My German Import RHD 58 - Updated

[karmakoma]

I am itching to get her running. You MUST come for a lift I also noticed today the one fuse is actually blown, hopefully that takes care of the wipers! But for now, the fuel pump/system is obviously priority.

[Blitzkrieg]

I'm knocked out with the flu this weekend. I see that forum members are all getting sick. First Dirk, then you, now me!

[ZeroAxe]

I'm knocked out with the flu this weekend. I see that forum members are all getting sick. First Dirk, then you, now me!

Makes me wonder what you guys get up to

[karmakoma]

Yesterday afternoon I took the fuel pump apart.
Diaphragm still looks new, spring below it looks great, but the rest was full of gunk, must be from the car standing for a year or two. As they say, sometimes what seems like a bad thing is actually a blessing in disguise! If some of that crap got into the carb it would mean carb rebuild time!

So out comes the steel brush and the dremel with a polish tip, brushed all the parts clean, cleaned the pump "piston" with the dremel, washed it all in petro a couple of times, checked the springs and the valves in the pump and to my untrained eye they looked ok and they both still closed. I found out a q-tip or "oorstokkie" dipped in petrol can reach most of those difficult little holes and crevasses in the fuel pump and clean them out nicely. Next time I will take some before and after pics, as I was quite chaffed with my work.

Re-assembled, but could not test it, as I had startingtons the day before (defintion: startingtons, the inability of an ACVW owner to stop cranking the car thinking by some miracle that it will burst into life on the 15th try!). The battery was sent with my dad to charge, as he happened to have a 6V charger at home! Now I just need to find a gap this week to collect the battery and hopefully we have startup, hold thumbs...

[GavinHuart]

Riveting stuff! Excellent work - sounds like you've been doing this for years! Here's hoping for the weekend!

[Rudi02]

Nice work Karmakoma, you are geting the hang of it. This old cars are not difficult to work on. Hope it starts when you get the battery.

[karmakoma]

Great start to the morning, got the battery back this morning, put it back in the car, and VOILA.
She started within a couple of cranks. What a feeling, can't believe something as basic as getting your car started can put such a smile on your face . Engine runs sweetly. Choke works, drove her up and down in the driveway, all good. To start on such a cold morning as today, even better! Generator light did not go off, so perhaps the old 6V genny needs a rewire, but probably just a clean. Anyone done it before?

Next step, roadworthy and then register on my name. Will just take her to have the brakes checked before the roadworthy.
Hope the rest of the day continues where it left off!!!

[GavinHuart]

SUCCESS AT LAST!! ... the relief! You must be stoked! Such a good sign that it didn't battle in the cold. Genny light not going out could also just be a loose contact somewhere. Double check all wires are making good contact first - well that's what I'd do... my 2 cents The voltage regulator also comes to mind for some reason... There'll be a lot of real old wiring that's brittle. Have a peek.

And...

Take a video!! Wanna see it!!

[spca999]

Hi Karma,

We are in the same boat, me alas, also an IT individual, but isn't the learning curve just great. I think the appreciation factor of the finished product (Once done) will that little extra bit special! I am still on my first which is probably a good thing so I have no previous work to compare my own to. lol

[calooker]

Well done, it will get more and more infectious, the bug has bitten.

[beetlefanatic]

Well done, now I can come for a spin! (In a months time)

[karmakoma]

Thanks for the encouragement guys. Will take a video when I actually get home before dark for a change
This bug has not bitten, its ripping out chunks of meat BF, you are welcome to come for a spin, just make sure you don't bring me any virii from africa! I'll double check all the contacts and that voltage regulator, and yes, few things beat the feeling of doing something yourself and it actually works! Wanted to start her up again just for the heck of tonight, but the flu still has me by the short and curlies, so back inside before I get pneumonia. Die another day and all that.

Still looking for a 4 Tab hood, german carpet, and material to make up a new headliner, apparently this beetle used a wool type fabric. If anyone can help, please?

[Rudi02]

Glad she runs well Karmakoma.

The headliner material is like a velour. I found a place in Germany, (about five years ago)that will weave the correct material for your car. They also stock the carpets. You just need to keep your old heater surround. (Those surrounds are worth something.)

Unfortunately they are quite expensive. I've looked through my old emails but cannot find their particulars. Do a search on the internet.

[jmvv]

For the headliner, try your local automotive trimmer.

Have a look at the BMW headliner. It comes in grey and light tan. The material is similar to velour with a thin foam backing (about 1mm). It can be machine stitched like normal material.

Last time I got some from Charlie's Motor Trimmers in Pretoria West.

It might just work.

[karmakoma]

Worst flu I ever had, still not better, but I had to find something to do on my beetle. Decided to tackle the sunvisor.

This time I remembered to take some before and after pics at least.
After I removed it from the car, it looked like this:





Rust and dirt all round.

The first step is to remove the old cracked sunvisor, without breaking the rear view mirror and fragile right hand side sunvisor!

Not too difficult, bit of patience and a flat screwdriver to open the ends a little and voila, new and old next to each other:



Those of you looking carefully, will also notice what I did, yep, they are not the same!





I'll have to search some more, because I know if I fit it like that it will always irritate me.

While the assembly was out though, I thought it best to give it a bit of a clean.
There is a bit of rust and pitting, but elbow grease and silvo will do wonders, not perfect, but thats not the point on this car, and I dont think this looks too bad considering the age.





Interesting thing was that the cracked sunvisor is NOT the same as the righthandside one. VERY close, but the righthandside one has a small vw stamp on the front, and is made from a more shiny plastic than the cracked one. I am guessing that was already a replacement. Anyone with original sun visors who can shed some light?

Getting back to my headliner question. The main section of the headliner directly under the roof, has two small tears in it above the drivers head. Not that big so I have decided to live with it. The headliner on the sides though (almost a canvas like material), above the doors, on the B-pillars, around the back window, does need to be replaced. Anyone know of a good place to do this for me, in a similar material, WITHOUT damaging the existing fragile headliner, and also if these can be replaced seperately?

Made a small collage of the headliner, picture quality not great, but you should be able to see what I mean: