1963 VW Beetle:Ragtop Resto.

[63Ragtop]

been focused on the engine for the last couple weeks.

dirty.



clean.



mean!



was hoping some of it's hp might rub off on my bucket.



back in the cave.



gave the heat exchangers a good de-grease.



they're pretty much worn out, but will do a few more miles/years, until I finally give up on this fantasy of having a working heater.(its never worked)

Alt stand and a very quick black paint job.



if you look back a couple post, you'll notice the fan shroud had two holes for the throttle cable, neither were in the right spot.



sorted.



terrible paint on this thing, ran out of primer, ah fuckit!



shiny!



sparky!



after spending a not insignificant amount of time cleaning up all the old, oil covered stainless tinwear screws,



I found these new button head ones, ah well! 

[63Ragtop]

fan stuff.



new oil cooler seals



so the fan housing could get bolted down now.



 



thinking about mounting the coil here.



on the top of the oil cooler scoop.



 

[63Ragtop]

B6HS.



Hmmmmmmm.



that don't look right at all.



so I took it all back apart, double checked everything, took the Alternator off, put the gennie back on, still the same.
I think it's been like this for years, I blame the shitty aftermarket tinwear, the Alt can move back into the stand but the shroud and everthing thats bolted to won't let it, I even leaned on it and got a mate to tighten the strap, but that juts made it crooked and out of alignment.



need more beer

[63Ragtop]

we gonna rock down to electric avenue...



please please work!



spent several hours of my life making these air cleaner spacers.



now looking not quite as homemade, still need holes for studs on top of the crabs.



played mix and match with the fuel inlets on my old single dell, twins now both the same fittings with one side blocked off, so the line will come up though the firewall, to the left carb then over the the right hand side.



got the linkage working nice and fitted the sparkplug wires.



test fitting the old k&N off the single, new ones will be the taller ones I think.



so close!

[63Ragtop]

sTRANGE bED FELLOWs.



our cars couldn't be any more different!
 



finished mounting the fuel line, ended up going under the throttle tube. mounted the coil on the cooler scoop, the extra weight makes the scoop flap about, might need a couple more screws to hold the scoop now  



fitted up the crusty old heater boxes, so I could button up the tins. valve covers will be painted dark grey at a later date.



found these little RUBBER NIPPLES  at pineline, that place has everything! these block the vacuum ports on the carbs, very handy for keeping you walrus protected also.



test fitted the old bugpack zorst, fuck it's shite!!



get in there ya wee bugger!! guess I'd better install the rear engine bay seal.



ah yeah....

[63Ragtop]

have hopefully fixed the worn out gas sender problem.



I have no idea how much gas I have, but the old gauge don't work anyway, I can just look down the filler neck and at least I can full'er up now.

And then as Sunday drew to a end...



dells seem to fit. oh man those manifolds are right bastards! 



hooked up the throttle wire.



made brumbrum noises.







just need to finish wiring and install electric fuel pump, K&Ns should be here at the end of the month.
So questions,
1; I have a Red and a Blue wire coming from my 009 distributor, is one positive and one negative on the coil?

2; loom has two large red wires in the engine bay, one goes to the Alternator?, and one goes to the starter?, and then I think one goes from the alt to the starter? 
my loom had no instructions, and because I've gone with alt from genny, this has changed a few things??

Also how the hell do you keep the fusebox in place? I bought that little clip but I'm buggered if I can make that work!
trying to avoid using a washer and wood screw like it use to have.

[63Ragtop]

Answer to question #1- yes, postive and negative to coil, wire were red and black, not red and blue. I forgot about the compufire points replacement I've got in the 009.
Answer to Question #2 - yes I have the big red wires in the correct places, has thats the only place they could go, just had to crimp a connection on the end of the wire between the starter and the Alternator.

Still no idea about the fuse box clip thing!!!

meanwhile....



it's off the stands, ass starting to squat down.



lost that sweet rake it had, just need to drop the front another inch or two!



popped the muffler and rear valance on, easy.



looking good.



Darrell to the rescue again with his tiny little 1/4 inch socket set.



sorted those pesky manifolds out! wired up the coil, oil pressure sender, Alternator and spark plugs.
Should fire up now



spend a couple nights sorting out the fuel system at the front end, looped the line around to the front, through to the old washer bottle spot, which is now the fuel filter and pump spot, and back to the hard line under the tank.
I have had this set up in my head for a while now, I had even drilled the holes for the fuel lines, but no hole to mount the pump, drilling into my nice new paint fun! but at least gives a good earth, the power for the pump is for the moment hooked up to the spare radio fuse circuit, which is always live, which is not ideal.

Anywho.



rear bumper and mutherfucking number plate bitches! 
legal beagle.



bumper rubbers not fitting all that great, will fit rubber first, then bumper when I next remove the muffler as the bumper mounts are a pig to get to with that big ass muffler in the way. So the correct process is Valance-Bumper-Muffler. reverse of the way I just did it.



time to fire it up.
 

[63Ragtop]

 I actually tried to fire it up last Friday night, but the second hand fuel pump out of Darrell's HZ Statesman, which I've had in a box for a few years, had died from natural causes.
I wasn't keen on changing all the lines and installing the factory pump, so I googled up the brand of the old pump and found they are a NZ company manufacturing these pumps in a Waihi, 



95bucks delivered to my work yesterday, 5 o'clock couldn't come soon enough! I rusted home and mounted it up.



This is a 2psi low pressure pump for carbs, they do a 4psi 6si a 6volt version and 24 volts version.
I like it as it's small, in line, no regulator needed, and very quite.

So after battling to find a good earth I ended up using the screw that holds the left service cover thing on.
By now it was nearly ten at night but I've waited to long to let that stop me!
I took it for it's first wee drive up and down the street last night, woke up all the neighbours and stuck it back in the shed as no lights is a bit scary!



Darrel came up and we quickly realized the "to do" list is getting bloody small!
-lights
-seat belts
-4 wheel nuts
-brakes still spongy
-wipers
plus non wof things like air filters, sunroof etc...



so while we were on a roll we connected up the lights.



still no front indicators, but I'm sorting that out today.



moved the power for the fuel pump over to one of the only on when car is on fuses, indicators I think?



and holy shit! everything works! the wipers! both speeds!  
the horn, everything!



can't believe it!!

even though it is technically running like a bag of shit, carbs need tuning/jetting/sync, brakes where scary bad and the steering felt heavy as(might have just gottin use to power/no tiny wheel) it was awesome!
I even gave it a bit of welly in second up the road and man, it wants to go!
 

[63Ragtop]

Now I did say I'd sort the indicators today didn't I.



got these off trademe for 20bucka, it did say mini LED indicators(mouse for scale)  
The plan is to drill a hole in the headlight inner bucket thing.



Artsy reflection shot because art school drop out.

[63Ragtop]

installed the tiny lights last week



added another nut to jam it in place and so the thread bit doesn't stick out to much.



took the opportunity to replace the left chrome ring with a non dented one from my stash.
clean and polish everything.
the adjusters on the old ring were all lose and broken, so two birds, one stone.



looks pretty good.

tried to wire 'em up but no dice, I did get the left park light working just by fiddling around with the park light bulb and other wires, no such luck with the right hand side, bad earth I'm hoping?

i think I need a LED flasher unit?

 

[63Ragtop]

also, proof it has been out of the shed.

all the neighbours came for a jack, colour looks different outside, got the carbs tuned a bit better, set the tappets, changed the oil, and then it wouldn't start.

faaarrk!

 

[63Ragtop]

I got the battery hooked up good last night and it barely had enough juice to run the fuel pump.
Had it on charge all night will see if it works tonight  pretty sure it's FUBAR.

Lookie Lookie what turned up yesterday!



ah yeah.



was slightly worried they might not fit under the engine lid, my old single dell had the shorter 1inch filter which rubbed.



the 1-2 side is close but no touch  



also had another play with the front drum adjusters and the pedal adjustment for 1/2 inch of free play,much better! still seems a bit soft and firms up after a pump but at least it's not hitting the firewall anymore.
air in the lines? needs more bleeding?? what you guys think?

[63Ragtop]

so, were was I? ah yes friday. I phoned around a few places and found Autostop are the only people that carry Bosch car parts these days, asked about a GT40T (for transformer) coil, no worried the helpful young man said, I 'll ring ya back once the van drops it off, sorted. at about noon the guy rings me back, the coils here in the local shop, but for some reason I double checked, it is the small square one right? no its the round cylinder one, doh! no worries he assures me, I'll get it on the next van, I get another call at about 3, square coil is here, sweet! so I bunk off work early as I have the wifes car for the day to go and pick it up, get home on the double time just as Darrell does and we install the new one and she fires straight up!
Once I got the old coil out it was obvious it had see better days, but in my defence most of that great crack was hidden from view under the mounts, and I was more worried about the clutch and piston rings still working etc..



all this pissing about with the coil had at least given me time to sort a few other small but important things.

these are my jets.





as I said in the earlier winge post everything has been checked and double checked, which does at least give me more confidence in the old girl.



gave the last few parts of the sunroof mech a lick of paint and duct taped the old cover on for now.





water tight bug

which bring us back to friday night and a for the first time a running car. First job, wash all the dust and cat paw prints off it.











jeah.

stood back enjoyed a beverage until it was nearly dark.

once the kids were in bed and I'd realized the only things stopping a wof was a front number plate, wipers and them brakes, or lack there of. I then remembered I hadn't yet had another go at adjusting the rear drums and noticed when I pulled the handbrake on, I had a good pedel, hmmmm.
Sure enough they were miles out, whats next? wipers and a plate? might as well keep going!
I have some how amassed quite a collection of wiper arms and blades over the years and so had a nice working matching pair, something else new of this car, polished up the old black plate, so many battle scars, but I love it.
By now its 11.30, fuck it, I'm going for a drive!



now it get this thing legal.

I have however driven it on private roads and those twin carbys are transformed this car into a bit of a beast.
that little 1600 revs feels like it wants to rev to the moon! still needs a bit of work on the timing and jetting, but dear god it pulled 50mph in second gear today! a little bit scary with drum brakes!

so friggin loud though, no headlining at all, my brother said after I took him for a wee blast, it like sitting in the engine bay!  
it kind of hard to drive normal as it so much fun to wind out.  

 

[63Ragtop]

Went for another wee spin last night, found a dark wall and adjusted the headlights, so now they point at the road, not the sky. Also adjusted the steering box, feels much better, just needs alignement me thinks, still a bit vague and twitchy. Rear end feels good, amazing how much of the road surface transfers though the car, from the rear end it would seem, might be the ride height I guess  

[63Ragtop]

Been have been having a nightmare getting this thing legal, Drove it to work a couple weeks back as I was feeling to weak with a headcold to ride my bike anymore, Knocked off early and went to see Frank at the local vw workshop, but he had staff off sick also and was flatout himself. So I rolled the dice at a nice looking garage across the road from work.
I didn't want to leave my baby with any fuckwit or some young guy who wouldn't even know how to drive a real old car, this guy has been in the trade for nearly 30 years and use to own/work on bugs back in the day, Sorted.
Or so I thought, it failed, which I was fully expecting, as the brakes are not great and the rear tyres are old,hard and nearly bald. But it didn't fail on any of those things, there were a few small things like rear seat belts are old and one won't adjust, somehow though the rear tyres pasted and the front one didn't because apparently they are full on drift spec stretched tyres, ie to narrow for the rims  and the real kicker the chassis number doesn't match the paper work, this was something I've always know about, this car is build from about 12 bugs, but no one has ever worried or picked up on it before, so I was off to the vtnz, handly just up the road also, filled out MR16 change of reg details form, waited a week, computer says no.  can't just be swapping chassis numbers around I guess.
So now I'm waiting again for the faceless bureaucrats to rubber stamp me a new VIN number and I should be good to go! still need to sort a couple small things but tyres really piss me off,I looked up the rim size they fit on(145.65.15) a smart car and it's 5inchs, these mags are 5.5inch, that an't stretched fuck all and in my opinion, the rear tyres are more dangerous as most of the vehicles weight is on the rear.

rant rant ranty rant, I know the guy is just doing his job, but I'm running out of energy at this point.

anyway as our recently departed friend Mr Petty sang, Waiting is the hardest part.



so I didn't

rush hour still sucks

[63Ragtop]

nail biting time.

sorted.

 

[63Ragtop]

Yes Sunday was a good day, very little use of a AK.
After the wof and reg last week, first job was to get the wheels all pointing in the same direction.



me ol mates at lincon tyres sorted that out, easy, rear was pretty good, I'd lined the axles up with some old marks on the spring plates and it did feel good, but the fronts were 10mm out each side, no wonder it was so scary on the motorway.
After a short test drive home, it felt much better, need to go over the kings and links again and should re pack the front bearings with more grease, but first.



as we pull into our street something went thump thump thump!



rut roe

when I put the rear drums back on the pan, many moons ago, I didn't actually have the torque wrench so I just leaned on the multiplier stuck the pin in and forgot about it.
I think I may have over done it???
the splitpin and the castle nut were still in place but the drum was lose and the back of the studs had been gnawing at the wheel cylinder.
At this point I'm out of time and money, the Auckland VW Club Spring Jamboree is days away and if I have to go on three fucking wheels this car was going!
So I pulled out the bits of seal and that mangled metal thing, backed off the wheel studs so they were flush with the drum, backed off the front brake shoe has most of that also seems to have rubbed off and redid the castle nut, without hulk smashing it, and so far so good.
I am really regretting not replacing all the soft brake lines now, as I have a feeling this is why the rear shoe has rubbed so hard.
So Sunday morning loaded up every tool I own and then some, after checking and checking the hubs, drove down to local gasser and met these guys and girls.



and arrived at sunny St Heliers Bay for the cars first wee show.



and I thought my car was low.



project for Felix?



were some really nice cars there.



this was one of two corvair engined bugs there.



some crazy kid





one of the picks of the day for me.



really really nice, so I was pretty please to get second place in the 58-67 bug class.
not bad for a homemade car!



So cheers to the VW club, Matt and the guys for letting/making me lead the convoy in, MichealJFox for the choise pic of me and the family leaving, kiwikombi for the new smaller Dellorto chokes and all the other nice volks I chatted to and said nice things about the ragtop on the day.
Look forward to more runs and adventures, now where is that rear wheel??? 

[63Ragtop]

Hey Guys, remember me?
 
Still driving this thing everyday, been trying to get the brakes to work better, had the handbrake button pop off the other day, I had never really adjusted it much, it worked, I had other things to sort out, so i put it back together and carried on. After the button came lose again I realised it was because I hadn't adjusted it tight enough and the clicker was running off the end and undoing its self  So, put it back together again and adjusted it more and whatya know? the pedal feels much better too! Not sure how that works but it's much nicer to drive without the pedal going right to the firewall.
Re greased and adjusted the king and link pins this week, gave the front drums and bearing a tickle while I was at it, again, much nicer to drive. I also sorted something that had bothered me for years before I took it off the road. The breather on the oil filler would just spit oil mist out all over the back of the engine lid, originally I had a neat little K&N filter here, but after a month or so it got blocked and oil pissed out of the dipstick hole and made a mess.

Screwed a right angle fitting in and a length of hose out down under the tinwear with all the other oil leaks 

and went for the a drive.

Whats wrong with Huntly?

made it to my parents in Te Kowhai.

photo op at the meeting of the waters

still need to get that sunroof replaced and really needs a couple hundard kgs of dynamat, with earplugs its fine. And those assholes need to finish that motorway in and out of Auckland!
Stuck in gridlock at one in the afternoon because State Highway 1 is one friggin lane  

 

[63Ragtop]

Well that was a interesting 2 hour lunch brake.

These brakes are gunna brake me, I just can't catch a brake, the colonel brake dancing, Gimma a brake!



This is what happens when you install your hard brake lines before you install your shocks, everything looks fine, clears nicely, close but nice, then add the shell, fenders and other panels, engine, interior, passengers etc...

the very tip of the flare on the end of the shocks dust cover was just touching just enough to do this, dunno who built this bloody thing!   fortunately the same idiot installed a twin circuit system, so I was able to get off the motorway, but once I stopped had a look underneth the air had got in and I had hardly any brakes at all!

 

[63Ragtop]

finally got the proper camera out on friday evening, car was looking pretty in the sunshine.

bell and her friend had to get in on the action.