TheSamba.com :: View topic

Wed Aug 03, 2011 4:00 pm

I got my brake lines all ran today. Didn't put fluid in yet because it has to pass hubby's inspection. :roll: LOL I also installed the new fuel line and filter so once he gets done looking at the brake lines, I can put my gas tank back in. Then I should be able to try to start the car for the first time!!

After the brake lines I decided to tackle the turn signals. I hooked up the battery jumper and tried the signals just for gp purposes. This time they actually came on, but didn't flash. That was more then I had the other day!! So I figured I would un do the flasher unit to see what it was all about. Here is a pic of how it was mounted.

If I shook the box, I could get the lights to go off and on. It also made some noise while they were doing it. Once I stopped, they stopped. So I figured what the heck, I would try to install one of the other 2 that I had. I just picked the best looking one and went for it. Well, that worked! I now have turn signals!! All except for the passenger side front.

I need to back up a bit. Before I tackled the flasher unit, I took the driver side signal apart to check the bulb. I had already tested the wire going to it and it was getting juice, same with the passenger side. Once I took the bulb out and put it back in, is when that light started working. So I went to the passenger side. This is what I found under the linse.

The bulb wont even budge! LOL It is rusted in there solid. So now that is on the list of things I need. For now I disconnected the wire going to it.

This next pic shows how the flasher box was grounded. I think that is why it was wrapped up, so it wouldn't get double grounded? Anyway, the reason I show you this is I want to know what that tab is supposed to hold? I want to mount a taller piece of metal and attach the flasher unit the way it is supposed to be mounted, and I figure that spot would be perfect as long as I don't need it for something else that is missing!

Here is a zoomed out shot.

Another question on the flasher box. Are they known to go bad? The PO had 3 of them, one hooked up and 2 in the glove box as spares.

Thu Aug 04, 2011 8:37 pm

Today I lucked out and hubby had to go over by PnP to pick up a part at a Honda place. I tagged along and had him drop me off at PnP. Went and got me a turn signal housing. I broke the one stud off, but I figure I will drill it out and just put a bolt in to hold it down in the front. It is better then the one I have now! LOL I will keep an eye out for a better one as time goes on!

I also pulled the window holder thing out of my parts car at home and tomorrow I plan on cleaning it up and putting it in my car! That will fix the window problem. My holder is in two pieces. Rusted right down the middle. I can roll the window up but going back down the holder goes down and the window is slowly following it! LOL

Good news! We got her started today! She sounds good, but needs some tlc on the carb side of things. Hubby wants to pull the carb and clean it up. Either that or put the other one that was on the motor back on and see what it does. I am going to test my tranny tomorrow before he pulls the carb.

Next big thing to tackle is the stopping. I think I will be able to have the lift for the weekend so I want to pull my wheels off and check things out. The brakes need to be bled for sure, do to having the reservoir replaced.

No pics today. I was going to take a video of her running but hubby would have really gave me a bad time. LOL He thinks I am weird taking pics all the time. :D

So tomorrows projects are, r&r the turn signal. R&R the window track holder thing. I also need to bolt the gas tank back down. Then possibly I may start on the brakes!

Sun Aug 07, 2011 6:03 pm

Well I haven't done much to the bug lately. Went out and started it yesterday and it ran for a little bit then seemed like it starved for gas, kept pumping the pedal till it finally died. Need to rebuild the carb. I did bolt down the gas tank finally and also ran the vent tube the right way!

We were supposed to raise it up and look at the brakes, but that didn't happen. Yesterday we pretty much lazed around in the house. Today we went to the In Rust We Trust Swap Meet. I found and bought a couple things, and also found and left a few things there! LOL

Here is what I bought! A set of rear seats! They aren't the best but they are way better then mine!!

I got this, but not sure where I want to mount it. The guys said he wouldn't guarantee it to stay on driving above 50 mph. He said people put them on their dashes or rear window area!

I also got some key chains!! :D I will put the bug one on my bug key chain, but the bus one will be for looks only in my bus. It's to big for using as a key chain. I liked it because it was the same color and amount of window as my bus!! :P

I'm hoping to change the rear seat out tomorrow sometime. Just need to figure out how to get the old one out! The carpet is still attached all the way across the back, never dealt with that before! Guess I will tomorrow! LOL

Sun Aug 07, 2011 6:18 pm

Where's that swap meet located? How often? I am outside of Reno, so not too difficult to go over the hill if weather is cooperating. I need a beige, white or cream bug toy ;) .

Sun Aug 07, 2011 6:27 pm

Starr1969 wrote: Where's that swap meet located? How often? I am outside of Reno, so not too difficult to go over the hill if weather is cooperating. I need a beige, white or cream bug toy ;) .

They have it every year at the same time as Hot August Nights. It used to be held up in Reno, but something went down between the people that do the swap meet and the people that owned the land, so they moved it to Arco Arena (called something else now, Power Pavilion or something like that) in Sacramento. It's a one day only thing.

It is a huge swap meet but the VW stuff is far and few between. It is mainly Chevy and Ford rusty stuff! LOL We go because it is so close and hubby looks for old Ford stuff. It's just a bonus to find VW stuff. Although there was more VW stuff this year then last, so maybe the VW people are starting to go more now!

Sun Aug 07, 2011 8:05 pm

LOL :wink:

Mon Aug 08, 2011 2:10 pm

Love the thread! Cant wait to see what you keep doing

Mon Aug 08, 2011 9:00 pm

Doing the brakes! :D

Finishing them tomorrow, I think! LOL

Tue Aug 09, 2011 10:08 am

I've been following the whole thread and really entertained so far! : )

Very nice garage! Got to be nice having that lift handy! I just redid my front brakes and my back hurt after working on it...

Can't wait to see it once you guys are done!

Wed Aug 10, 2011 4:58 pm

We started to put the new brakes on yesterday and in doing so we found that the master cylinder appears to be leaking. So I had to take a step back and today I removed the just installed gas tank. :o

I picked up a new one so today will be finish up the brakes and then R&R the master cylinder. So hopefully by sometime tonight I should have brakes.

I did get my flasher unit installed.

Before,

After,

Thanks to Jim at Radical Engineering, I got my glove box tab today. Went out and installed it right away. No more trying to find something to pry the door open!! Ok, not really pry but just needed that extra umpgh to get it to unlatch and open. Now it is a piece of cake!!

Today I am also going to replace my speedometer cable. It was broken ( before I removed the dust cap) in two. Somebody told me that I need to check my speedometer to make sure it wasn't froze. Well I tried to check it by putting the cable in where it is supposed to go and then tried to turn it. It didn't budge. Is this something that happens often and is there a way to fix the speedometer with out have to take it out or change it all together? Can I just squirt some WD40 up in the hole the cable goes into?

Wed Aug 10, 2011 11:41 pm

After I painted and installed my glove box, I spent 30 minutes fine tuning it so that when I push the button, it opens and when I close it, it closes. If you want to replace those old defrost hoses, I posted the way I did it a while back. Good luck on your project.

Thu Aug 11, 2011 9:07 pm

Woo hooo, It's Alive!!!

I will hopefully be taking it for a test drive tomorrow after work!!

Today we cleaned out the carb and finished the brake job and mc replacement. I'm not totally happy on how the brakes feel, but I will just be taking it around my neighborhood tomorrow, so I should be fine. It does stop but I think it should have more pedal then what it does. BUT, I have been driving power assisted cars so it could be that I'm not used to the bug brakes. Although I do drive my Bus from time to time. I will know more tomorrow after the test drive!

I'm also starting my sticker collection! :D

I'm not going to go crazy on stickers like I have on my Bus, but I will do a few more.

Fri Aug 12, 2011 2:32 pm

Today was test drive day. First I had to put a drivers seat in it. So I fixed mine up a bit. Here is a before pic,

Halfway done! Little burry but I think you get the gist of it! :lol:

and finally, installed in the car with it's new cover. Oh, and the cover also converts into a blanket if you want to camp! :lol:

Yah, I'm currently trying to find some better seats. Missed out on a good set on CL. You snooze you lose! LOL

I got the seat in and took it around the block. It runs ok, but needs some more brake adjustment or something. The pedal feels like it goes down to far to me. It may be normal for all I know, it's been a while since I drove a bug. The clutch also needs some adjustment. It doesn't start grabbing till the pedal is half way up. I like it to grab about 1/4 off the floor. Once that is done we can leave it off the lift and I can putter on some of the interior part of things and getting stuff like the horn working, etc, etc. I will be able to at least drive it as I am doing the other stuff!

We found these seat belts and I am thinking of going with them. Right now I have the kind that have shoulder belts and connect in the center of the car into a bar type latch thing on the tunnel. I know those are safer then these one's we found, but I really like the lap belts. They are even oatmeal color so they will go with my interior, once I get it all in! :D Still tossing it back and forth though. I have them soaking in some Dawn detergent and water to see how well they will clean up.

Oh, I also got the back seat in. Here is a before,

after,

More to come as I go! :D Oh and I know some of you are probably bored, but I do enjoy making a progress thread. Even though it is not a "complete" build.

Sun Aug 14, 2011 7:12 pm

We had to go to PnP today to get the back part of a high back seat so we can trade our high backs for an acquaintance of ours low backs, so I decided to grab the front turn signal units out of the bug that was there. I had got one from a different PnP but it was a dual filament style and I wanted the single filament kind. I had bought clear lenses and need to get the orange bulbs, so figured it would be easier to just buy one type of bulb instead of 2 different kinds. LOL

So today I installed the single filament unit and then put on the clear lenses! I like them a lot better then the orange. We also finally got the hood on. After some tweaking we got it to line up pretty good. I shut it to make sure it would latch, then tried to open it. It was a no go! :shock: After some working on we finally got it to pop open. Hubby did some adjustments and it now works as it should. For a few minutes I thought I was going to have to make a hole to get to the gas tank filler! :lol:

Here is a before and after pic of the lenses.

Tomorrow we are going to DMV to try to get some black and yellow plates assigned to it. Wish me luck!! If they don't except them, I may have to go with personalized plates, although that is getting kind of expensive, specially when I have 6 vehicles with personalized plates. :shock: Ah heck, whats one more. :D I am really hoping they will except my black plates though.

Sun Aug 14, 2011 7:23 pm

Nice!!!! I just got a 66 Beetle project of my own. Looks Great!!!!!

Sun Aug 14, 2011 7:26 pm

csclassics wrote: Nice!!!! I just got a 66 Beetle project of my own. Looks Great!!!!!

Thanks!!

Congrats on your new 66. :D

Sun Aug 14, 2011 7:45 pm

I totally dig the clear turn signals over the orange ones. this one is coming along nicely. keep it up

Mon Aug 15, 2011 4:44 pm

webberjames95 wrote: I totally dig the clear turn signals over the orange ones. this one is coming along nicely. keep it up

Thanks, I like them a lot better then orange! I think it gives a clean look to the car.

Today I fixed my window lift channel. Used a special rubber to do it too. LOL

The broken one. It was rusted in 2.

The repair kit. LOL

All better

Now I know I could have bought the correct rubber from WW for 3 bucks plus shipping, but then I would have to wait. I did go to the local VW shop and talked to them about a getting replacement rubber and they sold them as a kit with the new channels. Said they could probably find something that would work, but also agreed that the inner tube would work just the same. Even though the tube was new, it was bought for a bike we have up in storage, so it wasn't going to be used any time in the near future, so I figured what the heck. I'm using it. :D

I also decided to tackle the dome light. I figured out it is getting the hot part of the wiring to it and the bulb is good. The only way I can get the bulb to light is if I ground the actual ground part and ground the hot part too. I that made since? Once I took the ground off the hot part, it no longer worked. ( The hot part being where the brown wire is hooked up to.
I'm going to try removing and cleaning the door pin connections to see if that my help with the issue.

Oh, I did take the whole unit out and cleaned up all the connections on it, but it still doesn't work as it should.

Mon Aug 15, 2011 7:08 pm

The wire itself could be corroded inside the sheathing. Looking at those crimps the tips of the wire atleast have some corrosion set in. Cut the wire back an inch or so if you have the slack and then peel back some more insulation and see if the copper is still corroded. If not put a new conector on it and call it a day. If there's still corrosion either cut the wire back some more or replace the wire.

As for the door pins, does the light work differently between using switch on door pin vs dome lig just on? Does it cut out or anything? If it doesn't act any different between the two settings there should be no reason to look into the door pin wiring.

Mon Aug 15, 2011 7:47 pm

Chris659 wrote: The wire itself could be corroded inside the sheathing. Looking at those crimps the tips of the wire atleast have some corrosion set in. Cut the wire back an inch or so if you have the slack and then peel back some more insulation and see if the copper is still corroded. If not put a new conector on it and call it a day. If there's still corrosion either cut the wire back some more or replace the wire.

As for the door pins, does the light work differently between using switch on door pin vs dome lig just on? Does it cut out or anything? If it doesn't act any different between the two settings there should be no reason to look into the door pin wiring.

I wasn't able to pull more slack, but I was able to strip a little more of the wire back and it does look clean. I put new ends on them and still nothing. That is nothing as far as the door switch or the full on switch. I took the driver side door pin out and cleaned it's connections. The door switch part of the light started working. It would come on when I opened the door and shut off when I shut it. I tried to clean the passenger door pin, but didn't have enough slack to pull it out and disconnect it. So I just wire brushed it the best I could and put it back in. It too will turn the light on and off. The only thing that still doesn't work is the full on position. Beats me why it doesn't work, but all I really cared about is having the light come on with the doors so I'm not to overly concerned. I may tackle it again later down the road, but for now I'm good on how it is working.