1973 VW Thing "Face Lift" Many pictures!

[HUGO bOSS]

One year past... no news...
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http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=538182

[Arkansauced]

Michael,

I just checked out your face lift for your Manx.

I swear I ran into you (and your Manx) a few years ago at the Ralph's gas station on Washington in Murrieta and we ended up talking VW's for a while.

I'm sure I brought up that my first car was a Thing, you must not have picked this one up at that point.

I love the detail of this build, more than that I appreciate how you spell out the issues/quandaries you're facing then walk us through your thought process and solution.

Please keep us updated!!

[Michael B]

Hello again! Been quite some time sense my last posting and thought it might be a good time to update what's going on. The Thing has just over 7,400 miles and now I'm giving the engine a little update It started with a small noise I could hear while the engine was warm and at idle. It sounded like a clicking noise and I couldn't figure it out. After removing the engine and disassembling it, I came to find what I think the problem was. The oil pump shaft that inputs to the cam drive end has big time ware.

As you can see the damage!

Now for the engine update.... decided to replace the heads with some new Steve Tims Stage 2, and a few other things as well. New Weber 44 IDF's, MST serpentine belt system, 30mm Berg full flow pump, Berg pump pressure relief cover, Berg welded, trued and balanced fan, New Eagle 120 cam and Stainless steel pushrod tubes. I set the compession low @ 8.68:1. I hope to have a good running engine after this investment.

Just need to clean up the new carbs and stick the engine back in for a cam/lifer brake in.

[Dougster43]

Thanks for the bump and update on this. As a new Thing owner a few months ago I have to say reading your thread has been inspirational- incredibly well done restoration!

[Michael B]

Greetings again, got the engine back together and installed. Here are a few pictures of the progress. I wanted to show these nuts I found for my intake manifold, carburetor to intake and exhaust. What I was looking for is something that had a small hex, i.e. (10mm wrench) so I could get to tightening them up easier then with a lager 13mm wrench. Very happy with these nuts.

As you can see I still get quite a bit of use out of this hoist. It has saved me the trouble of trying to find someone to help many times.

This is the way I go about installing the engine. As you can see the smaller jack stands hold it up just high enough to then place the jacking block I made to give it the rest of the boost necessary.

A little fast forward to most of it complete. Been some time since I’ve had to install this engine. I forgot about some of the tricks of installing the intake on the passenger side.

No pictures of the tuning process, but It was quite fun. I used a LC-2: Digital Wideband "Lambda" O2 Controller to help with getting the carburetors tuned. It was the first time I have tried doing it this way and so far so good! One thing for sure is this engine is WAY better than the last by FAR. First gear is so fast that I’m hitting 4,500 RPM’s within two seconds. It just pulls so much harder in all gears. There are a few other things I would like to add/adjust to the valve train, like heavy duty aluminum push rods and maybe different rockers. I did find an oil leak coming from the cover of the oil pump that will need to be addressed. And maybe a little oil coming from the case half just under the oil pump? Not sure as it may be just the oil coming from the pump cover?

So, on to what my wife said about the roller throttle pedal that she didn’t like from day one (9+ years). We were talking about the thought of power steering as the Thing is very tough to turn while going slow. Well, she said that if I could fix that roller throttle pedal with something much easier for her to drive with, then she would spring for power steering! As you can imagine, I jumped right to it and this is what I came up with. And yes I know I cut out the old Thing throttle pedal early on and thought this was best for “Me”, but wife also drives the Thing and should have her input as well. Enough said.

These are some of the steps I took to make this new throttle pedal and thus order the power steering that I will need to fabricate into the steering.
Started with this.

It all starts with a plan… In this case cardboard.

Then transfer to aluminum

Then cut it out

Then a bit of sanding

I used a door hinge and cut it down to size. I needed to tap the end of the pin so I could hold it from coming apart. You might be able to see the small SS screw/washer on the right side.

Bolted it to my aluminum plate with, you guessed it SS bolts

Made a lower bolting plate to attach it to

Ground off the SS bolts

After making some adjustments to the throttle cable and making a stop plate (keeps the plate from coming back toward the driver). You can see it on the lower left side.
And here it is…..

[Michael B]

POWER STEERING

Attention all purist, view at your own discretion… The power steering is in and it took a LOT of work to accomplish and some sacrifices. The sacrifices were made to the Thing, thus the discretion to the purist.
It all started with this.

And this is what I needed to install to make it happen.

This was where I had my stereo power amplifier.

After measuring a couple dozen times, I made the first cut out as this was the only way to align the power steering unit with the steering shaft.

Had to make a few templets to judge what my angles where going to be.

This is the templet I came up with. Next was to transfer it to ¼” steel plate and cut it out.

After some grinding, I drilled some holes and welding a temporary ear on the bracket.

As you can see at first the alignment wasn’t quite right. I needed to cut the hole just a bit bigger to move the steering unit back and to the left to allow a straighter shot.

On to making the steering shafts. They would need to be a custom length in order for the steering unit to be more permanently placed.

I had to machine these adapters in order for the different sized shafts to mate together.

As you can see in this picture I have removed the old style of steering connector in lieu of a stronger U-joint.

After some more measurements and some grinding on the steering box shaft (Note the steering box shaft is VERY hard metal) it required stone grinding. I needed to extend the notch to allow more movement fore-and-aft.

At this point I was able to attach more tabs to the bracket to mount the steering unit.

On the top side I made a plate that would support the steering unit bracket.

After making sure the lower steering shaft fit while the steering unit was in, I started working on the upper portion of the steering shaft.

Fast forward to everything sand blasted and painted. I didn’t take any pictures of the process of added additional support rods that attach the steering column to the steering unit bracket. What happened when I attached the steering column with the two underside bolts was no support was given. I needed to sleep on it to come up with my next idea. As you can see in this picture of the completed steering column, there are rods that bolt from the back side of the steering unit bracket and are welded to angle iron that was welded to the steering column bracket. (I think it makes better sense when you see the picture). You will also note the flat piece of iron with two holes. This was to allow for better alignment of the upper steering shaft and to lower the steering wheel by 1/2”. The round shiny part between the upper steering shaft and the circlip was made to keep the steering shaft from moving within the steering column.

A picture of the custom brackets. Many hours it took to make the steering unit bracket.

Now everything is installed.

This was quite the project for sure, I am extremely happy with the performance enhancement that this has brought to the Thing. You can drive with one hand while turning and shifting! The Thing drives like a slot car now.

[Michael B]

After playing with Weber 44 IDF’s for years, I thought now is a good time to move into the future and go EFI!
[ CB Performance Gen 4 EFI ]

Only a day or two away from completing this upgrade...

Pictures will come when I’m done

By the way, the power steering has been a very nice upgrade!

[Hyatt181]

Installed gen 2 fuel injection in my dads thing.

I’ll never go back.

Wish I could afford to put it in the other 2 things I own.

[Michael B]

Hello Everyone!

Well it’s a new day and things have changed quite a bit since my last posting. First off the fuel injection is awesome and everything I hoped for. I did have some tuning/learning curve issues I had to learn from. Special thanks to Both Mark Lawless & Pat Downs of “CB Performance” for all aspects of getting the fuel injection tuned!

Now to the next evolution in this VW Things life... I have decided to change out the power plant and transmission! I now have a 2332 built CB Performance engine and Dave Folts is building me very strong 091 gear box. I have been reading up and trying to find the best setup in mounting the 091 within the Thing chassis. As always I will take pictures and provide some insight to my project.

I have decided to sell the complete engine and transmission to help offset the cost for this latest upgrade. I will provide the information as to the engine and transmission when time permits. For the time being I’m still driving the Thing and will until my new transmission is completed.

[Michael B]

OK, I think I’ve not been living up to my “Many Pictures” title, so here you go….

Gas cap mod. I didn’t like the fact that my gas cap would leak out fuel when I would fill up the Thing and leak onto the fender.

Started with this>

“Disconnect the fuel line to the gas tank and use some duct tape to cap off the fuel tank” I started with cutting off the top of the lock ring with a 4” die grinder.

Note that I did have to machine the inside diameter of the new gas neck of the Meziere to make a perfect fit to the Thing gas tube. Only hade to remove a couple thousands; could be done with a dermal by hand if you don’t have a lath.

No welding was done to attach, as it was such a perfect fit. I just used a tiny bit of JB weld and NO leaks!

Hope that someone finds this helpful should you consider this upgrade….

[Michael B]

Steering wheel upgrade….
Started with this steering wheel before I had power steering. Didn’t need such a large steering wheel once the power steering was in.

Had to make a ring to attach to the new steering quick disconnect that would allow my self-made beauty ring.

In this picture you and see the ring I made and a block of aluminum. I couldn’t find a round piece of aluminum that was large enough for this project locally, so it was quite fun machining this square piece into a round hollow beauty ring. Fun, Fun, Fun….

And the finished product….

Cheers!
Michael B.

[Michael B]

Greetings

Here is the engine and transmission that came out of my Thing....
*****1,500 Miles on engine*****

Engine is a 2276cc Fresh rebuild by Greg Tim's Racing
New case AS41
Bronze bushing lifter bores
Welded Crank "stroked"
120 Cam
Steve Tim's Stage 2 heads
Match ported intakes
CB Performance Distributor/Coil/Wires
Newer Weber 44 IDF Carbs
Kennedy Stage 1 Pressure plate and Newer clutch
CB Performance breather box oil filler alternator stand
Mahle pistons and cylinders, balanced
CB Performance Throttle linkage and air filter set-up.
New Gene Berg oil Pump
New Engine tin
Heavy duty tapered aluminum pushrods
New Scat 1.25 rockers with Elephant foot adjusters
SS pushrod tubes with Silicone seals

Approx. 125 HP with 130 Ft. Lb. Torque

Transmission is Fresh rebuild by Dave Folts Transmission
*****1,500 Miles on Transmission*****
Very well built transmission
Dave did a lot of special work on the inside and added a Quaife Differential for Excellent Traction! I spent $2,700.00 having it rebuilt to take the power of the engine.

If you or anyone you know might have interest please PM me for price and questions

[Michael B]

Okay, MANY new updates so where to start?
Well, first is the update to the CB Performance fuel injection “GEN4 EFI”. It started with updating to EFI on the 2276 engine and now has ended up with a fresh 2332 built by Pat Downs of CB Performance.
So, these first few pictures and description of the install are with the 2276 engine in the car. It started with where I wanted the ECU location. I guess that when it’s in a bug, the location would be in the back-seat area; in my case this wasn’t an option. I wanted it in the front trunk area out of the weather and safely away from any debris that would most definitely find a way to fudge it up! After talking to Mark Lawless of CB Performance (he’s the one making the harness) I measured out the length that the harness needed to be. Using a single wire, I routed how the harness would run…
Theses are pictures of the harness route.

While the area under the hood was perfect for the ECU, I needed to clean up the way everything has evolved (Stereo, amps, power steering). I made a templet out of tape to make a plate for everything to bolt to and 1-1/2” stand-offs so the wiring could stay out of view.
Before picture…

The cut out piece of aluminum (.125 thick) allows for tapping of holes for screws.

Everything laid out before drilling and tapping of holes.

Picture of the wire loom coming into the under hood location. You can also see the stand off I made (8 in total)

Everything bolted up and wired.

With EFI system you need to upgrade to a larger hose size 3/8” and provide a return line as well. I enlarged the hole where the fuel line went before and routed the nylon braided hose through it.

This is the exit point.

Inside the tunnel view. Hoses are just laying inside the tunnel and should be just fine. The area’s where the hoses come through the tunnel are wrapped with heavy gauge electrical tape and then silicone was use to keep them in place.

This is the fuel side of the EFI. New fuel pump and filter come with the kit. There is also a special fitting that attaches to the tank to allow the fuel to circulate.

This is what the engine looked like when all was installed (2276 engine). No pictures were taken during this process as most things were plug and play.

There is more to this story and when time allows and if there is still interest in this topic I will post more.

Cheers,
Michael B.

[jeromevw312]

How is the new gas cap holding up?

[Michael B]

[Michael B]

Hello, is there any interest in my installation of a 091 transmission within my Thing? I’ll be happy to provide my joy of going down this path with pictures and info.

[63single]

Michael ,
I enjoy all of your post. Awesome documentation of the mods. Standing by for the next update...

[syncrosimon]

This is great, really enjoyed seeing the transformation and modifications you have made. Keep posting. 😎😎😎
_________________
1991 16" 2.1 DJ Syncro factory hightop ex Finnish Army Ambulance, now sold.
Thinking about Thing or 181 (182) ownership.

[jakokombi]

[Michael B]

Time flies when your having fun in a VW Thing...

My little helper.

Almost 16 years old and learning how to drive a stick!

And a few pictures showing what the Thing looks like to date....

Rear Bumper finished

Front headlights and driving lights are LED. Low amp draw and very bright. I run the yellow driving lights all the time to allow other people to see me.

Engine is 2332 built by Pat Downs of CB Performance.

And the side shot.

Cheers!