Saturday in the shop

I spent the day working in the shop. It was a good day to be in there because it was rainy and cold outside. I started out fixing some rear brakes on a dodge neon. It was also time to change the oil on Dixie's van so I had Isaac do that for me. He is a good helper in the garage and always likes being out there. Here he is adding the oil to the van. I'm not sure about his choice of shoes but you know kids nowadays. Ha Ha.

 I ran the metal fuel line for the bugs engine. It is mostly metal from the fuel pump to the front tin. I added some bigger fuel line over metal line so it won't vibrate and wear a hole in it. The last thing I want is fuel squirting around in the engine compartment.

 I ran all new rubber fuel lines. The old ones were hard and brittle.

I also added some safety wire to the fuel inlet line of the carburetor. You should always do this if you have an air cooled VW. This is a well known problem on the carbs. The brass inlet actually can vibrate out of the carb and then you are pumping fuel all over your engine until the fuel bowl is drained of fuel. Many VW fires have been caused because of this. You can also drill and tap your carb and then install a threaded nipple but I find it much easier to just throw some safety wire on it and call it a day.

 We installed the exhaust and the engine is now officially ready to be put in  the bug. I was hoping to install it today but I ran out of energy and motivation. I also didn't want to scrape my windows on Monday so I opted to keep my other bug in the garage for a couple days. Here are the before and after photos.
Before:

After:

Isaac is excited to get the engine installed. This is his look of annoyance because I told him I didn't want to push Lulu into the garage to install the engine.

We are hoping to get it installed this week before Saturday. If that happens, we can work on getting the rear suspension raised and the rear wheel bearings packed. It will then be on the road. Woo Hoo. We can't wait for that. We might be able to make it before Thanksgiving.