brakes now work. had to change the soft lines, hard lines, slave cylinders, master cylinder, shoes, and a buddy of mine repacked the bearings and disassembled/reassembled the pedal assembly just to be safe.

clutch now works. the throw-out bearing snapped out of its place. so we changed the pins and turned the clutch arm around (the previous owner had it on backwards).

my friend showed me the mysteries of wiring as he tried to get my tail lights to work in any sense of the word.... only to find that they wont work. either my switch is bad, or i have a short/ground somewhere in the car. we rewired the rear of the car in any case.


new engine seals were installed.


the engine now runs with no smoke and no hiccups. changed the spark plugs (fouled as badly as they could be), rebuilt the carb (had sludge in it), replaced the idle jet in the carb - it was just a random plug in the side of the carb.... jake raby had never seen anything like it because the car would crank and idle. albeit it idle really badly but it idled. adjusted the valves - that hadnt been adjusted in so long that the gaskets came apart in chunks and there was more sludgy oil between the valves and the adjustment screws. adjusted the idle.

the car runs like a dream now. smooth and powerful.

now i just have to change my light switch. and replace the headlight bulbs, reconnect the speedo cable, and i am good!

eventually ill need to rewire the car. thats gonna be fun, im sure.

oh yeah, and we divined through the genius of standing around, beers in hand, and saying.... "wait... its a 63? why does it have that?" that the bug is indeed NOT a 63. it looks more like a 60 or earlier. it has the squat window, and the single decklid prop on the drivers side. thats means my taillights are era correct. but i have the rear apron of 68+. the tranny crossmember of a 62 plus. and the engine of a 63.

so my bug, it turns out, is an abortion. a decent looking ride from the outside. therefore i have named her Jana. the greek goddess of secrets, mysteries, and hidden revelations.

 

Nice man. I just picked up a 74 not long ago. Needs a tune up and brake work and it'll be driveable. Next will be getting the body and paint in shape. If you have any good websites for info or parts I'd appreciate the help.

 

thesamba.com is the most well known and widely supported

 

I always liked bugs.

Buddy of mine had one he made into a rail buggy. Thing was bad as hell.

 

Nice bug!

 

vwvortex.com FTW!!!

 

well, i finally uploaded more pics of the weekend.

here we are discussing the engine vintage-ness



removing the engine. you can see jake pointing at the reversed clutch arm.


pulling out the throwout bearing.


reassembly


making sure i got everything right. my partner is (of course) paying very close attention. she never left the cooler.... so she didnt see me showing off my manhood and she is sitting on the f*cking beer! if you look over to the left, you can see the 181 with the new type IV motor we put in. now its a 481! that 'thing' hauls!



and im hooking up the electrical crap. i think pete is looking to take the car by force

 

nice bug!