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lgherb
Samba Member
Joined: October 21, 2023
Posts: 39
Location: Annapolis, Maryland
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 Posted: Fri Jul 26, 2024 6:22 pm Post subject: My 1965 Java Green Sunroof Beetle |
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So, I did a thing in May. This might be long (I'm from the South - bear with me) so this will be a multi-post saga and might take a few likely frivolous detours.
Hopefully you'll be entertained.
I started having trouble finding parts for my 1985 Toyota Celica GT-S a while back and made the decision to sell it and look for a relatively rust-free Beetle. My target was to find something between the early 1960s to about 1972 with a strong preference for hand crank sunroof (since I used to own the 1974 Sun Bug you can see in my avatar pic).
Simultaneous to this, my favorite aunt (who was more like a big sister than an aunt and who lived in Colorado for all of the 10 years I lived there - and then some) was diagnosed with probable Alzheimer's - she's only 77 and was a teenager when I was born. More on that to follow.
In late April, I put my GT-S on a no reserve auction on Cars & Bids and sold it for more than I paid for it in 2015 but somewhat less than what I was hoping for.
Having combed daily on vehicle classifieds here, FB Marketplace, Craigslist, and other sources I kept seeing an ad here for a 1965 Java Green Type 1 with a sunroof. It also happened to be about 2 hours from where my Aunt (mentioned earlier) currently lives so I figured the stars were aligning for me to not only snag a great car at a great price, but to also spend precious time with my Aunt.
Without further delay, here are some pics of my new prized possession. It will unfortunately now require a full engine tear down | rebuild, but this isn't my 1st rodeo in that arena.
These are pics from the day I picked it up immediately after the previous owner started it up and drove it onto the trailer my Aunt's significant other used to transport it back to their house.
Tentatively, I am calling him "Colonel Klink". (I'm open to suggestions, though.)
In advance of my trip to Idaho to get the car, I had some Tekton tools, a new set of tires, new wheel bearings, brake shoes, wheel cylinders, a dual master cylinder, new brake hoses, fuel lines, a new fuel filter, and other parts shipped to my Aunt's place.
The car started right up and as I mentioned the previous owner drove it up and onto Howard's trailer with no issue. We took the car back to their house and I spent the next 4 or 5 days attaching the bumpers, giving the car a tune up, adjusting brakes, ensuring it had fresh gear oil in the swing axle, fresh oil in the engine, and generally getting it what I thought would be road worthy.
My (flawed) plan was to actually drive the car back to Maryland over a 7 day period using non-interstate highways to cruise through the Tetons and America's heartland to bring the car home, where I had my full resources to then start various restoration projects on the car.
I did not have a torque multiplier, breaker bar, and Howard did not have an impact wrench to get the castle nut off of the back wheels, so that work I put off until I could drive the car back home to the suite of tools that either I own or my son (former certified ASE mechanic) owns.
I also want to stress that the guy I bought the car from is a great, honest person and I am convinced is a capable mechanic in his own right. The issues I am about to detail stem from my own tunnel vision, pride, and my failures in knowledge, time, and resources.
I used the car for the last 2 days of this time to run back and forth to the local O'Reilley's auto parts store and run other errands. It started up fine, ran well, the transmission was smooth, the car ran with no hesitations, the brakes seemed to work fine. There didn't seem to be anything that indicated that the car might have any serious issue.
I relocated the fuel filter to where the fuel lines exit the gas tank, replaced all of the fuel hoses, and bought a brand new fire extinguisher to have handy on the passenger seat floor just in case.
And so it was that I left Sue and Howard on a Friday morning from their home outside of Idaho Falls to head towards Jackson Wyoming and soak in the grandeur of the Tetons.
This picture was taken while driving East on US 26 towards Wyoming in 'The Colonel':
I'm not sure is those mountains are the back side of Yellowstone, but that is the general vacinity I was heading towards.
A few short miles after I snapped that pic, I started seeing whisps of white smoke coming out of the engine compartment, neither indicator light was coming on, but I immediately pulled to the shoulder and opened the engine compartment. At this point I had travelled all of about 40 miles from where I had left a short time before.
I could tell the engine was running hot so I made the decision immediately to let the engine cool for about 30-45 minutes, then start heading back to Sue and Howard's and abandon my plan to drive the car back. (I ultimately had 4 Corners transport deliver the car to me in Maryland.)
While the car cooled, I called Howard to let him know that I was abandoning my plan to drive the car back and asked if he could hook up his trailer and come get me from a Chevron station I had passed about 6 miles back.
Oil level was fine (I had a couple of quarts in the car with me just in case).
After my roughly 45 minute cool off period, I started the car up, turned around and started heading back towards the Chevron station (which is in Ririe, Idaho). I got all of about 1/4 of a mile when both the oil and generator light lit up, so I immediately shut the key off and coasted to the shoulder.
I called Howard to update him that I didn't make it back to the Chevron, but that I was about 5 or 6 miles beyond it. He was just about to leave, so I soaked in some of the scenery where I was now stranded:
Just about that time, 2 great Samaritans in a pickup truck pulled over, asked me if I was okay, and offered to tow me back to Ririe with a tow strap they had in the car. They were actually ACVW enthusiasts and offered to tow me back to their shop, but at this point Howard was on his way so they towed me to the Chevron that I had originally asked him to meet me at.
I can't thank those guys enough. They towed me off of the shoulder of a somewhat busy highway in a remote area to the safe confines of the Chevron parking lot. I offered to give them some cash, buy them some beers, etc., but they did this out of a sense of help, service, and goodness.
I called Howard to update him that I was indeed now at the Chevron, and about 30 minutes later, Howard showed up, we got a couple of other guys to help us push The Colonel up the ramps, and onto the trailer, strapped down the car, and headed back to their place for a couple of cocktails (and a couple of extra days to spend with my declining aunt).
Unfortunately, at this point the engine was locked up and not turning over at all. I spent the next couple of days lining up a flight back and transport logistics with 4 Corners. The Colonel was delivered back to me in Maryland on my actual birthday in late May.
If anyone can vicariously learn a single thing from me through this saga, DO NOT EVER USE NYLON PUSHROD TUBES ON ANY VW ENGINE!!! Once the car was back in my hands and in my driveway, I was able to put it on jack stands, take off the back wheels and crawl under the car to give it a close up inspection of the underside of the engine.
These are the aluminum pushrod tubes on the side of the engine with cylinders 1 & 2
Mostly good with some evidence of slight leakage on the heater boxes.
Contrast that with what I discovered on the side of the engine with pistons 3 & 4 (meaning the notorious "hot side" of the engine:
I had not even noticed that the pushrod tubes on one side were nylon. Note that it appears the entire 'outer tube' portion of each pushrod tube appears to have MELTED OFF!
It's incredible to me that these are marketed as "Heat Resistent". Obviously, they are not. What is equally interesting is that my dipstick still shows the oil to be above the 'low' mark on the dipstick.
I won't be able to do an autopsy on the case innards for a few more weeks, but I suspect the engine got hot, I noticed it as it reached a point of criticality, and probably cut the engine off just as a bearing was getting spun.
My son (who recently moved into his 1st house with his new bride and found out they are expecting their 1st child recently) has been building a 'drift car' from a Nissan 240 SX and unfortunately that car is in the garage space I need to use for The Colonel. He plans on coming over and helping me move it out of the garage and into our driveway under a car cover "soon" (a word he and I might have different definitions for).
I just had delivered an Autolinea AS41 new aluminum case with a 90.5 bore and clearanced for an 86 stroker cam. Right now my plan is to build a 1904 with a mild street cam and stock carberation (I'm open to alternative suggestions or recommendations) as I plan on using the car as a semi-daily driver for 2-4 days a week. I'm not interested in a street rod and given the cooling issues I just experienced I'd prefer something on the tepid but solid side of the spectrum.
Before I do the full new build, I plan on dropping the transaxle and replacing all seals and bearings from the swingaxle case outward and replace the wheel cylinders, shoes, and hoses that I had delivered to Idaho at the start of my ill-fated voyage.
I don't have a burning need to detail every step along the way, but I will provide updates at milestone points as well as ask for advice for stuff I encounter along the way.
Above all, I am happy learning from all of you and I may make a few posts along the way describing the different phases in my life where Volkswagen Beetles have been a part of my life...there are a few periods in my life where I Beetles have been significantly present.
Cheers.
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sportin-wood
Samba Member
Joined: September 12, 2010
Posts: 2076
Location: Texas
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| Posted: Fri Jul 26, 2024 8:22 pm Post subject: Re: My 1965 Java Green Sunroof Beetle |
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Cool story! Looking forward to seeing the Colonel back on the road again!
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Paused 66 project bug
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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 |
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smeag
Samba Member
Joined: May 17, 2019
Posts: 77
Location: Cooper City, FL
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| Posted: Sat Jul 27, 2024 4:38 am Post subject: Re: My 1965 Java Green Sunroof Beetle |
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Great story. I love your writing style. Welcome to the '65 club. |
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Chickensoup
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Joined: January 06, 2018
Posts: 5383
Location: Good Hope, GA
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scrivyscriv
Samba Electrician
Joined: October 04, 2011
Posts: 3104
Location: Memphis
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| Posted: Sat Jul 27, 2024 7:13 pm Post subject: Re: My 1965 Java Green Sunroof Beetle |
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Thanks for starting the topic, I'll be watching it. I can see a series good critical thinking decisions made under duress and afterward too. It's "cool" now to fly across country and drive an unknown condition antique vehicle home - I don't even need the quotes there, it freaking IS cool to do that - but every deck is stacked differently, and you could have had some really lingering sour grapes to eat if you'd kept pushing it to limp across the country somehow.
Let's face it, a lot of us CAN do a roadside rebuild, and do a pretty good job at it to boot, but not many of us WANT to do that.
Got any more interior photos? I thought I saw what looks like a possibly replaced heater channel on the left, but it's hard to tell.
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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. |
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lgherb
Samba Member
Joined: October 21, 2023
Posts: 39
Location: Annapolis, Maryland
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| Posted: Sat Jul 27, 2024 7:41 pm Post subject: Re: My 1965 Java Green Sunroof Beetle |
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| scrivyscriv wrote: |
Thanks for starting the topic, I'll be watching it. I can see a series good critical thinking decisions made under duress and afterward too. It's "cool" now to fly across country and drive an unknown condition antique vehicle home - I don't even need the quotes there, it freaking IS cool to do that - but every deck is stacked differently, and you could have had some really lingering sour grapes to eat if you'd kept pushing it to limp across the country somehow.
Let's face it, a lot of us CAN do a roadside rebuild, and do a pretty good job at it to boot, but not many of us WANT to do that.
Got any more interior photos? I thought I saw what looks like a possibly replaced heater channel on the left, but it's hard to tell. |
Here are a couple more. I'll get a couple better shots of the 2 heater channels to compare tomorrow.
There is a rust hole that I cut out and temporarily glassed over with some mat and resin before I left to drive home. I'll replace that side pan.
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Chickensoup
Samba Member
Joined: January 06, 2018
Posts: 5383
Location: Good Hope, GA
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| Posted: Sat Jul 27, 2024 7:48 pm Post subject: Re: My 1965 Java Green Sunroof Beetle |
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Those heater channels look decent. They rot from the inside out usually. Poke the sides and the bottom and see how thick the metal is. If solid, then you and pour rust converter in the tubes and bottom of the channels. Rinse it out, then spray wax or mist thick oil. Just make sure whatever you use isn't flammable.
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-'85 c10 5.3 LS, cam, heads, long tubes, x pipe, 3 inch spin tech's
-'01 e46 325ci *tree modded 
-'05 B5.5 TDI Wagon 17in sport rims ;EGR + BSM + ASV Delete, Stage-2 Tune, straight pipe
'65 Tourist Delivery Build
'66 RIP |
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lgherb
Samba Member
Joined: October 21, 2023
Posts: 39
Location: Annapolis, Maryland
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| Posted: Tue Jul 30, 2024 5:20 pm Post subject: Re: My 1965 Java Green Sunroof Beetle |
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| smeag wrote: |
Great story. I love your writing style. Welcome to the '65 club. |
I can't describe the flood of memories that your picture brings back.
My VW journey began when I was a child growing up several miles upriver from New Orleans.
My earliest car memories were of my Dad's white Beetle. Unfortunately, my Dad passed away almost 10 years ago and I can't confirm with him what the exact year his was. My 94 year old mother doesn't recall with certainty and my oldest siblings have given their opinion that it was either a 1965 or a 1966 (I tend to think it was a 1966). Somewhere at my Mom's house there are likely photos buried in a box somewhere that I'd be able to look at and confirm the year (unfortunately, I live about 1200 miles away, so I'll try to look next time I am visiting).
What I do remember of that car in the mid-1960's was that my Dad would cram as many of his 8 children into the car to run errands on Saturdays. We had to sit down while the car was moving, but there were no car safety seats for kids back then and the errands he ran with us in carriage were maybe a mile or two away traversing streets with speed limits of 20 MPH or less.
The VW smell was like an an incense that became part of my olfactory memory from my earliest days and one of my most vivid early memories was standing on the back seat as a child and putting the assist straps in my mouth to gnaw on as if it were a teething ring. I can still remember the tactile feel those had between my teeth.
And the sound...the sound of the engine I'd hear when my friends and were laying in the grass in the evening imagining animal shapes in clouds and waiting for the 1st star to appear. I'd hear it when the car was a couple blocks away. The tin echo coming out of the pea shooter tailpipes would propel my 3 or 4 year old self to run to the house to let the rest of the family know that Dad was almost home.
Unfortunately, Dad was a physician and his busy schedule did not lend itself to allowing him to learn about basic automobile maintenance. He used to take the car to a mechanic he referred to as "Freddy the Magician" because Freddy was probably okay with some level of mechanical knowledge but when it came to electrical work, Freddy might have been the most underrated comedic genius known to mankind at the time. After getting the car back from Freddy, Dad would do things like try to honk the horn and the windshield wipers would come on instead. Use the turn signal and the radio might come on. He probably could have had a TV show that followed Red Skelton.
Alas, Freddy passed away at some point and Dad found a shop that was closer to home than Freddy's shop (which was closer to the hospital). Some time either in late 1971 or early 1972 Dad dropped the V-dub off to have them diagnose and fix an engine issue he was having. They called on a Saturday and asked Dad if he could come to the shop because they wanted to show him something and ask a few questions. I went with him and when we got there they said "Hey, Doc, have you ever changed the oil in this car?" Dad got a puzzled look on his face and asked "I'm supposed to change the oil? How do I do that?"
And with that, they informed Dad that his Beetle was basically dead. It needed a new engine and that would cost close to what a new car would cost and that he should consider getting another car rather than getting the VW fixed. He replaced it with a (brown) 1972 Toyota Corolla station wagon and - having learned his lesson - bought books and taught himself (and any of his kids with interest) the basics of auto maintenance, giving a car a tune up - including setting point gaps and setting the idle and timing with a timing light - and most importantly, how to change your oil and oil filter.
This coupled with being forced to learn how to fix our bikes after we used them to channel our inner Evil Knievel (and jump over as many friends lying prostrate on the ground as we could) using homemade wooden ramps were the seeds of me becoming somewhat mechanically aware with some level of proficiency.
Or at least I delude myself into thinking that.
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The only dumb question is the one that is never asked. |
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smeag
Samba Member
Joined: May 17, 2019
Posts: 77
Location: Cooper City, FL
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| Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2024 2:52 am Post subject: Re: My 1965 Java Green Sunroof Beetle |
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| Wow great memories. Glad I could help. You should post a picture or two of your bug in the 1965 registry thread. Enjoy the process, can't wait to see your progress. |
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lgherb
Samba Member
Joined: October 21, 2023
Posts: 39
Location: Annapolis, Maryland
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| Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2024 4:08 am Post subject: Re: My 1965 Java Green Sunroof Beetle |
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| smeag wrote: |
| Wow great memories. Glad I could help. You should post a picture or two of your bug in the 1965 registry thread. Enjoy the process, can't wait to see your progress. |
I really need to dig through old pictures at my Mom's house and find some of my Dad's car. Some epic family stories revolved around that car.
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scarabee
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Joined: May 14, 2021
Posts: 63
Location: South Africa
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| Posted: Thu Aug 01, 2024 6:48 am Post subject: Re: My 1965 Java Green Sunroof Beetle |
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| I really enjoy your writing style. This is already one of my top stories to follow. |
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VW_Jimbo
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Joined: May 22, 2016
Posts: 10429
Location: Huntington Beach, CA
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| Posted: Thu Aug 01, 2024 3:57 pm Post subject: Re: My 1965 Java Green Sunroof Beetle |
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Nice car! Good stories. I will be following along, for sure! Got me a sweet spot for 65 Bugs, since that was what Grandpa had. Daddy had a 68 Bug and after they married, they bought a 73 Super Beetle! See the problem? We are victims! We have no choice but to seek out and relive our days of childhood, riding in a VW Bug! Love your story! Very close to my own!
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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!
| TDCTDI wrote: |
| Basically, a whole bunch of fuckery to achieve a look. |
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GFY's Xevin and VW_Jimbo!  |
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