Shortest Long Build Thread Ever-Sears Rascal

[wythac]

No, I fabbed that before I painted the car. It's pretty simple construction, 1/2" square tube, mounting tabs and a deck of expanded metal. Strong enough to stand on.

[Wetstuff]

3X ..for the wheels. You're spot-on about them adding a real vintage feel. To my eye, they represent the era perfectly. Nice job.

Jim
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Manx #2614

[phil fox]

Make it 4X for the wheels... I have a pair of "smoothie" type wheels that I got with my buggy that are 15 x 8's and was contemplating whether to use them or not... but after seeing yours, i am leaning towards cleaning them up and getting a set of fronts to match... fortunately, the fronts are the easier ones to find, the harder part is done with mine cause I have the rears already... Looks great, I hope mine looks that good when I am done!!

[wythac]

Outside of the stamps on some of the original parts, the logos on the caps are the only indication to the uninitiated that my car is a VW. "Oh, look honey, it's a VW...I didn't know they made a car like THAT......". How soon people forget.

Phil,
When you get to the point of buying your hubcaps, be careful in your choice of vendor, and ask them who (and where) their source is. German or Brazilian OK, other origins not so much. There are some real crappy ones out there, I had a few before I found a good set with good chrome and the flush lip.

Get a quality set of hubcap clips too...I've flung a few caps off into the weeds before I got some good clips that weren't thin, brittle, and prone to snap off. Fortunately it was my crappy set of caps that I experimented on, so maybe it isn't a bad Idea to throw a few old rusty ones on for your first time out with them on, to see if they will stay there.

I'm sure there is plenty on that specific topic over in the Beetle forums that would be helpful when you are ready.

[wythac]

First 60+ temp day in my part of the world in months yesterday. started out in the 30s however and the morning hours were "character building".

Took it for a long drive on a variety of types of roads (Straight and fast, slow and curvy, paved and not, roads and not) to test my suspension mods detailed here:

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=461134

Initial returns are promising. Beam works much better than before I stripped it and reassembled it. Found some other crap I have to work on, bought a cheap toolkit to leave in the car and an organizer for the tools.

I noticed at Freeway speed after I filled the gas tank that the nose of the body "bobs" on the expansion joints with the weight of the fuel. I hadn't seen that before, maybe because I didnt notice it at lower speeds and frequency. I will be fabricating some support brackets between the shock towers and the underside of the fuel tank to address that potential place for body fatigue.

[LouisB]

Hi Wythac,

What are the specs on your front suspension? I am thinking of converting the Manx to L/P for more suspension travel.

Thanks,

--louis
_________________
Louis Brooks
'67 Manx II

Old people at weddings always poke me and say "Your next." So, I started doing the same to them at funerals.

[wythac]

6" wider adjustable beam KP/LP. 2nd and 4th torsion leaves(of 5) removed. Stock arms with relocated shock dropouts (moved toward the rear or end of arm). Stock steering box and spindles. 8" Bilstein 5125 shocks.

[wythac]

It was a scorching 41F, snowing and raining yesterday, so I spent some quality time with my rig in the garage with the woodstove cooking, like any good gearhead with irish blood would on St.Pat's. I have had a low oil pressure problem to sort out and spent some time on that. It hadn't been dangerously low, but lower than it should be (20-25lbs instead of 35-40) and just above the idiot light flicker at about 12lbs when hot and at idle. I replaced the oil pump that has been on the motor for 80K and also replaced the springs and plungers on both oil pressure relief galleys. That put the pressure back up where it needs to be. May just be addressing a symptom of a larger problem of wear, but I'm satisfied that this measure will get me thru the summer.

Motor smokes a little, same 80K on the P&Ls. It was torn down and resealed with new bearings before I installed it in the buggy in 2009, but I opted to continue to use the existing P&Ls until the $400+ replacement cost was less of a sting. I think that after running it this summer on sea trials, I'll spring for some new P&Ls which will give me justification to pull the motor and freshen it up one last time before it starts seeing more strenuous and remote duty in the desert. That will free up time this spring and summer to fabricate some of the other hardware the car needs, such as a skid plate. spare tire mount, jerry can mounts and the often spoke of and as yet to be seen trailer hitch for dragging my Eriba Puck around.

The rest of the winter I have spent working on a very stylish yet genre appropriate tow donkey for the buggy. I'll post pics when that is ready to roll.

[wythac]

This weekend, I mounted a hardwired battery float/charger from NAPA to the battery box so I can keep the car plugged in when it sits over the winter. First warm(ish) weekend of the year so I fired it up and ran around the 'hood a bit before I washed it.

[wythac]

Charger I mounted on the back of the plastic battery box. Metal "L" bracket that came with the charger is on the inside of the box so that the charger mounting screws "sandwich" the battery box and the battery sits on the bottom of the "L" bracket, so it is my hope that it will be a real solid mount.

I figured that for a car that sits in the garage a significant part of the year, having the ability to simply plug it in when it is parked will save me a few batteries over the years. The NAPA charger is weather sealed, so it should last awhile too.

Got it out and drove it a bit today. Heading to the PNW Springmeet tomorrow. I forget that driving this thing is like being in a one car parade...everyone waves and smiles.

[Kreelak]

I just noticed that your using bilstein shocks on your buggy. how do you like them hows the ride
from what ive read most recomend just plain stock oil shocks

[wythac]

They work well, but my car is heavier than a lot of other buggies and is designed to carry even more weight for offroad trips. I've also cut some of the torsion leaves in the front and have a wider front beam than stock. I wouldn't recommend the Bilstiens for the front unless your car weighed more than 15-1600 lbs empty.

With two people and gear in it, my car weighs in over a ton. Handles like a slot car when I put the set of street rims and tires on in, not so much with the taller and heavier set of dirt tires and rims. A lot of unsprung weight with those widened rims with 31.50 tires on the rear. The Bilstiens on the rear help dampen some of the less savory characteristics of the swingaxle.

[Kreelak]

kool thanks. ill be running link and pin and IRS and have no idea what im going to wiegh in at

[wythac]

One of only a half dozen Volkswagens, and one of only two buggys at a car show with 450 cars. The cars around mine are those of my friends.

[wythac]

It has been almost a year since I updated this thread.

Worked on several fronts over the winter. Its a good time to work on a car without a roof or a heater in the PNW.

Supported the fuel tank and headlights with a tubular beam mounted support structure.

Replaced my weak T/O bearing cross shaft with a more robust assembly, and bought a softer pressure plate to eliminate clutch failures.

Re-engineered the attachment from the clutch pedal to the clutch master cylinder with a heim joint, also replacing the clutch hook and clevis pin assemblies with a more robust design.

Took the motor down to the short block, redid the heads, honed the cylinders and resealed. Didnt go far enough, as you will see below.

That wrapped up about a month ago. The motor work was not as successful as I had expected...The car smoked and consumed oil, and oil pressure was poor. I told myself that I would run it this summer like that unless it broke down and forced me to tear it apart during the warm months.

The weather was great yesterday so I took the car for a offroad test in the mountains. Car did really well, I only had to tighten up one headlight bucket and re-secure the three bolt flange holding the header to the muffler.

Things went downhill as I went downhill to return home. I pulled into a gas station rather abruptly and the oil light came on as I cornered. Checked my oil level and it was barely on the dipstick. It had been full when I gassed up about 100 miles earlier. Threw one of the two quarts I had in the back in the motor....and noticed the dripping underneath and a general mess spread about the motor. 60 miles from home in the dark. Decided to buy a few quarts of oil and hope for the best. Made it to my driveway before it really started to hemorrage.

I believe it is a case failure. I didn't split the case over the winter because all seemed fine there..in hindsight that was not a good decision. Perhaps if I had taken the case apart I would have seen evidence of impending doom. I think when I get it apart this week I will find a crack between the oil galley and the front main on the case, which in my experience is where these sort of heavy oil leaks come from if it isn't simply a blown donut on the oil cooler. Since I had poor oil pressure without the leakage before this development, I am inclinded to think it will turn out to be the more expensive repair.

This is the third car this motor has been in and the case has over 120K on it (over 80K pushing a baywindow around the SW in the summer), so if it needs replacing I can do it without feeling robbed, but I'm of course disappointed to have the car sidelined at a time I would like to be driving it instead. C'est la vie.

[wythac]

Motor is apart. Smoke was due to a broken top ring on #3, and the oil leak appears to have been coming from the doghouse cooler area, although I can't say I found the smoking gun there. The cooler itself pressure tests fine, o rings looked seated, don't see fractures in the cast piece that the cooler attaches to.

Unknown why that ring failed...they were new and the ring grooves were super clean. Im not going to gamble on this set of P&Ls again. Ordering some new ones from Berg along with new main, rod, and cam bearings today, and hopefully I can start stitching the motor back together next week.

[Dan_Lorenze]

Nice buggy...

[wythac]

Thanks. I like it a lot better when it runs. Ordered parts today. Local shop will pressure test the oil cooler for me to make sure it doesnt have a rupture.

[ElijahTurtle]

Great looking buggy. Shame about the engine failure though in the prime of good spring cruising weather.

[wythac]

Thanks. From the "glass half full" dept, having the breakdown now instead of later in the season when perhaps I had taken it farther afield from the shop may be a blessing in disguise. I'm also highly motivated by the improving weather to not dick around getting it back on the road, so a rebuild that I might take a month to do in the winter will take me less than a week once I get my parts.