TheSamba.com :: View topic

Tue Jul 16, 2024 10:29 pm

I've watched your build over the past several years, and spent some time tonight catching up-looking good! I may have missed it, but does the number "13" have significance? I like that you have done this car yourself!

Thu Jul 18, 2024 2:10 pm

chicagovw wrote: I've watched your build over the past several years, and spent some time tonight catching up-looking good! I may have missed it, but does the number "13" have significance? I like that you have done this car yourself!

It's my wife's lucky number. Plus it's an ugly-fun number in a way, and, for me, this car has survived lots of bad luck in prior lives, so much of it was crushed and beat out in various collisions that were unearthed during the excavations. Somehow owning the weirdness like a badge of honor seemed right.

Thu Jul 18, 2024 3:33 pm

Very cool-my wife's lucky number too, which is why I asked.

Sat Aug 31, 2024 7:39 pm

Turned 5,000 miles today. Brought my spirit guide to the Geneva on the Lake Bug infestation and won a Top 24 Empi Lunchbox :D At an hour and a half in each direction, we got a good view of downtown Cleveland and the lap dog tested every possible seating position in a 72 Super Beetle, finally falling asleep in my lap..

Sat Aug 31, 2024 7:48 pm

Congratulations on the award. That’s what it’s about. Having fun with something you work hard on and getting to enjoy it.
Love the co pilot . Mine doesn’t take up much room . Whole 5 lbs .Lol

Sun Sep 01, 2024 3:52 am

Awesome! 8)

Tue Feb 18, 2025 10:54 am

Buggeee wrote:

Then I had submitted to the idea of a winter overlay under the huge tarp tent that my neighbors have all been gossiping to you about behind my back. :lol:

My Super Duper is missing the Bakelite Heater tubes that run into the body under the rear seat. I got some and they are in my basement. It takes a miracle or a pan separation to install them into the bug so I have lived with the California block off plates that probably went on when my bug was still in California.

AND THEN - I stumbled on this absolutely life changing, awesome thread in the Vanagon area about really inexpensive knock-offs of the gas heaters that normally cost more than my whole bug! I will link you to it here so you can debate and comment about the wholesome goodness or the life endangering recklessness of these heaters over there in that thread (not in my build thread please! Its messy enough over here already) https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=703569 All my info about where I got this thing, etc. is posted there.

I decided to try the diesel air heater and here's how it goes...

First, inspired from some other thread somewhere on the Samba, I went to Lowes or Home Depot and got some one-and-a-quarter inch pool hose to connect my heater channels to my defrost ports on the left and right side of my dash.

I used a bit of the hose and clamped it to my wife's vacuum (shhhhh) to clean out the mysteries from the dark place down in the corner of the trunk area. I used a pick to tear off the remainder of the paper hoses and free the wooden necklace beads and other weirdness that was blocking the heater channels, etc.

Then I wrapped some Gorilla Tape around the end of a tube to act as a stopper/gasket and worked it down into the darkness and into the top of the heater channel.

Here it is almost seated into the heater channel before the final push to snug it together.

That works.

Then I installed the knock-off diesel heater under the rear seat on the passenger side and plugged it into the heater channels where the y-pipes would have been coming from the Bakelite tubes (which are in my basement rather than my Super). I will simply drop a randomly organized pictograph explanation without a bunch of words as this is totally a DIY proposition on this nonsense right here. I got a little half-liter minibike gas tank and mounted that, along with a filter and the little diesel pump, next to the brake reservoir under the hood.

And here is the controller zip tied to one of the many holes in my dash, with fashionable masking tape blocking much of the cold air that comes through my un-gasketed front trunk area.

This works great!!! Say what you will amongst yourselves but with a heated cabin, I was able to get some Christmas shopping done in style!!!

Does the rear bench seat fit down correctly with that diesel heater hose crossing over to the heater channel? I may try this setup as well.

Tue Feb 18, 2025 5:22 pm

boxer74 wrote:
Does the rear bench seat fit down correctly with that diesel heater hose crossing over to the heater channel? I may try this setup as well.

That is a very good question. I was not able to drop the seat bottom in over top of what you see, because the seat frame has a bar that rests on the tunnel. I felt that there would be room enough between the seat spring and the tunnel if I fed the flexible tube up and through the seat, but never fully solved that puzzle. I just ended up feeding the drivers side only with an Elbow rather than both sides with the Tee seen in the picture. The seat fit fine over the heater and it worked well from my perspective in the driver's seat. I have heater boxes at this point but that diesel heater did serve me well that winter.

Thu Feb 20, 2025 7:43 am

Ooh nice!
Gotta have heat where I am too. Its -13 degrees
BTW, what did Santa give ya from Guitar Center?
I just picked up a new 338 "Firefly" guitar and it really rocks!
Take care my friend,
CC

Fri Apr 04, 2025 5:28 am

Spring has Sprung!

Here's me and my buddy getting our cars positioned for the annual indoor Piston Powered Autorama show. It's a huge 3-day indoor car show that my dad would bring me to as a kid and I would dream of one-day building a car for it. Think day camp for gear heads with food trucks, coffee stand and lots of cool cars and great people all weekend long.

The show was a lot of fun and Dr. Kopressor got a trophy! Dream come true for that little kid.

There was a herd of pinstripe artists making cool art for charity, like this one that the missus has approved for our living room :)

The artist that did that picture did my helmet too with gumball numbers, racing stripe and pinstripes, all handpainted during the show. The proceeds go to kids tuition for trade school.

It was an awesome way to start the season.

We've come a long way baby!!!

Fri Apr 04, 2025 5:36 am

Chinaclipper wrote: Ooh nice!
Gotta have heat where I am too. Its -13 degrees
BTW, what did Santa give ya from Guitar Center?
I just picked up a new 338 "Firefly" guitar and it really rocks!
Take care my friend,
CC

In this case I was the Santa (shhhhhh) and it was stuff for the kiddos. I should really get that axe out of the closet this summer and brush up on some rusty strings around a campfire or something.

Fri Apr 04, 2025 6:43 am

It's really nice seeing all the fun you are having with that car.

Fri Apr 04, 2025 9:22 am

Buggeee wrote: Spring has Sprung!

We've come a long way baby!!!

Amazing, one of my favorite builds!!

Sat May 03, 2025 6:22 am

If God is willing, a new engine is going in today! For fun I built a 1776 cc, W100 cam, bigger valve heads with HD springs and solid rockers with swivel foot adjusters. It's keeping the blower. 1 1/2" heater boxes and header, with a stinger. Braaaaaapppp! Lol

Sat May 03, 2025 6:46 am

Nice, Buggee! Um, whatcha doin' w/your "old" motor....? :wink:

Sat May 03, 2025 7:19 am

Ceezer wrote: I'm digging that stance! I know it's not typical for VW, but those pictures (with the hood & fenders) are just screaming for a hot rod flame lick!
Hit the nail on the head. Here you go. Lowered front end and rear, but with a rake. And good old hot rod flames.

Sat May 03, 2025 8:48 am

Hey there Candyflame73 thanks for posting. You know I love your build. 8)

Sat May 03, 2025 8:59 am

vamram wrote: Nice, Buggee! Um, whatcha doin' w/your "old" motor....? :wink:

Well for now it will be sitting here in Ohio as a backup for you if you ever throw a rod while traveling through on one of your transcontinental journeys!

I pulled it because it needed a main seal badly and one thing led to another. Hahaha.

Now that it's out I see I had crossthreaded one of the plugs when I was taking them out repeatedly to read the mixture when jetting the carburetor for the blower - so I'm lucky that didn't pop out on me! I'll pull the head, put a Timesert in that hole and generally just look it over. I've only got 6,000 miles on it so far.

I am working on 58 Panel Bus that's in the welding stage at the moment, and I think this will be a convenient thing to drop in it if you haven't called for help by then! Kidding aside, I really do admire your epic journeys.

Bug on!

Sat May 03, 2025 12:43 pm

Ah, not sure where my next epic journey will be. My mom passed away in March so the Miami trips will be seriously cut back as a result. The Midwest may finally be on the horizon.

Epic journeys are the thing if TDCTDI. Now HE puts some serious miles on his cars.

Sat May 03, 2025 2:52 pm

vamram wrote: Ah, not sure where my next epic journey will be. My mom passed away in March so the Miami trips will be seriously cut back as a result. The Midwest may finally be on the horizon.

Epic journeys are the thing if TDCTDI. Now HE puts some serious miles on his cars.

I'm so sorry to hear, Victor. My condolences.