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Sun Jul 07, 2024 2:47 pm

Don, is it the same motor?

Mon Jul 08, 2024 10:13 am

Quote: Don, is it the same motor?

Yes, it is the same motor. She put up a hell of a fight but she is sweet as anything now. The latest is that I had to replace the intake due to a big hole in the heat riser. The good news is that it idles and runs noticeably smoother now.

The bad news is that the diaphragm clutch has got to go. Really hating on it now.

Don

Sun Aug 04, 2024 1:10 pm

Looking at the VIN of my car and the tables here in the Technical section and doing a little math and guesswork I have determined that today is the 70th birthday of my little car whom I call Betsy.

Happy birthday old girl!

Don

Mon Aug 05, 2024 9:18 pm

Happy Birthday!

Sat Oct 26, 2024 3:32 pm

The '54 report:

Betsy got some new parts!

Confession time. When I repaired the A pillars I did not brace them up and the whole front of the car dropped about a half centimeter causing the door bottoms to rub on the heater channels. Not much, just enough to take off the paint. Lesson learned. Anyways the door bottoms needed to be replaced due to hinge problems and rust so I bought Virtanen's ribbed door bottoms intending to do the job myself

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1453062

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1895664

But I could not figure out how to approach the problem so things sat on the shelf for over a year. In August I had a brainwave and took the car to a buddy of mine who has a body shop in his back yard and he agreed to tackle the door bottoms for me. This is a guy who only takes on projects that interest him so I was pretty stoked that he said yes. Well I got the car back today and am pleased beyond measure.

You can see the line where the new panel starts

Wow. That was worth every penny

Don

Sat Oct 26, 2024 3:53 pm

A diamond in the ruff!

Sat Oct 26, 2024 6:31 pm

Bodyline creases look really good, lined up nicely.

Sat Oct 26, 2024 10:32 pm

That came out great!

Did he cover it with aluminum tape?

Sun Oct 27, 2024 2:59 pm

Quote: Did he cover it with aluminum tape?

Not sure what you mean

Don

Sun Oct 27, 2024 11:10 pm

Maybe a reference to the foil-backed panel damping material inside the door :-k

Tue Oct 29, 2024 8:51 am

Anyways, further to the '54 report

I debated with myself for a while about replacing the door cards. They were pretty stained and worn out but sort of matched the body. However with the purchase of the type 3

I have decided to sell the beetle. To that end it was necessary to spend the money to get the door bottoms done and make new door cards.

Before:

Here we see the badly damaged hinge mount and my futile attempts to get things to line up. Replacement really was the only possibiliyt

After:

In order to repair the mistake I made with the lower hinges Peter had to drop the hinge about 1/4" to get the doors to fit. Also the hinge mounts in the doors were badly distorted from years of people (me) opening and closing the doors with seized hinges. Also also the door bottoms were rusted through so Peter took care of several problems at once and did a beautiful job. However! This raised the door bottoms by 1/4" so I was pretty worried the new door cards would not fit. OY!

So I was pretty happy with this:

I think that went well.

Don

Tue Oct 29, 2024 10:06 am

Also also also in the '54 report:

I was so disgusted with the LED flashing bulbs from CIP I splurged and bought a set from

https://www.classiccarleds.co.uk

https://www.classiccarleds.co.uk/products/6v-self-...amp;_v=1.0

They are worth every penny and the company is one of the best I have ever dealt with online. A completely great experience.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/P9xz6MuuNSE

Don

Tue Oct 29, 2024 9:59 pm

Busstom wrote: Maybe a reference to the foil-backed panel damping material inside the door :-k

Exactly!

Selling? What? Good for you! I will miss your updates. Good luck and I hope it sells quickly and for a higher price than what you set it at!

Tue Dec 17, 2024 9:34 pm

sunroof wrote: Of course the window rubber is aftermarket and not correct but it is all that is available so we have to make do. [/img]

Don

wondering what brand of rubber you used. Thanks

Sat Apr 12, 2025 7:18 pm

So my buddy Scott is restoring a '54 deluxe

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=797788

But it came with a set of standard wiper blades. As soon as I saw them I said I want those. So we made a swap and now I have these:

They will go perfect with my car

Super stoked

Don

Sun Apr 13, 2025 10:48 am

sunroof wrote: But it came with a set of standard wiper blades. As soon as I saw them I said I want those. So we made a swap and now I have these:

They will go perfect with my car

I may be mistaken but are those 59 up symmetrical wipers?

This ad looks like it has 3 driver side arms so you would have to bend one arm to make the correct angle for the passenger side.

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=2737433

Fri May 02, 2025 8:32 am

Quote: I may be mistaken but are those 59 up symmetrical wipers?

I think you are right. I could only use one arm, the other was the same and pointed in the wrong direction. Good spot.

Anyways I was cleaning my windshield and broke the third and last WW reproduction wiper base, those things really are shit. I took the opportunity to install my "new" wiper bases

I think I will have to paint the blades black to match.

Anyways, these NOS SWF wiper bases now go to Scott's '54.

A good swap, happy to get the black ones.

Don

Tue May 20, 2025 9:28 pm

Well rats, the generator pulley destroyed itself.

I ordered a new one from Kaefer-nostalgie. I just hope he didn't put it in the mail.

Don

Fri May 23, 2025 7:38 am

I bet I could model one of these shims in solidworks and send it to someone with a laser and cut a couple out in the same thickness as the pulley. Then find someone with a lathe to cut the center out of the pulley then find someone with a TIG to weld the new centers in. Hmm, I will have to look into that. The lathe and the solidworks are easy but the laser and the TIG might be a little more difficult.

Also my buddy Jay has a '57 that he has had since he was 15, I remember meeting him then and how proud he was of the car. Fast forward to today and he is now 53 which means he has had the car for, hmm, lets see, where's my calculator... 38, yes, 38 years. Anyways he is not good around a wrench so he has asked me to rebuild his carburetor

Happy to help. I quite enjoy rebuilding 28PCI. Anyways he called me in a panic the other night because his car wouldn't start, turns out it was a stuck needle valve (float valve) so time to rebuild.

Don

Fri May 23, 2025 10:54 am

There's always Send Cut send to laser cut your design.
I know how you folks up north feel about the US currently. Maybe there is a company there that can preform the same type service for you, without the tariff bullshit.
https://sendcutsend.com/?srsltid=AfmBOoqVLFpcu3wkerXzP5BKzaZK2IjBaVtzEF6qUwpcWaOrW7C1YwLE