What did you do to your Beetle this week?

[Digger89L]

Restored the windshield wiper assembly for my 66 Bahama Blue project car. Disassembled it a while back (after taking LOTS of photos so I'd remember how to put it back together!!) and then ordered some small replacement parts from Wolfsburg West: nylon bushings, some tiny c-clips, rubber grommets, etc. I soaked the parts (except for the motor, of course) in a vinegar / water solution for a couple of days to remove the rust; then wire-brushed them clean; primed them and then painted with semi-gloss Rustoleum black spraycan paint. The re-assembly went fairly smooth (thanks to the reference pics!!) ...only problem was with the 4 nylon bushings: they were VERY tight on the posts, so once I had pressed them into the connecting arms, I had to ream them out with an electric drill and small bit to get them to fit on the pivot mounting posts. I figured if they were too tight it would put undue strain on the 52 year old wiper motor. Now I see what guys charge so much for reconditioned assemblies: all told it took me about 5 hours to complete the work, plus parts costs (not including paint drying time) !!

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"If you can't fix it with pop rivets, crazy glue and duct tape, or hold it together with zip ties, velcro or magnets, it REALLY is broken."

[shano63]

Took it for an 80 mile run today. Perfect fall day
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63 T1 Ragtop Gulf Blue
08 Civic 5spd
22 Wrangler 6spd
78 F250 4x4 4spd

Chris

Take it as it comes-- Morrison

[79SuperVert]

Fall tune up. Oil change, valve adjustment, spark plug gapping and cleaning, belt check, dwell gap adjustment, distributor lube, fuel pump screen check, timing, brake adjustment, silly smile test drive.
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Central Jersey VW Society

Wanted: Art Collins VW (Savannah, Georgia) items - license plate surrounds and other items. Also ivory "AM", "FM" and "SW" buttons for a US Blaupunkt Frankfurt.

[67rustavenger]

Fixed my 67 backup lights. It was a bugger to see backing up in my driveway in the morning.

Then to celebrate. I took the car for a drive in the country.

Have a great week.
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I have learned over the years.
Cheap parts are gonna disappoint you.
Buy Once, Cry Once!

There's never enough time to do it right the first time. But there's always enough time to do it thrice.
GFY's Xevin and VW_Jimbo!

[scottyrocks]

Got the bug running properly after 4 months (weekends only) of searching for the problem.

Problem was the condenser, but I had installed the replacement incorrectly, replicating the problem with the first one.

Once I got that fixed, I reset the accelerator pump diaphragm, did an oil change, and now I'm all set for a few weeks of driving before it's put away before the snow.
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“If you care for a thing long enough, it takes on a life of its own, doesn't it? Mending old things, preserving them, looking after them – on some level there's no rational grounds for it.”
– D. Tartt, 'The Goldfinch'

[MeeferMadness]

Took my 59 and my beautiful wife out for lunch at DQ and a short drive. Gave the car its first oil change. Must have all of 50 miles on it now!!
BTW what is the easiest way to drain the oil from fan shroud mounted Fram filter on my Okrasa build)
Bruce
Oct 58 Capri Blue sunroof

[fjar226]

Did a brake job on all 4 wheels ,,changed out the wheel bearing on the front spindles .... things still mto do is install wiper assy, drop the ass 2 inches ,buy and install exhaust

[scottyrocks]

After getting 'er running last weekend, this week I had a starter system failure. Currently in the process of sorting it out.
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“If you care for a thing long enough, it takes on a life of its own, doesn't it? Mending old things, preserving them, looking after them – on some level there's no rational grounds for it.”
– D. Tartt, 'The Goldfinch'

[67_13Deluxe]

I gave it new front wheel bearings and grease seals. The weird thing is the driver side is popping my dust cap off. When I removed the drum my grease cap was off and the bearing was stuck on the spindle. I guess I better smooth that out.

[Mark.P]

I've finished biulding a third cave so I can start my vert resto project

Cave one now houses my 66 spit screen camper ( Gerry )

cave two & three now houses the new project 66 vert that need full resto

OOOOO and by the way this is my first ever post on here ... so hello everyone

IMG_1252.JPG

[REDKAFER]

Alternator issues were giving me a headache, so instead of trying to sort out the integrated regulator I scrapped that and went back to a generator. All sorted and ready to take on the winter. Also, all lights with the exception of the headlights are now LED... HUGE improvement. For anyone thinking about that upgrade, they sell DOT-style flashers that are actually tiny compys for use with LED turn signal lamps. WAY better than wiring in resistors to prevent hyper-flash...

[Digger89L]

[BarnFine]

[67ctbug]

Not mine, but a buddy’s, learned how to drive stick in a ‘67.
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'67 Beetle L41
'74 Westfalia
'69 Plymouth "Adam-12"
'63 Ragtop
'73 914
'72 Dodge Wrecker
Go Cubs!
World Series Champions 2016

[likestoparty]

I flat-dragged my '60 from Seattle to Dallas... Behind an '81 El Camino. This month is our 20th anniversary together, me and the Beetle. The Beetle did great, it is a previous veteran of a DC-to-Seattle crossing 7 years ago under its own power with zero breakdowns.

I made the towing lights the night before we left out of two Tupperware containers, a Harbor Freight trailer harness, a spare set of pre-62 Beetle tail light assemblies, and two Barbie doll heads as rubber bumpers on the roof.

The El Camino is actually a rarer GMC version badged as a Cabellero with the Amarillo package. I replaced the dumb standard shocks it came with with factory-correct air shocks that really helped with stability back there. My girlfriend and I traded her Honda Civic for it, and that started a murderous 3 months of me suddenly becoming an American car restorer. The right lower ball joint failed on us on our way home from acquiring it, 5 miles into owning it! You haven't lived until you find yourself suddenly grinding a layer of asphalt off of an elevated downtown Seattle waterfront viaduct at 50mph. I fixed that, only to find it devoid of coolant with breaches in both head gaskets. I tore the engine down and fixed THAT myself, too. Helluva introduction to water-cooled cars, man.

Anyway, there's too many little stories to tell here about the 5-day, 2700 mile journey to spin here now, but the most unbelievable was randomly running into my pals in the NYC ska band The Slackers from my days in The Pietasters, in the middle of NOWHERE California!

We made it! Only one pit-stop to replace a worn-out center link in the steering that made navigating through Tacoma, WA hair-raising.

And then I flew back to Seattle 3 days later to make the same trip in our 1980 Dodge TranStar RV, converted into a moving van filled with our belongings. 5400 miles of sheer terror this month!
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1960 Beetle - 1600SP - DC-to-Seattle Coast-to-Coast Veteran - Flat towed behind an El Camino Seattle-to-Dallas Dec. 2018. Daily Driven 50 miles every day.

[aam76]

Removed more of the old primer to reveal OG paint. Paprika red 1960 Vert.

[a.marscapone]

Fixed my driving/fog lights and replaced bulbs with LEDs

[kevzo1]

Refurbished the windshield washer switch on my 66

[Krink]

Bought it.

1962 Beryl Green. Needs some TLC and is going to get it.

[TonyB]

I put a Bosch Blue Coil and an EMPI distributor with centrifical advance and electronic ignition in this 1972 dual port 1600 and made sure it was working correctly

Then pulled the engine ...

And put it in my '62 Baja Ragtop

I've got dual carbs for it but am waiting for my headers/exhaust to show up before installing them