Carburetors are Less Scary

This is actually one of the scariest things I have done to my VW.  With help from my friend Dave (made famous in an earlier post), I completely disassembled the carb.  I replaced gaskets and seals, and gave everything a thorough cleaning followed by some quality time with an air gun.

Learning experience: when the instructions say "Pay attention to how this spring was installed" what they really mean is "put it back the same way."  I didn't, and as a result my accelerator pump wasn't working, and the Thing really wouldn't run at all.  Dave deduced that the accelerator pump wasn't working so something must be wrong in that area, and he found I had put the spring in backwards.

Dave was also kind enough to check and adjust my valve clearances. They should all be 0.006, and some were a little off. In particular, #3 had very little clearance at all. This is a problem because it means the valve doesn't sit closed long enough to allow its retained heat to conduct through the head. This can lead to valve failure and horrible engine damage. I'm noting the valve clearances before adjustment here; if we find that #3 is consistently getting too tight more drastic action will have to be taken.

Cylinder	Valve	Clearance (inches)
1	exhaust	.005
	intake	.003
2	intake	.006
	exhaust	.004
3	exhaust	less than .002
	intake	less than .002
4	intake	.004
	exhaust	.003

Bug Bust 2010

Went to the 20th annual "Bug Bust" in Webster, NY.  Here are some cool pictures (link to the rest at the end)

Thing's Twin

Coolest Dune Buggy

Sweet Karman Ghia

Type 3 Squareback

Thing with a Rubber Chicken Stuck In Door

Lots more pictures, starting Here

Brake and Clutch Pedal Pads

VW Pedal Pads

Not sure exactly when this was made, but it has the original part number stamped on the side and the VW logo on the front.  Very cool for $1.95 for the pair.  Thanks jbugs!

Thing's First Car Show

I didn't want a museum artifact, I wanted something fun that I could enjoy on nice summer days.  I didn't know how people would react to it at a car show.  Yawns?  Humiliation?  Pointing and laughing?  Nope.  I was surprised at how big a hit The Thing was.  Lots of questions, and lots of people saying "I remember when these first came out" and "I remember the TV commercials for these, they showed how you could take the doors and top off and fold down the windshield!"

The rest was mostly questions like "Is this really a Volkswagen?"  and "What is this?"  That's generally the trend ... people either remember The Thing fondly, or else they are completely bewildered by it.

There are more car show pictures here, including a few pictures of a beautiful 1960 Wolfsburg Edition Beetle.  There was also some kind of contraption that used to be a beetle, but isn't any more.  Please look and enjoy!

The car show was way more fun than I expected.  Wegmans does a great job - there is food and door prizes, and they run them all summer.  I will definitely go again.

Success!

Well, the brakes finally work!  After taking off the hoses, a lot of air got into the system.  It took a lot more pump-and-hold cycles than I thought it would to get all the air out.  They weren't big bubbles, either.  It looked kind of like soda pop fizz.  But after many repeats clean, clear fluid came out of both sides.  We went down to Canandaigua and had dinner at Doc's.  Brake pressure is good, no funny pulling or anything when engaged (even during hard braking).

Dave

Our friend Dave helped a ton getting everything straightened out, helping me with his lots-and-lots of VW experience.  He told me I probably couldn't screw it up.

Thing at Canandaigua Lake City Pier, Windshield Down

Thanks also to Rob and Susie for polishing up the beautiful, classic half-moon VW hubcaps.  Thanks also to Rob for fixing a dent in one of them.  They look great!

Brake Update

I changed the front brake flex lines today.  The inside of them was unbelievably bad.  From the outside they looked good, but on the inside they were completely closed up.  They definitely needed replacement, and I'm sure this will make a huge difference.

So far, I haven't been able to get them to bleed properly.  I'm not seeing air bubbles, but the brakes are soft, and not really doing anything significant until the pedal is all the way on the floor.  I'm either doing something wrong, or else there's still a problem somewhere in the system.

My favorite air cooled VW Forum has expressed some concern about the pedal pushrod adjustment.  Susie helped me take a picture of my pedals, and they definitely seem a little off:.  The stick shows what's roughly perpendicular to the floor.  The clutch pedal is about parallel, but the brake pedal leans too far back.  You don't feel any master cylinder pressure until the pedals are about even.  That's too much free play and will need adjustment later.

My other small accomplishment today was to install some new tail pipes.  They're really cheap, $6/ea for the pipes and about $3 each for the clamps. They look pretty good, can't wait to see them in the sunshine.

More on brakes and stuff tomorrow :-)

A Beetle by Any Other Name

The Volkswagen Beetle has many names.  Most of them mean "Beetle" in the local language, but not all of them!  Here are some interesting ones:

• Kever ("Beetle", Netherlands)
• Poncho (Chile).  In Spanish, Poncho as a noun means just what you think, a poncho.  As an adjective, it can sometimes mean "peaceful."
• Fakrouna ("Tortoise", Libya)
• Cucarachita ("little cockroach", Honduras)
• Boble ("Bubble", Norway)
• Bhyagute Car ("Frog Car", Nepal)
• Buburuza ("ladybird", Romania)
• รถเต่า -("Turtle Car", pronounced Rod Tao, Thailand)

Thanks Wikipedia