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

Beetle, Karmann Ghia, Thing.

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airkooledchris
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Post by airkooledchris » Tue Jan 12, 2010 10:54 am

Received the distributor shown above, turns out it's the wrong one, that thing is supposed to be for a later beetle.

but, I did finally track down the right one. a true VW 113-905-205K, been sitting in storage for 25+ years and while im sure it needs to be rebuilt - it looks to be in great shape.

finally heading back down to San Francisco this coming weekend to pick up my beetle and drive back to Eureka. another 5.5-6 hours behind the wheel of Werner Von DropNsquish - should be interesting.

ill bring warmer clothing this time, and wear more waterproof shoes than my Chuck Tailors' in case it rains (while sitting in the driveway it never gathers water inside even in BIG downpours, but at freeway speeds I do get wet on the drivers floor.)

im hoping the VW karma is strong with me again and it's a quick and enjoyable trek. I may try swapping the seats from Driver to Passenger side before the trip back though, that seat bottom on the drivers side was downright painful just an hour into the trip last time around. the padding seems to be ok but the springs are so shot that it just compresses all the way down.
1979 California Transporter

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Amskeptic
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Post by Amskeptic » Tue Jan 12, 2010 5:35 pm

airkooledchris wrote:Received the distributor shown above, turns out it's the wrong one, that thing is supposed to be for a later beetle.

but, I did finally track down the right one. a true VW 113-905-205K, been sitting in storage for 25+ years and while im sure it needs to be rebuilt - it looks to be in great shape.

finally heading back down to San Francisco this coming weekend to pick up my beetle and drive back to Eureka. another 5.5-6 hours behind the wheel of Werner Von DropNsquish - should be interesting.

ill bring warmer clothing this time, and wear more waterproof shoes than my Chuck Tailors' in case it rains (while sitting in the driveway it never gathers water inside even in BIG downpours, but at freeway speeds I do get wet on the drivers floor.)

im hoping the VW karma is strong with me again and it's a quick and enjoyable trek. I may try swapping the seats from Driver to Passenger side before the trip back though, that seat bottom on the drivers side was downright painful just an hour into the trip last time around. the padding seems to be ok but the springs are so shot that it just compresses all the way down.
Good luck. Have fun. Stay away from Mitsubishi Eclipses.
Colin

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airkooledchris
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Post by airkooledchris » Wed Jan 20, 2010 12:20 pm

well, I made it.

should have taken about 5+ hours, but ended up taking me a little over 7 to do the trek. amazingly the weather was worse than the last drive I did. insane winds and torrential rains.

wouldn't have been TOO big of a deal if my wipers didn't go to hell in a handbasket along the way.

first I noticed they were sorta jumping around, like they were getting stuck a little and then pushing past it. I stopped and saw the motor was moving around quite a bit, so I tried to jam something between it and the bracket to limit movement and this seemed to clear that up no problem.

side effect - an hour later the wiper arm came off of the shaft on the motor. found part of a mangled C-clip and eventually wiggled it into place (no washer)

that worked for about 20 minutes, then the C-clip busted.

I tried as hard as I could to find a workaround way to attach that arm back to the motor, but nothing was working - I just didn't have any spare parts or tools that could do the trick. After sitting under a highway overpass in the dark for nearly an hour, the rain started letting up and I made a mad dash for home.

other than big trucks flying by and covering my vision with road-spray - I was able to see fine and motor on to get home.

I had been cold, no problem, but then I was also really wet - so I needed to get home or to a hotel fast to dry out and warm back up.

got the beetle in the garage now. it's waiting a proper fix to the wipers and still trying to dry out (carpets, drivers door card are completely soaked to the core.)

when the motor was warm and it was really cold/wet - the idle was running really high. like 2,000 RPM's, it just wouldn't kick down from that speed. seemed to be happy on the highway, but worth looking into when Werner has some more downtime.
1979 California Transporter

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

Post by airkooledchris » Wed Nov 06, 2019 3:35 pm

That little beetle did a number on my VW desires. It wasn't a good candidate for restoration and I eventually sold it off.
It passed through 5 more hands before I saw it pop back up as a parts car, then headed to the junkyard once all the good bits were removed.

I miss the way it drove.

I love my bus, and ive owned and daily driven busses (ok, one aircooled vanagon as well) the past 20 years now. - but im missing the bug life. I may be headed back to the midwest next year and all the things I use my bus for now, I probably won't do there. Im considering switching to the bug life for good.

Maybe sell the bus and use the funds to get a beetle - or trade with someone who wants to go the other route. I don't know. I hate the idea of 'selling' any VW ive owned, but trading for a different VW doesn't seem as hard to do. I don't know. I know i'd miss the bus right away, but lately ive been pining for a drive in a bug again...
1979 California Transporter

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tommu
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Re: maintenence before trip - 67 beetle *updated* w/video

Post by tommu » Thu Nov 07, 2019 12:12 am

Nothing wrong with a bit of VW redundancy - own both a bug and a bus. Seems that most people who sell a bus these days have trouble replacing it.

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

Post by asiab3 » Thu Nov 07, 2019 1:07 am

I have my choice of both for road trips when I’m in town with my mom’s bug, and the Type 1 is an incredibly capable car. Because it is a convertible, (which presents foul-weather problems,) I have transported lumber, small furniture, and lighting/music gear all over in it. It also helped move me last year, ironing board and a lamp sticking out the back at 75mph on the interstate on my way to an appointment!

Don’t underestimate a squareback either. The later ones drive like crisper bugs, and hold a crazy amount of cargo on top of a fine fuel injection system.....

I can’t speak for your bus, but any new VW will have its share of issues for you to work out. Your bus is YOURS at this point, and you know it for all it’s flaws. Relationships like that take time to build :)

Robbie
1969 bus, "Buddy."
145k miles with me.
322k miles on Earth.

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Amskeptic
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Re: maintenence before trip - 67 beetle *updated* w/video

Post by Amskeptic » Thu Nov 07, 2019 9:56 am

asiab3 wrote:
Thu Nov 07, 2019 1:07 am
I have my choice of both for road trips when I’m in town with my mom’s bug, and the Type 1 is an incredibly capable car. Because it is a convertible, (which presents foul-weather problems,) I have transported lumber, small furniture, and lighting/music gear all over in it. It also helped move me last year, ironing board and a lamp sticking out the back at 75mph on the interstate on my way to an appointment!

Don’t underestimate a squareback either. The later ones drive like crisper bugs, and hold a crazy amount of cargo on top of a fine fuel injection system.....

I can’t speak for your bus, but any new VW will have its share of issues for you to work out. Your bus is YOURS at this point, and you know it for all it’s flaws. Relationships like that take time to build :)

Robbie

Listen to Robbie.

Oh, and a bus is still an amazing home appliance for all number of tasks. And it appreciates.
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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