Having fun with Cub Scouts and Dumpster Diving?

This weekend, Steven and I had a chance to work on his Handyman badge for Cub Scouts. He had to check the tires on his bike and a car, lube his bike chain, change a light bulb in a car and the house and change a tire and check the oil on a car.  Volkswagen's are great to learn how to check the oil on because they always need some. Steven did great. I wish I had grabbed the camera earlier but I managed to get the oil and tire part of it. Steven actually checked the oil on both the bugs and added a 1/2 a quart in each one. Here he is checking the dip stick. 

 I wanted to switch tires on the baja so I figured I would get Steven to do it so he could pass it off. He jacked up the car by himself and removed the tires on his own. We cheated a little bit because I let him use an air gun to remove the lug nuts but we have one so I figured why not use it. I did explain that if we were on the side of the road we wouldn't be using the air gun. I helped him get the tire on and 2 lug nuts started and he took over from there. Here he is adjusting the torque wrench for the lug nuts to 94 foot pounds.

 When you weigh 80 pounds it's not real easy to torque something to 94 foot pounds. He put all his weight and muscle into it.

 Here he is finally getting it to click. He did all 8 lug nuts and he looked like he had a good time. 

 It was pretty hot on Saturday. The temp on our house thermometer showed 101 degrees. We took a break to drink some water. Steven changed the brake light on the bug because it wasn't working and it fulfilled another requirement. We had a good time out in the garage even in the high temperatures.

Earlier in the week I was talking with a couple guys at work about scrap metal. I told them I had some I needed to get rid of along with a water heater. One of the guys mentioned that a transmission was dumped in the dumpster at work so I decided I would turn it in for scrap. We went out with the forklift to retrieve it from the dumpster. Along with the trans, I found a full set of exhaust off a victory motorcycle. I found out a guy from work was cleaning out their garage and decided to chuck all this stuff. I had a good idea on what I wanted to do with it after I found out they came off a victory motorcycle. I did some research and found that they came off a 1634 CC engine. It would work perfect.

 I had the idea to put them on the baja for exhaust. The neighbors are going to love me if I can get them to work. They will be a lot quieter then the bazookas I have on there now. I am pretty sure I can weld on a piece of the straight pipe off the header and then I can install the mufflers off the bike.

 This is what they should look like. They will look a ton better than the rusty noisy ones I have on there right now.

 I am excited to try to get these to work and the price was definitely right. Even if I had to go dumpster diving. Stay tuned for the progress of the exhaust this week. I am keeping my fingers crossed that I can get it to work.

The Stars must have aligned!

I started checking out bus routes and what bus fare is nowadays because 3 of the 4 cars we have were down for the count. The new transmission that was installed in my truck was throwing a code and surging on the freeway, Tugger the baja was down still with the engine and pedal cluster removed and Ed the bug was running horribly and about ready to die. I figured it was time to do something about the collapse in our transportation. I swore when I got off my mission I wouldn't ride the bus again! Anyways this picture was when ed was running good and I needed to get some mulch for the trees in our yard. The roof rack came in handy. The truck is full of scrap metal and I didn't want to remove it.

I was able to get the truck into the dealer to replace a pressure switch inside the trans that apparently didn't like to perform and I was able to pick it up on Friday. Woo Hoo, things were looking up. I had at least 1 of my cars drivable. Anyways it was now Saturday morning and I decided to try to get the other 2 bugs running. Earlier I had replaced the transmission input shaft seal and the throwout bearing. 

 While I was doing that, I noticed that the transmission mounts were shot. You shouldn't be able to lift the transaxle like this. That meant a trip back to Bob's VW to purchase some trans mounts.

 I replaced the mounts and put some grease on the input shaft. The trans side of the bug was ready for the engine to be installed. I also put the pedal cluster back in the bug and hooked up the clutch cable.

Now it was time to look at the engine side of things. I removed the clutch and flywheel to replace an o-ring that I didn't replace the first time I had the motor out. I reinstalled the flywheel and got it ready to install the clutch.

 Here is the clutch going in. Remember to install it with the nipple side facing out like this picture shows.

The pressure plate was next. You need to align the clutch when you put it on. I suggest getting an alignment tool. It works perfect and they are very inexpensive. I ran into a snag while I was doing this. I had all but 1 bolt finger tight and noticed the threads on the last bolt were really buggered up. I borrowed a tap and die from a buddy and cleaned up the threads on the bolt and the flex plate and installed the bolt.

 Here's everything torqued up and ready to be installed. Just need to get the engine put in now.

 I installed the engine and gave it a test drive before I put the bumper on just in case I had to remove it again for some reason. It fired right up and drove great.

 With the test drive completed, I installed the bumper and drove it around again for kicks. It drives good and shifts good. I forgot how obnoxious the sound from this engine makes but was quickly reminded with a romp of the gas pedal.

2 down, 1 to go. I figured Ed just needed a tune up and he needed this deck lid popped out to help him stay cool in this hot weather so I went to work. ( I actually did ed first then tugger. That's why tugger still has his bumper on top.)

I adjusted the valves first because the engine was cold. I have shown this many times in the blog so if you want to know how look at some previous posts. I installed some new valve cover gaskets because I had a small leak here.

 A points adjustment was next. I think this was the whole problem because the dwell was WAY off. I got the dwell on perfect and did a quick timing adjustment and he was running like a top!

 I installed the deck lid extenders and Ed was good to go.

So, I guess the stars aligned on my automobiles this weekend. I can't remember the last time all the cars were running at one time. I guess it's time to take Dixie out on a well deserved date while everything is running. Who knows how long that will last! I just need to find a babysitter now.

Busier then a one legged man in a butt kicking contest!

It's been a crazy couple of weeks. I was able to get Ed up and running again. It was just in time because I sent the truck in to have the transmission changed and tuggers still down with the clutch problem.  I had to get a new brake drum because the old one was too worn to turn. I took some time to powdercoat them.

Ellie's always a big help in the garage. Here she's helping me put the wheel on. She spends lots of time out with me and is always crawling under or over a car to help out.

About a month ago I took my old vise and stripped, blasted and got it ready for powdercoating.It sat on top of my toolbox for a long time until I was doing some coating.

In this picture, I just pulled the vise out of the oven after it baked. I used a high gloss black.

 I polished the handle and the other areas that couldn't be painted. I reassembled it and I think it looks pretty good. I still need to highlight the Columbian with some silver paint and mount it on the work bench.

 It should last me the rest of my life and maybe my boys can enjoy it also.



With 2 projects down, I decided to figure out what was wrong with tugger, my baja. I knew it was some kind of clutch problem but that can still be a lot of different things. It felt like the clutch cable had snapped so I started there first. I removed the pedal cluster and even though the pedals look pretty bad, the clutch cable looked new along with the clutch hook on the pedal cluster. I am going to rebuild the pedal cluster while I have it out.

 That led me to pull the engine and look at the pressure plate and throwout bearing. This engine comes out pretty easy. The hardest part is removing the back bumper. I had it out pretty quickly.

This is what I found. The throwout bearing failed. I found my problem. I am bummed out because it was a new bearing and it was a good brand name. The pressure plate has a few dings but I am going to reuse it. The engine comes out easy enough so i will take a chance.

 So once again, Ed's out of the garage, It's threatening rain and tuggers taking his spot. I will hopefully get tugger up and running soon because as I have been finding out, if you want to drive aircooled vw's everyday, you need a couple of them so you can have 1 going while the other one gets fixed.

Keep checking back and see if things work out. Dixie's has mentioned the last few days that I haven't been around much lately. I told her absence makes the heart grow fonder. Hopefully things will settle down a little and we can take one of the bugs out on a date. It will most likely be whichever one is running at the time.

Fixing the rear brakes on Ed the Bug.

A couple weeks ago, I pulled out of the garage and saw a big puddle of fluid . It took me a minute to clear the cobwebs from my head because I wasn't fully awake at the time but I realized it was coming from the right hand rear wheel. I figured my wheel cylinder blew so I drove it back into the garage and drove the truck to work. I figured it was a good time to redo all the rear brakes on the bug so this hopefully won't happen again for another 43 years or so.  Here you can see my drum and how wet it is from brake fluid. Brake fluid is very hard on paint. The inner paint on my wheel looks terrible but it is what it is.

 Here are the new parts I purchased. I have actually done the other side already so this is just the stuff for one side. I got new shoes, wheel cylinders, a hardware kit that includes all new springs and I also got new flexible hoses for the rear.

The worst part of this job on an aircooled VW is getting the drum off. It is torqued on to 230 foot pounds or something like that and can be a real pain to get off, especially if they have been on for a very long time. I have said this a hundred times but I will say it again, This picture shows a torque meister tool that is used on vw's for rear brake drums and flywheel gland nuts. They cost 60 dollars and are worth every penny. I have used mine many, many times and have never regretted it.

 With the drum off, I found the forward puck of the wheel cylinder leaking. I had brake fluid all over the inside of my brakes and some on the outside also. I hosed it all down with brake cleaner and proceeded to tear out all the parts of the brakes. When doing drum brakes it's a good idea to take a picture so if you forget how they went together, you can look at it. (That's assuming that whoever did the brakes the last time did it correctly.)

The shoes are removed here. The emergency brake cable just unhooks off the pivot.

 The old wheel cylinder is in the upper picture and the new one is lower. It's also a good idea to look at all the old parts and compare them with the new ones to make sure you have the correct part.

I pulled the old cylinder apart and found a big pile of gunk in there. I imagine some of this stuff got between the cylinder wall and the seal and allowed fluid to leak past it. You can rebuild these if you can find a kit. You should hone the cylinder with a little hone to clean it up. I chose just to buy new ones and hope they are good parts.

You have to remove the emergency brake pivot off the old shoe and install it on the new ones. It's just a clip on the back.

 Here it is installed on the new shoe. The back clip is on the floor by the screwdriver.

Here's part of the hardware from the kit. One kit will do both rear brakes. I think it's a good idea to replace this stuff every brake change.

 Over half way there. I have installed the wheel cylinder and the brake shoe with the e-brake pivot.

Here is the brake all finished with new stuff. If I was restoring this car, I would of taken more time to powdercoat the backing plate and everything. I figure since it's my daily driver, I will just get it back together.

I chose to replace the flexible hoses also. Over time, they will break down and the inner surface of the line will collapse on itself. The problem is that the outside will look fine but you won't be getting all the pressure you need. I actually think that that's what all the crud is inside the old wheel cylinder. They are cheap and I really like to have brakes when I need them. I don't skimp on brakes or tires. It's just not my style.

 The hoses removed easily as everything does on this old bug. I am always really surprised about that. I just think he likes new parts.

Here's the new hose installed and ready for fluid to pass through it.

 I was looking at the brake drums and they really look terrible. I have a couple things to powdercoat at work, so I am going to take some time to clean them up and powdercoat them. It's suppose to rain tomorrow so I wouldn't be driving the bug anyways. This gives Dixie some time to exercise her leg for when she needs to come out and help me bleed the brakes. She said her leg was sore from when we bled the front brakes last year.

Hopefully in the next couple of days, I will get the drums coated along with my vise and some lug nuts for a buddy of mine. Then, I can get Ed back on the road and enjoy some of this awesome spring weather.

Work lined up out the door for the garage.

The garage is finally coming around to being functional again. It is none too soon because I have 3 of my own cars lined up for work to be done on them. I have been doing a lot of cleaning and organizing and it's amazing how much space I gained. I hung some cabinets up on the wall and I think it looks pretty good. It's amazing how much brighter the garage is and it's even more comfortable to work in.  Dixie has been sweeping non stop and that has been helping a ton. I bought some new lights for the shop area today and they will replace the older light I have hanging here.

Ellie still hangs out with me now and then. She never passes up a chance to play in the garage. I guess it's like father like daughter.

 Dixie's car came first today for some regular maintenance. Her van needed a oil change. That went quick and it then was moved back out of the garage. Both the bugs are down for the count. Ed blew a wheel cylinder on the left rear brake and Tugger needs a clutch cable or something else that's more in depth. I haven't had time to work on anything so I have been driving the truck.

 I was able to start on Ed this evening. I am changing out both wheel cylinders and putting new brake shoes and flex hoses for the rear. I did all that on the front brakes when I had the beam out. It was time for the backs to be done. I am just glad they held up for my trip to St. George last month.

Ellie was taking off with a bag of chips. She was in heaven being outside and having chips to eat. Those are 2 of her favorite things.

 Here's the garage with a view from the door. It's almost done. I have plans to hang some shelves that will go around the garage door and paint some more trim. I also have to hang my ladders and paint some flames on the one wall. If you are artistic, live by me and can tape out some flames for me on the wall, let me know. I need all the help I can get because I don't have an artistic bone in my body.

 This is the good side but I am changing out all the brakes so I don't ruin a new set of shoes if this wheel cylinder blows like the other one.

I guess my next few posts will be about the brake rebuild and how to troubleshoot a clutch issue on an aircooled VW. Should be some interesting reading.