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jim928 Samba Member
Joined: November 27, 2006 Posts: 37 Location: New Jersey
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Posted: Tue Dec 05, 2006 9:51 pm Post subject: |
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In my first vw, a 68 bug, I had a light switch for the coil and a doorbell for the starter, a guitar string to patch the accelerator cable, and a pair of vise grips for a window crank and a trunk pull. |
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stupidsongs2 Samba Member
Joined: October 25, 2006 Posts: 550
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Posted: Sun May 27, 2007 11:45 am Post subject: |
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After a night of heavy drinking (I was moving my car so a sober friend could get to his and drive us around) I had the accelerator cable of my XJ6 short out on the battery, starting a small electrical fire and melting the plastic coating inside the cable.
So we put out the fire only to find that the cable won’t move at all. The solution? A piece of extension cord tried to end of the cable and then threaded through the moon roof.
It worked great; I drove it for a week like that till the new cable came in the mail. |
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TRN9 Samba Member
Joined: September 29, 2006 Posts: 308 Location: Where its rainy
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Posted: Sun May 27, 2007 9:38 pm Post subject: |
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The worst home repair to a vw bus was done by myself. I installed a GEX Motor!!!! |
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1967250s Samba Member
Joined: May 02, 2007 Posts: 2137
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Posted: Wed Nov 12, 2008 9:27 pm Post subject: The fix |
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HAHAHAHAHA! I have to restart this thread, so funny. I think everyone has a throttle cable story.Brazilian clutch cable broke, now u-clamped to old threaded end, carry extra cables of everything now. My 72 Bus has had the whole gamut. repairs in the middle of the night, in the snow and rain. I made one trip to the Grand Canyon, no heat, 1200 miles, not starting with the key, had to crawl under and cross the terminals on the starter, then the battery died! Then it started leaking oil from the main seal! REpairs finally at end of the trip in the parking lot, thanks to lots of space I always carry a floor jack( and lots of tools). Past year has had the windshield busted at a bar, luckily had a spare but could not get a seal so it's taped in with heavy metal foil tape. Doesn't leak anymore! And of course, wood under the floor and battery, easy to replace! No concrete, though, that was great. And the front left chassis so rusted I had to put angle iron in so I had a clutch and steering, now it's at the shop all being replaced, can't let that happen anymore--Peace! |
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old dirty Samba Member
Joined: January 30, 2009 Posts: 56 Location: Annapolis, MD
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Posted: Fri Jan 01, 2010 11:07 pm Post subject: |
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I love reading these kinds of "whatever keeps it moving along" stories. I don't have any really good ones,... except:
Fiberglassed a rocker panel on a K5 Blazer, filled holes with insulation foam and bondo'd over them, cranked the starter with my dune buggy in gear to get it off the road so I could clean the points with a matchbook, installed a replacement floorpan with rivets and high strength marine adhesive because I didn't have a welder, plugged a tire with a larger screw than had punctured it that I slathered with the same marine adhesive, painted over rust, painted over dirt, held an aftermarket radio in place with a piece of rubber hose and duct tape (in a friend's car and she would have never known because it was behind the dash trim), created a 1.5 inch stack of washers to use the only too-long bolt I could find, epoxied stolen road sign parts over holes to stop leaks, punched holes through floorboards with a nail to let water drain out when previously mentioned road signs were ineffective, secured sliding seat tracks with coat hangers, and used a beer can to fix a clutch cable.
I hope all my confessions resurrect this thread, I can't wait for more inspiration.
Disclaimer: for each transgression listed above, hundreds of legitimate, by-the-book repairs have been performed to bicycles, vehicles, and boats for several years. |
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greenbus pilot Samba Member
Joined: March 14, 2008 Posts: 1285 Location: Wisconsin: Rustbelt, USA baby!!
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Posted: Sat Jan 02, 2010 12:28 am Post subject: |
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Well, I had just brought home my first Bus, a '73. It had two different rear intake vents on it(the original '73 on one side and an older, smaller one on the other side. I guess the "body shop" that fixed it had no better ideas, and no proper panel to harvest. Looked pretty dumb if you saw both sides. But , while busting out the inevitable rotten rocker panel to assess damage, it was stuffed full of seeds of some kind( no, not that kind....) to hold its shape while the mud dried. Lots of work to fix that. Also, it being a '73, of course, someone stuck a lowly ( and tired) type 1 engine in it, but I knew that had to go as soon as i got it home.
Thats my story and I'm sticking to it. _________________ Sent from a white van down the street. |
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drumming123 Samba Member
Joined: April 04, 2004 Posts: 723 Location: Merced, California
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Posted: Sat Jan 02, 2010 1:15 am Post subject: |
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a friend wanted to shave his door handles off of his bug, so being drunk, we welded coffee can clippings into the handle grooves, then lathered it up with caulking as smooth as we find in the garage, the $1 can from walmart. looked good from 10 feet away. we were done in less than half an hour |
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WestyPop Samba Member
Joined: February 08, 2005 Posts: 1732 Location: SoCal
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Posted: Sat Jan 02, 2010 3:23 am Post subject: |
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For temporary band-aid treatment of rust holes through front floor of a bay: wire brush top & bottom, cover both sides with duct tape, press firmly, spray rubberized undercoating on the bottom, and just put the rubber mat back down on top! It's totally amazing (and embarrassing) how long this even-lower-than-ghetto approach will last!
Out to do a second & final inspection of a "near-perfect 1971 d.c." I was buying for a friend, I went during the day. Oops... inpection of i.d. plates said it was a 1968 model, and the front end that had looked quite reasonable at night was found to be 30% rusted out, but stuffed with newspaper backed by sanded-down spray-foam, then skim-coated with body filler before painting. The seller was as amazed as I was, because he'd bought it that way and merely concentrated on quickly building a nice DP 1776 motor for it, never really investigating the body or cosmetics of this newly-painted bay. He settled for less than half of what he'd been asking... fair enough. It eventually got all the front end cancer replaced with good metal; OTOH it still runs great to this day!
non-Vdub Oops: A college friend had sent his 50s Ford coupe to a buddy who did bodywork & painting at home, to have the hood & deck shaved, all bodywork done right (steel & lead), and a metallic charcoal paint job applied. It came back looking very good, but about a year later, when my friend nailed a pothole in the road, from out of the hood where the large factory chrome ornament had previously been mounted, dropped a 3-inch thick blob of hardened bondo. He hadn't even checked the underside of the hood before that revelation! _________________ Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.
______________________________________
J.R.
68 Westy
(+ others) |
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Blaubus Samba Member
Joined: October 25, 2003 Posts: 5153
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Posted: Sat Jan 02, 2010 10:19 am Post subject: |
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GregR wrote: |
I bought this . . .
and found this.
Perfect. |
aircooledguy wrote: |
TeamSpatula wrote: |
WOW!!! Was that in California? I've never seen rust so bad in that area of a bus before...yikes... |
Yup - That bus was first sold and always lived in CA. My best guess is that it spent a bunch of time parked, gathering leaves and crud in the gutter, holding moisture. You know the rest of that story . . . |
i think this one was caused by mice living just inside the edge of the poptop. yup, mouse pee is really corrosive. and worse yet, all the fluff they stuff holds it wet against the metal for a long time. and since they keep peeing, the fluff never really dries out. i have seen leaves and all kinds of stuff sit in rain gutters for 25 years and never do that kind of damage. pretty sure only mouse pee could have done that ... |
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peaceful warrior Samba Member
Joined: January 22, 2005 Posts: 5274 Location: Taoswest, USA
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Posted: Sat Jan 02, 2010 11:41 am Post subject: |
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dansvans wrote: |
GregR wrote: |
I bought this . . .
and found this.
Perfect. |
aircooledguy wrote: |
TeamSpatula wrote: |
WOW!!! Was that in California? I've never seen rust so bad in that area of a bus before...yikes... |
Yup - That bus was first sold and always lived in CA. My best guess is that it spent a bunch of time parked, gathering leaves and crud in the gutter, holding moisture. You know the rest of that story . . . |
i think this one was caused by mice living just inside the edge of the poptop. yup, mouse pee is really corrosive. and worse yet, all the fluff they stuff holds it wet against the metal for a long time. and since they keep peeing, the fluff never really dries out. i have seen leaves and all kinds of stuff sit in rain gutters for 25 years and never do that kind of damage. pretty sure only mouse pee could have done that ... |
Or lived at the beach!
My horror story is with the 68 Westfalia I am restoring. My body man was fixing the drivers side dogleg, where there had been some previous bondo work. He cut the section out and found a washcloth stuffed into the dogleg, which acted as the backing for the bondo. Well, the rag was so wet that when wrung out, it filled 1/4 of a pail. Surprisingly though, none of the water ran down into the lower dogleg.
Before:
Before paint:
_________________ "Two things are infinite: The universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe." Albert Einstein
"Notchboy" says "Man up!"
"Tram" says " My bus is bigger than your bus."
66 13W Deluxe, 68 Westfalia, 87 Syncro.
TOOB Member #15
Brian |
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TheRustySuper Samba Member
Joined: June 24, 2009 Posts: 2076 Location: New Albany, IN
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Posted: Sat Jan 02, 2010 6:38 pm Post subject: |
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Before I knew anything about my Beetle, my dad convinced me that it was a good idea to spray rust converter in my rusty headlight buckets, and then slather it with bondo I'm not really concerned, they were rusted out to begin with...as is the rest of the car.
Once again, before I knew much about my car, I decided to patch all rust holes with some galvanized sheet metal, and epoxy sealer. I got rid of all of it recently, except for the spots around the battery...since I don't want water getting near there. _________________ My '72 Super |
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peaceful warrior Samba Member
Joined: January 22, 2005 Posts: 5274 Location: Taoswest, USA
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Posted: Sat Jan 02, 2010 7:03 pm Post subject: |
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TheRustySuper wrote: |
Before I knew anything about my Beetle, my dad convinced me that it was a good idea to spray rust converter in my rusty headlight buckets, and then slather it with bondo I'm not really concerned, they were rusted out to begin with...as is the rest of the car.
Once again, before I knew much about my car, I decided to patch all rust holes with some galvanized sheet metal, and epoxy sealer. I got rid of all of it recently, except for the spots around the battery...since I don't want water getting near there. |
Gee, thanks Dad! _________________ "Two things are infinite: The universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe." Albert Einstein
"Notchboy" says "Man up!"
"Tram" says " My bus is bigger than your bus."
66 13W Deluxe, 68 Westfalia, 87 Syncro.
TOOB Member #15
Brian |
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78Kombi Samba Member
Joined: October 05, 2006 Posts: 1043 Location: Western Mass
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Posted: Sat Jan 02, 2010 7:06 pm Post subject: |
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pyrOman wrote: |
Hippopotabus wrote: |
Quote: |
A friend of mine, upon having his accelerator cable break on his Beetle, ran a length of string from the throttle linkage, looped it under the intake manifold for leverage, out the engine lid vents and around the side of the car to the driver's window. He then proceeded to drive home (not far, thankfully) by hanging his arm out the window and pulling on the string. He steered with his knees while shifting |
DAMN THATS HARDCORE!!!!!!! |
Pftzz! That's nothing. My brother's first bug broke the cable once, so he gets one of his buddies to sit on the rear bumper with the lid open and work the throttle while he drove it all the way home!
Now THAT right there is having balls, or being crazy, or just plain stupid, or all 3 combined! |
ya its stupid crazy balls. by whammo _________________ 78 hightop 2.0 FI
Wildthings wrote: |
no engine that I know of will run off of hype.
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TheRustySuper Samba Member
Joined: June 24, 2009 Posts: 2076 Location: New Albany, IN
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Posted: Sat Jan 02, 2010 7:09 pm Post subject: |
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peaceful warrior wrote: |
TheRustySuper wrote: |
Before I knew anything about my Beetle, my dad convinced me that it was a good idea to spray rust converter in my rusty headlight buckets, and then slather it with bondo I'm not really concerned, they were rusted out to begin with...as is the rest of the car.
Once again, before I knew much about my car, I decided to patch all rust holes with some galvanized sheet metal, and epoxy sealer. I got rid of all of it recently, except for the spots around the battery...since I don't want water getting near there. |
Gee, thanks Dad! |
Yea. He's not allowed to help with the car anymore. He also suggested me fill my rust holes with bondo _________________ My '72 Super |
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78Kombi Samba Member
Joined: October 05, 2006 Posts: 1043 Location: Western Mass
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Posted: Sat Jan 02, 2010 7:21 pm Post subject: |
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my buddy had a 77 with the rocker panels full of holes, so we stuffed them with newspaper. got some flashing and roofing tar to cover the holes, then spay can over it.. _________________ 78 hightop 2.0 FI
Wildthings wrote: |
no engine that I know of will run off of hype.
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peaceful warrior Samba Member
Joined: January 22, 2005 Posts: 5274 Location: Taoswest, USA
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Posted: Sat Jan 02, 2010 7:27 pm Post subject: |
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78Kombi wrote: |
my buddy had a 77 with the rocker panels full of holes, so we stuffed them with newspaper. got some flashing and roofing tar to cover the holes, then spay can over it.. |
Did you take it to the Vet for spaying or do it at home.... _________________ "Two things are infinite: The universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe." Albert Einstein
"Notchboy" says "Man up!"
"Tram" says " My bus is bigger than your bus."
66 13W Deluxe, 68 Westfalia, 87 Syncro.
TOOB Member #15
Brian |
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drumming123 Samba Member
Joined: April 04, 2004 Posts: 723 Location: Merced, California
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Posted: Sat Jan 02, 2010 7:44 pm Post subject: |
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I love this thread, makes me chuckle.
Anyway, down at my local shop today, there was a bus today that had a front bumper made from pressure treated 4"x4"s, and even had the bumper blades made from wood, with astro-turf stapled to replace the original blade rubber.. Ingenious |
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VWNica Samba Member
Joined: November 12, 2009 Posts: 99 Location: León, Nicaragua
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Posted: Sat Jan 02, 2010 9:22 pm Post subject: |
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Got a new carb and went to put it on. 34 PICT3 for my dual port 1600. Found out that it wouldn't fit because the PO had cut the plate off(top thing where the carb bolts on) and then welded a smaller one on to fit a smaller carb.
Found a bunch of epoxi? inside the intake. I guess to prevent leaks?
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HelmutofBuffalo Samba Member
Joined: August 22, 2005 Posts: 554 Location: West Coast of New York
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Posted: Sun Jan 03, 2010 5:48 pm Post subject: Does this count? |
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A picture says it all, not my bus the purple one in the background!
_________________ 1979 Type I Convertible |
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Stuartzickefoose Samba Post Whore
Joined: February 07, 2008 Posts: 10350 Location: SoCal for now...
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Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2012 8:25 am Post subject: |
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push button starter, with the button installed just above the upper seat belt mount screw on the driver side, with wiring draping down the length of the bus, and the switch grounded to the outside of the base of the steering coloum....
why not just mount it in the dash???? _________________ Stuart Zickefoose
2011 Jetta Sportwagen TDi 6 speed manual
206-841-7324
[email protected] |
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