I drove two cars home this weekend!
Posted: Tue Jun 08, 2010 11:49 am
Had a first time experience this weekend; I drove two cars home at the same time! 
But first let's catch up on the story.
I've been doing quite a bit of mechanical work on the 56 oval since I got it home. First job was to fix the oil leak after it dumped all its oil on the road when I drove it home for the first time. I got an original flywheel oil seal from calooker (you da man Rui!!!) and pulled the engine a couple of weeks back. Once I got the flywheel off the problem was immediately apparent: the last time the seal was changed they had used the wrong seal, and the OD was obviously a little loose. No problem, someone het 'n plan gemaak ... they shellacked the seal into the case.
The 60km drive home was obviously too much and the seal popped out.
After I replaced the seal and the engine was back in the car, I noticed a fuel smell in the engine compartment, so I didn't drive the car until this past weekend when I checked it out again. I also took the opportunity to replace the missing towel rails and overriders that had originally been fitted (56 was the first year for this option!). When I checked the fuel smell out, I discovered that the steel fuel line had worn through where it goes through the front (FIF) engine tin, as there was no grommet. This is a serious fire hazard on ACVWs and I suggest you check yours right now!
So I replaced the steel fuel line with a spare from my stash (it's the old style that screws into the fuel pump, no rubber lines). After that the damned car wouldn't start. I eventually decided it was just an air lock in the pump and figured a push start would sort it out but, by the time the car was at the bottom of the hill it hadn't started. Only then did it occur to me that the replacement fuel line may have been blocked, which I hadn't checked when I installed it. DOH!!!
So I walked the kilometre back home and fetched some tools and found there wa a wasp's nest in the fuel line. Once I cleaned it out the car fired right up and sat there idling sweetly. So I took it for a long test drive. DOH again!!! About 3km from home, in Auckland Park, the car died again after bits of wasp's nest clogged up the carb. So I walked home again to fetch more tools and drove back in my Mercedes. I cleaned the carb out in a jiffy and the beetle was running sweetly again, but now I was 3km from home with two cars. So I drove the beetle 200m and parked it, then walked back to the Mercedes, drove it 100m past the beetle and parked, then walked back to the beetle and repeated the process until I got my ass and both cars back home!
I've ridden two bicycles simultaneously before, but this was the first time I ever drove two cars at the same time.
But first let's catch up on the story.I've been doing quite a bit of mechanical work on the 56 oval since I got it home. First job was to fix the oil leak after it dumped all its oil on the road when I drove it home for the first time. I got an original flywheel oil seal from calooker (you da man Rui!!!) and pulled the engine a couple of weeks back. Once I got the flywheel off the problem was immediately apparent: the last time the seal was changed they had used the wrong seal, and the OD was obviously a little loose. No problem, someone het 'n plan gemaak ... they shellacked the seal into the case.
The 60km drive home was obviously too much and the seal popped out.After I replaced the seal and the engine was back in the car, I noticed a fuel smell in the engine compartment, so I didn't drive the car until this past weekend when I checked it out again. I also took the opportunity to replace the missing towel rails and overriders that had originally been fitted (56 was the first year for this option!). When I checked the fuel smell out, I discovered that the steel fuel line had worn through where it goes through the front (FIF) engine tin, as there was no grommet. This is a serious fire hazard on ACVWs and I suggest you check yours right now!
So I replaced the steel fuel line with a spare from my stash (it's the old style that screws into the fuel pump, no rubber lines). After that the damned car wouldn't start. I eventually decided it was just an air lock in the pump and figured a push start would sort it out but, by the time the car was at the bottom of the hill it hadn't started. Only then did it occur to me that the replacement fuel line may have been blocked, which I hadn't checked when I installed it. DOH!!!
So I walked the kilometre back home and fetched some tools and found there wa a wasp's nest in the fuel line. Once I cleaned it out the car fired right up and sat there idling sweetly. So I took it for a long test drive. DOH again!!! About 3km from home, in Auckland Park, the car died again after bits of wasp's nest clogged up the carb. So I walked home again to fetch more tools and drove back in my Mercedes. I cleaned the carb out in a jiffy and the beetle was running sweetly again, but now I was 3km from home with two cars. So I drove the beetle 200m and parked it, then walked back to the Mercedes, drove it 100m past the beetle and parked, then walked back to the beetle and repeated the process until I got my ass and both cars back home!
I've ridden two bicycles simultaneously before, but this was the first time I ever drove two cars at the same time.
Where do you live if Auckland park is 3km away?
Oh do take some pics of your fantastic car with it's newly fitted towel-rails and overriders. I can't get enough of this car!
