Bug Update: Lightening Up (And a Great Crimping Tip)

I haven't written about my '62 VW Beetle in almost a year because there hasn't been much to say about it. The "Bug Car", as Char calls it, hibernated during the last year's frigid winter. I was excited to wake the car from its slumber when spring finally arrived, but the Bug sounded so bad when I drove it around the neighborhood it was embarrassing. The smallest bump would make the car rattle and clang, and I could feel a heavy vibration right under my seat whenever I exceeded 20 mph. It was frustrating and perhaps dangerous. I kept the car parked while I took time to research the problem.

Another reason my progress on the Bug had stalled is that Char no longer needs a nap everyday. Two summers ago I could usually count on two naps and four hours to get my hands greasy in daylight, but that was cut down to just two hours last year, and this year Charlotte only naps when we are in the car.

But a recent success has me back in the garage working from 8 to 9:30. I had the idea to check the Bug's rear shocks, and I discovered that the left shock was just a little bit loose when I shook it. All the noise and vibration, from that end anyway, went away after I tightened that shock's bottom bolt. Seriously? That was all it was? Working on a car is much more enjoyable if you can enjoy driving it later.

When you change the oil in an air-cooled VW, you have to remove the six nuts that hold the oil sump cover (#4), the two paper gaskets (#s 1 and 3), and the oil "filter" (#2) against the bottom of the engine:

The nuts screw onto the six engine studs (they hang down from the engine in the top of the photo). Years ago my dad snapped off one of the nuts while he was tightening it. I'm sure he swore like a sailor when that happened. The car will run with only five nuts holding the sump plate on, but the broken stud will leak oil.

Char went to daycare three times this summer, and during one of those days I decided it was time to take a crack at removing what was left of that broken stud. When I took the sump cover off, I could see that there was enough of the stud for my small vice-grip wrench to clamp onto. Once the wrench was in place I whispered, "Okay Dad, you got me into this, now help me get out." And you know what? The stud just unscrewed out. I couldn't believe how easy that was. Thanks, Dad! Almost as surprising was that the local Ace Hardware store had the correct metric engine studs in stock. The new stud fit perfectly, and now the engine drips a lot less oil. I can't stop all the leaks, but one less is a win in my book.

Here's the stud Dad twisted in half.

The most recent changes in the Bug have been electrical. The most satisfying change has been the dome light. My dome light has not worked in the 24 years I have owned it. I've tried different bulbs and cleaning the contacts with no luck. Last week I did a search in the forums on thesamba.com and picked up a few tips.

I cleaned the door switches.

I also ran a wire directly from the car battery's ground to the dome switch. And for the first time in my life, the bulb in the car's roof blinked to life. I suspected the wires were fine, and it was the dome light assembly that was broken. I bought a cheap unit on Ebay to test my theory.

It worked!

You don't know how many times I have gone out to the garage just to open the Bug's door to see that light. It looks so cool!

Since that went so well, I decided to tackle my rusting taillight housings. I bought replacement units last winter from a samba seller. They're original VW parts that are painted pearl white, so I didn't have to do too much to make them fit. I did use some pearl white touchup paint to fill in their chips. The touchup paint isn't an exact match, but neither is the housings' paint to my car. But they're close, and I'm cool with that. 

Anything's better than that rust.

Other side looks okay, too.

But when I tested them, I couldn't get the brake lights to come on. I checked the housings' connections and they seemed okay, as did the bulbs. So I checked the terminals on the master cylinder. I replaced one terminal last year, but it turns out I did it wrong - like a lot of people do. 

There's a reason this wire isn't securely connected to its terminal.

I read a lot of different car magazines. In the most recent issue of Rod & Kulture, Kevin Tully wrote a tech article about basic automotive wiring. To quote Mr. Tully, "If you have to use a crimp terminal for a repair, be sure you only strip enough wire to slip through the crimp portion of the terminal, with a small amount left sticking out the terminal end... the tang [of the crimping pliers] should be on the opposite side of the split of the barrel of the terminal. Most folks don't realize that, and end up just spreading the split open and not getting a good, solid crimp. One of these terminals properly crimped should be almost impossible to pull off, even with a vice."

Those few sentences were a revelation. No wonder my terminal connections always sucked. I was squeezing the wrong side! Time for a do over.

After that, the brake lights worked.

Thanks Mr. Tully.