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kevm Samba Member
Joined: January 19, 2004 Posts: 263 Location: UK
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Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2016 2:11 pm Post subject: Re: Zarwerks shop spy cam .... |
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Great thank you John, I'll let you know how I get on. |
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Suboval Samba Member
Joined: September 15, 2003 Posts: 794
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Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2016 7:30 am Post subject: |
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johnshenry wrote: |
I enjoy a challenge to try and fix (valuable) old parts to make them useable. I bought this "decoration" skinny Star coil a month or so ago. Other than being well patina'ed, it is in pretty good shape. An skinny stars are falling into that category of "you can't find them no matter how much you have to spend". And often times they don't work.
At first I considered building up a steel shank with the MIG using short bursts, but figured that even though bakelight can handle quite a bit of heat, that would be just too much. So I figured I would make a donor piece and face to face solder it on. You can see that the copper wire was broken off too and when I first tested it with a meter, got an open reading unless I touched the wire end. So solder was a good choice, MIG would not have adhered to the copper.
I have a temperature controlled soldering iron that was able to push enough heat on the tip to "tin" the exposed end. Before I went further, I wanted to make sure the coil would produce a spark, so I soldered a wire on the terminal. I used a piece of coat hanger wire in the high voltage connector and looped it over to the coil case, left it about .5mm away from it. Then connected a 6 volt supply to the terminals and when I removed one clip, I saw the spark. I did the same test with another star coil I have to see if I got about the same intensity. The coil seems to work fine.
I cut a donor section of an M5 screw off and chucked it in my drill press. Then spinning it and running a carbide disc on the Dremel against it, I was able to shape the "nipple" like the original terminals have.
With both faces of the shank tinned with solder, I used very thin pair of needle nose pliers to hold the replacement terminal above the coil, and used a micro butane torch to heat just the donor piece, and then lowered it onto the coil. Took 4-5 tries to get it the set in the right position, not crooked. Then I glass beaded the coil and applied some lacquer clearcoat on the bakelite as it really appeared weathered and sun bleached. Pretty happy with the way it came out!
Final step was to mask and paint it with a satin epoxy enamel.
The soldered stud is pretty strong, but I will recommend using 2 thin nuts on either side of the eyelet, both on the donor section of the terminal. If one nut was used and the eyelet was down against the coil, tightening the nut would create a force on the solder joint and it probably wouldn't last. I am going to list this coil in the classifieds and describe it honestly. Once installed on an engine, I don't think that there will be any stress on the soldered repair and it should work fine. |
Is this the coil you have for sale?
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1977131 _________________ It all works on paper.
There's two things we learn from history:
1.) History repeats itself.
2.) We don't learn from history. |
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johnshenry Samba Member
Joined: September 21, 2001 Posts: 9359 Location: Northwood, NH USA
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Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2016 1:32 pm Post subject: Re: Zarwerks shop spy cam .... |
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Nope. The coil I have for sale has had no stud repairs. _________________ John Henry
'57 Deluxe
'56 Single Cab |
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johnshenry Samba Member
Joined: September 21, 2001 Posts: 9359 Location: Northwood, NH USA
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Posted: Mon Nov 28, 2016 6:50 pm Post subject: Re: Zarwerks shop spy cam .... |
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Punching out some .012" 301 Stainless to make the semaphore retaining screw C clips. A pretty simple part, but not available to spec anywhere. So I get to use my $15 yard sale arbor press and a custom, centering punch die.... then some Dremel work.
The M6 screws are turned and cut just below the head to give the groove that the clip sits in.
_________________ John Henry
'57 Deluxe
'56 Single Cab |
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usariemen Samba Member
Joined: August 28, 2004 Posts: 1745 Location: Germany
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Posted: Tue Nov 29, 2016 4:48 am Post subject: Re: Zarwerks shop spy cam .... |
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I once made a single one from scratch.
But you put it onto the next level. Nice. _________________ Master of my domain! |
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johnshenry Samba Member
Joined: September 21, 2001 Posts: 9359 Location: Northwood, NH USA
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Posted: Tue Nov 29, 2016 8:02 am Post subject: Re: Zarwerks shop spy cam .... |
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Yes, and one of the challenges was finding the right metal. 301 SS is very hard (140k Rockwell) and won't rust, same dimensions as originals. It is one of those little details that I think someone spending $1200 for a set of semaphores should be able to expect. _________________ John Henry
'57 Deluxe
'56 Single Cab |
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johnshenry Samba Member
Joined: September 21, 2001 Posts: 9359 Location: Northwood, NH USA
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Posted: Sat May 06, 2017 6:34 pm Post subject: Re: Zarwerks shop spy cam .... |
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Used something tonight that I made many, many years ago. A little tool that allows me to pressure bleed the brake fluid reservoir with compressed air. I drill a hole all the way through a bolt. Ground flat the sides of one large fender washer made a circular rubber seal and put other washers on, then soldered it to an air fitting with a nut on the bolt.
I move the nut all the way up to the air fitting, and tilt the thing and slip the flat sided washer into the brake fluid reservoir, center it, then tighten the nut down. Attach an air line and I run about 15-20 psi into it. The I go around and open the wheel cylinder bleeders one at a time. Of course I have to fill the reservoir all the way first. Works great!
{yeah, I know that reservoir is pretty sad looking....!!}
_________________ John Henry
'57 Deluxe
'56 Single Cab |
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sunroof Samba Member
Joined: October 06, 2006 Posts: 1747 Location: Winnipeg
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Posted: Fri Nov 24, 2017 8:00 am Post subject: Re: Zarwerks shop spy cam .... |
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I really admire the work you do. I've been reading your post on the '47 resurrection and have a few questions about your wiring harnesses. This is just curiosity so if you would rather not reveal any secrets just say so and enough said.
Where do you get the cloth covered wires? It seems amazing to me that this stuff is being reproduced as no production vehicle in the world would have cloth covered wire. Having watched a few episodes of How It's Made I know it must be fairly labour intensive to manufacture.
Where does the PVC covering come from? I've been using black heat-shrink for years, it is cheap and tough as nails but of course doesn't look right.
Anyways, keep up the good work and feel free to tell me "none of your business".
Don _________________ Better and better mistakes! |
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johnshenry Samba Member
Joined: September 21, 2001 Posts: 9359 Location: Northwood, NH USA
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Posted: Fri Nov 24, 2017 8:24 am Post subject: Re: Zarwerks shop spy cam .... |
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Hi Don.
I have no problem sharing my sources. I think shared information is what makes this hobby great. I get most wire from Rhode Island wire. It is actually PVC wire that is run through a looming machine and given a cloth covering. As such, it is a little bigger in diameter than the original cloth covered wire. You would not want to use "real" cloth covered wire in a split today, it is not very sturdy/strong. Some other wire, fittings and the aluminum wrapped wire comes from Kabel Schmidt in Germany. They also sell cloth covered wire, but it is lacquered and shiny and doesn't look right IMO, and they don't carry all the correct colors.
The PVC looming mostly comes from Wurth USA. There are some real tricks that I have come up with to slip the tight ones over a harness, it can be pretty tough sometimes.
For the later harnesses I make with cloth looming, I assemble the harnesses, tape them together with cloth tape at intervals, and then send the to Rhode Island wire where they run the through their looming machine and loom them with black cotton loom. They do an amazing job, the loom is very tight and strong, but expensive. Looming on the main harness alone is about $90. When I get them back, I finish the ends in a older dip pot and add the terminations where needed.
It has been a fun little business and I find ways to improve things each time I make them it seems. I wrote the installation manual and even buy new cardboard boxes in bulk to ship them in.
Thanks for the kind words. _________________ John Henry
'57 Deluxe
'56 Single Cab |
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pastellgreen Samba Member
Joined: January 06, 2012 Posts: 1036 Location: Germany
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Posted: Sat Nov 25, 2017 11:22 am Post subject: Re: Zarwerks shop spy cam .... |
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Installed your harness in my '50 last year and it went in like a dream. The instructions are very worthy and good, I only had problems recognizing the little numbers or letters on the wiring sceme, as it was not printed sharp. But nevertheless the kit was such a win, very solid also original looking and I feel secure travelling with no worn-out wiring causing a fire. |
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dunc Samba Member
Joined: May 14, 2007 Posts: 19
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Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2018 8:36 pm Post subject: Re: Zarwerks shop spy cam .... |
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Hi John
I've a few speedo pods and 25hp manifolds
If your interested in them please pm me
Thanks
Dunc |
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johnshenry Samba Member
Joined: September 21, 2001 Posts: 9359 Location: Northwood, NH USA
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Posted: Mon Feb 17, 2020 5:59 pm Post subject: Re: Zarwerks shop spy cam .... |
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Well at long last, I am re-assembling the original engine from my '57 Beetle. I had a friend build up the long block in 2018, and this winter am committed to getting all of the peripherals back on it and getting it back in the car for the first time in 28 years or so.
It has been run by a '59 36hp since I finished the resto in 2000, almost 18k miles ago. That engine is now in my '56 singlecab.
And the singlecab's rebuilt longblock is next up in the shop, my goal this summer is to have both the '57 Beetle and '56 singlecab with their original engines in them!
_________________ John Henry
'57 Deluxe
'56 Single Cab |
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[email protected] Samba Member
Joined: September 22, 2002 Posts: 1243
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Posted: Tue Feb 25, 2020 8:10 pm Post subject: Re: Zarwerks shop spy cam .... |
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nice |
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BulliBill Samba Member
Joined: July 09, 2004 Posts: 4561 Location: St Charles, MO
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Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2020 8:25 am Post subject: Re: Zarwerks shop spy cam .... |
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Hi John,
I wish you a speedy recovery from your appendix surgery! I see you are getting released from the hospital to recover at home today! Yay! Bad time to have to be in any hospital nowadays, but God bless those hospital staff taking care of everyone in these trying times. I hope you ate all of your pudding like a good boy!
Get well soon buddy!
Bill & Kathryn Bowman _________________ I'm looking for these license plate frames for my fleet:
Coeur D'Alene - Lake Shore Volkswagen
Mission VW - San Fernando
Thornton VW - Stockton
Thanks for any help! |
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johnshenry Samba Member
Joined: September 21, 2001 Posts: 9359 Location: Northwood, NH USA
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Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2020 11:47 am Post subject: Re: Zarwerks shop spy cam .... |
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BulliBill wrote: |
Hi John,
I wish you a speedy recovery from your appendix surgery! I see you are getting released from the hospital to recover at home today! Yay! Bad time to have to be in any hospital nowadays, but God bless those hospital staff taking care of everyone in these trying times. I hope you ate all of your pudding like a good boy!
Get well soon buddy!
Bill & Kathryn Bowman |
Thanks Bill. I wasn't going to except for the impending covid-19 surge. But very glad I did, I had something bad going on that would have gotten worse real fast! _________________ John Henry
'57 Deluxe
'56 Single Cab |
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[email protected] Samba Member
Joined: September 22, 2002 Posts: 1243
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Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2020 5:28 pm Post subject: Re: Zarwerks shop spy cam .... |
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be well my
friend |
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bwaz Samba Member
Joined: August 24, 2004 Posts: 1776
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Posted: Mon Apr 13, 2020 5:28 pm Post subject: Re: Zarwerks shop spy cam .... |
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johnshenry wrote: |
BulliBill wrote: |
Hi John,
I wish you a speedy recovery from your appendix surgery! I see you are getting released from the hospital to recover at home today! Yay! Bad time to have to be in any hospital nowadays, but God bless those hospital staff taking care of everyone in these trying times. I hope you ate all of your pudding like a good boy!
Get well soon buddy!
Bill & Kathryn Bowman |
Thanks Bill. I wasn't going to except for the impending covid-19 surge. But very glad I did, I had something bad going on that would have gotten worse real fast! |
Get well soon John! |
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Grant Reiling Samba Slow-Change Artist
Joined: November 28, 2003 Posts: 491 Location: behind the wheel
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Posted: Mon Apr 13, 2020 9:04 pm Post subject: Re: Zarwerks shop spy cam .... |
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Yes by all means John; get well; eat all your pudding
And a swift rebound...
And my compliments on your wise timing,
Be well,
Grant _________________ 1952 Azure Blue 12G (LHD Deluxe 3-fold sunroof Sedan).
"What you really know is possible in your heart is possible.
We make it possible by our will.
What we imagine in our minds becomes our world. That’s just one of many things I have learned from water."
Misaru Emoto
The Hidden Messages in Water |
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Iluvmy23 Samba Member
Joined: September 21, 2005 Posts: 31
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Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2023 6:09 pm Post subject: Re: Zarwerks shop spy cam .... |
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John,
I have read every page of your thread…. your knowledge, problem solving skills, and restoration insights that you willing shared, are a treasure to the VW community!! I can can only dream of having such skills! Many, many thanks for your unselfishness, and the countless hours of your personal time you have given all of us members by documenting and sharing the process of restoring as opposed to just throwing away scarce early parts.
Darren
Are you still restoring Jacketed Ks, which is in pretty good condition, and 1951/52 only heater boxes, which need new J tubes. Ready to send your way if you are. I can send pics to your email which I already. |
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johnshenry Samba Member
Joined: September 21, 2001 Posts: 9359 Location: Northwood, NH USA
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Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2023 6:48 pm Post subject: Re: Zarwerks shop spy cam .... |
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Iluvmy23 wrote: |
John,
I have read every page of your thread…. your knowledge, problem solving skills, and restoration insights that you willing shared, are a treasure to the VW community!! I can can only dream of having such skills! Many, many thanks for your unselfishness, and the countless hours of your personal time you have given all of us members by documenting and sharing the process of restoring as opposed to just throwing away scarce early parts.
Darren
Are you still restoring Jacketed Ks, which is in pretty good condition, and 1951/52 only heater boxes, which need new J tubes. Ready to send your way if you are. I can send pics to your email which I already. |
Wow, timely to see this thread pop up for a variety of reasons. First of all, "I'm not dead yet!!". LOL
Thank you Darren for the kind words. Note that I wasn't born with these skills. I only had the determination to try, fail, try again, fail again (and burn skin, start fires, break shit, etc.) until I got something right. If I have one mission on this earth it is to inspire others to TRY stuff, and don't be afraid of failing. And SHARE stuff on forums like this one. I would not have even tried so many things if I hadn't seen a thread, or a Youtube video on something I wanted to do.
This thread is 16 years old now, and oddly enough, I thought about it just a day or two ago and thought to post something new here. I have no less than NINE jacketed K manifolds in my shop now. I have been retired from corporate life for over 6 years now, and have learned just now, that New England winters are a great time to just get stuff done when the weather sucks and there is no outdoor work that needs to be done (and I have a heated shop). Last year I moved to a new location in NH, and build a new shop from the ground up. My mainstay hobby businesses are still 1) Split window Beetle wiring harness kits (20 years this year!) 2) Jacketed K manifold restoration 3) split and grooved semophore restoration, and 4) Split (and Barndoor bus) speedo pod restoration. I no longer do heater box or generator restorations.
So, going forward, I will post new things on this thread that hopefully will be of help to the VW community! _________________ John Henry
'57 Deluxe
'56 Single Cab |
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