fuel tank are the remains of the Bug's original color L90D "pastellweiß"...
Touched up a few minor defects in the fuel tank's paintwork...
Probably the main reason for the fuel smell: a wrinkled seal at the filler neck.
I never took these parts apart before so I assume the seal was mounted like this at the factory...
Fuel tank painted and back in the trunk. All soft lines, tubes and clamps renewed...
While at it I mad a new bracket for the stereo too...
Finally the fresh air box went back in...
Another reason for the fuel smell: a brittle and torn gas cap seal.
I replaced the stock seal with an o-ring which works great to this day.
Moved the fuel filter from the engine bay to the front under the tank...
Renewed all soft fuel lines and clamps in the engine bay. Also I completely revised the generator.
Unfortunately all the pics I took during that process are gone since I managed to loose my digicam during a local "Volksfest"... :roll:
Winter 2013 / Spring 2014
Another issue that has been neglected for quite a while: the spare wheel.
The 5.5" wide Porsche rim with a 165/80 tire mounted fit the spare wheel well not a quarter as good as the stock one.
The fit was super tight and the trunk liner did not line up flush. Even worse, you have to deflate the tire to get the wheel out.
Well... A flat spare wheel... What is it good for?
So I was in need of a 4" wide 5x130 bold pattern steel rim...
Fortunately the Bug's stock spare wheel rim and the Porsche steel rim had center disks of the same diameter.
VW Spare wheel parted: center disc cut out, barrel intact...
Porsche wheel parted: barrel separated, center disk intact and test fitted into the 4" VW barrel...
Next step was to determine the proper offset and check true running...
Welded and sandblasted...
Applied some primer & paint...
Voila! A 4" wide 5x130 Porsche lug pattern steel rim with a Toyo 310 155/80 R15 82S tire...
Looks great and ran like a charm during the test drive...
But most importantly: properly inflated so that the windshield washer works it perfectly fits the spare wheel well...
That wheel work is incredible! Were you able to break the welds and weld it back up at home? I always thought if it had to do with a wheel, I'd need to find a machine shop to like spin it up and use various calipers to make sure it didn't wobble off down the road.
schwim wrote:
Were you able to break the welds and weld it back up at home?
Yes it was all done at home except for the sandblasting.
The fact that the center discs of the different wheels had the exact same diameter made it possible in the first place.
I used an angle grinder to separate the center disk from the barrel.
To keep the VW barrel intact I cut and ground away the center disc area.
In contrast the Porsche barrel was sacrificed do keep its center disc intact.
After carefully trimming the parts the VW center disk fit the Porsche barrel snug (tight fit).
That's why offset and true running could be checked on the car by simply spinning the not yet welded rim.
After that the welding was done by my then 73 years old dad who is a certified master craftsman metalworker.
He knows his stuff whereas my welding skills are close to zero... :roll: :lol:
But we are talking about a rarely (hopefully never) used spare wheel here.
I never would do this modification to a regular daily used rim.
Maddel wrote:
After that the welding was done by my then 73 years old dad who is a certified master craftsman metalworker.
He knows his stuff whereas my welding skills are close to zero... :roll: :lol:
Dein Vater ist wunderbar und sein arbeit ist sehr beeindruckend!
I had to look up "impressive", I couldn't remember that one :)
That is amazing though, both his and your work looks phenomenal. I would trust his welding and your fitting of the parts more than the inexpensive stuff we buy nowadays.
The trunk space looks absolutely fantastic. You're a master at your craft as well :D
Thanks for the kind words Sir!
Now I have to be careful not to get too big for my boots... :)
Good to see you're persistently into learning German.
Unlike you I had thrown in the towel long ago... :roll:
December 2014
During the driving season in summer I experienced some issues with sluggish and jamming window regulators.
In a fit of lunacy I decided not just to revise the door internals but the Bug's whole interior!
That project mushroomed into a two year undreamed-of enormity.
Getting the seats out. First plans for the rear speaker box were to replace it with an even larger one.
That idea changed during the project in favor of a more stealth hi-fi system and a stock looking luggage area...
Door panels off and here we have the original 1970 moisture barrier with the PO's cutouts for the speakers.
Why the hell didn't I replace that plastic foil back in '89?
That almost 45 year old foam 'seal' looked not too bad at first sight.
Then I grabbed it and it started to crumble and disintegrated into sort of a semifluid goo...
The bottom of the doors still looked quite good. Even some of the cavity wax applied in '89 still existed.
January 2015
Back in 1990 I just put some simple black cotton covers on the rear seat...
Take a seat - the stock rear seat with the original upholstery.
Although in fair condition it will be replaced since the Bug is already painted red...
Note the stock "budget anti rattle installation"... :)
MacGyvered some lacerated mounting holes using Swedish furniture plugs and 2K epoxy resin adhesive...
January 2015 (contd...)
Front seats removed...
Playing with t-shirts to get an idea what shade of gray for the planned two-tone upholstery will best suit the new carpet (needle felt)...
Disassembly...
Made simple covers for the seat rails from a standard PVC angle profile...
Cleaned the hardware...
And added a layer of paint...
February 2015
Burnt (and patched before) original cardboard voltage regulator cover.
It will be replaced by a homemade fiberglass one later...
Started to remove some carpet. A bad hunch crept over me that getting rid of the old glue incrustations will be much fun!
Removed the seat mounts...
The folding gadget of these aftermarket seat mounts is necessary only for TÜV approval of race bucket seats...
So I decided to disable it. Also deleted the latching clamps...
Reworked the mounting points too...
Fits way better now and gained some stability too...
Now for the luggage area...
Removed the speaker box, the carpet and parts of the sound insulation...
That heavy monstrosity will not go back in...
Never liked the bulky sound damping of the hot air Y-tubes under the rear seat...
So I cut some latex coated felt...
Glued it to the perforated metal tubes...
And soaked the felt with some black synthetic resin lacquer...
Seat rail covers with attached spacers, finally shaped and painted along with the rear seat support bar and attachment strip...
the voltage regulator had a cover? :?
Super_Randy wrote:
the voltage regulator had a cover? :?
Check out this Samba topic: Flap over voltage regulator
interesting. iv never seen or even heard of those
March 2015
Ready to add some sound insulation...
Started with some felt stripes...
Then reinstalled the original insulation board and added more felt stripes...
Followed by aluminum coated bitumen sound deadening pads...
The wheel arches will be covered with butyl rubber mats later...
Obsolete speaker and amp wiring...
April 2015
Removed the sun visors and the rear view mirror. The headliner yellowed quite a bit over the years...
As well as the assist straps. No cleaner I tried produced a satisfying result...
After some research I found a crucial hint on a computer collector's website: bleaching!
So I got some hydrogen peroxide (H2O2, 11.9%)...
Steeped an assistant strap in the liquid for a few hours.
Ultraviolet light is vital for the bleaching process so I placed the bowl on the sunny balcony...
The result turned out quite impressive IMHO...
But how to use that H2O2 liquid with the headliner?
After some more research I ended up with "Cream Oxide" (creamy H2O2, 12%) from the barber shop...
Sun visors and some headliner samples served as guinea pigs...
Plastic wrap prevented dry-down and an Osram Ultra Vitalux 300W UV lamp got the ball rolling...
And this charlatanism did the job quite well...
At that point I had only a dim idea how that procedure could work with the way larger area of the headliner.
That H2O2 stuff is quite aggressive so care must be taken not to mess up the Bug's interior.
ok, now i have to do that to my straps 8-)
Maddel wrote:
The result turned out quite impressive IMHO...
That's truly incredible! It kind of makes me want to roam around the house and find things to renew :)
May 2015
On with sound deadening...
Butyl rubber mats glued to the wheel arches. Again some felt stripes and this time some additional Butyl mats
were added before another layer of bitumen pads went in...
Now to fit that infamous felt cover. The original one tended to totally disintegrate over the years.
The felt I used is latex covered on the top which may increase durability...
Felt like the The Valiant Little Tailor... :D That mat will go back in when adding the new carpet (much) later.
Removed the remaining old carpets an started to scrape the old glue encrustations off...
Damn, that wheel arch looked nasty. Most likely some brake fluid from a former leak at the reservoir found its way
down into the black hole and due to capillary action gnawed at the sealer on the inside... :(
So I took out the wiring harness and peeled off the softened and brittle sealer. Man, there's always something... :x
June 2015
Cleanup continued...
All the old encrusted glue finally removed...
Wheel arch seam cleared...
After some additional sanding a first layer of primer was put on...
Now for some seam sealer...
July 2015
Applied a final layer of primer...
Spared the front wheel wells because I wanted to fit the front kick panels first...
Note the cardboard speaker dummy to determine the mounting depth... :D
Primer done...
After some rough reshaping I added cardboard patterns to the kick panels to fill some gaps and then applied
a first layer of fiberglass mats and epoxy...
Final fiberglass/epoxy layer added and sanded down...
why is the pan red?
Super_Randy wrote:
why is the pan red?
That's russet red primer. The final coat will be semigloss black synthetic-resin varnish.
