Just got my bug back from the shop

[Dave3d]

Thanks Ken.

Well, the project has been put on hold (maybe) for abit.
I just got out of the hospital, after a 5 day stay.
Seems I have a 'huge' (doctors terminology, not mine) blood clot between my heart 'out' valve and the lungs.
My right leg also has 1 vein full of clot, from the ankle to below the groin.


So.........
Hopefully I will be feeling well enough to drive/tow the bug to the shop.
My nephew (or someone) will be helping putting the tow bar on.
Might as well have it in the shop while I am getting better.

[Snafu]

Ah crap!

Guess they have you on thinners to break up the clots?

Hope you get better soon and get the bug in the shop while the Doc takes good care of you

[Dave3d]

Yeah, blood thinners galore.


And, I am trying to see if my wife and our little helper (kid up the street) can get the bug in the shop tomorrow.
Would be nice to get the dang thing finished.

[Dave3d]

Well, yesterday was an exciting day.
We hooked up the tow bar to the bug, and drove the 30-40 miles to the bug shop, and about 10 streets before getting there, one of the pins that hold the tow bar on (1 on each side, 2 total) either snapped (doubtful) or came out because of a stupidly weak pin holder (most likely).
We were in the middle lane of a 3 way road, with traffic all around us, and the pin went out, and the bug started swerving into 2 lanes!
The wife was driving (still not feeling well enough to drive much), and stopped quick enough, that we didnt cause any major damage.
The tow bar was stuck under the bug though, and we couldnt get it out, or get the tow bar off the hitch.

So, I had to call 911 (VERY busy road, 3 lanes on each side, and we wewre blocking middle and partly another lane), and AAA for a tow.

Very harrowing experience.

Luckily, no damage was done to the bug or the truck.

And, the shop already finished the wiring, and the wiper fluid bottle/pump.
They called today, and I am having them replace the transmission also, as reverse was just gone.
Might as well have ALL new mechanical, as well as most electrical parts, right?

So, another week and I should have it back.

[Dave3d]

Well, that was a LONG week.
:P
Hehe

Got the bug back.
They replaced a lot more then just the tranny though.
Like, new tranny mounts, rear tranny mounting platethingy (the metal u-bracket), the (I dont know if its the clutch or the throttle cable) rear tube, the shift rod coupler, the cv boots, and greased the axles.
I told em to replace whatever was bad.


So, here are the axles:


And the transmission:


Got the door seals on (but need to find out why the driver door sticks out so far with the seal in and the door closed. I already adjusted the lock plate, and it didnt do anything, except make it almost impossible to close the door):

[lakeside2189]

Nice work Dave !!!!!!!

[Dave3d]

Thanks.

Felt good for almost 2 days in a row, so did a tiny bit.


Got the inner 2mm plastic sheet in the driver door (not all done though, but good enough for now).
WAS going to get the door panel on also, but couldnt find my springs for the window crank handles.

[RacingKen]

Hey Dave, I am sorry to hear that you have had all the problems with the clots! I sure hope those blood thiners work in your favor, and eliminate all those clots.

The Baha Bug is looking great Dave! When do you think you can take it out for a little test run?

Ken

[Dave3d]

Well, I have driven it from the shop, to my house, and back to the shop and my house again.


Just got back from the shop right now.
Had to have the clutch cable tightened a bit, as the clutch would not fully engage, and a couple of the wires came off the front left turn signal.

While it was there, I had him put on another carburator (without all the california emmisions stuff) and a 009 distributor (screw you, vaccum advance! hehe), and give it a tune-up.
Runs really well now, except I have to make some pre-heat changes.
He says it is all hitching because its cold out, and I have no pre-heat to the carb at all.
So, need to drill some holes in the exhaust, weld some pipe and plates in, and attach it to the pre-heat manifold.
Also need to figure some way to get some heat to the carb itself.

I got some sun visors (HAD to get them, I got blinded the first time driving it to the shop during the day), and some heater tube cut-off plates (dont have stock exhaust with heater tubes) today.
Going to try to put them on now, except I am all dizzy again.
Sigh.
Felt fine this morning, now I am dizzy.
Grrrrr

Made an apointment to get the other windows tinted, and a quote on the stereo system installed (when I install them, they always drain the battery in 2 days), with a custom interior antenna, on the 14th (just right down the street from me).

Getting a backing board to make my own door panel backings, so I can use the old panels leather (REAL leather!), which is still in A+ condition.
Talking with a guy who is manufacturing ABS plastic door/trim panels for VW Buses, and he is going to start making Bug panels later this year. This would be such a boon to vw bug enthusiasts, as they will never need to be replaced because of warping due to age and hot/cold/wetness.

Still need to install the cheapy ceramic heater, wire up the cig lighter, and clean/polish/paint the rims (wheels).

As for when I am going to get the baja to the salt flats?
Not til summer.


Still, the project is REALLY close to being finished (if a project is ever really finished, hehe).

[Dave3d]

Its all in the little details.

Here are some pics of the black sun visors with the original screws (which are kind of grayish, sorry, the visor screws pic didnt turn out well) (the clip part has 1 gray, and 1 black screw, to show the difference) :




Here is a visor with all black screws:

[Dave3d]

Full visor view, visors down:


Full visor view, visors up:


And, from the outside:

[Dave3d]

Yeah, it only took 3 hours to get 2 sun visors and a gear shift knob in.
If I was feeling good, that should have taken 30-40 minutes at most.
Sigh.

Anyway, here is the new gear shift (the 8 ball was garbage, and came off after about 10 shifts, sigh):

[RacingKen]

It's looking sweet Dave! That head liner came out real nice also.

I have an idea for your carb heater...... Maybe you could tap into your exhaust manifold and run a small tube into the carb for the warm air. It wont matter that it's exhaust air as it will just reburn like when they started using smog pumps back in the 70's.

[Dave3d]

Well, I am already going to have to drill 2 holes in the exhaust, to go to the manifold heat.
I really dont want to use the exhaust for the carb heat though. That will be too much direct heat, and if the carb is running rich, it may bog the engine down. Also, any fouling particles may end up in the carb itsef, since the preheat bypasses any filtering system.

I am thinking about making a custom tube, that basically goes from the #3 cylinder outside, and will step down in size to a regular 3/8-1/2 inch fitting. That way, I can make a T junction from the oil filler tube blowback hose and the custom tube to the blowback on the carb filter.
The blowback from the oil tube, along with the suction of the carb, should pull in 'some' warm air.
I just dont know how I would be able to filter the custom tube.

Thanks for the idea though.
It is a pretty good one.

[Dave3d]

OK.
Was having a really good today, until around 4pm.


Got a little bit of work done.
Bought and checked the fuel pump pressure (it was good at 3psi, the tops it should be).

Also, drilled some holes in the exhaust for the manifold pre-heat, and made some brackets for the lower attachment point.