My German Import RHD 58 - Updated

[karmakoma]

And as promised, got my seatcover to take a short video when I started the car.
The funny sound you hear when I rev the engine is the cellphone mic not being up to the task:
Just one twist of the key and off she goes... (the car that is )


http://s495.photobucket.com/flash/playe ... V_0003.flv

[karmakoma]

Headliner update:

Found out from WW: http://www.wolfsburgwest.com/cart/Detai ... 38674991LG

Turns our that the headliner came as seperate pieces, so all I need to do is make up the seperate trim that got torn and I should be able to save the rest of the original headliner

[GavinHuart]

And as promised, got my seatcover to take a short video when I started the car

Awesome! She sounds real good Karma! Nice work on the clean-up of the visor and rear view mirror too.

Sorry to hear about the flu. It's a killer this year!

[Rudi02]

That engine purrs like a kitten. They are very reliable. Thanks for the video.

Your headliner is still good looking if you consider the cars age. At least it is the original and a good template to work from. You are also lucky to have the passenger side sun visor. Believe it or nor but that was an extra in the fifties. Those were the days.

[karmakoma]

Rudi, your note that the passenger visor was an extra in the fifties got me thinking. Perhaps if the left does not match the right exactly it wont be the end of the world in the interim. As they never would have looked the same anyway. Got home with a little light left and fitted the the new visor and then the assembly. Light was bad so this pic is very poor (its all planned to make it look vintage ), but let me know what you think?
Also fitted the new wipers afterwards.

[GavinHuart]

Nice Karma! Great job! You fitted new wipers? You mean just the blades or the whole arm? I still have the original blades and arms on mine which are more useful left switched OFF during a down-pour, but someone said they're of value to the car as they were flapping away on there from day one. I don't drive the car in rain if I can at all help it, so I am fine with that.

[karmakoma]

I only fitted new blades. The correct type, (steel and rubber all-in-one unit). The old blades only had steel left, nothing else.
Still can't get the wiper motor to work though.Will have to check all the cables and see.. Fuses have been checked and replaced.

[GavinHuart]

Oh I see. Great! Where'd you get them from btw? My motor is still 6v and churning 12v through it certainly can't be doing any good. They're mighty quick though . I read about fitting a resistor or something to bring down the voltage on the motor side but have kinda left it there. I never use them you see.

[karmakoma]

I ordered the blades from Calooker. They look just like the originals.
You can fit a resistor to drop the voltage to 6v on the wiper motor. There is a thread about it somewhere...

[Rudi02]

You are doing very well. That inside pic is so nice. Especially the parcel tray. Those original ones are quite nice.

I also got some wiper blades from Calooker. They work just fine. Although I never drive my cars if there is a hint of rain.

Keep the updates coming

[karmakoma]

After almost two weeks of not doing any work on the beetle. I just had to do something this weekend.

We attended a birthday party near OTTOSDAL, good old south-african farm hospitality. a proper "SKAAP BRAAI", lamb on the spit for the english speaking amongst us. Due to all the food consumed there, I had to do something to work some of it off.

Got back with enough light left, so it started.
One thing that bothered me from day one is that air filter that looks like @#$@#. I'll refresh your memory:


So out comes the air filter, and I figured while I am at it, lets take out the voltage regulator and touch that up as well.
First clean with petrol to get rid off all grease and oil, then wipe down, light sand with fine grit sandpaper just to give the paint something to cling to, and to get rid of any surface rust.

Three coats gloss black later it looked a lot better.

These two looked pretty good (not perfect, as I am a novice), also realized that I should have sanded the whole thing down to bare metal, then primered and only then painted if I wanted that perfect finish.

Once these two items were almost done, I couldnt leave the coil looking all tatty, so out it came.

Since I was busy, I also removed the old firewall, then cleaned the engine bay.
Fitted the new firewall on the sides of the engine bay, but it got too dark to attempt to fit the main rear firewall section.
Replaced the coil, regulator cover and air filter, but when I wanted to move her to the garage to start with the firewall main section, she wouldn't start. I am hoping its just a loose cable or something.









It was a little dark, but you should be able to see the new firewall bits and spraypainted parts. The new firewall sections are a little dusty, will clean those once the whole job is done. The brownish stuff on the rear firewall is the original felt sections they used for sound deadening (I am guessing), and they are in good shape, so I figure I'll keep it there. All the original steel tabs are still intact to reattach the firewall, so before resorting to glueing it, I'll try to reuse them. Good news is that there was no rust ANYWHERE. The engine tin looks like it was installed just the other day Also found two cotton triangles in the corners of the engine bay behind the left and right firewall sections. I supposed they were there to help suppress noise to the inside of the cabin?

Is it worth taking off the pulley to respray, or can I mask and do it in place?
Your thoughts on anything else I should consider, anything I did right/wrong?

[Chris]

Nice Karma!!

[beetlefanatic]

Looking good!
Make a plan to get the engine started. I'm back one of these days and then I want that spin.

[GavinHuart]

Looking good!

Re: the new firewall cutout section going at the back - I stand corrected, but I have heard many times of overheating problems arising from not gluing that main section of the firewall to the rear metal. If it's not 100% secured, the suction from the fan housing (just in front of where the firewall cutout section is to be attached) causes it to be vacuumed onto the fan hosing opening which hinders airflow and causes the engine to overheat.

Just a thought.

Your paintwork looks great!

[Rudi02]

Well done Karma, your paintwork looks nice.

Take heed of Gavin's advice concerning the firewall material. You dont want that engine to be damaged by overheating due to material in the fan. Those little cotton triangles just limit the noise inside the car.

I will remove the top pulley for repaint. It is so easy to remove and put back. The bottom one is also not that difficult if you have a puller.

Keep up the good work!!!