Field find 1954 Canadian custom

[sunroof]

So today I drove from Vancouver to Revelstoke. I filled up with gas twice on the way, I have no gas gauge so I like to keep the top of the tank full for peace of mind.

I went 266 miles according to the odometer and used 27.84 liters of gas. This works out to 43 MPG Canadian or 36 MPG US or 6.5 L/100Km, more or less at ~100Km/H

I'm happy with that.

She is whistling along, and I mean that literally. I often look down and see I am going 70 MpH and back off to 65 but she seems happy to go 70.

Don
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Better and better mistakes!

[sunroof]

Once again up and over the Roger's pass, 1330 meters or 4322.5 feet.

Just had to stop for this one

Arrived home on the 26th after driving from Moose Jaw Saskatchewan to Winnipeg. A 14 hour day. It is completely amazing how comfortable the beetle is on the road. A bit of a sore butt but other than that no problems at all. I wore ear plugs the whole way to Cortes Island and back because it is LOUD in there.

She really wanted to run yesterday so I let her go. The speedometer said 70 miles per hour and I found myself having to rein her in even at that. She kept wanting to go 75.

A couple of things to say about the car herself. When I left home it did not leak a drop of oil. Now it is leaking from all over. Mostly the generator stand. I wish I had put a baffle in.

In Saskatoon she met her cousin Beatrix

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=604573&highlight=beatrix

I guess she felt ugly beside her beautiful cousin because she immediately started making trouble. There is now a problem with the clutch, when it is hot it shudders so hard I'm afraid it is going to break something. Out comes the motor I guess.

Once back in Manitoba I ran through a calibrator. On the TransCanada there are calibrators for your odometer. Of course they are in kilometers and Betsy is in miles but to the best of my figuring she is about 5% optimistic on miles. So the corrected total miles for the trip was 3723 miles.

Adding up all the gas stops the miles was 3580 and 412.9 liters. This comes to 39.5 miles per Canadian gallon or 32.8 miles per US gallon or 7.17 liters per 100Km.

Don
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Better and better mistakes!

[sunroof]

Time for a bath

Don
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Better and better mistakes!

[VW_Jimbo]

The old girl looks so much better! Nice job!
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Jimbo

There is never enough time to do it right the first time, but all the time necessary the second time!

[brass gears]

Wow. You took your beetle across the prairies and mountains to the Great Canadian VW show in Vancouver is astonishing. So good
Been following this build and your others. Good stuff.
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‘70 transporter
‘ 64 beetle

[Jimone]

man. what a trip! amazing. thats so cool. totally worth the new oil leaks.
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november 1952 ragtop
november 1954 single cab

[tomsbuggered]

Congratulations on your epic journey. Built to drive.
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June 1956 VW Oval Beetle

[sunroof]

Thanks guys. The trip was amazingly fun. I loved driving in the mountains as slow as I was, so much fun. The prairies were a bit of a trial but the car was so comfortable that Saskatchewan went by very quickly. I have made that drive in my TR6, my Toyota Matrix, Honda Fit but the 1954 beetle was the easiest most comfortable drive I have had in years. The TR6 particularly was a fight to get to BC from Winnipeg.

I am pretty sure I will do it again next year.

Don
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Better and better mistakes!

[sunroof]

You can skip right to 8:20

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-eMteRC-rI&t=9s

I have had that engine since 1979 and it has been in 6 different cars so far. I got it out of a '59 Canadian custom then I rebuilt it in 1989 and it went into a 1959 deluxe then back into another '59 Canadian custom. When that car got written off the engine spent a couple of years in a '57 deluxe then 13 years in a '59 Canadian custom sunroof and finally into this car. She flew back and forth over the mountains (OK maybe didn't fly UP the mountains) like a champion.

Don
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Better and better mistakes!

[sunroof]

Well there was one little flaw in my trip West: In Saskatoon the clutch developed a massive shudder to the point I was worried Betsy was going to break something. It was only when the engine was hot and I could manage it more or less sometimes by starting in 2nd. But it was a big damned nuisance for sure. Anyways I pulled the engine when I got back and discovered some sticky schmutz on the flywheel and friction disk.

Never seen anything like it before, no idea what it might be or where it came from. Well OK I bought that clutch from a VW dealership in 1990 when you could still do that kind of thing so it might be time for a replacement.

Splurged and bought the good stuff

Much like the motor this pressure plate has been in 5 cars and still works very nicely so back in it goes

Engine back in the car and on the ground took it for a drive, perfect once again.

These are the tools I used to replace the clutch:

also these two items

Also also I put wheels on the engine stand

When I see the work this guy does

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XToS92F6TqY

I think I better paint it.

Anyways job done.

Don
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Better and better mistakes!

[sunroof]

Rebuilt speedomoter as received from Kraut classic parts in April of 2022. It registers 53374 miles. Unknown if it had turned over but very likely as the engine had already been apart once when it spun rod bearing #1 in 1977 and took the car off the road for 45 years

Anyways a couple of days ago:

68000 miles. Lets see... a little math and we find 14626 miles put on in 3 years.

She's a driver.

Don
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Better and better mistakes!

[sunroof]

When I put the car together I put a lot of effort into keeping as stock as possible. Apart from radial tires I wanted the ride to be as close as I could make it to original, as it would have been new. Right away I noticed a short coming that VW moved later to rectify, that is that it needed a sway bar. Desperately.

In 1988 I bought a 1959 deluxe in capri blue that had a sway bar fitted. When it fell apart from rust I kept the sway bar and put it on my next car, a 1959 Canadian custom in mignonette green. When that car got written off in an accident I kept the sway bar and put it in my next car a 1957 deluxe in coral red. I took that car off the road a few years later and ended up selling it but I kept the sway bar to be mounted to my next car, a 1959 Canadian custom sunroof in fjord blau. I drove that car for 13 years but when I sold it the sway bar went with it. OK so this would mean I needed to find another sway bar. Which I did. Someone was parting out a '62 so I got the sway bar. Mounted it to the '54...ah so much better. Night and day better.

Fast forward now to August and I am careening down a mountain side in BC

Through the switchbacks I have all my weight against the brake pedal thrying to keep things under control. Wondering how my brakes are doing I begin to smell burning rubber, I downshift into 2nd and coast the rest of the way down on engine braking. There were a couple of moments getting on the brakes looking over the edge on diminishing radius turns when my heart was in my throat. OK time to do something about the brakes.

I got a set of '58 to '64 backing plates from a member here, Rust Patch, thank you very much.

Sand blasted them and realized they were different...

Painted them anyway, I'm sure they will work.

With the addition of some parts:

Now I just have to try and remember how they go together.

Don
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Better and better mistakes!

[sunroof]

OK that went really well

Super happy about that. Now to press the bearings in.

Don
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Better and better mistakes!

[Dan22]

Looking nice! They should work well. Interesting difference with the backing plates. The shoe contact surfaces are completely not there on the one.

Are you going to paint the drums?
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1-0900722 die langsame grüne Schildkröte
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=765074

[sunroof]

I couldn't find my tool for pressing in wheel bearings so I measured what I would need and went off to Princess Auto. It turns out 1 3/4" socket is just the thing.

Done

I slipt the drum over the backing plate and everything fit beautifully

If you recall I had a hard time getting the drums onto the brakes last time I did this even needing to reline some original shoes to even get the rear drums on. So the drums slipping easily over the shoes makes me happy. Now to get the old ones off the car.

Don
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Better and better mistakes!

[sunroof]

[VW_Jimbo]

Looking great! I am anxious to read of the improved braking. It is one of those thoughts that has been in the back of my mind. But I have to try out the OG brakes first! The experience has to be experienced!
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Jimbo

There is never enough time to do it right the first time, but all the time necessary the second time!

[Jacks]

The change is a significant difference. While you are there, add the later link pin sway bar. Attaches with zero modifications to original parts
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Jack Staggs
Actual name

[sunroof]

[Zwitterkafer]

[quote="sunroof"]