TheSamba.com :: View topic - Digitalbill's official 73 Super rebuild thread.

Wed Jan 30, 2013 2:45 pm

Another update (and pix to follow soon).
A friend of my Fathers offered to help me with some welding so, tonight, we will start on that "new" fender that needs a little work done to it and, if all goes well, I will have it in primer by the weekend.

This metal guy has been doing this since the 50's and I have seen his work.
He has forgottn more then I will ever know but, I will try to gain as much knowlege from him as possible and, hopefully soon, I can do my own welding.

Thu Jan 31, 2013 6:49 am

All right...
Just a little update.
First, I wanted to post a few pictures from the car show on Jan 26th. I was specifically looking for Bugs so I could compare and see what was missing off of mine.
Here is a little bit of eye candy...

With all that said, I went over to "Pee Wee's" house.
He took a look at the fender and told me it would take him about 10 minutes to repair it.

He then informed me that he would strip the entire thing down and inspect it for further damage and make repairs. He is a very old school metal guy and, as a bonus, he told me I could come over and use his stuff. He has this one machine that bends tight corners. It is about 10 ft long and basically, you put the metal in it, clamp it down (sandwich it down) and then with another lever, you can bend it. I will use this to build the missing wood supports I am missing from my roof rack so, that is pretty exciting.

Mon Feb 11, 2013 6:44 am

No pictures today but, I pulled the old master cyl off and put the new one on.
The rear brake line came off without a hitch but the front one was a bit more stubborn.
It looks like the PO tried using a pair of plyers at one point and failed.
In addition, the front line was also rounded off at the "T" junction so, I had to remove the junction and the master with the line still attached.
Fortunitally, the local auto parts store had the correct size lines (I had to bend them) and, a pair of snips, a bench vice, a blow torch, some PB Blaster, and vice grips later and VICTORY!!!!!!

Mon Feb 11, 2013 9:28 am

Oh.. Something else I noticed...
My engine idles pretty high once it is warmed up.
I had the front end jacked up and I could not spin the drivers side front wheel. I figured it was simply stuck so I decided to take it for a spin around the block. It is only about a 1/4 mile drive but, once I pulled back up in the drive, the engine was spinning at what I could estimate was about 2200 RPM's.
It starts up just fine when cold.
Thoughts?

Mon Feb 11, 2013 10:18 am

Did you ever get the choke working poperly?
If you haven't, the bently manual and do a full tune up for a start.

Mon Feb 11, 2013 10:34 am

digitalbill wrote: Oh.. Something else I noticed...
My engine idles pretty high once it is warmed up.
I had the front end jacked up and I could not spin the drivers side front wheel. I figured it was simply stuck so I decided to take it for a spin around the block. It is only about a 1/4 mile drive but, once I pulled back up in the drive, the engine was spinning at what I could estimate was about 2200 RPM's.
It starts up just fine when cold.
Thoughts?

front driver issues- incorrect torque for wheel bearing, incorrect brake adjustment... please don't drive it to "free" it up, that is how stuff fails, find the root of the problem...even if it means tearing it all back down

now I can't seem to find what you have for an engine, and what carb and distributor you have, but at 2200 rpm idle means you should be able to clutch it and have it go to 10mph without touching the gas...which could mean an intake leak coupled with stuck choke or idle solenoid, either way a complete tune up should be kept in mind-it will make it easier to spot failings but not completely necessary

Mon Feb 11, 2013 10:57 am

75smith wrote: digitalbill wrote: Oh.. Something else I noticed...
My engine idles pretty high once it is warmed up.
I had the front end jacked up and I could not spin the drivers side front wheel. I figured it was simply stuck so I decided to take it for a spin around the block. It is only about a 1/4 mile drive but, once I pulled back up in the drive, the engine was spinning at what I could estimate was about 2200 RPM's.
It starts up just fine when cold.
Thoughts?

front driver issues- incorrect torque for wheel bearing, incorrect brake adjustment... please don't drive it to "free" it up, that is how stuff fails, find the root of the problem...even if it means tearing it all back down

now I can't seem to find what you have for an engine, and what carb and distributor you have, but at 2200 rpm idle means you should be able to clutch it and have it go to 10mph without touching the gas...which could mean an intake leak coupled with stuck choke or idle solenoid, either way a complete tune up should be kept in mind-it will make it easier to spot failings but not completely necessary
I suspect that the front brakes are simply in need of an adjustment. I was able to drive it onto the trailer back in late December without a problem however, it has not moved since then (until Saturday)
My car is a 73 with (from what I can tell) a bone stock 1600 duel port.
As someone else mentioned, I am pretty sure that my choke is not even hooked up as I have a green wire coming off of the dist and going to nowhere.
The driving was simply an after thought as I have given pretty much zero concentration to the engine and I have been focused on the brakes.

Mon Feb 18, 2013 2:22 pm

OK.. .got the master cyl bled, installed, and re-bled. I am 100% sure it is air free.
No leaks anywhere and, from what I can tell, the rest of the system has been bled (no air bubbled).
I pumped the brake pedal exactly 100 times and it never firmed up for me.
Suggestions?

Tue Feb 19, 2013 8:24 am

Well, I had to bite the bullet on this one and the car went to the shop on a flatbed this morning.
With gas hovering just below $4.00, I really need to get this thing on the road. (The Suburban is killing me).
So, it is at a trusted mechanic in Lake Worth right now and, hopefully, I will have wheel rolling by this weekend.

Wed Feb 20, 2013 1:41 pm

Well crap.... all the lines are bled and all the air is out but, the mechanic told me that all of the brakes are basically rusted. On two of the wheels, he could not even move the adjustment bolt.
(sigh) Looks like I am rebuilding all four corners.....

Wed Feb 27, 2013 11:52 am

So, it is still slow going but, I got my repaired fender back and I went ahead and mounted it just for a test fit.
Looks good!

It will look better once it is stripped and primered. I am pretty happy with the metal work that was done.

Wed Feb 27, 2013 5:56 pm

Keep truckin'. This isn't a race so go at your own pace. I know a guy who has been restoring his El Camino for 15 years or more. I'm trying to get my bug done in less than 1 year.

Thu Mar 14, 2013 7:58 am

Whew....

OK, the brakes finally frustrated me so, I towed the bug to a friends shop to have them bled properly. My friend is a pretty good mechanic but, with newer stuff.
His Father (the shop owner) used to be a VW mechanic back in Bulgeria in the 60's and, once he came to the United States, he continued his VW work until water cooled engines became the front runner.
He is now the owner of a Euro auto shop.
Anyway, I asked if he could give the car a once over for me.
The answer made me sad.

1: All the suspension is very old and, as a result, is junk (OK, I already knew that)

2: One of the piston heads is loose. The good news (I had a hard time understanding him) is that the bolts are "Streach" bolts and not the older style bolts. Again, I might have misunderstood him.

3: It needs a general tuneup. Plugs, wires, points.

If he does this, I am looking at around $800.00 bucks.
I will need to sleep on this.

Mon Mar 25, 2013 5:28 am

Well, the brakes are done and feel good. Because I am not happy with how it is running, I decided to tow it to the shop. To say that it was a tight fit on the lift is an understatement.

It looks like I will have enough room to drop the engine.

Mon Mar 25, 2013 9:53 am

heres my point of view/words of wisdom...
first of all...do a complete tune up with new
parts...points, wires, plugs...etc...rewire everything properly.
a car that dont run doesnt need brakes ;)
Also...change ALL the brake parts if u havent already...
paying special attention to the rear hoses under the car
that are convenient to skip....a new kit is only $100...
my brakes were all new too...from the 80s! none of it
worked properly...works excellent now.
make sure to ADJUST them before u BLEED them.
it doesnt work the other way.
while ur at it rebuild the whole front suspension...
youll b glad u did...other than removing the old ball joints,
its fairly simple....good luck z

Mon Mar 25, 2013 10:33 am

zimmyjim wrote: heres my point of view/words of wisdom...
first of all...do a complete tune up with new
parts...points, wires, plugs...etc...rewire everything properly.
a car that dont run doesnt need brakes ;)
Also...change ALL the brake parts if u havent already...
paying special attention to the rear hoses under the car
that are convenient to skip....a new kit is only $100...
my brakes were all new too...from the 80s! none of it
worked properly...works excellent now.
make sure to ADJUST them before u BLEED them.
it doesnt work the other way.
while ur at it rebuild the whole front suspension...
youll b glad u did...other than removing the old ball joints,
its fairly simple....good luck z
The brakes have been completed. All lines, cylenders, and a good bleeding. They are finally in good shape. I ordered new plugs, wires, points, and oil drain gasket a few hours ago. The suspension will need to wait until next pay day.

Mon Mar 25, 2013 8:28 pm

Woo hoo!!!!
My Bentley book came in the mail today!
Heads and shoulders over my Haynes.

Mon Mar 25, 2013 10:17 pm

Looks like you are getting close to taking it down the road under it's own power! The front ends are easy to work on, so one afternoon and you should be food to go there. As far as adjusting, do this--->

On the rear brakes, adjust the rear shoe adjuster until you cannot turn the wheel by hand.
Back that adjuster back of 4-5 clicks. NO MORE.
Now adjust the front shoe, the same way. They may drag a little bit, but that goes away the first time you step on the brakes.
Do the same on the other rear wheel.
On the front, adjust the lower shoe first. The same way as you did the rear.
Do not worry about a little drag on the shoes until you drive the car.
The shoes have to get centered back up in the drums. This happens the first time you apply the brakes.

This is what Russ shared with me, and it made my brake issues SOOOOO much easier.

Mon Apr 01, 2013 5:59 am

Well, this was a big weekend for the 73 super.
The brakes are good to go and it stops pretty solidly. No worse then an old Jeep CJ5 if I had to compare.
First, I drained the oil. It did smell burnt but, more concerning was the sludge. Granted, I did change it cold but, the sludge was pretty substantial on the pan and on the screen. I cleaned everything with Kerosene and wiped the bottom of the engine down. I filled it back up with 40 weight synthetic blend. Lets see if that helps at all.
Then, on to the plugs. I have never seen plugs with this much this much carbon build up.
Plug #4 (pass side, closest to the "rear" (bumper) had so much carbon that there wasn't even a gap anymore.
Plug #1 (drivers side closest to the firewall) was only finger tight. I put a socket and extension on it and turned it by hand.
I put new plugs and wires on it and, what a difference. All I need now are new tires and I am ROLLING!

Fri Apr 05, 2013 4:12 am

So, my voltage while running was low so, I put in a new regulator and that fixed it.
I still have an oil leak and it looks like the easiest thing to do is pull the engine top find/fix.
I am hoping it is the valve covers.
Anyway, there is a car show this weekend and I am going to try to get the fat chick there for it.