Field find 1954 Canadian custom

[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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[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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[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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[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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[tomsbuggered]

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

[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

[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!

[sunroof]

Time for a bath

Don
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[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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[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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[sunroof]

Ah sorry I missed you. Darn

Don
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[my56samba]

Great work on the car Don. I was at the Great Canadian show yesterday with my 54 ragtop and it was awesome that you drove your 54 half way across Canada to be here. It was cool to see your car in person and nice for you to bring home an award. I went back to your car a couple times hoping to find you but that didn’t work out. It was a really good turnout with lots of amazing VW’s to check out. Safe travels on your journey home.

Mark
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Dec 54 Ragtop Beetle
April 56 Baja Bug
June 56 23 Window Samba

[sunroof]

[oldzwit]

Pleased to meet you here in Vancouver at our Great Canadian VW show Don, glad the car was co-operative!

[Dan22]

Don, are you driving all the way from Winnipeg to Vancouver? That is a nice long haul.

And, what was the cause of your lifters getting stuck in your (other) motor? Maybe I missed that finding.
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1-0900722 die langsame grüne Schildkröte
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=765074

[sunroof]

Drove the 99 from Kamloops to Whistler. Most fun I ever had in a beetle. A very swoopy road.

Don
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[kintail]

Looking at home in the mountains!! Have fun at the show and a great trip!!
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Scott

August 1954 Beetle Canadian Deluxe

[sunroof]

Today I went over Roger's pass on my way to Vancouver

For the Great Canadian VW show this weekend.

Don
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[sunroof]

This gives me a little thrill:

It works as it should and it doesn't leak. When I put the original engine together the switch that came with it did not work, would not shut the light off. I installed the one from my spare engine and it worked for a year or so and then started leaking oil. I then bought a new one from CIP. Almost immediately it failed and wouldn't turn the light off at idle. Investigating it I found the terminal was loose, it started working properly but started leaking a lot. Now I have one dated 1 58 that, cross your fingers, works and doesn't leak.

Another bit of good news: I bought an NOS vacuum advance from Frederik

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=2333581

Installed it yesterday, really dresses up the engine bay

Ever since I built this car it has had a little flat spot off idle, that seems to be gone. A win I think.

On another note. I plan to go on a bit of a drive starting Sunday and I wanted 12 volts in the car to charge electronics while I drove. I had built an inverter years ago and turned my electronics shop upside down looking for it. Nowhere to be found, then I remembered....

It was still in the car, I had disconnected it but left it in place.

Connected it up and...

Sweet, this will work.

Don
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