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aquifer
Samba Member
Joined: August 30, 2021
Posts: 265
Location: Nebraska
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 Posted: Wed May 07, 2025 8:06 pm Post subject: Re: Aquifer's '67 Beetle Thread |
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I re-indexed the rear torsion bars today. When I first got the car, the rear end was sagging badly. The untensioned angle of the spring plates was about 17-18 degrees. Bentley says it should be 20.833 degrees for a 1500 equipped with an equalizer spring, which mine has. So I reindexed the torsion bars and put it all back together. I thought I was being smart by over compensating for “tired” torsion bars, but I ended up with about 3 degrees of positive camber. Oops.
Today I tore it back apart and re-indexed the spring plates to the recommended 20.833 degrees (20 degrees, 50 minutes). It ended up as close to spec as possible I think.
Here are some pictures of the finished product. I still need to get an alignment, but that’s on the list!
_________________
Parts needed:
Front & rear NOS or used OEM door panels for a '67 in the original Gazelle color (dark tan/light brown). |
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scrivyscriv
Samba Electrician
Joined: October 04, 2011
Posts: 3320
Location: Memphis
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| Posted: Wed May 07, 2025 8:44 pm Post subject: Re: Aquifer's '67 Beetle Thread |
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Looks good. It’s always easier the second time! 
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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. |
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desertrat57
Samba Member
Joined: May 09, 2025
Posts: 3
Location: CA
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| Posted: Fri May 09, 2025 5:10 pm Post subject: Re: Aquifer's '67 Beetle Thread |
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New to The Samba and am looking forward to learning more about my 1967 Beetle.
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House
Minutia Militia
Joined: June 13, 2001
Posts: 1896
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| Posted: Sat May 10, 2025 10:24 am Post subject: Re: Aquifer's '67 Beetle Thread |
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| desertrat57 wrote: |
| New to The Samba and am looking forward to learning more about my 1967 Beetle. |
Good looking car, but posting it in somebody else’s thread isn’t the best way to learn anything about it.
I would suggest reading this entire thread to start:
School me on the 1967 one year only stuff
Welcome to thesamba (if you ever see this) |
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aquifer
Samba Member
Joined: August 30, 2021
Posts: 265
Location: Nebraska
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| Posted: Sat May 10, 2025 11:23 am Post subject: Re: Aquifer's '67 Beetle Thread |
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I did this with the wire for the license plate light. It runs really close to the generator pulley as you know, and gets cut sometimes. Not sure why this occurred to me but it should keep the wire away from the pulley.
_________________
Parts needed:
Front & rear NOS or used OEM door panels for a '67 in the original Gazelle color (dark tan/light brown).
Last edited by aquifer on Sat May 10, 2025 12:06 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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aquifer
Samba Member
Joined: August 30, 2021
Posts: 265
Location: Nebraska
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| Posted: Sat May 10, 2025 11:41 am Post subject: Re: Aquifer's '67 Beetle Thread |
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I’ve been meaning to post these pictures as a suggestion for anyone who finds it helpful. I bought a new Bentley manual because my old one is tattered and greasy. I took the new Bentley to a professional print shop and had them cut off the spine, scan the whole book as a high quality PDF, and then 3 hole punch the pages.
I’m in the process of bookmarking all of the chapters and subsections in the PDF for quicker reference. I’ve used the PDF a few times to print a page so I can lay it there without caring if it gets greasy or ripped when I’m working on something.
I put it together in a binder and I really like it. I’ve added a few of my own odds & ends pages at the back - stuff I came across and wanted to keep for reference.
_________________
Parts needed:
Front & rear NOS or used OEM door panels for a '67 in the original Gazelle color (dark tan/light brown). |
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viiking
Samba Member
Joined: May 10, 2013
Posts: 3072
Location: Sydney Australia
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| Posted: Sat May 10, 2025 4:11 pm Post subject: Re: Aquifer's '67 Beetle Thread |
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Or DIY as I did back here....
4th Post
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...p;start=20
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1968 1500 RHD Lotus White Beetle since birth. In the hospital for major surgery
1966 Lancia Flavia Pininfarina Coupe - in the waiting room
Discharged: 1983 Vanagon, 1974 1800 Microbus,1968 Low Light,1968 Type 3 |
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scrivyscriv
Samba Electrician
Joined: October 04, 2011
Posts: 3320
Location: Memphis
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| Posted: Sat May 10, 2025 6:53 pm Post subject: Re: Aquifer's '67 Beetle Thread |
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| aquifer wrote: |
I’m in the process of bookmarking all of the chapters and subsections in the PDF for quicker reference. I’ve used the PDF a few times to print a page so I can lay it there without caring if it gets greasy or ripped when I’m working on something… |
Great idea! I had my green bus Bentley spiral bound at a shop years ago. The tech didn’t do a 100% job on it and the spiral binding went though the text on the margins in some places, so I was bummed about that. But the overall format was significantly easier to use as a mechanic. I really like the idea of scanning and printing soft copies. That’s what we do at the day job (well it’s night shift but whatever) with our manuals, print em and take them out to the job. I much prefer to throw out grubby paper vs leaving forever fingerprints on an important paragraph 
The binder format you did looks better than spiral bound to me.
_________________
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. |
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aquifer
Samba Member
Joined: August 30, 2021
Posts: 265
Location: Nebraska
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| Posted: Sun May 11, 2025 5:14 am Post subject: Re: Aquifer's '67 Beetle Thread |
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| scrivyscriv wrote: |
| aquifer wrote: |
I’m in the process of bookmarking all of the chapters and subsections in the PDF for quicker reference. I’ve used the PDF a few times to print a page so I can lay it there without caring if it gets greasy or ripped when I’m working on something… |
Great idea! I had my green bus Bentley spiral bound at a shop years ago. The tech didn’t do a 100% job on it and the spiral binding went though the text on the margins in some places, so I was bummed about that. But the overall format was significantly easier to use as a mechanic. I really like the idea of scanning and printing soft copies. That’s what we do at the day job (well it’s night shift but whatever) with our manuals, print em and take them out to the job. I much prefer to throw out grubby paper vs leaving forever fingerprints on an important paragraph
The binder format you did looks better than spiral bound to me. |
I thought about spiral binding, but I liked the idea of being able to replace a smudged or torn page by printing a new one from the PDF, so I went this route.
They make stiff plastic 8.5x11” three ring divider pages, which I inserted between each chapter. Makes it easier to flip to the chapter I need without stressing the holes in the pages themselves. If I do get grease on a page in the binder, I can just print a replacement from the PDF.
_________________
Parts needed:
Front & rear NOS or used OEM door panels for a '67 in the original Gazelle color (dark tan/light brown). |
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Bobs67vwagen
Samba Member
Joined: March 27, 2005
Posts: 23
Location: Eastern north carolina
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| Posted: Tue May 13, 2025 5:38 pm Post subject: Re: Aquifer's '67 Beetle Thread |
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| Great ideas from both of these methods. I have had my original Bentley manual for over 40 years and it has accumulated a few fingerprints over the years. |
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scrivyscriv
Samba Electrician
Joined: October 04, 2011
Posts: 3320
Location: Memphis
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| Posted: Mon May 26, 2025 2:41 pm Post subject: Re: Aquifer's '67 Beetle Thread |
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FYI… I tried the heat gun on my lobster claw plastic today. Can’t recommend it!
The pebbly surface texture gets soft and flows. It might work on a smooth plastic but you’re asking for trouble on anything with texture
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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. |
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aquifer
Samba Member
Joined: August 30, 2021
Posts: 265
Location: Nebraska
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| Posted: Tue May 27, 2025 6:47 pm Post subject: Re: Aquifer's '67 Beetle Thread |
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| scrivyscriv wrote: |
FYI… I tried the heat gun on my lobster claw plastic today. Can’t recommend it!
The pebbly surface texture gets soft and flows. It might work on a smooth plastic but you’re asking for trouble on anything with texture |
Good to know, thanks for the follow up. I haven’t gotten around to trying it yet, so I’ll most likely just leave them be. One thought: do you think actual fire would make any difference, vs heat from a heat gun? Probably not, but I might get a wild hair sometime and try it.
_________________
Parts needed:
Front & rear NOS or used OEM door panels for a '67 in the original Gazelle color (dark tan/light brown).
Last edited by aquifer on Tue May 27, 2025 7:06 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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aquifer
Samba Member
Joined: August 30, 2021
Posts: 265
Location: Nebraska
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| Posted: Tue May 27, 2025 7:04 pm Post subject: Re: Aquifer's '67 Beetle Thread |
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Here are a few more pictures. It’s running really good and I’ve been driving it around to give it some exercise.
Oil puddles under the crankcase breather tube led me to discover that the oil deflector at the base of the generator stand was missing. Turns out it was relatively painless to replace. Of course, I forgot to take a picture of the new one correctly installed, but oh well:
I installed the passenger and rear seats along with a reproduction parcel tray:
Here are a couple of pictures from a recent test drive. I’m going to leave these wheels on it for now. It came with them when I bought it, and I like them for some reason. I have OEM rims for when I want to return to stock.
_________________
Parts needed:
Front & rear NOS or used OEM door panels for a '67 in the original Gazelle color (dark tan/light brown). |
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