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Mon Jul 10, 2017 7:46 am

That looks really nice? Is there a way for you to dim the taillight portion so it is not as bright as the Brake? You want a dimmer running light than brake.

Mon Jul 10, 2017 12:45 pm

i added a resistor in the tail light circuit, so it is actually a bit dimmer. you can kind of see the difference between the photos with the tail light circuit only and brake light circuit only. i might also add physical dividers between the tail light and brake light sections of the board to keep the brake light from bleeding over. not sure if its worth the effort or not...

Sun Jul 16, 2017 6:10 pm

More progress this weekend. Figured out how to mount tail light in a way that seems kinda factory and solid. Might tweak it a bit more in the future but it's good enough for now.

Here is the basic concept. Mounted the cone to a slightly trimmed ebrake.

This way the cone can ratchet up for access to distributor, fuel pump, and oil filler. Pushing the button releases the cone to normal driving condition.

Welded the ebrake to a modified stock type 3 center pull linkage tower. Made a bolt on bracket to fix the other end to the fan shroud. It's really stout. It all still comes apart too, but I might redo the bolt on side by the shroud to make service/disassembly easier.

And up

From the rear in the down position you can no longer see the plate. I'm going to leave the plate mounting locations in the bubble frame in place in case I ever decide to install a pair of tail lights rather than the single rocket tail light thing.
Had to make another bracket to relocate the plate for now.

New bracket

You can still access push button and engine timing markers from behind plate. Kinda hides some of the engine busyness which is good.

Also fitted the LED array to the tail light housing cone. Had to cut the original stop light housing all up. Cut out the back of the reflector, cut a hole in the back of the housing. Riveted new hinge between front and back of original housing. Wrapped outer lip of lens in electrical tape to replace original cork seal. Assembled the whole thing so it now looks like so.

Also welded a little tray in there to hold the flashing relay for the brake light. Complete with grounding location. You can see it in there.

Ran wires out to cone too, just have to complete the connections.

Mon Jul 17, 2017 3:26 am

I like the look of the new taillight setup!

One question though, If you hit the brakes quickly, will the tail light flip up? And then stay up due to the ratchet?

Maybe you have it locked down in position?

Mon Jul 17, 2017 5:02 am

Yes, if you look at the 3rd picture up from the bottom you can see that there is a pin at the rear of the light to look it in position. Detroit roads are terrible so was concerned about it ratcheting up from potholes.

Tue Jul 18, 2017 1:30 pm

finished wiring up the tail light yesterday. works pretty well now that the brake light spade connectors aren't touching...

Fri Jul 21, 2017 4:58 am

headlights wired up last night. one low beam didn't work until i twisted a fuse. must have bumped brake light fuse too because it stopped working. figured it all out this morning and drove to work.

Fri Jul 21, 2017 6:46 am

Did you drive the Bubble Boy car to work?

Please get a video! I would love to see a side view camera watching other cars looking at this awesome machine.

Kickin' butt!

Fri Jul 21, 2017 6:59 am

yea i drove it to work. bubble isn't installed right now though.

lots of gawkers but I'd have to have a pole to mount the camera to to see other peoples reactions from the side. way too far below their beltlines to see otherwise.

Thu Aug 17, 2017 7:46 am

entertaining my 6yr old neighbor.

size comparison next to my friend andy's miata.

top installed.

cruise to moped monday through downtown detroit a few days ago. Andy took some footage while riding his moped around, have to credit him for the picture.

lots of little details to sort out still, but its more or less complete now. I've trimmed the gasket for the bubble since the last picture. hinges for bubble still need some tweaking to be perfect, but I have it installed in 'safari mode' right now to maximize air flow. works pretty well actually. still need to sort out turnsignals. lost my homemade church key somehow so i made a new one out of a spare transmission hockey stick. had to pull apart engine tin on oil cooler side because cooler was apparently not tightened enough and I had a bit of a leak problem. Also had the accelerator cable slip out of the barrel adjuster while trying to impress the moped guys down on fort street, but it wasn't much trouble to fix and get home.

depending on whether i get a window in the rain today, I'm supposed to drive this thing out to ferndale to be featured on detroit public TV's coverage of the dream cruise.

Thu Aug 17, 2017 7:12 pm

your nuts... love it.. totally blown away by the outside thinking

Thu Aug 17, 2017 8:02 pm

vwjetboat wrote: your nuts... love it.. That doesn't sound so good. Did you mean "you're nuts"? That is a contraction of "you are nuts", abbreviating the "you are" to "you're" as opposed to saying "your nuts" referring to Neil's actual physical nuts. Perhaps you had it right the first time.
Anyways, some folks think that punctuation and spelling is of little consequence.
For me, I don't care to be misunderstood when referring to someone's nuts.

Thu Aug 17, 2017 8:08 pm

Jacks wrote: vwjetboat wrote: your nuts... love it.. That doesn't sound so good. Did you mean "you're nuts"? That is a contraction of "you are nuts", abbreviating the "you are" to "you're" as opposed to saying "your nuts" referring to Neil's actual physical nuts. Perhaps you had it right the first time.
Anyways, some folks think that punctuation and spelling is of little consequence.
For me, I don't care to be misunderstood when referring to someone's nuts.
I flunked english..

Fri Aug 18, 2017 5:30 am

So amazing!

What about windshield wipers?

Have an awesome week

Fri Aug 18, 2017 10:26 am

Excellent work.

Fri Aug 18, 2017 10:39 am

heywebonya wrote: What about windshield wipers?

Rain X.. and done.. :wink: (or lens wax in this case).

I have not turned on wipers in a VW in over 30 years.. .. hell.. not much in my other vehicles too..
It's great stuff.

Looking far out man.. 8)

That shot from the back in the city is killer..

.

.

Fri Aug 18, 2017 2:07 pm

want to really impress people ? add A/C

Fri Aug 18, 2017 2:23 pm

VOLKSWAGNUT wrote: heywebonya wrote: What about windshield wipers?

Rain X.. and done.. :wink: (or lens wax in this case).

I have not turned on wipers in a VW in over 30 years.. .. hell.. not much in my other vehicles too..
It's great stuff.

Looking far out man.. 8)

That shot from the back in the city is killer..

.

.
DO NOT apply Rain X to ANYTHING other than glass without testing in an inconspicuous spot or on a scrap of it first, it does not play well with acrylics & plastics.

That is so frickin awesome, glad to see you out & about in it!!!

Fri Aug 18, 2017 2:24 pm

TDCTDI wrote: VOLKSWAGNUT wrote: heywebonya wrote: What about windshield wipers?

Rain X.. and done.. :wink: (or lens wax in this case).

I have not turned on wipers in a VW in over 30 years.. .. hell.. not much in my other vehicles too..
It's great stuff.

Looking far out man.. 8)

That shot from the back in the city is killer..

.

.
DO NOT apply Rain X to ANYTHING other than glass without testing in an inconspicuous spot or on a scrap of it first, it does not play well with acrylics.
agreed .. and I think you can use one of those new wide wiper blades.. single.. they bend well to curves

Fri Aug 18, 2017 2:40 pm

TDCTDI wrote: VOLKSWAGNUT wrote: heywebonya wrote: What about windshield wipers?

Rain X.. and done.. :wink: (or lens wax in this case).

.
DO NOT apply Rain X to ANYTHING other than glass without testing in an inconspicuous spot or on a scrap of it first, it does not play well with acrylics & plastics.
!

I stated lens wax.. in this case.. ...

Yes.. one should always read directions.. and chemical cautions..

.