1968 resto mod highlights

[nlorntson]

I'm working on this formerly stock late 1968 beetle. The owner had a 2110 built which includes a Vintage speed superflow muffler with heater boxes, alternator conversion, brand new wiring works harness, dash pad, front disc brakes, freeway flyer with super diff and a Dakota Digital 6 gauge cluster.

He got a ways with the reassembly and life got in the way so I offered to get it finished for him. I've never restored anything other than a stock car (buses and beetles) with original parts so this is not at all in my comfort zone, but here we go.

First thing I wanted to share was this very handy three place wire splice to do the alternator wiring in place of the original regulator under the seat. I found it at the local big box home improvement store. It has some gel inside and made for an excellent splice.

This Dakota Digital 6 gauge cluster is supposed to monitor about anything you want. In this case we'll monitor oil temp and pressure, speed, fuel level, tachometer, head temperature, and volts.

https://www.dakotadigital.com/index.cfm/page/ptype...prd235.htm

The setup includes requires some dash hackage and modifications to make it fit. One big missing piece is an alternator light which is required to energize the alternator so it charges. There is a gauge to measure system voltage, but if a fan belt breaks you wouldn't necessarily see that in time, plus the charging issue.

So, I decided to find a small red incandescent light to fit in just above the voltage reading. I had to drill though the plexiglass layer and file away a little bit of the circuit board, but in the end it all fits and should be very obvious if a fan belt breaks or the alternator stops charging.

After making a pattern out came the shears and the speaker and fuel gauge area steel was removed and the dash pad was cut out as needed.

The billet face plates mount via studs that have metal keepers and nuts. More modification was needed to the little keepers to fit over the inner lip of the metal dash for the left most gauge set.

The speedometer was a bigger issue because the mounting studs were about even with the lip and in line with the stock mounting points. After considering other options, I ended up removing the DD mounting studs and substituting longer phillips head screws for the three mounts.

The far right gauge fit fine, but were a bear to get the washers and nuts started. In the end, everything mounted and looked good.

The gauges are connected to a control box and to each other via a ribbon connection off the far left gauge.

Before I started cutting up the brand new wiring harness, I first got everything connected via the Wiring works documentation except wires that went to the stock speedometer. I labeled those wires and used connectors to run temporary wires to the control box. I used sections of wire from the old wiring harness that matched the color scheme of the associated wires to help troubleshoot if needed.

I got everything connected to the control box and tested each lower voltage circuit using a 7.5 volt fuse between the battery and the positive terminal. When It came time to test headlights I directly connected the positive battery terminal to the battery lug.

To my amazement everything I could test seem to work. I then permanently mounted the control box and cut down the wires as needed to get everything reconnected. I opted to solder up the ends of each wire that connected to the control box.

The engine is not yet in the car nor is there fuel in the tank so none of the senders for that are connected yet. I will have to set up the various gauges including the speedometer once the car is running and drivable. I also need to figure out the custom steering wheel and get the horn circuit working too. All in all this custom stuff is working out so far.

[nlorntson]

Another modification was the substitution of the stock steering wheel. He wanted to go with a Volante steering wheel. I read through some of the posts about issues installing one and was prepared for a fight.

I opted to get the horn working first without the horn button or horn ring and I'm glad I did. The 1968 horn circuit is confusing but after reading a few posts it seemed clear that the replacement turn signal was going to present a grounding problem for the horn circuit.

The stock turn signal is completely separated from the steering column and thus the ground is only provided by the skinny brown wire coming off of the upper bearing (7 and 8 )

The JBugs illustration shows the stock circuit pretty well.

Here you can see the stock turn signal (broken) and the white plastic piece that keeps the screws that hold the turn signal assembly in place.

The replacement turn signal has metal there so when the assembly is attached to the steering column, it provides the ground.

So the original upper bearing did not have a wire on it and rather than soldering on a replacement, I left it off and used the turn signal mounting screw provide the ground for the horn.

I tested the Volante horn button and discovered that the center connection needed to be used. The other connection would have fed a ground to the button if I didn't have it, but I did via the steering wheel hub and screws holding it on. Once it was all bolted together, the horn button worked perfectly.

With regards to the Volante hub, that was a PITA. The holes to mount the turn signal cancelling ring on to the hub were drilled in the wrong place. Neither the aftermarket cancel ring nor the stock one (which were identical BTW) lined up with the hub holes. This necessitated I drill three new holes in the canceling ring.

By loosening both the screws that allow adjustment of the steering wheel housing forward and backwards, and the one that clamps the housing to the tube, I was able to slide the whole works towards the dash and get enough room for the hub to have a small gap. I had no issues with a large gap at the base like some others have reported. I did not have to remove any circlips.

I can check this task off the list.