TheSamba.com :: View topic - 72 Vert Project-Continued

Mon Aug 01, 2011 11:20 pm

Thanks !
Glad to finally get the harness wrapped up and now moving onto the interior.
I've read mixed reviews on the TMI carpet so I went with the Sewfine kit. The pieces seem to fit well for the most part. Quality seems good & fairly easy to work with.
Sorry photos are not the best with a camera phone.

Tue Aug 02, 2011 11:17 am

4 evenings for wire harness sounds awesome. If i can get mine done in twice that time, i'll be happy. Congrats.

Tue Aug 02, 2011 11:31 am

To be honest it took some studying of the diagrams first. Plus I installed a Beetle harness in the past. Very similar.. Forgot to mention it took a 5th evening to route the dome light and hook up the horns. I thought they would only take an hour or two but I ended up having trouble routing the wires through the windshield frame plus the horn ground wire was not making contact at the signal cluster which took some truobleshooting to discover.

Sat Aug 06, 2011 6:18 am

Are you going to be ready for the Bug Out? Or Simple Transport? Ghias get in free this year.

Sat Aug 06, 2011 8:43 pm

Sept might be cutting it close. Needs tags. Still got to get the brakes to keep pressure & test them out. Added fluid to the system but havent bled them yet. Also need to order new seat covers & install but that is about all that remains the rest is basically minor details to wrap this thing up and get it on the road again.

Wed Aug 10, 2011 7:47 pm

I tried to do my own seats. Gave up quickly. Took them to a pro. $250 to do all 3 with my TMI covers. Came out great.

Sun Aug 14, 2011 8:57 pm

Thats seems reasonable. Ive re-covered Beetle seats with no problems so Im guessing they wont be too much different. Did you have to attach new string or did you leave the original padding? I took some photos of the string to help with the new install.

Mon Aug 15, 2011 12:48 pm

New padding. Nice soft foam. Found 16 broken springs on the drivers side. Ended up getting 2 more seats and building 2 good ones from 4. Blasted the frames and springs then painted them while I was at it. I am very happy with them, and the only flaws they have are because of me, not Warren who recovered them. They also sit a lot higher then before now that they are fixed.

Sun Aug 21, 2011 9:28 pm

Im looking forward to getting the seats put in. Had a little setback with the engine and had to yank it to replace the rear main seal. All back together but now noticed the Solex carb is leaking from the throttle arm. I have a spare Bocar which I'll probably rebuild & install for the time being while waiting get the Solex replaced or repaired.
Also has a 009 dizzy which I was planning on going back to a vacuum advance.

Thu Sep 01, 2011 4:30 pm

Progress has halted since Ive ran into a snag with an engine leak coming from where the engine meets the tranny. The engine was a rebuild and a new rear main seal (orange type) installed. After initially getting the engine installed and letting the engine run in the garage I noticed it started to leak near the rear main seal after a few days. Worse when running & after being shut off witht the engine still hot. I pulled the engine again since the engine builder offered to replace the rear main seal (which he did). Once reinstalled the same leak developed after a few days of letting the engine idle. The car has not been on the road yet with the rebuilt engine and it didnt appear to be coming from the transmission. Any suggestions on what you would do is appreciated ! Im not sure what else I can do to correct the problem. It looks like engine oil, but is it possible something is leaking from inside the the tranny bell housing around the shaft? The shaft area looked dry. but there was a puddle of oil on the bottom of the bell when the engine was pulled. Builder said endplay was adjusted and has now replaced the rear main seal twice. Not sure wha else could cause a leak in this area. I could run it as is and keep a watch on the oil lever but after this much work on the car it seems crazy to leave an issue like this go on. Thanks !

Thu Sep 01, 2011 6:13 pm

Pure speculation but the case halvesmay not be sealing where they are mated. Did the rebuilder use anything between them to seal them? How about the cam plug. Check there too.

Thu Sep 01, 2011 6:24 pm

Hey Sean,

Yeah I can see some type of orangish /red gunk that has pressed out between the halfves as it was tightened. Looks like the same stuff around the piston jugs. Thanks, I'll look into how to check the cam plug.

Thu Sep 01, 2011 8:46 pm

If your engine case was line-bored as part of the rebuild, that could be the cause of your leak. If not done carefully, the crankshaft bearing bores in the case wind up not being concentric with the recess that holds the seal. This results in the in the #1 crank journal being off-center in relation to the seal. If this offset is significant, it can allow oil to get by. If this is the situation, there's no fix...the case is junk. Line-boring will often result in low oil pressure as well. When rebuilding a VW motor, it's always best to start with a brand new case.

Thu Sep 01, 2011 8:58 pm

The builder sends his cases out for machining. I'll see if it involved being line bored. Thanks for sharing this info.

Fri Sep 02, 2011 10:35 am

your description seems like builder used silicone to seal the case halves, IMO not the best choice. A quick sniff test will tell you if the leak is from trans or engine oil, obvious different smells. I think rcooled is on the right track to your issue. :(

Fri Sep 02, 2011 2:59 pm

The builder replied today and said when he inspected the first main seal it did not appear to be leaking although he said it looked like it might not have fully seated. He does not think it is leaking from the main seal but would check with the person who did the machine work. The leak does not appear to be transmission fluid but is it possible a tranny would leak while idling stationary?
Would it hurt to drain the tranny fluid in order to help rule out leaking?
Smells like motor oil but builder doesnt seem to think the engine is leaking. :(
Not sure where to go from here...thanks !

Fri Sep 02, 2011 4:01 pm

what about the inner flywheel o ring seal? where the flywheel sits on the crank. could have been pinched upon installation?

Sat Sep 03, 2011 11:32 am

I'll ask if that was checked. Builder is thinking maybe the oil pump is too big and forcing oil through the seal. It had a heavy duty oil pump installed. It does seem to leak worse when idle is increased but I dont know if this is from oil thinning out from heat or extra pressure build up.
The builder offerered a refund minus $200 or to look at it and change out the pump at no charge.

Sat Sep 03, 2011 8:21 pm

72Ghia wrote: I'll ask if that was checked. Builder is thinking maybe the oil pump is too big and forcing oil through the seal. It had a heavy duty oil pump installed. It does seem to leak worse when idle is increased but I dont know if this is from oil thinning out from heat or extra pressure build up.
The builder offerered a refund minus $200 or to look at it and change out the pump at no charge.

I put a 30mm heavy duty oil pump in my car. Never been a problem. I'd take the refund and find a better engine.

Sat Sep 03, 2011 9:10 pm

How likely do you think would be to leak from a transaxle while idling at a stand still? Reason is the builder though it could be a bad trans seal.