An Alaska NSYNCro build

[TomInAlaska]

[TomInAlaska]

Today was the day I do something about the box of brake parts I've been tripping over for a month.

Upacking the Small Car kit:

Stock brakes:

And throwing on the GoWesty cv protectors while I had things apart:

And done:

It all went together without a hitch. All the old bolts and line fittings and things came apart as easy as you please and the new stuff went into place smooth as butter. I was able to reach in to press the pedal to bleed by hand on the driver's side but mostly relied on gravity for the passenger. The pedal feels a tiny bit softer than before (might be better if I do a proper flush and bleed all the way around, the fluid in the reservoir looked like it had been in there a long time) but the stopping performance is massively improved! Definitely one of the better upgrades I've done so far.
_________________
'73 Super Beetle (formerly resto-mod/rally look with a healthy 1776, currently in another round of resto with a 1641)

'84 GL adventure van project [sold] (1.9L, 4speed) https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=755844&highlight=

'86 Syncro tintop (2.0L Eurospec/ABA engine swap) https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=800194&highlight=

[TomInAlaska]

Another work session, another seemingly unrelated issue pops up.

Yesterday I was finally able to set aside enough time on a nice day to get the stainless steel coolant pipes and new radiator hoses installed. I also flushed as much of the remaining coolant system as possible and got lots of old looking yellowish green coolant out of the radiator and heaters and engine. New pipes and hoses went back in without too much fuss and then came time to refill and try to get as much air as possible out. I used a combination of filling the pressure tank, then pressurizing it with the gowesty hand pump to push coolant into the system, then cracking the bleeder on the radiator to let the air out up there. The van was parked on a slight incline with the nose up for all this, by the way. Anyway, after I got about 3 gallons pushed in like that, I cranked the engine and let it idle to cycle the coolant and build pressure for further bleeding. This was going pretty well, maybe 20 minutes of idle time, until the engine got up to temperature per the gauge and then started running really rough. Idle speed dropped way down, misfiring like crazy, not immediately responding to throttle, then it would 'catch' and rev like normal then settle back into a normal idle for a minute then run rough again. It almost felt like it was running out of gas, but per the gauge and miles since fill-up, it has about half a tank. I checked as many electrical connections I could, including the fuel pump relay (which looks to be factory). Pulled the plugs and they look fantastic. Cap and rotor had a little crud on the contacts which I cleaned, but I've seen way worse. No loose hoses or any obvious sources of vacuum leaks, either.

Today I was back at it, and found it would crank and run fine for a couple of seconds then completely die. Like it ran out of gas. I am beginning to suspect the pump itself. Like the relay, it looks like it might be factory. I do have a spare pump I'll try tomorrow and see if that changes anything. But if anybody has any other ideas though, I'm all ears.
_________________
'73 Super Beetle (formerly resto-mod/rally look with a healthy 1776, currently in another round of resto with a 1641)

'84 GL adventure van project [sold] (1.9L, 4speed) https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=755844&highlight=

'86 Syncro tintop (2.0L Eurospec/ABA engine swap) https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=800194&highlight=

[TomInAlaska]

I'm fairly confident that's the factory fuel pump. I'm also cautiously optimistic that it's still in good working order and that the issues I was seeing were due to bad connections and/or dirt in the gas. I did pull a sample and saw a tiny amount of dirt or something.

Maybe the fact that I was idling the engine without moving let enough of whatever shmoo is in the tank to settle and get picked up by the pump and partially clogged it? In any case, I sprayed the intake and output of the pump with brake clean, sanded the contacts and very slightly squeezed the female spade wire ends to get a better connection, and put it back in place. It does seem to be running normally so I'll take it for a drive later today to see if how it acts. I will keep my spare pump and everything to swap it out in the van just in case.
_________________
'73 Super Beetle (formerly resto-mod/rally look with a healthy 1776, currently in another round of resto with a 1641)

'84 GL adventure van project [sold] (1.9L, 4speed) https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=755844&highlight=

'86 Syncro tintop (2.0L Eurospec/ABA engine swap) https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=800194&highlight=

[Sodo]

[TomInAlaska]

[TomInAlaska]

Just got back from a ~5 mile trip to West Marine for a handful of new hose clamps (the good kind without cutouts and with rolled edges) to replace the old ones I had to reuse on the coolant pipes to engine adapter pipe to ABA hose sections. They're holding, but better safe than sorry. Anywho, apart from a few sputters at the end of the driveway which I assume was a little air in the lines, it ran great. Hard to say for certain, but I feel like it idles smoother and maybe even makes a couple more horsepowers. More miles will tell if I actually fixed anything or not but so far so good.

I've also got a new fuel filter on order, but I've been toying with the idea of a spin-on type filter with water separation. Being a syncro, locations to put it are somewhat limited. Maybe high up in the wheel well? With a sheetmetal guard for rock protection?
_________________
'73 Super Beetle (formerly resto-mod/rally look with a healthy 1776, currently in another round of resto with a 1641)

'84 GL adventure van project [sold] (1.9L, 4speed) https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=755844&highlight=

'86 Syncro tintop (2.0L Eurospec/ABA engine swap) https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=800194&highlight=

[TomInAlaska]

Today I tackled rehabbing the sliding door with the rebuild kit from GW:

Apart from the cover panel that needed a generous application of WD40 along the rubber strip and soft face mallet, the only real problem was one of the bearings on the rear hinge mechanism. It was in very bad shape and fell apart when I tried to pry it off. I had to get a little creative to get the inner race off. I cut a part of a washer and a drift punch.

New bearings and nylon guide wheel installed:

The under the panel area cleaned up and track hit with a coat of bare-metal primer:

The rest went together without a hitch and now the door is noticeably smoother and quieter. Great success.
_________________
'73 Super Beetle (formerly resto-mod/rally look with a healthy 1776, currently in another round of resto with a 1641)

'84 GL adventure van project [sold] (1.9L, 4speed) https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=755844&highlight=

'86 Syncro tintop (2.0L Eurospec/ABA engine swap) https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=800194&highlight=