My German Import RHD 58 - Updated

[karmakoma]

Good news , thanks, anyone else advise on spray painting and what on earth 300 line is?

[karmakoma]

Loving this forum... Where were you 10 years ago

[spca999]

The sanding! Now there is something I have come to know! Bsically a couple of tips from my side, after two colour changes, and an additional sanding requirement following a "dirty" gun:
1. Use a lot of water!
2. Use Sunlight Soap (The bar version) - This really helps to prevent the paper from sticking to the paint!
3. Try and do it by hand. Although my arm is now currently unusable for any other purpose, it was worth the extra effort
4. Start with the finest of sand paper (Around a 400) should be OK. Move to a more course paper only if really required.
5. You may want to note the colour code used, once the colour match has bee ndone. this will prevent mismatches later on if needed.
Be wary of the amount of paint you take off while sanding. If you remove too much, a coat of MS Primer might be needed.

Hope this helps a little. good luck with the work! It is apparently all worth it in the end!

[GavinHuart]

Gavin, does the Wynns product also fill small cracks and chips like a colour polish?

Well it's all dependent on just how severe the cracks and chips are. My car has slight "egg-shelling" surface cracks in some places. Grime would back up in them making them highly visible due to the contrast in colour of the white paint. Polishing with Wynns makes them barely visible at all although a couple of months down the line, having washed the car umpteen times, obviously the film-like layer of Wynns that's been applied has worn off and they appear again. Another polish get's them out the way though. I also believe in touch-up paint. Don't cringe! On a brand new, metallic coloured TDI Polo I had not too long ago, I managed a really bad, really deep chip in the paint on the front bumper. (I hadn't even put the number-plates on yet!!) All I did was layer on a 'blob' of touch-up paint daily polishing and allowing it to properly dry between layers. Eventually there was absolutely no evidence of the chip at all! Tedious, but certainly worth it.

I think it all depends on just how finicky you are about it. Ideally I'd love to have my Beetle completely re-sprayed but there is technically nothing wrong with it's current paint and it certainly doesn't warrant spending 10k for a paint job. I believe they have earned the odd few marks here and there. Almost nostalgic in a way...

[karmakoma]

Right
So I got a 6v battery today from Highway Battery, they had 4 left when I phoned earlier this week, only 2 left now.
Expensive though! Almost a grand! Thanks for the tip though Rudi02

Just a word of warning, I am a newby when it comes to the actual restoration. Yes, this is my fourth beetle, but as my friend would call it, I was a cheque book restorer. Dropped the car off somewhere, and waited for it to come back fixed. With varying results. This time I am determined to do more myself. I am in the IT industry, so the dirtiest my hands get is when I replace the fan on the inside of a dusty pc ! Right, now that that is out of the way.. Please advise where I have gone wrong and where I could have done better, and dont make too much fun of me.

I take out the back seat, and notice in the harsh light of day that there is some rust on the battery tray, but still not too bad, one small hole, about the size of a 20c piece. Rest of the tray is solid. Also notice the battery clamps are DIRTY, lots of old battery acid build-up.

Logical to me is to clean this up a little. Got some fine sandpaper and sanded the clamps lightly, then took a steel wire brush and brushed off most of the crud and junk. Dont know if this is the right way, but thats what I did.
Installed the battery, tightened the clamps, and ever the optimist, jump behind the wheel and try start her up. Its a 51 year old car thats been standing for 2 years, what are the odds. Too great it seems, engine and starter turns over at least, but nada, no luck, pump the go pedal and notice that there is very little travel on it, something wrong, but we can check that later? Any ideas? Try starting again, still nothing.

My first thought was, perhaps the petrol pump relay has been replaced with a cheap unit and its stuck, then I realize, this is a 58, there is no petrol pump relay, dont even know if the petrol pump is electric yet! SO I get out, open the engine lid, and start looking for this petrol pump. I am used to the ones in the 67 - 78 beetles, so I see nothing that resembles what I am used to, but I can guess what should be the petrol pump. Also dont see any of the rubber pipes I am used to! But, I am undeterred, at least I know what the airfilter is, get a screwdriver, take it off, and check if there is any fuel in the carb. pull the petrol cable a couple of times, no fuel.

Then it strikes me DUH, the fuel tap is probably closed! I rush to the front, no fuel tap, I look under the carpet, behind the parcel tray, missing in action, just a hole under the dash? I then remember that I have some extra fuel in a jerry can (LRP), and I add about 5 litres to the tank, my reasoning being that the tank was so low, perhaps there was not enough to get the car going, try starting again, and yep, you guessed it, nothing. At this stage I just want to see if the engine still fires, so I pour a little petrol (dont know if this is safe or not!) down the open carb, and try starting again, she starts (starts to start for lack of a better description) , almost straight away! good as far as the engine is concerned by the looks of it.

Now I need to figure out why the fuel is not getting to the engine. Maybe the tap worked itself loose and fell out of the mounting hole, I check under the car, check in the "BOOT", nope, the tap is underneath all that, so Off with the front wheel, I took the left one off, gives me access, and no tap, just a short rubber pipe from the tank straight to the steel pipe going through the chassis. Anyone know what the assembly looks like for the fuel tap and anyone have one for sale ?

Now I am stumped. I didnt know too much to start with, and as you can imagine this has taken me a couple of hours.
I remember I have a haynes service manual somewhere, go dig it up, and check fuel system. Useless to be honest, no pics of the earlier beetles, only later type, with great instructions, but not for a 58! At least finding the haynes led me to my VW bible, keeping your vw alive, not too many pics, but good instructions and description of what to look for, googled a pic of a 58 fuel pump just to be sure , and I took off the fuel line leading to the fuel pump (all steel), bone dry, blow on it hard and listen for bubbles in the tank - NIKS, try sucking on the fuel line expecting a mouth full of 93 LRP, also nothing. So either the tap has been moved, or , more likely, there is gunk in the trunk, blocking the fuel line. Is there an easy flush or does the tank have to come out?

As always, advice appreciated, and dont laugh to hard at the inexperienced!

[Ron&Gill]

so the dirtiest my hands get is when I replace the fan on the inside of a dusty pc ! !

You're half way there already!!!

[BUGGOFF]

Hi there karma, dont know about the feul, but NEVER wax a newly painted part. Your car is black, so color matching aint a problem. You're also going to buff and polish the whole car, so you dont have to paint the whole panel. I would say if the damage is more than half of the panel, then do the whole panel. Remember NO WAX on new paint!!!

[Tony Z]

Good going... good learning curve.
Not sure if your car has a tap, its not a bike and most cars dont.
Check the fuel filter.
If the filter is in the engine bay, move it to the ares next to the gearbox, that way it wont melt and burn the car down.
Take off all rubber fuel hoses and replace them.
drain the fuel from the tank into a bucket. Blow from the tank side to the pump (with the pump hose off).
Take careful note of thich side of the pump is out and which is in.
That said, check that the hoses are the right way around to start with.
With all the hoses removed, hok one up to the pipe that runs thru the tunnel and blow on it, if its blocked, your best option is probably compresses air to get it open and then something that you can use to run a cleaning fluid thru it continuously until you know for sure its clean.

Good luck

[karmakoma]

Gotcha Bugoff, Ron, you're right, its AC PC
Tony, the pre 60 beetles still had reserve tanks, hence the tap.
all the fuel lines are steel/metal! thats how old the car is, no rubber. Only the short rubber hose between tank and steel line where reserve tap was removed.
There is no fuel filter, I guess car is too old for that, or I just can't see it ? Not in engine bay, not under tank, anywhere else I should look ?
Will drain tank and check the pipes though as suggested. I should be able to get some rubber fuel line hose anywhere right? Would like to make a longer pipe so I dont have to get right UNDER the car to give the fuel lines a good test blow or shot of compressed air.

[karmakoma]

Since I had the battery in there, I checked all the lights, and they all work, hooter works as well, took a couple of tries but now works fine. Couldn't see much difference between dim and bright on the headlights but thats a 6V system for you, the foot switch for dim and bright still works 100% as well. Only electrical item not working is the wipers, I checked the four fuses behind the speedo, but not the two next to the spare, hoping its just that. Anyone have some spare 6V wiper motors lying around ?

[lowlight]

There should be piece of rubber pipe above the rear axle Check there for in line filter not std. fuses next to the spare are for the head lights. Try turn the fuses sometimes they dont make good contact.

[Ron&Gill]

Gill's bus has a reserve tank valve (which ain't workin')

Beware of rubber fuel lines, make sure they are good for fuel, see my Razor thread, I repaired fuel leaks by the plenty because the rubber hose used was not petrol resistant.

While you have your tank drained, check the strainer in the fitting under the tank to which your fuel line connects for cleanliness.

Please put new clips on your fuel lines!

[Rudi02]

Good going Karmakoma,

Best to take out the tank and clean it properly. There was a good writeup sometime ago on the forum on how to clean it. Just do a search. I remember that it involved a piece of chain. What I usually do when one of my cars have been standing for a long time is to inject some petrol with a big syringe into the overflow hole at the top of the carburator. It will put petrol in the float chamber and if the float chamber is nearly full, the car will start easily. By the time the float chamber is empty, the fuel pump would have had time to get the petrol from the tank to the carburator and the car will keep on running.

With a car that stood for a long time, I think it wise to make sure that the fuel lines are clean and that the tank is not full of rubbish. These old cars didnt have filters.

Glad you could find a battery. Just pity about the price, but worth it in the end.

Rudi

[karmakoma]

Finally an update!
We were away over the long weekend, and sick as a dog last weekend, so at last, this weekend, time to work on the beetle.

Took off the front wheel, and disconnected the short rubber hose between the tank and the steel lines. Fuel started running from the tank, not as much as you would hope, but at least a start.

Looks like the previous owner did not use proper fuel hose, as there was bits of perished rubber all over the show. Including in the start of the steel line. I roped in my dad to come and help, as he had a couple of beetles way back, got a small piece of thin wire, inserted it into the rubber "plug" that had formed in the start of the pipe, got most of it out. Then we blew on the fuel line hard from the engine side, and out came old fuel and small pieces of rubber. Fuel line cleared!

We took out the fuel tank anyway, drained it, and inspected. Looks like at some stage the fuel tank has been lined with some sort of protective layer, as it was nice and clean. NO form of mesh or filter of any kind! Fitted some new high pressure fuel hose from the tank to a inline fuel filter, then also from the filter to the start of the steel line. Fitted the tank and off we go.

Within a couple of seconds there was some fuel coming out on the engine side. We let it run for a couple of seconds, to make sure everything was fine, no debris, only fuel coming out. So far so good. Hooked up the fuel line to the fuel pump again, tried starting the car, cranked it for a while, but no luck. Took the fuel line off the carb, no fuel. Inspected the short fuel line from the pump to the carb, all clear?! Cranked the engine with the small fuel pipe off, fuel squirted out the pump ? How weird is this? Reconnect the small pipe going to the carb, no fuel, I then bent the pipe down so the end was more in line with the fuel pump, and some fuel came out. So in my limited experience I would guess that the fuel pump needs to be overhauled, maybe the diaphram is toast? Any advise here would be appreciated. Would I be able to buy a diaphram like this from a local store, does it have to be made up, anything else I should check? As a test, we poured the last couple of drops of fuel left in the jerrycan into the carb, almost immediately the flat four makes starting noises , so I can't wait to get this baby running!

Also got some nice goodies this week from Rui, new blue german Wolfsburg hood emblem, new left sunvisor, firewall kit. I'll only fit them though once she is running.

Something else this projects need - a 4 TAB bonnet (as used on these late 50's and early 60's beetles) - anyone got one lying around? I would be willing to swop the current bonnet (and a small cash contribution), or make an outright purchase.

Waiting for your comments.

[beetlefanatic]

Mooi man!
You've been busy! It's very possible that the diaphragm is perished although on some of the pumps it had a hole where the petrol leaked out if this happened. Hope you get it running soon! I want a spin when I get back.