Scrivyscriv's 1967 java green sunroof sedan (stock)

[VW_Jimbo]

Family first. Always!

Car can come second. a few minutes a day can get you a long ways on anything. I shoot for 15 minutes a day, working on the Bugs. Most of that time is reviewing my lists and ordering parts. Sometimes it takes me a full week to get an order together, but I do it with baby steps!

Plus, you HAVE TO teach your children the basics about cars. Both my girls. Now 23 and 21 were taught during a few of the Bugs that have entered and exited the garage. From changing tires to listening for a vacum leak, they both know how to do it. They can even adjust valves! However, both of their cars have hydraulic lifters, so that is a leaned but not utilize education. But you never know what life will hand you!
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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!

[djfordmanjack]

Don't under estimate your hobby !
It is wonderful and well worth having family and spending time with them as much as we can.
But your quality time out in the garage is important too, FOR YOU !
And your boys seem to like the bug as well ! Mine is 17 now, but he never forgets about all the beetle related adventure. I even picked them up from hospital, when he was born, in my then daily driver 1966 1300 bug.

You'll get this beauty up and going, and enjoy WITH family , soon ! Don't worry.
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Hotrods, Fords, Veedubs and Triumph Twins !

52 Barndoor DLX Coachbuild project
55 Wolfsburg panel project, og paint Taubenblau L31
62 Dickholmer, custom color Seeblau L360
63 1500 Notch, og paint Rubin Rot L456
67 1500 Käfer, og paint Lotus weiß L282 w/red interior

[The Pilch]

[richparker]

The cars not going anywhere, it’s just sitting there appreciating.

I hear ya about the family time passing you by. My work hours suck and I miss a lot because of that. They didn’t always suck, but over the past few years the company has alter them drastically and now I’m stuck. Enjoy the time you can and sneak in your hobby time when a window opens up. ☮️
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’71 Westy build
Adventure thread
’65 Deluxe Build
’63 Deluxe Build

[scrivyscriv]

Sorry guys, lost motivation to get this old bag under power.. we've had a few more family medical issues pop up. My dad has been in the hospital with serious pneumonia and age related mind/mental problems.. then my wife had a potential cardiac scare ER visit. Those things put my hobby back in perspective, since it's really just benefitting me when I'm out in the garage working on it. It just hasn't been worth it when I see my family time passing by. It's soooooo close to being back together and running as a DD. It's down to finishing the re-ring and re-seal job on the engine, and wrapping up the electrical - then I'll be on the road.

Four years now!
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Robert in Memphis
Dünkelgrügen 1967 Java Green bug thread
Engine rebuild thread
If you're ever in the Memphis area, you are welcome to stop by for advice and help.

[scrivyscriv]

Looks like I can check the brake system off my list! It's fully bled, adjusted, and topped off. I do think I'll be able to get a bit more out of the adjusters once I put a few hundred miles on the car, but overall it's good.

It's almost time to strap the fuel tank back on, so I thought I'd share how I checked for clearance from the bottom of the tank to the new late-model steering shaft.
In aviation we use this clay and calipers method... it's really low tech and good for a ballpark figure, so don't overthink it.

Flatten out some clay on the shaft (or tank, it wouldn't stick on my tank) and make sure it's thick enough to squish some. Put the tank down and push to seat it, then pull it off and check the thickness of the claydoh. If there's zero clearance, it will be very obvious.

Here's where the shaft rubbed, circled in blue.

This is what the final clearancing looked like after a few fit checks.

I finished with .175", which is satisfactory clearance. In fact due to the weatherstripping foam that should be under the tank, after final install the clearance will be a little greater, probably close to .20"
So, fuel tank clearancing is done, and was minimal. I'd like to powdercoat in semigloss black, and for now I just put a small brush coat of an oil based paint on the bare metal.

In othernews, Sewfine sent my fat envelope of material samples! I found that their tweeds are very rough to the touch and I'm not sure I want to get seatcovers in their tweed. Seems like it'd be really rough on the thighs while driving with shorts! But their vinyls were really nice, as were the carpet samples. I'm still planning on stock colors and designs, so I supposed tweed isn't really much of an option anyway
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Robert in Memphis
Dünkelgrügen 1967 Java Green bug thread
Engine rebuild thread
If you're ever in the Memphis area, you are welcome to stop by for advice and help.

[scrivyscriv]

By chance I drove past a local junkyard yesterday afternoon, and needing a tail light for our family van, I stopped by and spent half an hour looking around. I love junkyards! There’s always something cool. On the way out, a Volvo SUV caught my eye - I needed to replace the adapter cap for my DIY pressure bleeder, made to fit the Volvo-style reservoir I’m currently using.
What I found was intriguing and, I felt, worth sharing with the VW community!

I believe it was a 2008 or 2011 Volvo XC90. Unlike the common direct-vent caps everywhere, this Volvo has an OEM vented rubber bellows, like the old school brake master cylinders! Check it out:

It’s a direct fit on the aftermarket reservoir I’m using, which is the same Volvo style you can find anywhere and that EMPI copies. It lets the brake system move fluid and allow for shoe wear without directly admitting moisture-carrying ambient air in. The ambient air vents up the slot on the cap threads up behind the rubber bellows, allowing the bellows to move in and out. It was such a functional upgrade I decided to use it instead of the other reservoir cap I’ve been using, which then became my replacement pressure bleeder cap:

My existing setup leaked down badly so I whipped together this one using a 1/4” AN fitting that takes a nitrile o-ring and a nut on the backside. It works great, and I leave the fitting nut hand tight to quickly bleed off the air pressure while I’m working on the brakes.

I just finished installing the new Raybestos master cylinder. While bench bleeding it according to their instructions, I found the rear circuit needed some help to bleed and get fluid draining. That may have been my problem because I never bench bled the master either time I had it out. I’m working on bleeding right now, hopefully I’ll have a good pedal tonight! Then I can move on to cooler stuff!

*edited to correct Volvo vehicle info*
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Robert in Memphis
Dünkelgrügen 1967 Java Green bug thread
Engine rebuild thread
If you're ever in the Memphis area, you are welcome to stop by for advice and help.

[scrivyscriv]

After I replaced the right front wheel cylinder and lower shoe today, I made several rounds of foot pedal bleeding the full front circuit. Now that I know how DOT 5 behaves, I noticed the micro bubbles that tended to form, and it makes sense why it’s so challenging to get a fully firm pedal using it. I did get the front fully bled, but as I pushed, I noticed I didn’t have any resistance from the fully-bled rear circuit. Now that I’ve eliminated the wheel cylinder that was leaking, I’ve confirmed that I do actually have a bad master cylinder. The rear circuit piston seal is bypassing fluid back to the reservoir.

Using a wobble extension and shallow 13mm setup, it’s easy to remove the master without taking the pedal assembly out.
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Robert in Memphis
Dünkelgrügen 1967 Java Green bug thread
Engine rebuild thread
If you're ever in the Memphis area, you are welcome to stop by for advice and help.

[scrivyscriv]

I got my replacement wheel cylinder in yesterday, cleaned and painted it, and pulled out the extra front brake shoes from my stash. I’ll replace just the lower shoe that got wet. I’ve been watching for brake arcing and riveting machines but the are rare around here!

My buddy in the local club just got his late model repainted, and had some lights and brake issues to sort through. He’s a good dude, always looking to help and learn what went wrong. We fixed a few wiring issues, just common VW stuff, and bled the back brakes and adjusted all four corners. Pedal and brake are dramatically different now!

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Robert in Memphis
Dünkelgrügen 1967 Java Green bug thread
Engine rebuild thread
If you're ever in the Memphis area, you are welcome to stop by for advice and help.

[VW_Jimbo]

[scrivyscriv]

Good news for anyone looking at trying to match Wolfsburg West door panels and 68+ seat covers! I emailed them back to ask if they sell seat covers for early late model seats - like are in my car - that match the tan door panels they sell. Brian wrote me back right away and said they could do it, with a 10-12 week lead time.
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Robert in Memphis
Dünkelgrügen 1967 Java Green bug thread
Engine rebuild thread
If you're ever in the Memphis area, you are welcome to stop by for advice and help.

[scrivyscriv]

Hey y’all!
I’m looking for feedback on interior colors! I’ve never done any interior work, ever. And I need new everything.. carpet, mats, door and quarter panels, seat covers, seat cushions, and headliner. I’m really tempted to mix and match from different mfrs but I’m hesitant to do that since the colors are all but guaranteed to be shades different.
Since this is a daily driver and made out of hobby money, I’m looking for a lower end price range - I don’t have German square weave carpet expectations, but I want it to be reasonably well made and good quality. In the stock world, did the interior colors all match shade for shade? If I get Sewfine seat covers and they’re off a shade from the Wolfsburg West door/quarter panels and carpet, is that something that sticks out and would look bad?
The sewfine materials look exceptionally well made but they are almost totally custom with their stitch lines and patterns. I want stock, stock stitching, stock colors. The problem I’m running into is Wolfsburg west, who I wanted to use, has only three color options for my seat covers, and tan is not one of them.

They just sent me swatches of their door panel colors and neither one is a good match for stock back seat or panel colors. I really want to start getting the interior together, but I can’t spend the $2k+ on a basic sewfine interior. I wouldn’t be driving this car for another year if I had to go that route.

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Robert in Memphis
Dünkelgrügen 1967 Java Green bug thread
Engine rebuild thread
If you're ever in the Memphis area, you are welcome to stop by for advice and help.

[scrivyscriv]

We had a ton of snow and ice this week! Memphis rarely gets anything but ice, so the 6” of snow we got was exciting for the kids but also shut down pretty much everything here! At work we had so many canceled flights, it was wild. Lots of diverted packages.. most people couldn’t make it to work or didn’t want to risk trying. Memphis was clearing the roads with graders at one point. So, all my parts from Wolfsburg west are in the ether somewhere, and Im going to order my brake parts in a week or two. That leaves me with electrical!

I forgot to measure frunk wire lengths so when I pulled the repaired harness back in it needed a lot of wires to be longer or shorter and they would absolutely not move in the PVC sleeve. I’ve got a 19mm roll of sleeving coming, and now I’m pulling each wire to its terminal one at a time, taping them together as I go to form up the under-frunk wire bundle/loom.
This is my favorite part, I love wiring stuff!
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Robert in Memphis
Dünkelgrügen 1967 Java Green bug thread
Engine rebuild thread
If you're ever in the Memphis area, you are welcome to stop by for advice and help.

[scrivyscriv]

I spoke too soon, the front right wheel cylinder gave up. It’s hard to say but I think the piston overtravelled in the cylinder, maybe during initial adjustment or bleeding, judging by the dust boot partially popped off. But it shouldn’t still be leaking, and it is.

Unfortunately I’ll have to replace the zero mile shoe as well.
Sails officially de-winded.
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Robert in Memphis
Dünkelgrügen 1967 Java Green bug thread
Engine rebuild thread
If you're ever in the Memphis area, you are welcome to stop by for advice and help.

[scrivyscriv]

The master cylinder did have some debris in it, but it is still doing the same thing. A firm steady push and the pedal will sink a few inches and then get firm. I don’t feel like making a pressure gauge for it, because ultimately the master cylinder has to be replaced anyway… unless I’m really messing up bleeding. 😂

Also that spring clip is deceivingly quick.
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Robert in Memphis
Dünkelgrügen 1967 Java Green bug thread
Engine rebuild thread
If you're ever in the Memphis area, you are welcome to stop by for advice and help.

[VW_Jimbo]

[scrivyscriv]

[VW_Jimbo]

[scrivyscriv]

Yeah, it’s right at 1/4” measured at the pedal. I don’t even remember where I got the master from but I’ve had it for many years sitting in storage. At least ten I’d say. So I think it’s the most likely problem; I’ll still check everything before replacing it though.
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Robert in Memphis
Dünkelgrügen 1967 Java Green bug thread
Engine rebuild thread
If you're ever in the Memphis area, you are welcome to stop by for advice and help.

[VW_Jimbo]

Did you check the master cylinder push rod gap?
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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!