Beetlebaum: The 1973 Super pulled from a Junkyard

[Stock Steve]

Keep up the good work, man!
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[Beetlebaum]

Beetlebaum was a real pain today--very little worked as it was supposed to. I did manage to get the floor vents reinstalled for the first time since I removed them back in 2009, so that'll be good for inspection (because the car needs to have working defrosters to pass). I've also got the front carpet setting with Gorilla Glue, since the spray-on adhesive I tried to use for so many years has never actually held it to the walls of the footwells.

(In the seven years during which the vents were uninstalled, I managed to lose their screws, but they're being held in place by the carpet and all that at the moment. I'll find some screws eventually for them.)

Tomorrow, I hope that he'll be less of a pain, since I'm going to refurbish my old bumper overriders and do a more thorough job attaching the bumpers.

After that, I'm waiting on my mother to let me use the welder--she was busy welding the Edsel today, which stunted my own progress a bit. She managed to get some new rocker panels in place on that car, so that's exciting.
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1973 Super Beetle
2003 New Beetle
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[EA812]

[Beetlebaum]

[Beetlebaum]

A slightly more major update!

First off, the tires that I ordered yesterday arrived less than twenty-four hours after I ordered them. A pleasant surprise. I'll get them mounted early next week.

(Oh yeah, you can see the welder and the Edsel's new rocker panels in place in this picture!)

The important part of this update:

Tunnel repair!

I didn't get to weld it in today, despite having high hopes to do so; I got worn out in the evening and decided instead to postpone the welding until tomorrow morning, when I'm fresh.

I spent four and a half hours fabricating this patch panel, and, while it's far from perfect, I'm proud of my work. I cleverly used the brick steps in front of my house to round the panel close to how it should be.

It should be welded in by tomorrow morning, so here's hoping.

I'm also going to weld some reinforcements to my heater channels soon, possibly tomorrow morning.
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[Beetlebaum]

Okay so... don't judge me. STAHP.

I sort of welded the panel into place today. My father and I had a miscommunication today--he thought that I was just trying to tack weld the panel in place, whereas I was trying for a bead, so his comments and suggestions for my welding were geared toward making tack welds, not a proper and solid bead. I thought that he was telling me how to make a strong bead weld. D'oh! That's why things are so atrocious. So, brace yourself for some awful welds.

I'm going back over it tomorrow with higher heat and a faster spool feed-rate.

BUT...

The panel is at least where it's supposed to be! After I get it welded properly tomorrow, I should only have two weeks of work left until inspection time. (And I'm not being idealistic or optimistic with that number--I legitimately believe that I can get the car run through inspection very soon.)

So, awful welds. Yeah. No words necessary. (It's more challenging to weld the tunnel than it was to weld the floorpans, which was eye-opening for me.)

But hey, proof that I worked on the car (and a pretty neat picture showing sparks flying):

And finally, this picture is from the very last day that I ever took a legal pleasure cruise in Beetlebaum--way back on January 2, 2012. I took a friend to McDonald's for ice cream in the evening. I found the picture on Facebook last night and was struck by how long it has been since I last took the car out for legal fun. I figured that I'd add it to this thread.

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[EA812]

Listen to ur dad he had the right idea. U can't just do one solid bead the heat will warp the panel. Just go back and knock them welds off. They won't hold. Trust me I know from my own disastrous lousy welding results when learning. That panel looks awsome though!
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[Beetlebaum]

Sounds good. I'm taking a day or two off from working on the car--I don't want to wear myself out or frustrate myself and lose all momentum. On Tuesday, then, if weather and time permit, I'll address the welds properly.

This morning, I went under and tried a few different things with the welder settings and found a setting and method of welding which I really liked. It should set me up for success when I next get under the car. Stay tuned for updates.
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[Beetlebaum]

Tropical storm/hurricane Hermine slowed my progress significantly this weekend, but I did manage to get things mostly buttoned up with the car.

I need to paint the inside of the patch, so that'll require removing the pedal cluster later this week. I finally got the fuel tank reinstalled--a real pain. At least the new rubber filler neck tube is in place and not cracked like the old one!

I also cleaned the trunk for the first time ever today. That's probably thirty years of grime removed this evening. I used a whole roll of paper towels before running out, so there's still a bit left to do in terms of cleaning.

And then, to make things really fun, the trunk is now stuck closed. I may have messed something up with the latch when I was cleaning, but I won't know for sure until I get it back open tomorrow. Hey, at least it locks now!

Oh yeah, you can now see the new spare snugly fit into the spare tire well! The tire looks good, but I'm going to leave the rim a bit flaky for now--maybe I'll paint it after I get the car inspected.
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[Beetlebaum]

I got the trunk popped open yesterday after going up from underneath, through the access panel in the spare tire well. The latch part on the hood itself is being obnoxious and not fitting or adjusting properly, so I'm going to hold off on sealing that hole up until I'm satisfied with the latch and its reliability.

On a happy note, I realized last night that I have less than a week left in terms of work necessary on this car to get it through inspection (not counting tuning up the engine and whatever challenges may come about because of that). I did a lot of minor work today--nothing worth photographing, really--and plan to do quite a bit tomorrow. I also fired up the car for the first time in almost two weeks today; he ran well for being poorly tuned, which pleased me.

I'll probably end up not updating much until the car is actually ready, so prepare yourselves! Inspection Day 2016 is almost here!

Anyway, because someone very wise once said, "This thread is worthless without pics!", here's a picture of the dashboard of my '73, compared to the dashboard of my '03 New Beetle as they looked today.

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[Bashr52]

What did you end up doing with that panel you put on the bottom of the tunnel? Did you take it off and re-do it?

[Beetlebaum]

[Beetlebaum]

It's my two-thousandth post on TheSamba! Time sure flies when you're having fun; I've been on here since 2008 as a registered member and a lurker for years before that. I owe this site so much for the technical knowledge it contains and for the people who post so many inspiring Volkswagens.

-----------------------------

I accomplished everything I intended to do today, so that's a relief. The oil change took longer than I anticipated; the gaskets which came on the engine when it was rebuilt were really tough to pull free, so I ended up taking several hours cleaning everything up down there. I now have the proper paper gaskets down there and the zinc additive mixed into the oil. Most encouragingly, there's no oil dripping from the oil plate!

I then turned my attention to the engine compartment. The VW club members from whom I bought the 009 and my new carburetor had moved the fuel filter to after the fuel pump, to my chagrin. I therefore removed the fuel filter completely from the engine bay today, opting instead to run just the one fuel filter underneath the gas tank. I also cleaned the alternator brushes and contacts with the hope of fixing a recent decline in the reliability of Beetlebaum's charging system, but the cleaning didn't do as much as I hoped. I'll go back when I do my tuneup to clean the brushes and contacts more.

Still moving along--and on track to meet my desired Wednesday the 14th deadline!
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[EA812]

So much progress man! Good for you hey you joined just a few days before me!
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[swhitcomb]

Looking good. As others have said, that patch needs help. Turn the heat up and maybe slow your wire speed. Looks like some of my first welds. I'm going to guess you don't have an autodarkening helmet. Makes it much easier. Harbor freight has them on sale for 39.99.

Btw, your trunk looks way better then mine currently.
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[Beetlebaum]

[Beetlebaum]

I completed my first-ever successful tuneup on Beetlebaum today! I got a late start--one of our pets died yesterday, so today's schedule got a bit thrown off--so I have a long list for tomorrow, my self-imposed deadline.

I went through the engine from the bottom up, starting with the valves (only one was tight), leaning out the mixture, and finally checking the timing.

The timing was thirty degrees advanced.

As soon as I rectified that issue, the car got so quiet that it seemed like a different car entirely. After raising the idle a bit and allowing Beetlebaum to idle for ten minutes, I took him on a test-drive down the street and back. He's running a little hot and smells like he's too lean, so I'm going to revisit the timing and carburetor settings tomorrow. That said, the pinging and detonation are gone, as far as I can tell, and now he's insanely quiet compared to what he was.

Anyway, here he is, sitting behind the Edsel...

I need to adjust the brakes again tomorrow, seal up the trunk access plate, look at my timing and carburetor settings, replace a taillight which broke when the tornado came through in 2014, and do a few more minor tasks on the car.
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2003 New Beetle
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[Beetlebaum]

I did something incredible and made an inspection appointment for Beetlebaum for Monday, September 19th. I'm fully braced for him to fail, which won't actually be that bad of a thing; it'll give me a clear indication of what, if anything, is needed to be fixed for legality on the car.

It was insane to make submit that appointment request online and to know that he's finally going in!

I've got a few small things to do before he's ready to go through inspection, and I won't actually be ready to drive him a whole lot once he is legal; I'm fighting a vacuum leak in my engine, and my heat riser tubes are blocked. I definitely want to get him through inspection as soon as he can, because the rest of it should fall into place soon enough. (He runs, so that's a relief.)

Anyway, to celebrate his impending inspection appointment, I gave him his first wash in a year (in fact, a year and a day after his last one!). He had a lot of disgusting mold from sitting still for so long. The wash also had the purpose of preparing Beetlebaum for more painting and rust repair after he's legal. I washed my New Beetle at the same time and did some important cleaning and moisturizing of the New Beetle's leather seats.

Here they are together.

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[EA812]

This is freaking awsome! Also smart way to go , don't worry about passing the first time. Idk about ur state but here we used to only have to fix what didn't pass for the next try. Hopefully that's how it works.
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[Beetlebaum]

I wish that I had great news for today, but I don't!

We got the car to the shop for inspection, but I'd foolishly adjusted the brakes too tight to try to get a tighter pedal feel. Turns out that I tightened them too much and burned up my brakes and bearings on the way over to the shop. Thank God we were towing the car and not driving it!

What I deduce happened is this: the brakes were too tight and generated copious amounts of heat, which liquefied the bearing grease. The grease flew out of the wheels as they spun, which exacerbated the heat problem. The brake fluid then boiled or at least heated up considerably, resulting in a complete loss of braking power when I tried to move the car into the parking lot.

Once he cooled down, the brake pedal returned to a better-than-it-had-been level, but I'm not taking chances. I reckon that I need at least new brake shoes, wheel bearings, and brake fluid, but I'm definitely going to go with new wheel cylinders and possibly even new brake drums. (I'm also now considering going with a disc brake conversion, since I'll have the brake system apart anyway. If anyone wants to recommend a specific conversion kit, I'd appreciate that a lot!)

We put the car on a dolly and towed it home.

I'm disappointed but not upset; I consider today's struggles as part of the learning curve.

Plus, it was very encouraging to see the car sitting in a parking lot for the first time since January 2012!

Also, allow me to vouch for Japanese Auto Masters in Virginia Beach, the only non-VW shop that I trust to touch my Volkswagens. They're incredibly accommodating and generous--they helped me out a lot today, which is the norm for them. They're an excellent small business, but they generally don't do much work on German cars except for routine work like inspections and alignments. Nevertheless, I give them nothing but high marks for customer service and quality work.

Here are the pictures of Beetlebaum in the shop's parking lot today.

And my personal favorite... It's my inspiration to get him back out into the world again!

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