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  View original topic: Power amenities on VW bug!? (my craziest fantasy yet)
bug1200 Mon Dec 26, 2016 4:52 am

First: I was repairing my Nissan's brake cylinder and I found out that the brake booster was broke, I had an old Toeyoda brake booster and thought: "Hey! maybe this would fit my Nissan!" and it did! (Thus my Nissan becoming a Toyota-Nissan hybrid...)

Anyway, on to the topic: Since the brake booster was interchangeable between different car brands, maybe I could build a "power assisted brake kit" for my bug using Toyota, Nissan or even newer VW parts?

I thought of these problems:
1. since the cylinder of the bug is in the bottom, could I even fit a brake booster down there?
2. Where will I hook up the vacuum lines?

Next: Steering wheel freeplay of my Hyundai is big! The dealer is charging gigantic amounts just to fix so I decided to do it myself... after repairing (the steering coupler was broken) the Hyundai, I noticed that the power steering was electrically powered! retrofit anyone?

Problems:
1. Price
2. Price!

Third: One day a bug owner broke down, since were both bug owners I helped the guy. I was surprised when I saw that he had power windows! He said he retrofitted it... heheheh!

Well its not like Ill really do these mods, but hey why not! Maybe power locks since its the easiest hahaha (and I always forget to lock the other door)
Or maybe my bug will become a VW-Toyota-Hyundai-Subaru hybrid in the future...

Merry Christmas everyone!

scottyrocks Mon Dec 26, 2016 8:01 am

I suppose anything is possible, but one of the many things I love about ACVWs, especially the older ones, is their simplicity.

hopkin Mon Dec 26, 2016 8:16 am

Cool ideas, as scottyrocks says, anything is possible. There are kits for power windows (and locks, I think) available for the Beetle.

I made three simple, discreet upgrades to my Beetle:

1) Power Plug, under dash:


2) Built in HomeLink (garage opener) in the glovebox:


3) iClever installed behind the radio:

(Plays music from a memory card and broadcasts on FM band).

gt1953 Mon Dec 26, 2016 12:40 pm

I like my cup holder from a mid 90's Ford Taurus~Mercury Sable. Works great, out of the way and mounted to homemade partial tray nothing falls thru.
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=549367

bug1200 Mon Dec 26, 2016 8:01 pm

scottyrocks wrote: I suppose anything is possible, but one of the many things I love about ACVWs, especially the older ones, is their simplicity.

Yeah, because of the simplicity of classic VWs, there are less things that could go wrong...

I used to own a BMW And I dont even know what half the buttons do! (seriously) its driving me mad! Its nice to go back in the bug from time to time... A back to basics car and a pure driving experience without the electronic gizmos and bulls**t that new cars have.

bug1200 Mon Dec 26, 2016 8:06 pm

hopkin wrote: Cool ideas, as scottyrocks says, anything is possible. There are kits for power windows (and locks, I think) available for the Beetle.

I made three simple, discreet upgrades to my Beetle:

1) Power Plug, under dash:


2) Built in HomeLink (garage opener) in the glovebox:


3) iClever installed behind the radio:

(Plays music from a memory card and broadcasts on FM band).

My bug dont even have a cigarette lighter :lol:

But a power plug is a must for me, might make a hole for a cig lighter when I get my bug back... but I want to make it look stock. Did VW install cig lighters in other bug models?

as for power locks, I retroffited them on my 2012 Toyota (they didnt come with any, even in the top of the range model...) and they seem to fit on the bug... might do a writeup on it once I get my bug.

bug1200 Mon Dec 26, 2016 8:09 pm

gt1953 wrote: I like my cup holder from a mid 90's Ford Taurus~Mercury Sable. Works great, out of the way and mounted to homemade partial tray nothing falls thru.
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=549367

Hey! a cupholders a great idea! I have a hard time holding my cup of coffee in the morning while shifting gears and steering the car (or power steering is a must with a smaller steering wheel and bigger tires :D )

hopkin Mon Dec 26, 2016 10:16 pm

bug1200 wrote: ,,,
But a power plug is a must for me, might make a hole for a cig lighter when I get my bug back... but I want to make it look stock. Did VW install cig lighters in other bug models?

....

I wanted to keep my car looking stock, the power plug I installed is not visible unless you look under the dash

To give you a better idea of how I mounted it, you can see the back part of it here:


VW never installed cigarette lighters in the cars from the factory, but they were installed by dealers. I don't think that there is a specific 'year correct' model, but you may able to locate one appropriate to your model year.

windfish Tue Dec 27, 2016 12:24 pm

Dealer-installed cig lighter can be seen here -


My bug came with one, it's handy.

I also stuck one inside the glovebox to power my dashcam

I like Hopkin's under-dash mount too

If you'd like a brake upgrade look into front discs, I'm not sure how much benefit you'd see from a brake booster?
Same with power steering.
Bugs are small, light cars, they don't really need it.

Floating VW Tue Dec 27, 2016 3:24 pm

It's not really a "powered" accessory, but I got a 4-foot length of hose that came from the windshield-wiper/washer system of a 1969 Ferrari 365 GT 2+2 on my Bug (I had to replace the washer fluid bag on the above-mentioned car and the kit came with a new hose that I didn't need).

I use it to vent the other end of my fuel tank's charcoal canister to the atmosphere. I bet there aren't too many people out there who can say they've got a $100 gas tank vent hose on their Beetle!

bug1200 Tue Dec 27, 2016 9:23 pm

@ hopkin and windfish

thanks for the pics, I might do a writeup on it soon... I definitely need a power plug to charge my phone and stuff. I use the cig lighter on my other cars as a power plug, perhaps im going to do that on the bug too.

hopkin Tue Dec 27, 2016 9:27 pm

Never thought of the electric window washer, as it was stock on my car ('96 Mexican Beetle)

They are available from cip1 and mount nicely (no drilling, just a longer bolt for the fender):


I think cip1 has a electric switch to replace the existing 'pressure' switch.

bug1200 Tue Dec 27, 2016 9:38 pm

@ windfish again...

Yeah, I know the cars like classic VWs dont need such features... The electric power steering of my Hyundai feels numb, like Im playing a game from those Playstations with the steering wheel controller thingies... But hey! I was just fantasizing about it :D

I'd like to upgrade the front brakes of my bug to discs but the price is very high... If only I could make a homemade kit and retrofit parts from either my Nissan or Toyota (I have lots of brake parts for those)

Floating VW, Speaking of the windshield washer, I actually converted to an electrically powered windshield washer! I no longer worried about running out of "spare air"... but unfortunately the electric motor broke and I couldnt find any in stock...

Kind of off topic but what purpose does the charcoal canister serve? another bug owner here had one in his bug, but I dont have... my fuel tank just vents directly to the atmosphere...

bug1200 Tue Dec 27, 2016 9:40 pm

hopkin wrote: Never thought of the electric window washer, as it was stock on my car ('96 Mexican Beetle)

They are available from cip1 and mount nicely (no drilling, just a longer bolt for the fender):


I think cip1 has a electric switch to replace the existing 'pressure' switch.

Oh! I just posted now about the electric washer, since my bugs at the shop right now, Ill try to find an old pic of it...

EDIT: I couldnt find any old pics of the washer system, maybe Ill visit my bug at the shop sometime and take a few pics.

hopkin Tue Dec 27, 2016 9:51 pm

bug1200 wrote: ...
Kind of off topic but what purpose does the charcoal canister serve? another bug owner here had one in his bug, but I dont have... my fuel tank just vents directly to the atmosphere...

The charcoal canister filters the gas fumes before venting to the air, here's a pictures of the one mounted on my car. It's not connected as I took these pictures when I was installing a new one, last summer:



The white part in the second picture vents to air. This is an image of the fuel system in the Mexican Beetle, yours would be a bit different, but this should give you a general idea of the set up:


#6 is the charcoal canister and #2 is the expansion chamber.

bug1200 Tue Dec 27, 2016 9:57 pm

hopkin wrote: bug1200 wrote: ...
Kind of off topic but what purpose does the charcoal canister serve? another bug owner here had one in his bug, but I dont have... my fuel tank just vents directly to the atmosphere...

The charcoal canister filters the gas fumes before venting to the air, here's a pictures of the one mounted on my car. It's not connected as I took these pictures when I was installing a new one, last summer:



The white part in the second picture vents to air. This is an image of the fuel system in the Mexican Beetle, yours would be a bit different, but this should give you a general idea of the set up:


#6 is the charcoal canister and #2 is the expansion chamber.

Oh, so it vents to the engine to be burnt? Maybe I could save some gas with one installed... Ill think of retrofitting if it would fit my budget.

67rustavenger Wed Dec 28, 2016 1:21 pm

I wanted a charging port for my cell phone. I opted to install a USB charging port in a hole that the PO had made.





The USB charging port costs $22usd and took about 30 minutes to install.
That's it for modern car conveniences in my 67. Although I do like the electric washer bottle pump idea.
Good Luck

bug1200 Wed Dec 28, 2016 6:46 pm

67rustavenger wrote: I wanted a charging port for my cell phone. I opted to install a USB charging port in a hole that the PO had made.





The USB charging port costs $22usd and took about 30 minutes to install.
That's it for modern car conveniences in my 67. Although I do like the electric washer bottle pump idea.
Good Luck

Maybe Ill install this instead of a powerplug :lol: I only have one USB adapter that I use for all my cars, and I tend to forget them in the other cars... With this I wont worry about forgeting the USB adapter anymore!

Gary Haberman Fri Dec 30, 2016 2:48 pm

My '62 T1 is still a 6v car and I wanted a 12v accessory jack as I needed be able to charge my phone (or run some other 12v device). As I didn't want to cut my dash, I opted to install it in the ashtray (it just fit nicely) and install the 6v to 12v converter on top of the ashtray holder. I went a bit overboard and chose a 10A unit just in case. I fused both input and output and added a relay that connects power to the converter when the ignition switch is on.



itskyle Fri Dec 30, 2016 7:53 pm

gearing up for the harshness of winter has always been a dream of mine..

aftermarket heated wiper blades.

(Jeep Wrangler is close enough in size, I think)

aftermarket heated windshield wiper fluid reservoir.

type 3 dome light instead of stock type 1 dome light.

Kyle



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