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Cusser
Samba Member
Joined: October 02, 2006
Posts: 32842
Location: Hot Arizona
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 Posted: Sat May 10, 2025 6:41 am Post subject: Re: What did you do to your Bug Today? |
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| Chinaclipper wrote: |
| Cusser wrote: |
| Today I replaced my Walmart Group 26R battery in my 1970, and started it up for the first time since the battery died 2 months ago. 4 years from a $69.95 battery with more CCA than Group 42, and at half the price - I'm satisfied, so I replaced it with another 26R. |
Nice.
Curious, I am assuming there is no difference in the height of the battery vs the group 42, ie, risking the ol' seat to battery short... |
Group 26R is 7.76 inches high. Group 42 is 7.1 inches high. I use a wide wood plank and a sheet of heavy plastic to prevent shorting out, just out of precaution, plus I don't have rear passengers.
_________________
1970 VW (owned since 1972) and 1971 VW Convertible (owned since 1976), second owner of each. The '71 now has the 1835 engine, swapped from the '70. Second owner of each. 1988 Mazda B2200 truck, 1998 Frontier, 2014 Yukon, 2004 Frontier King Cab. All manual transmission except for the Yukon. http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=335294 http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=335297 |
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osso12
Samba Member
Joined: April 04, 2010
Posts: 18
Location: Mesquite, TX
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| Posted: Sat May 10, 2025 6:20 pm Post subject: Re: What did you do to your Bug Today? |
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I have been in the process of plasti dippin my bug. Trying to bloody it out.
Ill post pics. The reason im doing this is because the car was freshly painted 5 yrs ago with cheap quality paint... in 5 yrs it went from gloss shiney red to flaking clear coat..... just trying to cover it up to keep it from rusting. It don't have to be pretty to have fun driving it. |
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AircooledBackcorner
Samba Member
Joined: November 22, 2017
Posts: 55
Location: the Netherlands
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slagathor
Samba Member
Joined: December 08, 2012
Posts: 258
Location: Oakland, CA
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| Posted: Sun May 18, 2025 4:13 pm Post subject: Re: What did you do to your Bug Today? |
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Picked up a standard 71, mfgr date 5/71. Now for the fun part of correcting the previous previous owners weird things he did, like took off the dog house oil cooler and fan shroud and replaced it with the oil cooler inside the fan shroud. Its an AH case and I'm pretty sure it came with dual port heads but he replaced them with single port. But theres no body damage, its got a lot of things on it like roof rack, aluminum running boards, empi 8 spokes and its already lowered. The engine is a little rough but it drives
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OldSchoolVW's 
Samba Member
Joined: July 03, 2020
Posts: 1321
Location: San Diego
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| Posted: Mon May 19, 2025 7:49 pm Post subject: Re: What did you do to your Bug Today? |
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Finished up a pedal cluster refresh with upgrades on my '69 (have already done this on my '63).
Installed a Big Boy Clutch Pedal Extender Kit and X-celerator Speed Wheel Kit from Classic Bug Parts.
https://www.classicbugparts.com
Also installed a brake pedal switch from Air Cooled Evolution to trigger the brake lights the moment the brake pedal starts to move forward.
https://www.aircooledevolution.com/product-page/pedal-activated-brake-light-switch
Though the pedal switch kit doesn't include a relay, I chose to wire it with one so the micro-switch and the 18 gauge wire supplied in the kit only need to deal with the very small amount of current needed to trigger the relay rather than carry the full current load for the lights. This will extend the life of the micro-switch and provide a more reliable current path to the bulbs.
Brake pedal micro-switch and the speed wheel accelerator.
The clutch pedal extender spacer moves the pedal ~ 3/4" ... which doesn't sound like much, but it makes a big difference. 
Pedal cluster with all upgrades. Note that the accelerator pedal that comes with the speed wheel kit is noticeably taller than the original pedal.
Fahrvergnügen!
_________________
Tom
"Following distance is proportional to IQ."
"If you don't do it this year, you'll be one year older when you do." Warren Miller
"Research is what I'm doing when I don't know what I'm doing." Wernher von Braun
'63 Beetle Sedan
'69 Beetle Sunroof
'70 Beetle Sedan
'73 Type 3 Fastback |
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Cusser
Samba Member
Joined: October 02, 2006
Posts: 32842
Location: Hot Arizona
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| Posted: Tue May 20, 2025 11:20 am Post subject: Re: What did you do to your Bug Today? |
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| slagathor wrote: |
| Picked up a standard 71, mfgr date 5/71. Now for the fun part of correcting the previous previous owners weird things he did, like took off the dog house oil cooler and fan shroud and replaced it with the oil cooler inside the fan shroud. Its an AH case and I'm pretty sure it came with dual port heads but he replaced them with single port. |
Sounds like he built a 1600cc single port engine from that AH engine and used the doghouse cooler and shroud and dual port intake and cylinder heads on a different engine.
_________________
1970 VW (owned since 1972) and 1971 VW Convertible (owned since 1976), second owner of each. The '71 now has the 1835 engine, swapped from the '70. Second owner of each. 1988 Mazda B2200 truck, 1998 Frontier, 2014 Yukon, 2004 Frontier King Cab. All manual transmission except for the Yukon. http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=335294 http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=335297 |
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slagathor
Samba Member
Joined: December 08, 2012
Posts: 258
Location: Oakland, CA
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| Posted: Tue May 20, 2025 1:43 pm Post subject: Re: What did you do to your Bug Today? |
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| Cusser wrote: |
| slagathor wrote: |
| Picked up a standard 71, mfgr date 5/71. Now for the fun part of correcting the previous previous owners weird things he did, like took off the dog house oil cooler and fan shroud and replaced it with the oil cooler inside the fan shroud. Its an AH case and I'm pretty sure it came with dual port heads but he replaced them with single port. |
Sounds like he built a 1600cc single port engine from that AH engine and used the doghouse cooler and shroud and dual port intake and cylinder heads on a different engine.
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Yep, pretty much what I'm figuring. |
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BIGMIKEY
Samba Member
Joined: September 24, 2007
Posts: 1131
Location: North East Pennsylvania
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| Posted: Fri May 23, 2025 2:25 pm Post subject: Re: What did you do to your Bug Today? |
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| OTTO 1303 wrote: |
| BIGMIKEY wrote: |
Do those seats sit you higher or lower? Same?
Mike T |
These seats are actually lower, but have an elevation adjustment which can be higher or lower than the original seat.
ROME is correct about how I did it.
I will document the process in the forum when I have some time. |
I see those adapters now that Rome pointed them out. Nice idea and nice job of fabrication. Some adapting was needed too when I put the seats in My 1973 Bug. I am tall and worked hard to put the seat as low as I could.
Mike T
2011 Honda Accord power leather seats.
_________________
BIGMIKEY
Deserter Series 1 project.
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=787047&highlight=
1973 Beetle Driver, Marina Blue. |
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Amsoiltek
Samba Member
Joined: May 03, 2022
Posts: 5
Location: California
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| Posted: Mon May 26, 2025 7:12 pm Post subject: Re: What did you do to your Bug Today? |
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| Well, this weekend I installed a clutch cable, thinking mine was stretched out but it turns out it's my clutch pressure plate that is worn. That's a project for another day. Installed a Accu-Fire on my dizzy. But still chasing down a problem with my left wheel dragging it's shoes. I have the adjusters backed all the way out, and I have my 1mm set on the master cylinder plunger. At this point, I think it's a bad wheel cylinder. |
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Cusser
Samba Member
Joined: October 02, 2006
Posts: 32842
Location: Hot Arizona
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| Posted: Tue May 27, 2025 7:45 am Post subject: Re: What did you do to your Bug Today? |
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| Amsoiltek wrote: |
| still chasing down a problem with my left wheel dragging it's shoes. I have the adjusters backed all the way out, and I have my 1mm set on the master cylinder plunger. At this point, I think it's a bad wheel cylinder. |
Or a bad rear brake flex line...
_________________
1970 VW (owned since 1972) and 1971 VW Convertible (owned since 1976), second owner of each. The '71 now has the 1835 engine, swapped from the '70. Second owner of each. 1988 Mazda B2200 truck, 1998 Frontier, 2014 Yukon, 2004 Frontier King Cab. All manual transmission except for the Yukon. http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=335294 http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=335297 |
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Amsoiltek
Samba Member
Joined: May 03, 2022
Posts: 5
Location: California
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| Posted: Tue May 27, 2025 8:51 am Post subject: Re: What did you do to your Bug Today? |
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| Cusser wrote: |
| Amsoiltek wrote: |
| still chasing down a problem with my left wheel dragging it's shoes. I have the adjusters backed all the way out, and I have my 1mm set on the master cylinder plunger. At this point, I think it's a bad wheel cylinder. |
Or a bad rear brake flex line... |
Welp, Cusser you might have called it, although it wasn't my rear but front brakes. This morning I was getting ready to head out, and the left flexihose sprung a leak. I opened up the wheel cylinder and found some gunk in it, all cleaned out now so I'm sure that was the cause of the drag. I'll pick up two new hoses on my way home from work today. |
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Ajros
Samba Member
Joined: December 08, 2023
Posts: 7
Location: Waterbury, Connecticut
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| Posted: Tue May 27, 2025 5:35 pm Post subject: Re: What did you do to your Bug Today? |
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Trip to the Southington Drive-in Car Show cut short... The bug was running a little rough, no power. pulled over, troubleshot a little bit - distributor cap was a little oxidized (?), sanded it, adjusted idle and volume; turned back round (scenic road), and came home to clean the cap better and tune the idle. 
_________________
1974 Super Beetle |
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Cusser
Samba Member
Joined: October 02, 2006
Posts: 32842
Location: Hot Arizona
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| Posted: Fri May 30, 2025 12:38 pm Post subject: Re: What did you do to your Bug Today? |
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I took off the driver door panel on my 1970 because the window was tough to roll up or down, and I didn't want to break anything. Then I cleaned and lubed everything on the window tracks, etc., and lubed the door hinges, so now good to go !
_________________
1970 VW (owned since 1972) and 1971 VW Convertible (owned since 1976), second owner of each. The '71 now has the 1835 engine, swapped from the '70. Second owner of each. 1988 Mazda B2200 truck, 1998 Frontier, 2014 Yukon, 2004 Frontier King Cab. All manual transmission except for the Yukon. http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=335294 http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=335297 |
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stagewex
Samba Member
Joined: November 17, 2021
Posts: 189
Location: New Rochelle, New York
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| Posted: Today 4:34 am Post subject: Re: What did you do to your Bug Today? |
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Actually yesterday. Swapped out the 52 year old ignition switch for a new replacement. I think I bought it from Wolfsburg West. I actually started this little project about a month ago but sadly the bug has been sitting in front of mynhouse with no steering wheel and the steering guts out all this time. Other projects. Anyway, after bundling all together the car would still not start, battery dead. Charger for about an hour and then roared (as much as a beetle engine can roar) back to life. We'll see if the new switch solves my interment starting issue. This was a relatively easy project but undoing all the stacked crap in the steering column was a bit intimidating. Especially getting it all back together.
Washed down and drove all day. Even up to Greenwich, Ct. for their Concours event. Running outstanding.
I did fix that droopy Dead sticker too, that was also easy, ha.
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