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Sat Jan 08, 2005 8:00 pm

Now I started to get so many callers for the 57 bug. One wants to test drive the car and buy it. I told him it has been in storage quite a while and it might be hard to get it running but it would start. Little did I know I had two dead batterys that I stored in the basement in my woodshop and charge it every once in a while. Tried to start it but not enough cranking power. Found the carbrator was kinda stiff to move the parts. Next day that guy says wants to come out to test drive it. I rush out to get a fresh new battery and tried it again. Found out the gas pedal was stuck to the floor and same thing the carbrator was stuck too. Sprayed the carb with cleaning and got it free but not the gas pedal yet. Started right up and but rough. Freed the lines and everything to the motor. Engine runs great and purrs very nicely! Starts right up without any troubles! Tested to see if it can be moved but found the brakes frozen and no fluid! Got to add more and bleed the lines. Next found the gas leaking in the rear of the car! Got to replace a part of the hose. Last time did the front but didn't do the back. Oh boy can't let the car sit too long or trouble gets you! I just didn't want to get it up and running in this snowy weather, even if someone wants to test drive it but is not in the buying stage.....

Sun Jan 09, 2005 10:17 am

Bluegillman wrote: Freed the lines and everything to the motor. Engine runs great and purrs very nicely! Starts right up without any troubles! Tested to see if it can be moved but found the brakes frozen and no fluid! Got to add more and bleed the lines. Next found the gas leaking in the rear of the car! Got to replace a part of the hose. Last time did the front but didn't do the back. Oh boy can't let the car sit too long or trouble gets you! I just didn't want to get it up and running in this snowy weather, even if someone wants to test drive it but is not in the buying stage.....

Hi Bluegillman,
When storing a battery it must be discharged once a month by being hooked up to a high wattage item like a headlight and immeadiately recharged when the light goes out. Doing this prevents sulfur from coating the lead plates inside.
Either you need to completely dissassemble the brake system and use fine sandpaper to clean out rust in the bores of the master and slave cylinders or replace these clyinders. If it has been more than five years or who knows when, replace the brake flex lines also!! Not doing these proceedures you risk blowing out the single circuit brake system, and having this happen is much like jumping out of a perfectly good aircraft without a parachute! SPLAT!!!
While you are going through the brakes repack the front bearings and change the gear oil (ONLY GL-4, not GL-5!!) in the tranny.
Replace ALL the flexable fuel lines with German made cloth covered fuel lines (do not forget the one in front of the engine and the one under the fuel tank), and repeat every two or three year to prevent BBQing your VW.
CHANGE THE ENGINE OIL NOW. After 3,000 miles or six months oil must be changed if the engine has been started even just once. The raw fuel that gets by cold pistons, and rings turns the oil into an acidic state which eats metal and is also no longer a good lubricant. Additionally change the oil every 50 miles or sooner if it gets real dirty for the first 300 - 500 miles, and drive only up to 30 minutes at a time in stop and go traffic. Not doing these proceedures will heat the engine way up from friction as it polishes up oxidized surfaces like the inside of the cylinders, and the sludge that fell out of the oil while sitting when heated up alot will come suddenly loose like an avalanche clogging up the oil cooler and even the passages going to the bearings!!! BTDT with four used engines, till we figured this out!!
Eric&Barb

Sun Jan 09, 2005 6:05 pm

Hello Eric & Barb,
Wow lot of work to keep it going! Learn some points on the battery, thanks for the tip! Maybe that's why I lost the boat battery a few times because I was doing it the wrong way! I really don't have alot of free time to "play" with the Bug or have any room. Now I got to fix it up to have it road worthy. How hard is doing the brake system? I have John Muir's book " How to keep your volkswagen alive a manual of step by step procedures for the compleat idiot" pretty good to teach me to do those jobs but somewhere in there John says he would rather let the VW dealer do that dirty work. Overall the car is great but those two things leaking gas and the brake system. I know I can just fix the gas lining, but the brake system? Should I get it fixed or should I sell it as it is and lower the asking price and let them do it for themself?

Mon Jan 10, 2005 7:53 pm

Hi Bluegillman,
Doing the brake system is not that hard, it just takes time. You have to remember that when Muir wrote that manual VW dealerships were an excellant place to take your AC VW to because they had both the knowledge and parts on hand. As for wether to have it fixed by a hopefully reputable repair shop, do it yourself, or just leave it for the next owner, depends totally on you and your situation. We can say that quite a lot of possible buyers will turn thier noses up at a non-drivable auto and those in the know will definitely use this to bring the price down.
At the very least replace all the flexable fuel line (remember to shut off the fuel via the fuel reserve switch before doing this) and engine oil so you can start the engine to show that it runs.
Eric&Barb

Tue Jan 11, 2005 8:17 pm

Eric& Barb,
I guess I would have to try those jobs. Weather out here (Chicagoland)isn't favorable, damp and cold in the 38's and tomorrow going to have flash flooding rains instead of snows, then down to 3-6 dergees for a few days. My garage isn't heated. I'm pretty handy doing works, I would just follow Muir's book. Hope I could get it as easy as John wrote. BTW I had overhaul one engine on one of the Bug I had and did work on the front end on another and this one is the brakes that I had never done before.
Bluegillman (Ralph)