Scrivyscriv's 1967 java green sunroof sedan (stock)

[VW_Jimbo]

[scrivyscriv]

Measuring front brake drums

I forgot to measure my front drums during disassembly... three years later with my new wheel bearings in hand, I told myself “hey just measure really quick before you seat those new bearing races.”
Yup, both front drums are way out of spec!!
The max diameter, often referred to as the “discard” spec, is 9.113”, and both front drums measured out at almost 9.150”, or about forty thou beyond the limit.

There is no practical safe way to use these drums. Although there is a safety margin engineered into it, using a stock brake shoe thickness here would result in overtravel of the wheel cylinder pistons. Even if I adjusted everything correctly and had good pedal, the wheel cylinder pistons would be too far out in the bore, which can end up in the piston getting stuck, or tipping sideways a bit and allowing brake fluid to bleed past.
Of course it would only show up during full brake application... when you would need brakes the most.
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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]

new parts!

after being out of stock and unavailable anywhere for the better part of a year, I finally received the cam I wanted to use for this car when I put the engine together.. CB 2280 cheater cam.
I waited a few weeks before I emailed to check on the order status... turns out they custom grind them every order! Marianne told me they were backed up in the shop but would have my order done shortly. I think I had a UPS ground tracking number the next day.. since I was making an order, I added new pushrod tubes to the cart. I have zero explanation why I felt like windage tubes were what I needed, but I got em, so don't ask

The 2280 cam goes to the original engine; the donor interim engine will get a ring and hone job, new seals, and those new pushrod tubes.. hopefully it will be ready to push the car around at that point.
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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 just noticed I forgot to update the parking brake cable issue! The two cables I originally bought (full disclosure, Amazon purchase) were the wrong part; evidently it’s a chassis number difference and the manufacturer didn’t get the year range right when fabricating the cables. The handle would go up three clicks and the cables bound tight!

Vwnos here on the samba supported the fix with a set of new, correct length brake cables. He’s a great guy, and I’ve bought miscellaneous parts from him over the last several years that are fairly obscure or hard to find.
They installed easily with no issues! I loosely installed them onto the brake handle and I think I’m now ready to fully assemble the rear brakes and torque the axle nuts.
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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.

[zerotofifty]

very cool project, i got a java sunroof 66. that green mill you got in the photo behind the front beam, what brand is it? lets see it! I like seeing shop equipment photos, please. Next best thing to Bug photos.
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Give peace a chance. No American war with Russia!

[scrivyscriv]

Thanks man! You should start a topic on your ‘66, I’d love to see what you’ve done with it so far!
I got the mill sometime last year, a barebones Powermatic Millrite. It’s post-Burke merger, so it has all the osha stuff on it, but it’s an old mill from a high school votech shop. No DRO or power feed, just all manual, with a coolant system I don’t use. I don’t have many photos of it, but check out page 4 of this topic when I introduced it, about halfway down the page:
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...p;start=60
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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’ve been working on the sliding sunroof mechanism and it is getting close to working! I had to order some used cables on the classifieds to replace my broken pair, and lubricated them with molykote g-n paste. They have a fiber inner core, almost identical to the window winders, which will hopefully hold the molykote for a long time, and it is my opinion that a lack of long term lubrication here is the main factor in sunroof mechanism failure. You can’t access the guides or cables without disassembling the entire mechanism or risking getting lube spray on the interior. I believe that a molykote based lube is a good solution since it will continue to lubricate even after the base stock has dried up.

After I glass beaded the rails I had some help with an Alodine wash to hold back corrosion. Alodine prepped aluminum also holds epoxy primers really well, unlike bare aluminum alloys. “Do I paint it or leave it in epoxy primer?!” I debated with myself for a while, finally deciding to leave the rails and (probably) sliding inner panel in epoxy only. For longevity VW should have applied some kind of protective top coat to the rails. Aluminum’s reactivity to trapped moisture has been well known for many decades! I think these epoxied rails will hold up very well in the long term with the few shortcomings addressed. So far, the rails and sliding panel are in grey epoxy primer.

Unfortunately when I started reinstalling the side rails, I found the right side track retaining pin missing, and I can’t seem to locate any for sale!

Oh and side note, the molykote is just as messy as packing CV joints!
_________________
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]

Guys I just realized I never showed any interior photos!!
Here are a couple from when I first got it. I love the green steering wheel wrap, it's definitely staying!! The radio was going to stay however it may have become broken during the removal process...
And I saved the gear shift knob just in case I decide to use it. It's in bad shape but looks like an original VW dealer accessory - ? I'm using an army surplus pineapple hand grenade for a shifter knob; it's already welded up, but I accidentally used a coarse thread nut so now i've got to weld up the threads and tap a new hole.

It's overall in really good shape!
_________________
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 ordered what I believe is the right part number sunroof alignment pin, but it’s shipping from Latvia through ebay and won’t be here for a few weeks. So it’s on to more cleanup and wire repairs!

There was quite a bit of rodent damage under hood but thankfully most of it was limited to paint damage and surface corrosion. Except the spare tire well, which is rusted badly enough that I’ll have to replace it. I’m casually looking for a donor front end but they’re hard to come by. I may have to make do with aftermarket metal

I cleaned up with soapy bleach water, Goo Gone graffiti remover, a paint detail spray, and finally a phosphoric acid spray solution to neutralize the rust. I’m not ready to paint the body yet so this is an incomplete process as of right now. Photo credit to my son

After scrubbing and enjoying the smells of wonderful reactivated rat urine, this is what I stopped with:

I was starting to remove more green paint and had to stop short of getting everything spotless

I wanted to get the dash cleaned up before I reinstall the switches and everything. Here’s the dash after polishing it with Meguiar’s ScratchX 2.0. My dad told me about this stuff years ago and it really helps bring faded old paint back!

I had to remove almost all the wiring due to melting and rat chewed insulation. The main harness got about five replacement wires; some were color matching harvested wires out of junkyard Vws; also a couple runs of new black GXL high temp automotive wire, for the coil hot and a tach signal.
While installing everything, I’m building the wiring back up from scratch using brand new AMP open barrel terminals and a plastic insulator that slides over the terminals. I don’t bother insulating the grounds just anything that has battery voltage on it.
My go-to crimpers are a Pro’s Kit Lunar pro crimpers with open barrel dies, and a somewhat niche-y AMP crimper I recently got on eBay and modified for these type of terminals (“FASTON”). You can see my rolls of terminals lying there on the seat.. they make them for multiple combinations of wire size and insulation thickness. Stock terminals are plain brass with no corrosion resistant coating. I’m replacing most with a tin plated brass terminal that should hold up better and for a longer time before getting corrosion and fatigue wear.

This shows the little insulator boots on my light switch terminals. I’m just not a fan at ALL of bare, un-fused hot battery wiring anywhere!

For reference:
Proskit Crimpers
Small wire size insulators
Large wire insulators
14-18 gauge wire terminals
18-22 gauge wire terminals
Headlight ground terminals
Lastly, here's a really sweet little "stock plus" add-on. These work great for adding an extra circuit somewhere and making it look stock!
male/female 14-18 gauge wire terminal
_________________
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 know I’m jumping around, sorry, I just have to get things done in the time I have when parts are available! It turns out the sunroof alignment pin I ordered on eBay from Latvia was a super beetle part that wouldn’t fit my sunroof at all. He was nice enough to cancel the order before it shipped, which I really appreciate. VWNOS helped me with a part number and parts diagram for the correct part, and although he didn’t have any, I was able to locate a pair on eBay in the States. I promptly ordered them!

There are a lot of topics mentioning swingaxle boot quality, and an issue I ran in to was the set I ordered on rockauto measured too small in diameter on the big end. Bentley spec is about 89mm dia, and the rockauto boots were barely 85mm, so they had a huge gap at the transaxle end and I couldn’t even begin to pull the boot closed! I ordered them a couple years ago I think, so maybe they’re different now, but caveat emptor.
One of the topics had a recommendation for the EMPI rubber boots, and I’m not an EMPI fan but I thought I might as well try ‘em. Today they arrived, looking okay in hand, and they measured out to the 89mm diameter spec. The left side installed okay, but needed more RTV than I think it should have. The right side tore at the transaxle end as I was shifting it into place to make a little slack in the boot. Unfortunately it was not usable at that point. I still have one semi serviceable OG VW boot that came off the car, so I reinstalled it with the new hardware and some RTV.
I’m truly disappointed in the boot situation today. A torn or ill fitting boot makes the VW undriveable.

So, that is my experience. I wonder how many people have tried the empi boots and had good results?

_________________
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'm back at it today! The sunroof track alignment pins arrived in the mail - the fit is great, I'm very pleased with them. I only had to install one, the right hand side, since the left side pin was still in place.

That led to the realization that I will have to spend some more money to get this sunroof working!! My cable guide plastic parts are all crumbled and broken, and without all of them in place, the sunroof cable drive has so much flex in it that the sliders bind up. I was hoping to just repair what was broken to get it operational, and install new plastics later on after the car is driveable, but I'm concerned I'll break the cables I just replaced. The cable drive has a lot of internal tension during operation and has to be as well secured to avoid binding.

The dash wiring is moving along pretty well! I know this is possibly cringe-worthy but I have to admit, I took my speedometer and fuel gauge apart and glued in some warm white LED strips Once I start driving the car I'll post a photo of the interior with the dash lit up. I tried to make sure everything looks stock and is easily undone with no damage to original parts.

I did that with my 1971 bus I daily drove for a while. It was a really nice improvement for a daily driver, although dash dimming wasn't linear with the stock dash light rheostat. I used a PWM controller to dim and it worked okay, but the low end of the dimming spectrum had a lot of just-barely-visible pulsing from the PWM. Probably from the cheap ebay controller.. this is full bright, it looks crappy in the photo but in real life it looked a lot better.

And lastly here's my parts stash while I put the car back together. My mother in law (she's great!!) gave me a roll around bin that I recall her saying came from Joann's Fabric and it makes a great staging place for purchased or repaired parts ready to go back on.

I'm still sitting on cleaning and painting that front beam
_________________
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]

Check out what I found in the stash of OG parts I removed out of the beetle when I bought it!!

I had no idea this radio faceplate was kicking around!!! Makes my search for a stock radio MUCH easier. This is the hardest part to find, and I think it’s most likely original to the car! Now I just need a radio!

Also I pulled the trigger and ordered from ISP West for the first time. I was really moaning and whining to myself about spending the money on my sunroof system (it’s just freakin pieces of plastic man!) and last night as I perused through my 1971 bus topic, I realized my pattern of putting off small purchases, which then snowballed into making big decisions (sold the bus because it didn’t have working heat or fresh air vents).
Along with all the sunroof guide plastics and a new aftermarket crank handle, I threw in a pair of VEWIB boots. I’m thankful for the discussions that happen here on the site that stimulate me to get things done and enjoy this beetle, instead of watching it languish in limbo in the garage.
_________________
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 guys, I’m hoping someone can help me with this… I’m installing the rebuilt wiper assembly into the car and I believe I’m missing a piece that would go on the front of the wiper assembly and bolt to the car. I cruised through the gallery looking at other ‘67s, it’s just hard to tell. Can anyone help? It’s not illustrated in the WW catalog either.
If I’m not missing something, I must have done a wack job rebuilding the wipers

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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.

[diablosandwich]

Hi Robert, have been following and enjoying your build. I put a 2 speed wiper motor in one of my 66's last year. I am not sure if it is a 67 motor on a 66 wiper frame or all 67 parts. Here is a picture of mine.

Looks like the center section that mounts to car is shorter on yours? I thought 65-67 were all the same size, but not sure. I have another hanging in garage I could check.
I would ask Don West on this site (DL West the wiper guy). Super nice guy who knows the everything about VW wipers.

Casey
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1966 Java Greens

[scrivyscriv]

[diablosandwich]

Robert, this one looks correct. And the price is right…. https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=2568807
Casey
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1966 Java Greens

[scrivyscriv]

[scrivyscriv]

more parts in the mail!

First I’d like to thank diablosandwich for the wiper frame link above! The seller was great and was more than happy to ship it across the country to me. I’ll get this thing bead blasted and in paint ASAP.

I also got my wire shipment in today - although I replaced several wires in the main wire harness, after I pulled the harness into place I realized I had not checked for my wire lengths under the frunk, and I was off. The original wiring was chewed off on one end and burned in the middle, so I didn’t have a hood OG length to go by.
I decided since I need to pull the harness back out to adjust some wire lengths anyway, I wanted to upgrade the alternator power B+, alternator/generator DF, and starter solenoid 31 wiring since they are exposed to engine bay heat. I think stock wiring insulation is PVC. I wanted to get a more heat resistant wire and modern GXL automotive wire fits the bill. Here’s a good, short video showing how plain PVC primary wire holds up compared to GXL:


Link

Lastly, I made an escutcheon tool.. 1” square tube for a handle, 3/8” chromed steel rod for the shaft, and a washer about the same diameter and thickness of a US nickel. It works!

_________________
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’m getting stuff done left right and center! I had to take a mental break from some of the other projects at hand and clear my mind, that’s why I’ve been getting stuff done on this awesome sunroof bug lately.

Everyone is a fan of bare metal photos, so without further ado I present to you:

The body washer pieces were previously sandblasted (truthfully it is glass bead media) and DIY zinc plated. But the playing was uneven and tended to take the most on high spots, leaving the centers mostly bare of zinc. I reblasted the surface rust off and decided they’re going to get epoxy and gloss black. The bolts are beyond re-use due to severe pitting corrosion all over them, unfortunately.

And we all like “new parts” photos too so here’s my ISP west order of Wolfsburg West sunroof parts

Check out the markings on these VEWIB axle boots! I’m no history expert but I don’t think West Germany has been a place for a few years now!! The feel and finish on these boots are excellent and exactly what I expect from an axle boot. They do not compare to the EMPI boots, at all. I think they are very similar in feel, although not the same, as the original VW boots I took off. The hardware is a bright nickel or clear zinc plate with six point nuts.

_________________
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.

[diablosandwich]

Good deal on the wiper frame!

Happy to help, Casey
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1966 Java Greens