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Tue Jul 17, 2018 2:07 pm

Finished the valve covers. Cleaned the underneath. Adjusted the idle.

Sat Jul 21, 2018 7:57 am

Just got done with a 4 long year Restoration
1745cc 85.5 x 76mm

Sat Jul 21, 2018 9:22 am

Since I just signed up, I’m going to bend the rules of this thread and cover the last 72 hours.

Wednesday - bought my first bug - 1970 w/sunroof. Ordered new light switch.

Thursday - replaced distributor mount (because the distributor was loose) and took it for a spin. Decided that I might be running too rich because it runs nice and smooth at idle and under normal acceleration, but it gives me the occasional pop and stutter if I put the peddle to the floor. Still pulls pretty strong the entire time...it’s just making noises that I know it shouldn’t. I’ll check the plugs before I tamper with the carb though, and I’m open to any other recommendations.

Friday - looked at her longingly...

Today - started working on sunroof install. Had to stop to order missing/cracked pieces. I would drive over to JBugs but they aren’t open today.
So I’ll move on to installing door seals and a new blinker switch. Then I’ll center the bumpers and tighten the mounts.

Sat Jul 21, 2018 2:54 pm

Got it back from the mechanic two days ago, all new brakes and new tires, registered it today, drove it all around. Two or three months of working on it / having work done now its road worthy.

Sun Jul 22, 2018 5:40 am

Nothing so far. I have a ’68 and a ’72 convertible bug standing by, waiting for the thunder storms to roll through. Hanging garlic to dry instead.

One of three bushels, about 175 plants, need to be hung to dry.

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Sun Jul 22, 2018 4:50 pm

Installed rebuilt carburetor from VolkzBitz (Thanks, Tim! You rock!).

Old vs Rebuilt pic:

Engine bay with new carb, distributor, fuel pump, vacuum lines, fuel lines, a cleaned generator and a "clean" air filter (soon-to-be-project is to make it look pretty too):

Runs great!

Next major task is to find the oil leak and repair it.

Fahrvergnügen

Sun Jul 22, 2018 5:45 pm

Finally got around to cutting my pushrods to length. I'll put a video together of it later, but I used a $35 2" cutoff saw to keep them square and with a stop block they're the same length.

Saw: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B077G8ZKX3/

Installed them and the valve train looks great. The fatter heads on these Mantons made them a bit too long compared to my adjustable pushrod. But I had enough room in the geometry to stick another shim under the Scat 1.25 rocker assembly to keep things in line.

Sun Jul 22, 2018 5:57 pm

Ron G wrote: Just got done with a 4 long year Restoration
1745cc 85.5 x 76mm

Looking good! Congrats! For me, I went to Advance Auto yesterday to pick up a fan belt, and there were kids running a carwash. Most of the kids said "I like your bug" or similar. The last kid said "Gee, that car's seen better days." I said "so has your mom." Ok, I didn't really say that, but I thought it. Needless to say, your car is making mine jealous. The seats and steering wheel are great! Congratulations on the restoration.

Sun Jul 22, 2018 6:20 pm

Thank you slow bug for the nice comments, it was a fun project

Mon Jul 23, 2018 9:32 am

Not exactly something I have done yet, but more of prepping for work. Picked up an entire early 944NA rear end, front brakes and spindles, and a miss matched phone dials (15x6 and 16x8 both late offset) all for $300 and a bunch of driving yesterday. Think ima need new front rotors, pads, then I need to get my spindles and front hubs machined by Vdub engr and get proper swans for the e-brake, but all in all, not bad for a 4 wheel high performance disk conversion

Thu Jul 26, 2018 4:27 pm

I cleaned and painted the wheels for my 1973 project Bug. Massey Fergusson Gray tractor paint for the back and Rustoleum Wheel Steel for the front.

Mike T

Sat Jul 28, 2018 9:15 pm

Changed the oil. Tightened bolts. Took a drive.

Sun Jul 29, 2018 8:35 pm

Began steering system rebuild. Possible disc brake conversion.

Mon Jul 30, 2018 8:06 pm

I drove my 1971 Convertible top down to WalMart 2.5 miles away to pick up some groceries. During the 15 minutes I was in there, a huge "haboob" or monsoon dust storm developed, I jumped in and raced home in the dust storm and severe winds, but got home before the rain started.

So a first for everything...

Mon Jul 30, 2018 11:07 pm

Installed a new Mexican Bosch Generator on my 1983 Mexican Beetle (because the old one had really loud bearings after 200.000 Kilometers and yes I will rebuild the old one) with the engine in, after removing the deck lid it is all accessible. I disassembled everything a couple of weeks ago, cleaned it all up, fought rust on the engine tins, and reassembled it today.

Runs again.

Wed Aug 01, 2018 3:12 am

Hello from Tokyo Japan.
I am a beginner of air cooled beetle. I drove my lovely 74beetle 1200 STD along the shore!! Happy!!

Thanks

Seiya @seiyajapan.com

Thu Aug 02, 2018 9:07 am

I got a ton done yesterday. Got literally the entire front end out minus the gas tank and steering box (but those may come out soon, we will see). Found a few problems while I was at it. Turns out my front sway bar is flat out cracked (didn’t know that was possible tbh), my shocks are shot, couple of tie rod ends need to be replaced (just doing all of them though) and I have one perfectly fine ball joint while the rest are shot for some reason. Bit of a fun discovery was that the bottom of one of my front shocks was literally only held on by being seized to the mount as the nut and washer were long gone and I have one ball joint I can’t seem to loosen at all (though I did get a tip at how to get the nut off). The gunk built up was just nuts (about an hour was just cleaning off the nuts and bolts to even get at them), but over all it was some good work.

My initial plan was to go out yesterday and get new ball joints pressed in and buy tie rod ends, but needing new front shocks anyways, I decided to move up part of the project and drove up to Pasadena and picked up KYB soft ride gas shocks, front and rear 3/4" sway bars, and the ball joints and tie rod ends I needed.

Also, Im thinking about getting a build thread started since this is just kind of the beginning of my journey

Thu Aug 02, 2018 5:59 pm

seiyaTokyo wrote: Hello from Tokyo Japan.
I am a beginner of air cooled beetle. I drove my lovely 74beetle 1200 STD along the shore!! Happy!!

Thanks

Seiya @seiyajapan.com
Hi Seiya,

I always enjoy your movies. Nice camera angle on this one. Thank you for sharing!

Kris

Sun Aug 05, 2018 10:30 pm

In the last couple days I've installed a Retrosound Long Beach running 6.5" speakers in kick panels with tweeters on the dash and a single 10" sub behind the back seat powered by a JBL amp in the batter tray.

Took me a while to get the wiring correct but, sounds way better than the stock 4 inch speaker.

This has inspired me to work through the wiring and clean up the rats nest in the trunk from previous owners as my next project...

I also did a valve adjustment and an oil change today just to give some love to the motor amidst the realisation of the electrical work to come...

Tue Aug 07, 2018 7:46 pm

I went to the automatic carwash. And got soaked. My door seals and quarter glass seals need replaced. This never happens in the rain, but the high pressure wash is a different story I guess. The bug came out nice and clean though. I let the interior air dry in the garage. I have no carpet, so no big deal.