Red w/ Racing Stripes, a 74 Super Build...

Nepenthe88 · Posted: Tue May 29, 2012 11:56 am Post subject:

in addition to the REAR SPOILER (previous page) I also started mocking up an ANTI-Kamai front spoiler. It needs to be shifted about an inch to the right in order to line up with the fender line, but this is the only way gravity would let it hang hands free:

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

Ain't garden edging great?! Of course this too will eventually be made out of fiberglass, and still needs an abundance of work. Most importantly, it's gonna need a longer chin. I intend to add a horizontal piece at the bottom, protruding out an inch and a half or so (to catch the air and keep it from sliding under the car)

Attachment should be relatively easy too. The most frontal part of the super beetle's hammerhead (the removable part) hangs down about 1/2". The top edge can sit there. The bottom edge can be supported by a pair (or three) of triangular gusset-like attachments that can be welded to the bottom of this...part... Similar triangular plates can be attached over (or under) the front bumper attachment point. All these plates can then be drilled to keep weight down, yet maintain their functional strength. The most difficult connection is going to be the ends. The bottom of the spoiler is intended to mate (quasi seamlessly) with the fenders. I'm not sure if I should weld on a nut (like the fender to body connections) so it can be bolted on, OR... have it held in tension with a pair of cables connected to the distal parts of the bumper. Here's a kinda sorta example (it's holding the ends of a beautiful undercarriage panel that extends all the way to the car's firewall!!)

Doing things off the bumper could allow me to make "spats" of a sort.

Gotta think about that too...

Now, I realize this isn't as functional as a full blown Kamai (since I'm losing coverage over the wheels) but it'll help as much as lowering the car another 4-5" would, AND if I were to paint the thing red to match the body, I think it'll blend right in and retain the curvy front of the bug

Time will tell... Thoughts?
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TjdTaylor · Posted: Tue May 29, 2012 2:02 pm Post subject:

it looks like your just extending the fenders downward. might look weird painted red with the car. Make the front end look too tall.
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Beetlebaum · Posted: Tue May 29, 2012 8:03 pm Post subject:

The rear spoiler looks like a good idea! What exactly are you planning/hoping for it to do?
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Nepenthe88 · Posted: Wed May 30, 2012 10:37 am Post subject:

Nepenthe88 · Posted: Thu May 31, 2012 4:19 pm Post subject:

See this:

I'm guessing this piece is cracked because it's so short and has too much mechanical stress on it. Regardless, I think it makes a pretty convincing argument on why you should stay away from German Braided line. If this little piece were braided, I wouldn't have noticed the cracks until it started leaking (which is already too late!). With normal line, I was able to see it before anything stupid happened.

and this is (some of) what I did today. First I installed all the breather lines to the Berg Box (finally). I tidied up all the engine wiring. Fixed and re-routed the gas lines AND... made removable rear decklid pins Very Happy

Work like a bloody charm!! At this point I can't imagine going back to stock pins (especially since I won't be running the decklid closing spring anymore). All it requires is finding a punch and hammering out the pins that hold everything together and finding a pin that fits the hole. Of course I bought pins that were a hair too big (same recurring standard v. metric issue) so I put them on the bench grinder and whittled them down till they fit. I then drilled the non-keychain end for a K shaped cotter pin (which I still need to buy). Still in the works is a pair of quick disconnect decklid standoffs Very Happy

ps.. don't mind all the wires floating around. the red one, and one of the browns is for the the alt which still isn't installed, I'm still waiting for the tig welded fan Sad

the other brown is a jumper from the parking lights which connects to the license plate light. I gotta figure out a way to make it quick connect nicely, cause right now that's holding back the beauty of the removable rear decklid
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Nepenthe88 · Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2012 4:57 pm Post subject:

a mechanic buddy of mine just worked some shady deal and took in a running, driving '96 Subaru Legacy and then calls ME to see if I'm interested......... Rolling Eyes

apparently the body's rusted out worse than any of my bugs, but who cares! It's the EJ22 I'm interested in. It's got 160k on the clock, which ain't great, but... for $200????? Twisted Evil

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TjdTaylor · Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2012 8:24 pm Post subject:

i think i can see whats going to be comming up next.............
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Nepenthe88 · Posted: Sat Jun 02, 2012 8:18 pm Post subject:

Finally got the TIG'd and balanced fan in the mail....

Can't say I'm completely convinced though. Sure it looks good and spins true but there's a perceptible amount of slop around the front nub of the alternator that didn't exist on the old, stock German fan. I also had to use an additional pair of the thick pully spacers to align the fan in the shroud. Regardless, it's installed and everything went together pretty well otherwise.

Next (related) problem--> the alternator itself seems to be slightly taller than the previous model. I say so cause the fan belt is tighter than I would like (previously this same belt was fine)... and I used all my extra spacers to shim out the fan. I'm gonna see if I can scrounge up a couple three or four in the random parts drawer at my buddy's garage tomorrow

Last (related) problem--> despite the new alternator, I'm not sure things are charging... After starting the bug the VOLTS gauge only read 10v? I guess I expected the gauge to read 12v because of output from the alt? I know the gauge is working because I turned out the lights and saw a corresponding drop when I did so. Maybe I just need to drive around for a while to charge up the battery??? Any thoughts?

....

Today was also the first time I've driven the bug with the new Berg breather box. When I hooked everything up, I made sure to rag everything down so that I could distinguish between old leaks and new leaks. Good thing too!! I drove about 5 miles to the gas station and back, then crawled under the car to find this:

Oops. Coulda been catastrophic but... from the looks of things it's just the valve cover gasket which didn't seat properly. I lost daylight pretty quick after that, so it's on tomorrow's list of things to do.

Other than this (gigantic) leak, the rest of the engine looks to be dry (minus the perpetual drop hanging off the oil slinger's full flow cover) That gives me hope the box is doing it's job, since previously I woulda had seepage out every bloody crack and connection on the engine even after a short little drive like this.

...

...

Now for the BIG, new issue (and I could really use some help on this)

The car's been sitting (and leaking oil) for a month now while I've been waiting for parts. Well, I put everything together, started the car and then walked to the engine compartment and heard a very noticeable ROD KNOCK sound. I ran back and shut the car off immediately. It probably ran for 30-45 seconds at most.

I'm an idiot. I never checked the oil level and I was about 3/4 a quart low. I filled her up and started her again. This time, no sound. I let it idle and warm up, just listening and watching. everything seemed good so I took it for that 5 mile drive and things seemed as smooth and as nice as ever!

Question is... would a low oil level cause a ROD KNOCK sound just because, or is something broke / on it's way to being broke, the symptoms of which are being (temporarily) covered up by the proper oil level???
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Joel · Posted: Sat Jun 02, 2012 9:35 pm Post subject:

Nepenthe88 · Posted: Sun Jun 03, 2012 8:17 am Post subject:

Nepenthe88 · Posted: Sun Jun 03, 2012 7:19 pm Post subject:

WHOOOOO!!! I am now the proud owner of a leak FREE beetle!!! (knock on wood). Took the car on a 40 mile round trip to my buddy's garage to check out the Subaru and the engine's dry as a bone... on the outside of course. Gene Berg's breather box gets two thumbs WAY up!

And just for shits and giggles, here's a pic I particularly like. It rained all day, so instead of crawling underneath on the wet driveway to look for leaks we pulled the car in and under the lift and the Ford on it. fits like a dream! Very Happy

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Nepenthe88 · Posted: Sun Jun 03, 2012 9:10 pm Post subject:

and cause some of you might be interested....

Like I said previously, it's a rusted out piece of $hit (part and parcel of older cars in this neck of the woods, Cali this ain't!). The trunk needs to be bungee'd down. The rear windows are stuck and only go up 3/4 of the way and the exhaust is falling off but... who cares! That's not why I want the Subee. This is:

Yeah buddy! EJ22 that's got 168,xxx miles on it. Everything's there and as I mentioned, it drives.... so I took it for a quick spin around the block. The engine idles well, it's responsive and doesn't have any of Muir's "expensive noises" (Can't even hear the valves Very Happy

). Best of all, there's NO check engine light on! Here's another:

I didn't check to see if / when the timing belt had been changed. Didn't look to see if there was any oil in the coolant or charred marks on the dipstick, but I did look to see if the head gaskets were leaking (more notorious on the EJ25, but..) and here's what I saw:

(on the left is the driver's side head, to the right of that is the very oily valve cover... it's JUST like a VW, only shaped differently!). The passenger side was relatively clean and dry, but the driver's side was slathered in oil and crud which seems to be more a result of a PO's poor aim than anything else (the blurry thing in the foto is the oil filler neck). Part of me wonder's why he would need to add oil, but another part of me just doesn't care... Like all our VW engines you don't really know what you're getting until you tear into it and since I'm temporarily poor for the next little while I have plenty of time to tear in... I figure worse comes to worse, I've got a matching ECU, wiring harness and all the top end goodies I'll need (not to mention an entire car's worth of scrap metal to fabricate stuff out of and the VIN# so I can get parts-- see, I've been reading!).

So, yeah... I'm $200 lighter, but one rusty Legacy heavier Twisted Evil

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Joel · Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2012 3:58 am Post subject:

That's a Gen1 so bit older than 96, but they are the better non interference models, same one I used, mine was a 92.
It's 90-93, hard for me to date as I'm not used to the US model headlights and grille, although I'd say 93 looking at the injectors.

That oil around the filler is nothing to worry, most early EJs are like that, there is only an O ring on the filler tube and after 20 years they go rock hard and shrink.
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Nepenthe88 · Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2012 8:04 am Post subject:

Haha! Joel's superhero super-power is being able to properly identify any car with a mere flick of his eye! Not quite as cool as invisibility on demand or wolverine claws, but invaluable to the super-power-less fools who surround him Very Happy

I'm sure you're right. I just got 96 stuck in my head for some reason is all-- probably cause that's what I was told and I didn't bother to confirm it. Regardless, I think an older EJ22 conversion might be better anyway. After doing some quick research MOST conversions (at least most of the detailed information I could find in the past hour or so) deals with these earlier EJ's. I haven't scoured any of these (except Joel's build, and that was a while ago) but all these links seem to have good, valuable information in them, so here's me consolidating for anyone who might be thinking of doing their own scooby swap:

Joel's build:
http://forums.aussieveedubbers.com/viewtopic.php?tid=77027

what seems like a really good EJ22 wiring harness how to (I have even less sense than $$$ so, yes I will be doing it myself)
http://www.shoptalkforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=136053

Vanagon conversion stuff (but ideas are ideas) and not only do they have heater core info, they're also just a few minutes drive north of me in Canadia!!
http://subaruvanagon.com/

seemingly very detailed top end rebuild of an ER27 (I assume it's similar, and knowledge is knowledge!)
http://subaruxt.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=...it=rebuild
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Nepenthe88 · Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2012 8:12 am Post subject:

Also... since I'm Officially done building the VW part of the car, I'm gonna ask Glenn to move this thread to Reader's Rides later in the week (where it probably belonged in the first place)... This is just a head's up for anyone who's used to finding this thread in the Fatchick Forum
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Nepenthe88 · Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2012 11:22 am Post subject:

After I replaced the alternator I had some wiring issues. The ALT light wouldn't go off, and if you went to shut the car off a backflow of juice kept the bloody thing a runnin! A cheap diode fixed the problem, you can see where it gets installed in the diagram below (which BTW is the proper way to hook up a mallory CDI, Pertronix and an internally regulated alternator using a Watson's streetwork harness)

for good wiring diagrams and some common problems with the Watson harness check out this thread:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=502197&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0
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Nepenthe88 · Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2012 5:19 pm Post subject:

CAMPING!!!

Decided to take the lady to Allegany St. Park for a weekend of camping and... to take the bug on a bit of a road trip. It's about 75miles each way, which isn't all that far but seeing as how there's a 14 mile stretch which goes from 925ft elevation to 1549ft elevation with nary a flat spot in sight, I figure this is a pretty decent test of the engine. To add some fun to said test, the bug was fairly full of camping gear AND it was a 93* day Very Happy

I think she did pretty well. Oil temps after pulling up the "hill" only reached 212* and then they just sat there until I got into the woods (where it was probably 15* cooler) where things cooled off to about 205*. I can now say that the oil will reach the following temps and sit there indefinitely under the following conditions:

--180* stop and go driving around town and any highway speed below 55mph
--195* indefinitely sustained summer highway driving @65mph
--212* sustained hill climb at 65mph

That seems excellent to me seeing as how Bob Hoover has THIS to say concerning oil temps:

Nepenthe88 · Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2012 5:24 pm Post subject:

and my personal favorite.... did a quick bit of offroading to get up to the trailhead at "Thunder Rocks". With a bit less than 5" ground clearance to the deep sump I was probably pushing my luck a little at times. but all's good and the pic is well worth it in my book, I LOVE this place!!

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beetlenut · Samba Member Joined: May 27, 2009 Posts: 2983 Location: RI

Sweet camping photos Nep! In hind sight, bashing a hole in that deep sump on a rock on that trail would have really made your weekend interesting. Wink

JB-weld anyone?! Your bug looks good. Glad to see you getting good use out of it after the restoration! Hope you untied the tent fly before you drove off! I'm hoping to have the body back on my pan by August!
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TjdTaylor · Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2012 8:23 pm Post subject:

I love Alleganie state park. Lotso fun. Funny to see all your stuff all packed into it. People dont really beleive that with abit or organization, you can fit a whole shit ton of stuff in there.
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