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levi
Samba Member
Joined: February 11, 2005
Posts: 5522
Location: Las Vegas
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vwrhodie
Samba Member
Joined: May 19, 2011
Posts: 104
Location: Long Beach
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 Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2018 12:16 am Post subject: Re: Newly Acquired '85 VanagonGL, almost caught fire, need advice |
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| dobryan wrote: |
| Open the vanalert app. Tap on the three bar icon in upper left. Go to Vanagon Repair Shops. Anyone listed with RS is a Rescue Squad member. Not sure why the app is so obtuse on finding the Rescue Squad. |
Hey I got it! Seems there are about three guys in nearby cities. This app is great, thank you so much. The vw community has always kicked ass!
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'68 Beetle 2005-2011
'81 Rabbit 2011-2013
'85 VanagonGL 2018
'84 Rabbit Turbo Diesel 2021 |
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mikemtnbike
Samba Member
Joined: March 26, 2015
Posts: 2795
Location: North Carolina
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| Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2018 4:42 am Post subject: Re: Newly Acquired '85 VanagonGL, almost caught fire, need advice |
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| jlrftype7 wrote: |
GoWesty will sell you the o- ring and upgraded breather hose which survives crankcase vapors and last. Heater hose WILL not last long exposed to oil vapor, it’s not rated for it, not it’s fault...l 
GoWesty leaves the supplied hose a bit long so you can cut it to your correct length. |
Thanks for the correction appreciate it I clearly wasn't thinking clearly.
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1991 Vanagon GL 2.1 AT Westfauxlia. "Frankie" Totaled  https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=764510&highlight=carnage
1995 Eurovan Camper "Marzivan"
2020 GTI SE manual |
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Abscate
Samba Member
Joined: October 05, 2014
Posts: 22640
Location: NYC/Upstate/ROW
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| Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2018 5:19 am Post subject: Re: Newly Acquired '85 VanagonGL, almost caught fire, need advice |
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Welcome to the madness!!
There are a couple of guys who do mobile mechanic at reasonable rates and Im going to say a half day with one of these for about $250 would save you three months of learning curve.
“Small fuel leaks” are like “friendly fire”, they aren’t.
Start working on getting gas out of tank until you have less than 5 gallons and can drain that into a red can.
Appreciate that you have already dodged one fire and don’t play lottery again!
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jlrftype7
Samba Member
Joined: July 24, 2018
Posts: 3576
Location: Chicago
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| Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2018 6:11 am Post subject: Re: Newly Acquired '85 VanagonGL, almost caught fire, need advice |
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| mikemtnbike wrote: |
| jlrftype7 wrote: |
GoWesty will sell you the o- ring and upgraded breather hose which survives crankcase vapors and last. Heater hose WILL not last long exposed to oil vapor, it’s not rated for it, not it’s fault...l
GoWesty leaves the supplied hose a bit long so you can cut it to your correct length. |
Thanks for the correction appreciate it I clearly wasn't thinking clearly. |
Unfortunately it’s the first hose we turn to since a correct hose will often be NLA going back to the era of carburetors or even in newer engines.
It’s almost not fair, heater hose comes in easy to find sizes and it’s inexpensive too.... 
But when the right hose isn’t around, sometimes it’s all we’ve got to work with on a temporary basis.... 
_________________
'68 Westy- my first VW and vehicle/Bus- long gone.- sold it to a traveling Swiss couple....
'67 Type 3 Fastback, my 2nd car- gone
'69 Semi-Auto Stick Shift Beetle-gone
2017 MINI Coopers, our current DDs
‘84 Tin Top - Hilga....Auto |
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Jeffrey Lee
Samba Member
Joined: February 04, 2014
Posts: 1488
Location: Wisconsin
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Sodo
Samba Member
Joined: July 06, 2007
Posts: 9603
Location: Western WA
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| Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2018 10:52 am Post subject: Re: Newly Acquired '85 VanagonGL, almost caught fire, need advice |
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Good luck was had in shutting that engine off pre-fire!!
I highly admire your gusto in the DIY spirit. While my gut feel (by the Qs you ask) is that you will be a natural, considering “fire”, valuable vehicles, toddlers etc, a pressurized fuel system is NOT a prudent project to kick off your FIRST mechanics attempt.
Highly recommend finding a careful and competent mechanic to shadow you closely on this. With forum help you can surely find a competent mechanic or teacher. Don’t be afraid to pay a professional for this project. After a few other projects you’ll know better if you can take stuff on like pressurized gasoline. Don’t wanna be among the hundreds of Vanagons that burn up, sometimes taking out the adjacent car or home, etc.
Isn’t there a Samba member “rubbachicken” mobile Vanagon Mechanic that is in SoCal? Best to find someone who’s done multiple Vanagon fuel hoses repair.
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'90 Westy EJ25, 2Peloquins, 3knobs, pressure-oiled GT mainshaft, filtered, cooled gearbox
'87 Tintop w 47k 53k, '12 SmallCar EJ25, cooled filtered gearbox
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Abscate
Samba Member
Joined: October 05, 2014
Posts: 22640
Location: NYC/Upstate/ROW
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| Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2018 2:25 pm Post subject: Re: Newly Acquired '85 VanagonGL, almost caught fire, need advice |
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Rubbachicken in San Diego
Robbie in Oceanside..air schooled
Colin if he does Vanagon ...itinerant air cooled mechanic
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dobryan
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Joined: March 24, 2006
Posts: 16501
Location: Brookeville, MD
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jlrftype7
Samba Member
Joined: July 24, 2018
Posts: 3576
Location: Chicago
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| Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2018 5:59 am Post subject: Re: Newly Acquired '85 VanagonGL, almost caught fire, need advice |
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True, I meant other vehicles out there that use a not-so-easy to find hose in a non-straight configuration. Ones that have a preformed bend to them. Over the years I've seen heater hose thrown into the job with spliced sections and neat homemade or shop made adapters to allow that section of heater hose to connect to the rest of the PCV system. My bad should have made it clearer... 
_________________
'68 Westy- my first VW and vehicle/Bus- long gone.- sold it to a traveling Swiss couple....
'67 Type 3 Fastback, my 2nd car- gone
'69 Semi-Auto Stick Shift Beetle-gone
2017 MINI Coopers, our current DDs
‘84 Tin Top - Hilga....Auto |
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vwrhodie
Samba Member
Joined: May 19, 2011
Posts: 104
Location: Long Beach
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| Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2018 8:27 pm Post subject: Re: Newly Acquired '85 VanagonGL, almost caught fire, need advice |
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Thanks! Worked from roughly 10 am-6 pm with my kid running around the alley, crawling under cars, etc. We both made it out alive! I finished the night on Step 14. Followed all vanagon.com instructions (I am working with their kit). Hoses were a pain to cut off. I used this flimsy tiny little phillips that came in a mini tool kit. It worked liked a charm to get underneath the hose and really peel it away from the injectors.
A few notes just for the record and anyone who is reading:
*Do not go cheap on an exacto knife. Buy a good one, you will need it.
*If youre a lil dingy like me, Make sure you pay attention to how you assemble your injectors, especially the brackets used to bolt onto the engine. I had one upside down so I had to pull off grommet and re-do. No big deal but uhhh... time/daylight is of the essence! Sucks when you dont have a garage!
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'68 Beetle 2005-2011
'81 Rabbit 2011-2013
'85 VanagonGL 2018
'84 Rabbit Turbo Diesel 2021 |
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vwrhodie
Samba Member
Joined: May 19, 2011
Posts: 104
Location: Long Beach
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| Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2018 8:34 pm Post subject: Re: Newly Acquired '85 VanagonGL, almost caught fire, need advice |
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| Abscate wrote: |
Start working on getting gas out of tank until you have less than 5 gallons and can drain that into a red can.
Appreciate that you have already dodged one fire and don’t play lottery again! |
Why do I need to get the gas out of my tank? Youre assuming I will also drop the tank, correct? Honestly there is no way I can work underneath my van with my kid (nobody can babysit him and he DOES. NOT. SLEEP.) so I may need to wait some time before I can do that job.
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'68 Beetle 2005-2011
'81 Rabbit 2011-2013
'85 VanagonGL 2018
'84 Rabbit Turbo Diesel 2021 |
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vwrhodie
Samba Member
Joined: May 19, 2011
Posts: 104
Location: Long Beach
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| Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2018 8:55 pm Post subject: Re: Newly Acquired '85 VanagonGL, almost caught fire, need advice |
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| Sodo wrote: |
Good luck was had in shutting that engine off pre-fire!!
I highly admire your gusto in the DIY spirit. While my gut feel (by the Qs you ask) is that you will be a natural, considering “fire”, valuable vehicles, toddlers etc, a pressurized fuel system is NOT a prudent project to kick off your FIRST mechanics attempt.
Highly recommend finding a careful and competent mechanic to shadow you closely on this. With forum help you can surely find a competent mechanic or teacher. Don’t be afraid to pay a professional for this project. After a few other projects you’ll know better if you can take stuff on like pressurized gasoline. Don’t wanna be among the hundreds of Vanagons that burn up, sometimes taking out the adjacent car or home, etc.
Isn’t there a Samba member “rubbachicken” mobile Vanagon Mechanic that is in SoCal? Best to find someone who’s done multiple Vanagon fuel hoses repair. |
Thank you for being concerned, I appreciate it BUT-- this isnt really my first rodeo. Let me clarify, the questions I ask are definitely from a beginner but also a very slow learner. I have always needed things explained to me like I am a seven year old. I worked in finance for the last five years but I cant do long division and I never had a problem telling people I am kind of slow, lol. Some would say, "typical girl" and ehhhhhh I dont blame them, ha!
Anyway, here are some photos of the injectors after I cleaned/rebuilt.
I will admit that the job could look better, ie; I had to run out and get those clamps at the hardware store (I cant get to an auto parts store until my husband comes home with our other car) and I should have fastened them on with the bolts on the outside for easier removal in the future. Do you think we will die if they are touching? Is that dangerous? Seriously though, take a look at my work and let me know if you think I botched the job before I burn up my van that I had to literally beg my husband to let me buy and almost got divorced over LOL. Can you imagine if it blew up less than 6 months later?  feel free to judge my work though!
Also... about hiring a mechanic and all of that... I dont want to get into too much detail but A) I will be severely chastised for every $$ spent on this van... I am a stay at home mom with two VERY small incomes. B) I dont like the whole stigma behind a young woman working on her car without being the big burly butchy manly type.. I will just leave that at that. Also, mechanics botch jobs all the time and they are "professionals", ha!
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'68 Beetle 2005-2011
'81 Rabbit 2011-2013
'85 VanagonGL 2018
'84 Rabbit Turbo Diesel 2021 |
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vwrhodie
Samba Member
Joined: May 19, 2011
Posts: 104
Location: Long Beach
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| Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2018 8:57 pm Post subject: Re: Newly Acquired '85 VanagonGL, almost caught fire, need advice |
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| Abscate wrote: |
Rubbachicken in San Diego
Robbie in Oceanside..air schooled
Colin if he does Vanagon ...itinerant air cooled mechanic |
thank you!
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'68 Beetle 2005-2011
'81 Rabbit 2011-2013
'85 VanagonGL 2018
'84 Rabbit Turbo Diesel 2021 |
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vwrhodie
Samba Member
Joined: May 19, 2011
Posts: 104
Location: Long Beach
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| Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2018 9:31 pm Post subject: Re: Newly Acquired '85 VanagonGL, almost caught fire, need advice |
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I also forgot to mention that the passenger side injector was missing both small grommets. One of you mentioned the importance of these so I thought it was interesting that they were completely missing. I even used a tiny screwdriver to dig them out of the two points of contact where the little nipples go into... nothing was in there.
I am done for the night but starting back up first thing tomorrow morning but there is something I would like to mention and hopefully get some views on before the morning:
When I disconnected the hose from the fuel injector line, (I did this from laying underneath the van, no jack needed. very difficult though!) I noticed that there was about a 3 inch section of fuel line joining together the actual fuel line (the skinny one) to the... well... to the fuel line. I know this makes no sense. It seems like there was a part missing. Someone may have even used nothing but a smaller fuel line to join the fuel injector line (damn, am I making sense? Im sorry I didnt snap a photo!) together with two clamps/brackets. It was weird, my initial thought was, 'how is a skinny ass line being clamped into a randomly cut section of the same fuel line? isnt the line too skinny to be held in that?' man this is so wordy. Is there supposed to be an injector here somewhere? the ones that are kind of shaped like the Devo hats? dont know what else to reference!
Ive been searching for videos to see if I can catch a glimpse of that area but havent found any.
Thank you all SO very much!
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'68 Beetle 2005-2011
'81 Rabbit 2011-2013
'85 VanagonGL 2018
'84 Rabbit Turbo Diesel 2021 |
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Abscate
Samba Member
Joined: October 05, 2014
Posts: 22640
Location: NYC/Upstate/ROW
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| Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2018 12:37 am Post subject: Re: Newly Acquired '85 VanagonGL, almost caught fire, need advice |
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Most importantly, the sleep will come to the little one. Six months from now, you will be in a much easier place. Raised six, last two finish college this year!
your hub is out boasting to all his pals on his internet that his better half fixes cars, so don't fret about that. He just has your account turned off so you can't see that.
Your work on the injectors looks great, I do like to use the oetiker clamps (the ones that don't have screws, but are crimped with a tool) on every fuel injection line. They are harder to remove, but they stay on better and also don't loosen by relaxation, Its like they are designed for the fuel injection hose job.
Use the samba to gather info, ask for specific part number and brands, and then use amazon to get stuff so you don't waste your precious out time parts chasing.
You have nitrile work gloves right? You will save loads of time not cleaning your hands from oil and grease if you use these, plus not loading your skin with this stuff is healthy.
Message to Hub
Each time she fixes something on the car she pays the family $125 an hour after tax. Capisce?
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vwrhodie
Samba Member
Joined: May 19, 2011
Posts: 104
Location: Long Beach
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| Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2018 6:53 am Post subject: Re: Newly Acquired '85 VanagonGL, almost caught fire, need advice |
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| Abscate wrote: |
Most importantly, the sleep will come to the little one. Six months from now, you will be in a much easier place. Raised six, last two finish college this year!
your hub is out boasting to all his pals on his internet that his better half fixes cars, so don't fret about that. He just has your account turned off so you can't see that.
Your work on the injectors looks great, I do like to use the oetiker clamps (the ones that don't have screws, but are crimped with a tool) on every fuel injection line. They are harder to remove, but they stay on better and also don't loosen by relaxation, Its like they are designed for the fuel injection hose job.
Use the samba to gather info, ask for specific part number and brands, and then use amazon to get stuff so you don't waste your precious out time parts chasing.
You have nitrile work gloves right? You will save loads of time not cleaning your hands from oil and grease if you use these, plus not loading your skin with this stuff is healthy.
Message to Hub
Each time she fixes something on the car she pays the family $125 an hour after tax. Capisce? |
Thank you! Hey I read that I could possibly have misfiring issues if I didn't install the same rail back to drivers side and passengers side. They looked the exact same to me so I didn't keep track of which was which. I also heard Van-again on YouTube mention that it doesnt matter whether the injectors are upside down or not. I hope he is right.
You raised six? Wow, you are superhuman. I can barely handle one and our plans of having more have been cancelled now that we have one! Dont wanna talk trash on my son, you get it, he is a wonderful sidekick but how do I get him to stop picking up rusty nails, trash, and chasing stray cats?!?!?! 
Ugh, my hands are about shot. First thing I looked for yesterday were gloves. Nothin. I will order some online.
Oh and about the brackets, my kit came with the ones you prefer but the fit over the hoses was so tight that I swore they sent wrong size. I emailed vanagon.com and he recommended I use wd40 to slide them on but i had already ran out to Ace. Spent $33 on 29 brackets with screws ...and I don't have pincher pliers to tighten them. Those brackets were the only issue I ran into all day! I couldn't figure out how to tighten them with my needle nose pliers. I should've borrowed pinchers from Ace. They know me, they loaned me a hose cutter.
Thanks for the kind words. I think my ambition has scared a lot of dudes, my husband included. Sometimes it pays to act really dumb so they think they are teaching ME something. Reality is, I was raised by a single father who can do anything! I get it from him. Congrats on your TWO graduates! Way to go dad!
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'68 Beetle 2005-2011
'81 Rabbit 2011-2013
'85 VanagonGL 2018
'84 Rabbit Turbo Diesel 2021 |
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YosemiteBound
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Joined: August 09, 2018
Posts: 327
Location: Los Angeles
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| Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2018 10:39 am Post subject: Re: Newly Acquired '85 VanagonGL, almost caught fire, need advice |
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Seriously, you rock. I mean it.
I have a 21 month old toddler and i know the SHE DOES NOT SLEEP thing. We finally just figured out how to sleep train her for naps. But luckily we are doing the daycare thing (at the tune of $1700/month that could be going into our westy though). Daycare pretty much taught her to nap on the weekdays, but we were screwed for naps on the weekends. Finally we just started putting her in the crib/bed during noon - 2pm. She wailed like crazy the first couple days but now asks for it. With her blankie and fav animals.
If you have a monitor - maybe start trying to sleep train for naps? That gives you a little window to work on the vanagon during the day. And with the monitor - peace of mind.
I could NEVER work on a fuel system while watching my toddler. That blows my mind that you did that.
... also we don't have a garage either. Gotta do everything in the street. Totes know how that is too.
Kudos, kudos, kudos. You're gonna love your vanagon so much more for doing it yourself. Plus you'll save face/money AND be prepared for road trip issues. As you'll know your rig
Post pics! Can't wait to see it.
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dobryan
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Joined: March 24, 2006
Posts: 16501
Location: Brookeville, MD
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vwrhodie
Samba Member
Joined: May 19, 2011
Posts: 104
Location: Long Beach
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| Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2018 4:15 pm Post subject: Re: Newly Acquired '85 VanagonGL, almost caught fire, need advice |
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Here are some photos! I am still missing that hose that connects to the thingys by the oil pressure thingy. Hopefully I can run to the foreign parts store tonight when my husband gets home with our other car.
Some Afters:
Old Stuffs:
I have a question about these portions of line. I have enough hose and clamps to replace them so I will finish it tomorrow. Thankfully these are held on with the EASY screw clamps and not the weird pincher clamps I had to cut/bend off with bolt cutters! I assume I will be replacing all the line that goes to the fuel tank BUT, on the last section that connects to the tank, dont I have to drain the tank to replace that? wont it spill out once I remove the line? Here are some photos of the sections I need to cut:
I feel good about it all. I mean, as long as my hoses and clamps are tight then its all good right? I assembled everything else and screwed the fuel pressure bolt back on (is this ok?) so next steps are just the line underneath YAAAAAAY! Oh but... of course I found tons of other hosing that I cannot wait to replace! That is for another day though.
So what do you guys think of my work? Zoom in on the 'after' photo at the top.
Thank you all for everything!
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'68 Beetle 2005-2011
'81 Rabbit 2011-2013
'85 VanagonGL 2018
'84 Rabbit Turbo Diesel 2021 |
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