North GA 1973 Veteran's Addition

[Heiferman]

Hi folks. I have been lurking for a while hoping one day I would again own an airculd machine. I started in 1986 with my first car being a 1968 Beetle. Then I got a beat up '69 Baja and I built a pretty nice Franken Bug Baja Prerunner that is still running around Virginia Beach, Virginia.

Then a couple months ago, with retirement looming, I scored a 1973 Thing up in North Carolina after months of scouring the classifieds, Facespace and Craigslist for my next project. I have always wanted a 181 and finally! I have one! Well - We have one!
I brought him home in the rain through the mountains of NC with my adoring wife who not only approved the purchase but was excited about it!

We rolled him off the trailer and into the garage.

Made an assessment...

And got to work!

Always some hidden stuff up in there but we are up to the task.
It is possible that this 181 may have been on here before or may be recognized. But there is plenty to do. A little pan/frunk and bumper work and inside body work, pedals and cables, brakes, exhaust and get the seats sorted. The biggest project is the electrical. I have been down that road before on a few old Toyota trucks and Beetles so "I ain't sceered!"

I will try to post here from time to time to keep you all up to date. I am retiring in 86 days so the speed should pick up!

Enjoy!

[fastmc25]

Awesome project. Looking forward to seeing ilupdates 😎👍

I retired USAF IN 2013 after 31 yrs. Congrats on your upcoming retirement 😎
_________________
Peace,

Paul




1973 Type181 Kubelwagen (Thing 2 ) 2110cc
1971 Transporter (Pickle) 1914cc
1961 Deluxe Beetle (Christine) 1776cc
1973 Adventurewagen Baja Bus (Clyde) 3.4L
1970 Formula Vee Beetle 2276cc

I identify as: “A Pissed Old GI ”

[fastmc25]

Awesome project. Looking forward to seeing ilupdates 😎👍
_________________
Peace,

Paul




1973 Type181 Kubelwagen (Thing 2 ) 2110cc
1971 Transporter (Pickle) 1914cc
1961 Deluxe Beetle (Christine) 1776cc
1973 Adventurewagen Baja Bus (Clyde) 3.4L
1970 Formula Vee Beetle 2276cc

I identify as: “A Pissed Old GI ”

[Semper_Dad]

Congrats on your new acquisition.

My recommendation (if the budget allows) is to ditch the entire old electrical system and install a complete new one from the Thing Shop.

45+ years have made the wiring brittle and the copper has increased resistance. Not to mention all the modifications previous owners have made.
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Walküre Restoration Thread: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=737492

[Heiferman]

You will all learn I am slow on these projects but I have accrued a pile of parts to throw at the Thing. I retired on June 29 and figured I could thrash on the project and get it going in short order. Not so.
Today I got in a new rag joint (the on in it was bodged).

And discovered that a PO had added a new hard line and it was pinched everywhere. I pulled it.

I am going to replace it with -an fittings and proper line. The original line was broken off in the back below the transmission horn.

(PO left me the visegrips. They came in handy today.)

I did get my pedals re-installed. They were laying on the floor when I got this home. The petal stop was merely a piece of angle iron loosely bolted to the floor so I made new one.

I also figured out there master probably was not bench bled so I am doing that tomorrow in situ and then will get everything all hooked back up the the brakes bled. There are a bunch of new lines already.

After that it is all about this mess:

The PO had a bunch of accessories like offroad lights and even a winch on the car. I have pulled all that off and pulled a mile of mystery wire out. He also had tried to move the signal lights to some chineseum headlights with LED signals incorporated in them. I will get rid of that and go back stock.

Stay tuned. Or not.

[Heiferman]

[Semper_Dad]

[Heiferman]

I screwed around bleeding the brakes most of the qfternoon. Rear was easy but I absolutely could not get fluid to come from the front bleeders.
I ran across a thread on pressure bleeding and that seems to have done the trick.

I drilled a 1/2 hole in a plastic Coke bottle cap and pulled through a valve stem. It fit the reservoir perfectly. Then I just gave a bit of pressure with a bike pump and was able to get fluid through the bleeders. Finally.

The PO had replaced the reservoir and all lines. The wheel cylinders and master looked new but were really rusty I guess just from sitting. I had even tried to bench bleed the master in situ but that just made a mess. I am not convinced that there may be a bad check valve in the master but we shall see once I get my helper back.

[Heiferman]

[Heiferman]

Well, I found so many janky connections I pulled the main loom and stripped it. Glad I did. There were some soldered and frayed wires. Car never would have run and frustrated me blowing fuses.
So I spent the entire day rebuilding it and it is ready to go back in. So much easier than a post 80s car.
It also allowed me to delete the diagnostic plug.

If anybody is doing a full resto and wants it, lemme know. Shipped free.

[Heiferman]

Made and installed new battery cables today and got the loom back in. This only to discover I may have taped or shrink wrapped over the black reverse switch wire. I will have to figure that out tomorrow. I realized I should have run another wire in the loom for the coil fused wire but that ship has sailed. I will just have to run a seperate one.

This looks terrible....

And here is a question I will end up posting in the BN-4 thread: How does the timer knob stay on? Is there supposed to be a friction ring around the switch that keeps the green lighted knob on? (I need to post pic I guess.) Thanks to Samba I was able to ID the bulb it uses.

As an aside, great sale on Dewalt tools today on Woot.com. My drill/driver gave up high speed so I ordered a new set with a 6.5 inch circular saw, a multi-tool, LED work light, two batteries and another drill driver l for under $300.

By the way, is this an OEM part?

[Heiferman]

That's more like it.
Obviously I ended up starting at the back. Seemed easier and wiser to ensure the harness was where I wanted it.
The Ms. Is going away for a few days so I will keep at it.


In other news I discovered I need to remove the rear bumper to get the exhaust in. The PO bodged in a receiver hitch (seen in posts above) that interferes. He was planning on pulling a 26 foot travel trailer.

[Heiferman]

[Heiferman]

As to my wire junction question? Well, they are going to be in the trunk now. I finished everything in the engine bay.

Hit it hard today. I am waiting for some gray 16awg wire to finish off the front marker lights. I will be able to bundle all that up and get the headlights in when that happens.

Then I worked at the dash and ignition. Once again, there was some wonkey stuff in there. There are a couple circuits I am a little confused about based on the wires I have to work with. I may just have to build those from scratch. Anyways, if the 16awg shows tomorrow, I may be able to throw some 'tricity to it! Certainly by Saturday.

[sportin-wood]

[Heiferman]

[sportin-wood]

Thank you my brutha!
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1966 Bug project
1973 Thing project
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"Relax, all right? My old man is a television repairman. He's got this ultimate set of tools. I can fix it." --- Jeff Spicoli

[Heiferman]

I spent the last two days trying to fix my crappy Cub Cadet mower. It has not gone well. I am pretty scared to touch anything else at this point as I am at the verge of pushing the next project that goes wrong off a cliff.

I still have not gotten my 18awg gray wire and I do not really want to mix gauges as I am mostly following the schematic so the waiting continues.

Old friends coming to visit on Sunday so that will be a good distraction.
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- 1973 Thing, some LandCruisers and an old Ambulance

[Heiferman]

Okay.
Back at it. Cub Cadet is fixed and Mr. Thing no longer has a frowny face! All new wiring up front.

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- 1973 Thing, some LandCruisers and an old Ambulance

[Heiferman]

If anyone is following along:
What is the common routing for the fuel sender wire?
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- 1973 Thing, some LandCruisers and an old Ambulance