Scrivyscriv's 1967 java green sunroof sedan (stock)

[mukluk]

Congrats on getting things running again.

Other options when you don't have a shepherd's crook (or broke yours ) are to make a replacement from a piece of old brake line (flush out the line first), or just use a longer length of vacuum hose and loop it up through the clamp on the oil bath.
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1960 Ragtop w/Semaphores "Inga"

[scrivyscriv]

I don’t recall ever paying attention to the design of the crook, but since I plan on swapping all the ‘67 engine parts over to the stock single port waiting on back burner, I’d like to get the most year-correct type.

I’m only familiar with the hard-J crook, the type that looks more like a candy cane; however the wolfsburg west part is more noodley. Anyone know what type is year correct?
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Robert in Memphis
Dünkelgrügen 1967 Java Green bug thread
Engine rebuild thread
If you're ever in the Memphis area, you are welcome to stop by for advice and help.

[scrivyscriv]

The old bag just needs a good alignment and she’ll be ready for daily driver status!

I put it through the paces on a ten mile trip down the road, about seven miles of 55mph clear interstate and the rest around town stop-and-go in Millington. I flogged it on the way back, hitting a top speed of 69mph downhill - it’s very windy, and I should be able to hit 75 on a flat stretch with no headwind.

The timing and fuel problems are completely resolved. It feels like I remember my bus feeling when it was at its peak! It’s weird how you can “feel” a car working right or not.

My junk yard trip was fruitless this time - our 15-passenger van just decided to time out on the driver’s window regulator, and the one van they had was manual windows! Of course, no VWs to be found. I haven’t seen an aircooled in the Memphis area junk yards in about fifteen years.

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Robert in Memphis
Dünkelgrügen 1967 Java Green bug thread
Engine rebuild thread
If you're ever in the Memphis area, you are welcome to stop by for advice and help.

[mukluk]

[scrivyscriv]

Much obliged for that!

Here's my "backup" distributor. It's another stock VW 113905205K SVA. Stuff like this must just be low hanging fruit! I love rebuilding little parts like this, or the fuel pump, carburetor, steering box, etc. It's just so satisfying to restore old parts. I've already got it torn down, glass beaded, and the body dipped in alodine.
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Robert in Memphis
Dünkelgrügen 1967 Java Green bug thread
Engine rebuild thread
If you're ever in the Memphis area, you are welcome to stop by for advice and help.

[scrivyscriv]

After five years of owning this beetle I think I've figured out that I'm a bus guy all the way through

I gave up on my bus due to the amount of rust repair it needed, when I really just wanted to drive and maintain it. I reasoned a beetle is easier to do a good restoration and repairs on since the body comes off the chassis and parts are generally more available.. both are true, but there is just something about driving your own work station that a beetle just doesn't have!

But I am well aware that I will likely NEVER find another complete, original, and dry VW like this again in my price range, in my lifetime. I know I'd kick myself for years if I sold this old bag o' bones! She's proved herself enough on the short 20 mile trips around town that I'm ready to start driving her to work (night shift) once or twice a week, probably just on surface roads since the interstate loop drivers here are so disrespectful and in a hurry.

The "free tail lights" post muprhyslaw posted this week https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=802186 got me motivated to finish my tail lights, which so far have just been re-lamped and one lens replaced. They're all in really good shape with only very minor surface rust in a few spots!

After a few rounds of magic eraser, soapy wooder, and a finishing compound, the fender area is cleaner.

What's cooking?
VW casserole!

While I'm here, I reterminated the electrical connections with some standard AMP faston tin-plated brass terminals. This is what stock wiring terminals should look like, properly sized for the wire gauge and insulation thickness, and correctly crimped. The stripped end could be a little shorter. VW installed solid brass terminals, which are okay, but a plated brass connector is more corrosion resistant, with a very small additional cost.

I thought I already had all the seals and grommets in stock to reassemble the tails - nope, just the chrome bezel foamy seals! So I placed an order with Wolfsburg West, throwing in their gray front rubber floor mat for good measure.

I've been considering a small business venture for a while now: There is a small but real demand for a good quality headlight/forward harness assembly, and I think I've tracked down all the parts I need for a prototype. The assembly would include the right headlight individual harness and the left headlight harness with brake light and horn wiring, all sleeved as original using high quality, automotive-grade materials and not the commonly available ebay and FLAPS parts. I'll prototype my own harness first, since it is original and looks to have never been disturbed beyond me reterminating the fuse box ends.

If anyone is interested, I'm first going to make two; one for my own beetle, and another to send out to someone who's willing to give feedback and is ready to immediately install it. I won't be doing any business here in the topic; please PM me if interested. First come, first served
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Robert in Memphis
Dünkelgrügen 1967 Java Green bug thread
Engine rebuild thread
If you're ever in the Memphis area, you are welcome to stop by for advice and help.

[scrivyscriv]

And now, a gaggle of photos for the VW cadre:

Got the tail lights all wrapped up with the new Wolfsburg west rubbers! Their “multipurpose grommet” does fit the wire harness hole but it’s TIGHT.
Those seals and the taillight rubber aren’t fully punched out for the wires to go through. This handy hole punch makes clean holes! I bought it for hole punching the floor pan and it’s been a great doodad to have around.

I had county jury duty today. After we were dismissed, I went home and swapped out for the beetle to drop a FedEx package off in Millington.

Two oldies!

And the new gray floor mat is pretty good. When they get the rear mat back in stock I’ll order it too!

It’s quite satisfying to slowly piece things together.

A problem I noticed that seems to be fairly common to other beetles is hard starting when the engine is hot. I have to pump the accelerator several times and hold it down for the engine to fire. It DOES start. But it takes several seconds longer than it should.
And of course, I found fuel dripping from both sides of the throttle shaft after shutdown. I think those two problems are related.

Lastly, I made my second ever gas fill up, bringing my MPG to a surly 15.8mpg! That includes numerous fuel line disconnects, parts swapping, idling, revving and downshifting for ring seating, etc. I’m hopeful the number will come up!
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Robert in Memphis
Dünkelgrügen 1967 Java Green bug thread
Engine rebuild thread
If you're ever in the Memphis area, you are welcome to stop by for advice and help.

[diablosandwich]

Looking good!
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1966 Java Greens

[richparker]

The hot start issue is common. I’ve been told this happens because of heat soak, the heat boils fuel in the bowl. This happens to me all the time, often referred to as being loaded up. If you gotta keep your foot in the pedal, not pumping, it’ll start faster.
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’71 Westy build
Adventure thread
’65 Deluxe Build

[scrivyscriv]

Thanks y’all.
I topic searched a bit and decided to shim the needle out. It had a 1mm washer, which put my fuel level dead nuts spec. I stacked a .5mm under it to lower the bowl fuel a touch.
Hopefully it doesn’t affect drivability! I’ll plan on taking it for a run this week on my off days, interstate and back roads, and any deficiencies should be evident.



Link

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Robert in Memphis
Dünkelgrügen 1967 Java Green bug thread
Engine rebuild thread
If you're ever in the Memphis area, you are welcome to stop by for advice and help.

[richparker]

Don’t pump it, just hold it to the floor while you’re cranking it. After it starts give it a few extended high revs. That’ll “clear it out” from being “loaded up.” if not, it’ll just start like I did on you in the video. Happens to me all the time.
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’71 Westy build
Adventure thread
’65 Deluxe Build

[House]

Even VW agrees, check the first paragraph here:

Not to be pesky, but to save you some agony in the future, I would take all that heavy crap off your key ring… It will wear out your switch in a hurry. If you care.
Car is looking great, keep at it!

[scrivyscriv]

Thanks y’all. I’m glad it’s not just me.

On a bummer note, I emailed Wolfsburg west to ask if they had an ETA on restocking their rear gray floor mats, and got some bad news. Brian said they don’t have an ETA and are searching for a manufacturer.

That means we can expect them to double in price and be out of stock for at least a year! I should have asked before I ordered. I still need the rear mat and it looks like black is the only available option at present.
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Robert in Memphis
Dünkelgrügen 1967 Java Green bug thread
Engine rebuild thread
If you're ever in the Memphis area, you are welcome to stop by for advice and help.

[scrivyscriv]

When I have available time to do more on old Dünkelgrügen, I try to take full advantage!

Having adjusted the choke and float height, and learning the correct technique for starting a hot engine, driving is pleasant - I’m able to focus on fine tuning by the sound and feel of everything as I drive, instead of worrying about if the engine is going to leave me in a parking lot. This is the part I enjoy the most: shakedown!

We made a trip to the chiropractor and stopped for some Mother’s Day stuff (don’t forget it’s this Sunday!). This is my 4-year-old. I was welding in floor pans when she was born, if I recall!

Later, I put the old tärtenwagën up on jackstands to tighten up the steering. I left the worm adjustment looser than it should be and the resulting steering was loosey goosey. I got 1.25 turns on the worm screw, with snug steering feel and good response. The wheel still has a small amount of radial play.
Brakes all needed two clicks tight on each adjuster. The pedal came right back up with that, evidence of the shoes wearing in okay. Now a lot of guys talk about stopping power with discs versus drums, but I’m here to tell you, I locked my front tires up this week on a careless driver making a left across three lanes of traffic. It’s not about how quickly the wheel stops spinning. It’s about how much weight is ON the wheels to transfer inertia. Those not-even-well-adjusted drums squealed the tires before I even realized how hard I was on the pedal! I don’t think, at this point, discs would help with stopping; extra weight in the frunk would be a better investment.
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Robert in Memphis
Dünkelgrügen 1967 Java Green bug thread
Engine rebuild thread
If you're ever in the Memphis area, you are welcome to stop by for advice and help.

[Zundfolge1432]

Nice job wonder how it would look after using compound and polish on that paint. I got an unrelated question but is the N number still visible on that Boeing 727-100 looks like former Fed Ex but it dates back to same time period your green VW was made, maybe earlier. Early 727s are called shorties because later model got 10 more feet added in front of wing and behind designated 200 series. With the N number it’s possible to trace that planes history back to new and who bought it and all owners up to present. No interest to anyone except airline geeks like me.

[scrivyscriv]

They took all the markings off, however I managed to find it on an aircraft donation map. It looks like n144fe, finished September 6, 1966 and delivered to Pan Am on October 7! So it’s within 3 months of my VW production date.

Side note. FedEx reassigns all of its old N numbers. So there are brand new 767s flying around with tail numbers that are from retired 727s.
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Robert in Memphis
Dünkelgrügen 1967 Java Green bug thread
Engine rebuild thread
If you're ever in the Memphis area, you are welcome to stop by for advice and help.

[scrivyscriv]

In preparation for my new seatbelts I ordered this week, the old seats and seat belts came out for a quick cleanup. It's surprising the amount of dirt and junk that collects in here! Most of it is horsehair fibers and dust.

I installed a Hummer lap belt in the back a while ago. It was never a good fit. The retractor was really bulky and interfered with the seat bottom going into place and I only found out after buying it that the belt doesn't retract and latch when you're using it! The retract mechanism is only to store the belt. You have to tighten the belt up every time you use it, just like a plain lap belt.

There's some rust in the bottom corners and on the luggage shelf that needs to be addressed. My 3M 08323 seam sealer showed up today to replace the brittle and crumbling factory VW sealer. It's supposed to be applied over a 2k sealer or topcoat, which means all the rust has to be removed and the bare metal will get sealed with my Summit Racing 2k gray epoxy primer. It's good stuff!

I used to work in aircraft fuel tanks years ago.. every rivet, bolt, screw, seam, and joint is sealed with special fuel-resistant sealants. When the tanks leak, I'd locate the leak inside, scrape back the old sealant until I found good dry metal, and reapply new sealant. It was not a fantastic job and I'm only now finding out some of the occupational hazards that happen with exposure to Jet-A, MEK, acetone, and the myriad other activators and parts of the sealant.
But! I gained a lot of experience that is relevant to the task at hand tonight.

Unfortunately as rust usually goes there was more to the eye once I started lifting up the chunks of VW sealer. The left corner at the heater channel has some significant problems that urgently need to be addressed

Most of the metal is intact, except for a small approx 3" section of the luggage tray lower crossmember. The design of this intersection puts multiple pieces of metal sandwiching into the corner of the wheel well without any seam sealer or other adhesive between the layers to stop capillary action. Any moisture thrown up by the tire sprays directly on this corner and the rust cell is hard to stop once it's going. I have a plan... but we're not going to be cutting and welding just yet.

The other side looks pretty good. There's corrosion, and more was under the seam sealer, but it's intact.

The factory paint is still solid in a lot of places so I hate to remove it. I just can't think of any other way to attack this area though, it needs epoxy and seam sealer to stop the rust from spreading as I put more miles on the car.
The best I can come up with is to wire wheel the majority of the lower package tray, abrade it with scotchbrite rolocs, and prep with phosphoric acid wash to dry up the pits I can't reach prior to epoxy. Spraying paint isn't an option at this stage, so although I don't prefer it, I'll have to brush on the epoxy wherever I expose bare metal.
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Robert in Memphis
Dünkelgrügen 1967 Java Green bug thread
Engine rebuild thread
If you're ever in the Memphis area, you are welcome to stop by for advice and help.

[aquifer]

The process never ends! But that’s what I like about projects like this.

I noticed your front seat belts laying there, and I see that the plastic looks like mine, which is to say faded and dry. A friend of mine told me I could use a butane torch and heat up the plastic and it would restore the original color pretty well. He wasn’t sure if it would work on such old plastic, but he had done it on a newer piece that was severely sun faded, and it completely restored the plastic. I found YouTube videos showing how it’s done, and of course I believe everything I see online so I’m sure it would work. /s

Anyway, I’m tempted to try it on an inconspicuous spot to see what happens. You can try it first on yours and let me know how it goes.

Are those OEM gazelle-colored kick panels I’m seeing??
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Parts needed:
Front & rear NOS or used OEM door panels for a '67 in the original Gazelle color (dark tan/light brown).
Also looking for used white headliner pieces, both perforated and non-perforated.

[sportin-wood]

[scrivyscriv]