Type 3 ('65 Notchback) Accelerator Pedal Questions

[soupcups]

Hello The Samba,

So I've done quite a bit of research on here and Aircooled and had some questions regarding accelerator pedals and attachment of the cable. Aircooled showed a pic of a newer and possibly better Accelerator Cable and the attachment to the pedal. I have been having the same problems as many on here have encountered with the gas pedal sticking or fallen backwards to the rear of the car making it difficult and dangerous while driving. So I had a few questions for those that have made their own or improved on the original designs.

One; Has anyone had any problems by not going with or using the original "Z Bar" design and possibly bolting the cable to the arm? If so, what kind of issues? And can I even do what I am trying to do as far as proper function of a different design? I scrounged around at my local Ace Hardware and found some steel shoulder bolts and was going to try and use what I think would be better than just relying on the the "Z Bar" staying in the acc arm. When I started to take my pedal assembly out of the car I discovered that the Z Bar at the end of the cable was indeed in the arm the incorrect way. As per the Aircooled site. So I switched it the correct way but I'm still not that satisfied with that attachment. So I bought one of the longer cables with the hook on one end and the Z Bar on the other. You're supposed to cut one end off and fish it through the permanent cable tube back to the engine compartment. (All of this was a result to replacing the dual Solex's with dual Webers.) I discovered the SyncLink setup on here that Peter makes and sells but he doesn’t make them for Type 3's unfortunately.

Two; Does anyone see a problem with the setup I'm making by bending the hook all the way around on one end of the new cable and then using the shoulder bolt and washers and nut to secure it all to the acc arm? Has anyone else who has tried this ran into any problems and/or have advice for me? I'll have to cut the Z Bar end of the new cable off to fish it to the engine compartment and don't really like the idea of having nothing on the end that attaches to the Weber linkage in that it will now have the opportunity to fray and someday may cause a problem. Has anyone soldered a barrel nut or something onto the now frayable end of the cable? If so how did you do it and what did you use.

I hope none of this is a repeat of another thread but I did research this for a couple days before I made this post.

So here are the pics of what I'm trying to do. Thanks in advance everyone for your help and/or suggestions. Looking forward to hearing from BobNotch on this and Glutamado especially but anyone's help is always appreciated.

Aircooled site pic of option

This is the shoulder bolt I found to use. It gives the cable loop a secure but loose enough fit so it can rotate.

Last few pics are the original "Z Bar" that I think can be improved on.

[soupcups]

Here is the car it is going in. A year ago in May, I bought Eric Farnsworth's '65 Notchback, Seablau, because ever I've been looking for a Notchback to replace the one I sold right after high school which was a '64 N Model, or what they were calling the one without all of the extra chrome and side lights and other upgraded goodies, which was also Seablau. I drove the high school one I had for about 4 years as my primary and only transportation and recall how many looks and questions I used to get every time anyone saw it. People would always ask, "What year is your Volvo or BMW?" or even "What the hell is that? A VW?" And now driving this one around some 34 + years later, the questions and quizzical looks have only seemed to increase.

When Eric owned this car, he won many 1st and 2nd place awards with it for original Type 3 and it was in 2 Hot VW's magazines, not as a feature but as a mention with an attached pic. Having owned this for over a year now and having gone through it extensively, I could see why it would accrue so many original awards and trophies. Eric kept it completely stock and took amazing care of it. I, unfortunately to some of the purists on here, have made some changes and now it’s not as original as it was prior to me owning it but I wanted one I could change to what I have always wanted. I haven’t made drastic changes but have done what I consider improvements. I.E. 4 wheel disc brakes, lowered front and rear, 12 volt full conversion, had the transmission rebuilt and converted to 12 volt, 12 volt generator, updated stereo and speakers - none of the speakers or wires are visible and I have cut zero metal to do so, removed original clock and replaced with an ISPWest Tach - which is almost an exact match to the gauges in it, new shocks all the way around, and I'm having a custom squareweave carpet kit made and installed. I haven’t done all of the difficult mechanical work and have a couple people to thank for their expertise like Paul, Alex, and Russ, who have been very valuable. Even though I have altered it I have hung on to all of the original parts, just in case, so I don't think it would be up for anymore awards at shows, I'm having a blast driving this thing and answering questions and acknowledging all the nods of approval. Here's a few current pics and hope to see people on here at some of the shows and just driving around. Thanks again Eric for allowing me to own this beauty.

[Bobnotch]

[Bobnotch]

By the way, when you were first talking about the "Z bar" I thought you were talking about the bar that connected the pedal to the linkage, where you have the Z bar cable end connected at the linkage. I really didn't care for that set up on my 64 T-34, as I was always worried that one end or the other would come detached in traffic. When I did mine, I used a longer cable and set it up like you did in the pics above. No issues with it, and I drove out to Colorado and back with no problems.
_________________
Bob 65 Notch S with Sunroof
71 Notch ...aka Krunchy; build pics here;
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=249390 -been busy working
64 T-34 Ghia...aka Wolfie, under construction... http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=412120

[soupcups]

Awesome. I knew you would help me out as I have seen on here how quickly and informative you always are. And yes, I was talking about the Z Bar on the end of the cable. So I’m gonna say if it looks good to run it that way and it’s something you usually do anyways then I’m gonna go ahead and put it in and start driving it again.

Thanks for replying, always much appreciated. And thanks for the compliments on the car. It has been a wish of mine to find the one I had in high school and buy that but I figured that’s a pipe dream. But I am more than happy to have found this one. The gentleman who owned it before me had it since the early 90’s and kept amazing care of it. Never drove it in the rain and only wiped it down with wet and dry towels as to keep it as rust free as possible. And he pretty much succeeded. It has the usual small pieces of cancer at the top corners of quarter panel and then a bit on the 1/4 panel right by the door. Other than that even the bottom rear 1/4 panels near the door are rust free.

Thanks again for all the advice and info and experience. Love this website.

Jim

Here’s the one I had in highschool back in 1986.

[squaretobehip]

Congrats on the car! That is a nice one. I just came across this picture of it from the 2017 Type 3 Rally. Enjoy.

_________________
1963 Notchback - Ruby Red
1963 Squareback - Pearl White
1965 Squareback - Baltic Blue

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[Bobnotch]

[soupcups]

Yes Square, that's it. The gentleman, Eric, who owned it before me took such amazing care of it and gave me all the paperwork he had and the birth certificate from Germany and old receipts and work orders done to it. I have the magazine that the pic you put on here came out of as well as one other he included in the purchase. He also included an original Bentley manual in its original hard back cover and everything else he had accrued throughout the years.

The box of trophies and plaques he won with this car also was given to me and it's pretty cool looking at the old "Bug-In" plaques. I'll put the pics of the trophies etc up on here too if anyone is interested.

And BobNotch, thats a beautiful car as well. I can't help but consider this model as my favorite out of all the VW models and the first time I saw a picture of one back in the mid '80s I knew I wanted one. It just so happened that one year, back in '86 I think it was, a couple of friends and I went on a VW caravan to Vegas in my buddy Andy's mint green and white split window bus, I saw the '64 I had in high school at one of our stops on the way. It was parked among all the other VW's and had FOR SALE written on the windows. I found out who owned it and convinced the guy to take that off of the windows because he could consider it sold as soon as the trip was over. And as soon as we got back, I gave him a call and met him at his house and I think I paid all of about $2800 cash for it and it was all mine. I loved that car. My friend Andy on here, Dirtslinger, still has all of the pics he took from that trip. I'm hoping he reads this and digs some of them out and posts them on here.

I remember we also almost wound up in jail in Vegas because in the middle of the night, one night we thought it would be a good idea to take all of the fire extinguishers out of the hallways of the motel we were staying at and take them over to an abandoned field next door and set them all off while we were running around like a bunch of Gibbons. The motel owner caught us red-handed and was so cool about it, he didn’t call the cops but told us we had to pay for all of the extinguishers we lit off. That incident may have later in life kept me from my career as a fireman. I still thank that motel owner to this day for being so cool.

The trip was capped off by us giving one of the models at the car show a ride home with us in the bus and dropping her off at her house. I swear the only thing about getting old is the memories you can look back on. At least before you lose that too from old age.

[Bobnotch]

Sounds like it was a fun trip. I agree that memories are about all we have left when we get older that we can call our own.
_________________
Bob 65 Notch S with Sunroof
71 Notch ...aka Krunchy; build pics here;
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=249390 -been busy working
64 T-34 Ghia...aka Wolfie, under construction... http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=412120

[jaransonT3]

VW road trips are the best.

Having said that, I would worry about the stock cable to pedal arm connection. I have been using the stock cable in my 66 Squareback for over 20 years and 70,000 miles with zero issues with that connection.

If it ain't broke....don't fix it.

The cable will fray where is goes into the tunnel or through the engine tin long before that z-bend connection is ever a problem.

_________________
Later,
John Jaranson
'66 Square (Sophy)
'67 Type 34 Karmann Ghia
'70-1 Fasty (Jane - the Lead Sled project)
'71 Westy (Sialia)
https://www.carartbyjohn.com
https://www.carartbyjohn.com/2026Invasion/

[soupcups]

Bob and John,

Yes it was a good time and yes they are, or were anyways. I wonder if they still have a caravan to Vegas trip anymore. I’d prolly have to trailer my notchback or sit on some very cushy pillows. Getting old sucks but now that I’m older I’m getting to buy back into the VW world again. Enjoying every minute of it too.

[jaransonT3]

[Bobnotch]