Starting anew with a solid 69

[Relyt]

8 years ago I got my 71 Super, it barely ran and was rusted out. But I learned and worked on it and been daily driving it since. I may have gotten the mechanical side of things fixed but the rust has not gotten any better (they say rust never sleeps) and neither have my welding skills, so I finally got to the point that it was time to pick a solid car to start over with.

I was thinking about getting a diesel rabbit as I loved the thought of filling up every other month. But ultimately I love these Bugs and already have the tools and knowledge for them. So I picked up this solid 69.

This car is virtually rust free, there is a small spot of rust in the passenger side rain rail that I have scrubbed out and will primer and touch up, and some light surface rust under the brake fluid reservoir that I will be taking care of, as well as making sure nothing else in the area is affected.

One of the sump plate bolts were sheared off. So this morning I drilled and extracted it. I had a cheap extraction set I got years ago that I never had any luck with and almost all the bits were broken, so this time I decided to spend some money and get a quality set, I went with Viking brand. The extraction went smooth, I punched the middle of the stud multiple times, as it did not shear flat and flush so I kept punching it to make the divot large enough to guide the drill bit, the drill went in easy, I pounded in the extractor and pulled it out. These jobs are so much easier with quality tools. I ordered some 6mx7m studs because I thought the threads would get damaged but they look great and cleaned up easily with a tap, so I will be putting in a straight 6m stud when I pick up some locktite.

This upcoming weekend I will be overhauling the brakes as the front soft lines are cracked and leaking and the rear passenger is collapsing. As well as getting the blinkers working again (looks to be just replacing the relay) I got my parts coming in from Wolfsburgwest.

In the near future I will be tracking down some original seats. The one currently in there is pretty nice and the seat was actually modified to fit the stock rails so it was a pleasant surprise to find no Hackery there. However, the seat interferes with the heat levers as it’s too wide, so it has to go.

The driver window track will need to be addressed as it falls off the track when rolled all the way down.

Interior is in amazing condition except missing the package tray carpeting.

I eventually want to replace the H30/31 with a Solex 30pict1 with power circuit, it’s my understanding that the H30/31 does not have the clearance for an alternator but the 30pict1 does, paired with a Bosch 019.

I want to swap the generator for an alternator for more stable power output.

And eventually I want to swap the front drums out for Ghia front discs and if I’m feeling ambitious the tears for type 3 drums.

I’m excited to get this thing up and running as a daily driver and making sure to keep all rust at bay.
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69 Beetle - Daily driver
1600 SP (unknown history)
30 PICT 1 w/power circuit (Volkzbitz)
205T (Bill)

[Q-Dog]

Nice looking car. Get a solid state voltage regulator for that generator and your voltage will be as stable as an alternator. Yes, they are that good. Unless you are planning to put in a huge stereo and a bunch of driving lights, the generator makes plenty of power.
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Brian

'69 Dune Buggy
'69 Beetle Convertible
'70 Beetle

[Relyt]

[Cusser]

That's a GREAT purchase !!!

I also recommend the generator and a solid state regulator.
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1970 VW (owned since 1972) and 1971 VW Convertible (owned since 1976), second owner of each. The '71 now has the 1835 engine, swapped from the '70. Second owner of each. 1988 Mazda B2200 truck, 1998 Frontier, 2014 Yukon, 2004 Frontier King Cab. All manual transmission except for the Yukon. http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=335294 http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=335297

[BIGMIKEY]

Nice, 1969 is a good year. 1st year for IRS in the 4spd. Still relatively uncomplicated.

Mike T
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BIGMIKEY

Deserter Series 1 project.
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=787047&highlight=

1973 Beetle Driver, Marina Blue.

[VengeanceASX]

Great looking car!

[tnjyoung]

Looks wonderful! I am working to restore a 1974 Super Beetle, my first restoration ever and I am making mistakes, but learning. Mine was actually my "mother's", but this past weekend she had me over for my 45th birthday and gave me a card with a picture of the car and said "it's yours". I nearly fell in the floor as we are not a wealthy family, rather families that are probably right in the middle of income earners.

I can't wait to get the brakes sorted out as that is all that is in the way of mine being on the road, but they have kicked my but.

Here is a photo of mine, which is also virtually rust free with the exception of some very poorly done floor pan patches. I will likely buy some new pans at some point, but right now I just want to drive this thing around a bit.

I love your bug, your story, and I think you made a great purchase, too!

Good luck!






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[Relyt]

[wcfvw69]

Nice bug!

I'd run the 67 carb you're mentioning PICT 30-1 with a base flange number of 105-1 with the auto enrichment. If you need one, get with Tim at Volkzbitz.com

Your distributor looks like a 113905205T SVA. It's a great match to that 30-1. I'd run that over the mechanical only 019. It's smoother and provides better fuel mileage as well.

Good luck
_________________
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Decades of VW and VW parts restoration experience.
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[Relyt]

[Relyt]

Decided to check the valves while I was waiting for the locktite to cure, they were all right on .006 except number one exhaust and intake. They were both a bit to tight, nothing crazy but when I looked at the valve cover this is what I found:

It appears at one time the valves were hitting the cover, I hope that was in a past life but the fact they were tight is a bit concerning. I will have to keep an eye on them, I may be pulling the engine sooner then expected.
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69 Beetle - Daily driver
1600 SP (unknown history)
30 PICT 1 w/power circuit (Volkzbitz)
205T (Bill)

[Chris333]

That tiny dent could have happened any time in the last 50 years.

[Relyt]

[VW_Jimbo]

Seen several engines with that dent through the years. Just like a scar one would get, on their own skin. It has a story and it was probably earlier in its life.

Definitely keep your ears and eyes open. I would think if it was going south you would have noticed something already. Like a loud clanging sound!
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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!

[Relyt]

Got the engine all filled back up with oil and swapped out the speedometer as the one it came with wasn’t working, and replaced the turn signal relay. I also got my brake stuff in: a German master cylinder, 4 German drum cylinders, 4 flex lines, and all new shoes and hardware. But I have to wait for my weekend to get started on that.

When I fired her up I could not hear or feel any tapping from the number one cylinder valves but I’ll still monitor.

A new problem has cropped up, the generator light doesn’t turn off. I don’t know if something happened while I had the battery disconnected or when I was wiring up the speedometer and turn signals. I can’t do a proper test of the generator because my voltmeter only goes up to 16, so I will be picking up another voltmeter with a higher range. I polorized the generator and swapped in my old solid state regulator, as well as confirming and tracing wires, but the problem still persists. So we will see what the raw output of the generator is when I get another voltmeter, until then I have the battery trickle charging.

The turn signals I have almost working. It appears the PO was struggling with figuring out the problem. He switched out the relay but the parts store gave him a 3 prong one, I sourced the proper 4 prong one from Wolfsburgwest. Then the fuse blew. It looks like the PO swapped out the emergency flasher switch with one that pressed the electrical spades against the air control bracket. So I put double layer of heat shrink wrap on the offending spades and got the flashers working. But it appears the true root of the turn signal problem is the actual turn signal switch. If I hold the switch just right, I can get my left signal blinking, but nothing on the right. I’ve fixed this before so I took of the starting wheel and pulled the switch, cleaned it out and polished the connectors as best I could. But it did not improve any, so I may be looking for a very good used or NOS switch here shortly. Until then I can always use hand signals.
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69 Beetle - Daily driver
1600 SP (unknown history)
30 PICT 1 w/power circuit (Volkzbitz)
205T (Bill)

[irvanm]

Nice looking car, looks like will be a lot of fun.

[Cusser]

[heimlich]

That's a good looking car.
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[Relyt]

[Relyt]

It was a productive day today.

I installed the new Wolfsburg West turn signal switch. I now have turn signals. It seems to be a good quality reproduction, it’s a bit tight so I will have to see if it just needs to be broken in or if I need to adjust the screws a bit.

I put in the new Bosch Generator, so my generator light now goes out and my battery is charging. I know that quality for the new units are not what they once were so we will see how long it lasts. I kept the original and will get it rebuilt at some point.

Some bad news is that the car is not as rust free as I thought, are they ever though? The package tray has some decent rust, it looks like someone just painted over the rust without addressing it. So I will be scrubbing the paint and rust off to see the extent. I may get away with just doing some rust prevention and using a high quality paint, or I may need to consult with my welding friend to see what it would take to put in a new tray.
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69 Beetle - Daily driver
1600 SP (unknown history)
30 PICT 1 w/power circuit (Volkzbitz)
205T (Bill)