maintenence before trip - 67 beetle *updated* w/video

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airkooledchris
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maintenence before trip - 67 beetle *updated* w/video

Post by airkooledchris » Wed Dec 02, 2009 6:18 pm

in 8 days im going to take Werner Von DropnSquish, the $100 rusty 67 beetle I picked up this summer, from Eureka down to San Francisco and back. all told it should be close to 600+ miles with the additional miles ill put on it around town once im there.

its been running fantastically, I have no reason to believe it wouldn't make it.

that said, I haven't driven it for more than 45 straight minutes on the highway and at highway speed. it didn't seem to get hot or dump more oil than normal, but what would YOU do before your first longer trek in a new-to-you 67 beetle?

gauges? are there any gauges considered essential in long highways runs in a beetle? oil temp, pressure, CHT?

im putting together my spares list now. I don't have a spare distributor, but will be sure to have extra points/cap/rotor/condenser. fan belt, oil, spanners, misc bulbs and tools.
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Re: first longer trip in the beetle

Post by Amskeptic » Thu Dec 03, 2009 2:21 am

airkooledchris wrote:in 8 days im going to take Werner Von DropnSquish, the $100 rusty 67 beetle I picked up this summer, from Eureka down to San Francisco and back. all told it should be close to 600+ miles with the additional miles ill put on it around town once im there.

its been running fantastically, I have no reason to believe it wouldn't make it.

that said, I haven't driven it for more than 45 straight minutes on the highway and at highway speed. it didn't seem to get hot or dump more oil than normal, but what would YOU do before your first longer trek in a new-to-you 67 beetle?

gauges? are there any gauges considered essential in long highways runs in a beetle? oil temp, pressure, CHT?

im putting together my spares list now. I don't have a spare distributor, but will be sure to have extra points/cap/rotor/condenser. fan belt, oil, spanners, misc bulbs and tools.
That was a great little soul in that car. Got pictures? Door post good?
Drive it for 20 minutes out on a freeway at 65. Pull off. Touch engine. Check dipstick temps. Good? Hit the road again for longer. A VW engine that is running cool with a good mixture and good timing and fresh oil IS going to get you there. . . and back.
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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Post by airkooledchris » Thu Dec 03, 2009 10:57 am

Image

Image

Image

ok, so that's how it looks in the sun, here is the area your looking for:
Image

I haven't fixed it. All the nasty rusty bits removed, but its been simply sealed with rust inhibitor, expanding foam and some light bedlining material. Structurally its no better than before of course:
Image

it's water-tight now and the door closes and opens properly (I can even lock and unlock it with a key now)

since purchase the entire brake system was overhauled, including the hard lines, motor was tuned up and ive just been driving it. this past weekend I re-timed it (not used to timing a car statically, but I followed the 'bug me' video guys process after reading the VW and Muir books just to be sure) - re-set the points to the proper gap (are you supposed to check Dwell angle on beetles, or just go off of the feeler gauge?)

the spindles were switched out to lower the front end, so the ratty old tie rod ends were changed of course.

picked up a jack and fire extinguisher last night to complete a basic tools/parts kit. im planning to check the valves this week, and maybe change the oil before heading out thursday morning.

for the dip stick test, this is the same as with the buses/typ4's - if you can hold it for a bit, your ok, but if its too hot to the touch your in trouble?
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Post by ruckman101 » Thu Dec 03, 2009 12:17 pm

Werner looks very happy to be back out there on the road!!


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Post by Amskeptic » Thu Dec 03, 2009 4:20 pm

airkooledchris wrote: for the dip stick test, this is the same as with the buses/typ4's - if you can hold it for a bit, your ok, but if its too hot to the touch your in trouble?
The bug dipstick test is the more accurate test due its not being cooled by a fan housing traverse like the Type 4 buses, Vanagon? Not sure. But anyways, if it is at the edge of owie, you're good, if you drop it ouch %@^%*! dammit, it is too hot.

Nice looking car, behave with it until you re-establish the body integrity, no off-road jumps, promise.
Colin :cyclopsani:
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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Post by airkooledchris » Thu Dec 03, 2009 5:06 pm

Amskeptic wrote:Nice looking car, behave with it until you re-establish the body integrity, no off-road jumps, promise.
ok ok, I promise.
im already trying to limit my full-lock turning tendencies to avoid a bit of a tire rub on the swaybar bracket, ill add 'no bo dukeries' to the list of no-no's for now.



thanks for the heads up. (which hopefully will keep me from sticking my own head up my arse) :geek:
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Post by airkooledchris » Mon Dec 07, 2009 9:40 am

so, installed better headlights yesterday (h4) - to finally take advantage of the upgraded wiring. still need to aim them properly, hopefully tonight. just gotta find a wall with 25ft of smooth flat area in front of it.


Got around to the valve adjustment. First time for my adjusting non-hydraulic valves.

#1 side - both were tight. if I pushed really hard I could feel where it should slide inbetween, but I had to loosed both the intake and exhaust and adjust it where it would just slide in and out while lightly grabbing.

#2 - very very tight. these I couldn't slide the feeler gauge inbetween even with lots and lots of force. like with the 1&2 I had to loosen both of these up to get the feeler to just grab and slide in and out without having to use much force.

#3 - basically dead on. slightly tighter than I would have shot for if I was going to mess with it, but the intake and exhaust were both so close to being dead on I left it alone.

#4. slightly tight, but not too bad. I loosened both intake and exhaust up a bit and tightened.

im still getting the feel for this process. tightening it all back up seems to tighten up the adjustment even when you do try and hold the screw at the same time, so I adjusted a touch loose to compensate for this when tightening it all back up. (rechecking of course and hoping id hit the optimum spot/.)

Fired it up, and they clatter a little bit. specifically on the passenger side (#1 & #2) - I haven't driven it far or hard, just around the block slowly to see if it would go away. It did a little bit, but you could still hear them clattering a bit. I wasn't sure if this meant I needed to tighten them back up a little more, or if it will work itself out as it gets hot the first few times.

questions:

1. Is it common that when doing a valve adjustment that if they aren't in spec - they have gone to the tight side? IE as wear and heat does its thing, are you constantly backing them out over time to loosen them back up?

(is one way or the other better to err towards, in terms of slightly too loose Vs slightly too tight? as someone who hasn't adjusted solid lifters before im not sure how hard it should grab at the feeler gauge. Bentley says it shouldn't require force, but to me that could mean different things to different people. if your a gorilla you could consider a pretty tight fit no big deal, where someone else would feel that resistance and stop to loosen it back up a hair. )


2. I timed it statically. I have a regular timing light that I normally use for my type4 motor, is the static method better for the beetle motor or should I be hooking up my light to this the same as I do my van to time it better?

3. I set the points by simply putting the gap according to the feeler gauge the way you normally would and let it be. Should you measure the Dwell angle the way you would on the van? If so, what * are you shooting for?



im about to take this sucker on one *long* trek, it's barely 30* outside and im hoping I don't need to do another valve adjustment tonight in the ice cold weather were having right now. =)


Thanks!

I know, I should shut up and just drive it, this is the kind of stuff that just gets me in trouble probably. ;p
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Post by airkooledchris » Mon Dec 07, 2009 1:15 pm

http://picasaweb.google.com/eucasafari/ ... 7160511858

this video shows the motor after first startup this morning.
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Post by hambone » Mon Dec 07, 2009 1:17 pm

Change is normal, that's why you have to adjust every 3k. Keep a track of those that are always tight, it could be symptomatic of head problems.

.016 on the points. I don't do dwell and time statically. Get it spot on and yer fine.
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Post by airkooledchris » Mon Dec 07, 2009 5:29 pm

thanks hambone.

I think I identified what I may have done incorrectly.

when starting at the #1, I put the line of the crank case with the left notch on the pulley - which im remembering now is actually 7.5* BTDC

there is a paint mark to the left of it, which must be TDC, with a corresponding paint mark 180* around from it.

so, I think I adjusted my #1 and #3 valves at 7.5* BTDC and not at TDC, though I suppose ill check them all if I have to re-do it anyway.

it's odd in that the Bentley only mentions the pulleys with 3 Vs 2 notches in the section about timing and not on the page about adjusting valve clearances. thankfully my old shotty VHS bug-me video part 1 is still viewable and while watching it in the background and listening to him going over the differences in the pulleys a little light bulb went on as I 'doh'ed.
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Post by Amskeptic » Tue Dec 08, 2009 1:57 pm

airkooledchris wrote:thanks hambone.

as suspected im putting too much thought into this. ive been a bit jinxed with some type4 motors in my past and just overcompensating, which along with complete disregard is probably the second most frequent cause of problems.

gonna aim the headlights tonight and put some insulation under the carpet for the frigid drive. :colors:
Pre-1968 Type 1 engines seem to like man-handling the valve adjustments. When your bug was new, the specification was .004". They were opened up to .006" get rid of the liability Volkswagen was getting hit with when dealership mechanics would NOT adjust the valves stone-cold.

Adjust the valves in any case, by *trapping the .006 blade* with your screwdriver*, then backing off to a firm slide that does *not allow the blade to buckle*.

If you have a vacuum only distributor, you *must* adjust timing statically.
Points, just get an easy sliding .016. Factory has always called for .016-.018".
Colin
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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Post by airkooledchris » Tue Dec 08, 2009 2:17 pm

Thanks Colin, as you can see I ended up editing my post above at the same time as your reply, so ill be re-doing this later tonight after my little one goes to bed. (think warm thoughts think warm thoughts)

I do think that I left them a bit loose based on your description of the process and will get them on point just in time for my trek this thursday morning.

My distributor is a 009.
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Post by Amskeptic » Tue Dec 08, 2009 5:08 pm

airkooledchris wrote:
My distributor is a 009.
If you have an OEM carb, get the correct distributor. They will only become more scarce over time.
Colin
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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Post by airkooledchris » Thu Dec 10, 2009 2:43 pm

Amskeptic wrote:
airkooledchris wrote:
My distributor is a 009.
If you have an OEM carb, get the correct distributor. They will only become more scarce over time.
Colin
I always heard from the bus guys they were shite and only for use in beetles, but I guess they aren't that ideal there either.

ill keep an eye pealed for a 205k (I think those have the really short bodies) - but I did also get the suggestion to find some blue Bosch one that is also mechanical called a 019.

as popular as the beetles are I figured there would be tons of good used originals available but im slowly realizing how many of these bug parts are good for only a few model years before they changed again. (and I thought the 75 transporter had a lot of one year only stuff)
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Post by hambone » Thu Dec 10, 2009 3:37 pm

http://greencascadia.blogspot.com
http://pdxvolksfolks.blogspot.com
it balances on your head just like a mattress balances on a bottle of wine
your brand new leopard skin pillbox hat

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