Mornin', Pard

On the Saturdays we let Char wake us up. If we're lucky, we might see 8:15 while still lying under the covers. This morning Char came into our bedroom after 8 o'clock, but it looked like she'd been playing in her room for a while. Which explains why I was woken by a fairy cowboy with a bead lasso.

Bug Update: Up Late and Wired

Recently I've been trying to clean every electrical contact on my car. I tackled my fuse box on Wednesday night.

The first step was to carefully wiggle off each female connector. These were really corroded, and I had to use a needle nose pliers a few times. Then I cleaned all of the surface area with sandpaper and steel wool. I did my best to scrub the inside of the connector, too. I worked one terminal at a time so I wouldn't get wires crossed.  It's a bit tedious, but the results were worth it.

Every bulb on my car shines brighter, and for the first time I can see my front turn signals in the daytime. Last weekend I was cut off trying to turn left because the SUV couldn't see the Bug's blinker, so this is making the car safer as well.

But when you're working with equipment that’s over fifty years old, something can break no matter how careful you are. When I thought I was done cleaning, I noticed the terminals that connected the left wires to the fuse box had come loose. I could tell the terminals had broken off before; someone in the past had soldered the terminals to the box. Since I could fit the broken solder connections together, instead of re-soldering the connections at 10:35 PM, I used a toothpick to dab some Gorilla Glue along the edges. I can get lazy when it's late at night.

Gorilla Glue quadruples in size as it dries, so this looks really messy, but I swear I only put on a tiny amount.

The glue does a solid job of holding everything in place. And I'm pretty sure this fix would last for years if I ran it as-is. But these connectors are responsible for the horn, interior light, and the headlight switch, so I ordered a new fuse box from Wolfsburg West.

 I am curious if a new fuse box will further improve my electrical system. I'll guess I'll have to see.

PS. I don't recommend using Gorilla Glue on your car.

Bug Update: Just in Time

One of the most frustrating aspects of working on my old Beetle now was one of its biggest selling points back in the day: interchangeability.

The engines in Volkswagen are just as interchangeable, and that's my problem. Over the years Volkswagen made a lot of different motors for the Bug, and almost all of them will fit in my engine bay. It's strange to think of now, but at one time Beetles were so plentiful and so cheap to work on that motors were simply replaced when something major went wrong. Instead of fixing your problem, you'd go to the junkyard, find any working VW motor, unscrew four bolts, and you'd be all set. Of course it's a little more complicated than that, but you get the idea. 

I wanted to set the ignition timing on my motor, but I didn't know if it's a 1200, a 1300, a 1500, or a 1600? Most repair books point you to the serial number that's stamped on the crankcase (right below the generator stand). This number will tell you when the engine was manufactured, and then you'd have a good chance of identifying the motor. Here's my number.

Surprisingly, "D023360XR" isn't in any of the repair books. For years I scoured libraries and bookstores, but I couldn't find any VW book with that series of letters and numbers. My dad couldn't either. I have the repair book he left behind, and from his notes I can see he was also stumped. But that was before the internet and VW forums.

What we didn't know is that in the late 60's Volkswagen had an engine replacement program. If you blew up your motor and took the car to a dealership, you could get a genuine Volkswagen replacement engine with (I presume) a warranty. The factory would mill off the original serial number and stamp the VW Recycle logo and a new number on your "new" motor. 

Looks like my exchange motor was installed sometime after October 1968, buy that doesn't mean my engine was made then. According to the above information, I'd know for sure that it is a 1200 40hp if the serial mark ended with an X, but it doesn't. After the X there's an R. I checked multiple threads on theSamba forums, but all I could find was that the R does show up on blocks here and there, but no one knows what it means. I decided to let it go and assume I have a 1200. 

With that resolved I turned my attention to the crankshaft pulley. Volkswagen produced at least four different styles of pulleys. VW engines can sport a one-notch pulley, a dimple and notch pulley, a two-notch pulley, or a 3-notch pulley. To statically set the ignition timing, you have to line up one of those notches with the crack in the crankcase.

 I have the two-notch pulley, and the crack I'm talking about is right behind the pulley:

The first notch (on the left) sets the timing at 7.5 degrees BTDC (before top dead center), and the second notch sets the timing at 10 degrees BTDC. Before I owned the car someone painted a white mark on the pulley directly across from the first notch. I assumed that person knew what they were doing, and I set the ignition timing to that notch the first time I tried this. The YouTube videos I watched also confirmed that I should set the timing to that 7.5 degrees notch. The car seemed to run okay, but the engine would "diesel" which means it would sputter and rumble for few a seconds after I had turned the ignition off.

Turns out I didn't really need to decipher the mysterious code stamped on my engine. While I was researching "dieseling", I discovered that if you want to set your timing correctly, then what you really need to know is which distributor and carburetor you have.

I have the stock 28 PICT carb.

And I have a stock distributor. I had to use a mirror to see the model number that's on the back of it: Bosch 2V/ PAU 4R5. Some people call it this the "big cap" distributor.

This chart (read the bottom line) confirms that this carb/ distributor combination is right for a 1200 (40hp) engine.

And this combination should be timed at 10 degrees BTDC, not 7.5. Whoever painted that white mark on my pulley was wrong. So, on Tuesday night I redid my timing. I made all my adjustments when the engine was cold. I first checked to make sure the point gap inside the distributor was set at .016". Then I used a cheap test light like this to set my timing to the second notch.

Now the Bug actually stops running when I shut off the car, and it idles much better than it did. It also feels good to finally solve the mystery of the motor's origin. That one plagued Dad and I for over a decade. Too bad I can't talk to him up about it. I think he knows, but it would be nice to say, “Dad! I finally figured it out!” and then hear his reply.

This is an A1, Super-Duper, Cool, Killer, Extra-Awesome Post

These peanuts are "Super Extra-Large"? Who wrote that? A twelve-year-old?

Reminds me of students who ask if they can go to the bathroom "real quick"? My smart-alec answers include, but are not exclusive to:

"You can go any speed you want."
"No need to rush, this isn't a race."
"Have fun, Speedbuggy."
"No, you have to go in slow-motion."
"Let's see. (I raise my wrist and make the timer button on my watch beep.) Go!"

FYI: If only two students per period ask me to use the bathroom, then I have heard that question:
16 times a day
2,880 times a year
66,240 times in my career so far.

Bug Update: Filled and Floored

Filled:

I didn't have a lot time after school on Wednesday, Char has to be in her ballet outfit and at the dance studio by 5:00, but I was able to drive the Bug over to Casey's and fill the tank with fresh gasoline. The tank holds a bit more than ten gallons, and I put in over nine gallons and some Star Tron Enzyme Fuel Treatment.

The drive home only lasted three minutes, but the car hasn't sounded happier in this century. I then installed new spark plugs after Charlotte went to bed.

Later that night I caught the Bug writing in his journal, "Best day ever!"

Floored:

I've got a small library of repair books for air cooled VWs, but it doesn't hurt to check out books about other models. I found this guide at Half Price Books, and I've found it to be very informative.

For instance, this quote was comforting, "With precious few exceptions, the metal floors of most cars turn to Swiss cheese after 50 years and tens of thousands miles of exposure to water, snow, and salt."

My car has spent 52 years in the Midwest, so I shouldn't feel bad that it has a few holes in its floor pan. At some point the previous owner (my high school principal) had the floors repaired. I chatted with him at the luncheon after my father's funeral, and he told me, "I had new floors put in that car!" But that was a bit of a stretch. 

Imagine a styrofoam cup with it's bottom burned out and a different styrofoam bottom wedged in place. Under the carpet and mats, my floor is a mix of repair patches riveted over rust holes, but I can live with that for now.  The exception is under the back seat where the battery is located. The repair patch for the battery tray now has holes in it, too. Batteries filled with water tend to do that to metal floors.

I'm not at the point where I'm in danger of having the battery fall out of the car (I think). But adding a little security wouldn't hurt. So Thursday night I made myself a patch panel for my patch panel (?) out of an old license plate. I figured the plate wouldn't rust, and the raised letters would actually add strength to the flat metal. Daphne was using the camera in the house, so I didn't take any pictures of this process. Once I get the time for a small project, I hate to stop for anything. I'll use a photocopy of a license plate to explain this cheap "fix".

Here's the paper license plate.

I drew a V in the corner. I wasn't sure if it was the right amount of metal to remove, but you gotta start somewhere.

I cut the notch out using tin snips.

Then I bent the two edges up.

This formed a box-like corner. I needed this shape because the rust in the floor started on the bottom of the battery tray and crawled up the back side. The black spot shows what I'm trying to explain.

This metal patch fit pretty well over the damaged floor, so I called it good. I pressed the plate into place, drilled the pilot holes, and fastened the plate to the floor with pop rivets (the black dots).

I covered the plate with a section of Quick Roof to help seal and quiet the battery tray. Quick Roof is great. I used it to line the insides of my car doors. Now the doors barely rattle, and they sound so much beefier when I close them.

Here's the Quick Roof under my battery. 

Does using an old license plate and pop rivets make this a hack job? Oh, there's no doubt about that. It's a bandaid fix that's rougher than a burlap bra. But now the battery's secure, and I'm also keeping exhaust fumes out of the car's cabin. That's certainly not hurting anybody, and who cares what is under my back seat?

Do All Four-Year-Olds Like Les Misérables?

Daphne took a grad class on American musicals last summer. She really enjoyed the class, so for her birthday I bought her the PBS documentary B'WAY and the accompanying soundtrack on CD. Daphne plays the CDs in her car, and for some reason Charlotte really connected with "Do You Hear the People Sing?" from Les Misérables.

Since Daphne already owned the complete Les Misérables soundtrack, she let Charlotte try out some of the other Le Miz songs. Those, too, are a hit.

The Les Misérables soundtrack is in my car because Char like to sing along while I drive her to daycare in the morning. Tonight, on the way to the high school football game, I recorded Charlotte at a stoplight and then later in the school parking lot so I could remember how much fun it is to listen to her (she taught herself the lyrics).

You should hear us belt out "Do You Hear the People Sing?". We kill that one.

Bug Update: Running Out of Gas (finally!)

Although I purchased my '62 Beetle in the early 90's, the car was in my dad's name (for insurance reasons back when I was 20) until he signed the title over to me in 2006. My memory of the car was so much cleaner and nicer than the reality, and during the five hour drive from Sioux Falls to Des Moines the Bug died at a Missouri Valley gas station. We had to use Daphne's Saturn to push start it. By the time the Bug was in my garage, I was too intimidated by the amount of repair the car needed to start working on it.

The Bug sat untouched in our garage for six years, and the last thing on my mind was the gas in the tank. When I started researching repair work that I could do myself, I discovered that the quarter tank of aged gas wasn't going to do my motor any good, but I didn't know what to do about it. Once I was able to get the car to start, I limped it to the gas station and filled the tank with as much fresh gas as I could. I hoped mixing the new gas with the old would lessen the effects of running ancient gasoline. I also tossed in some STA-BIL gas treatment for good measure.

Last year all extracurricular activities were put on hold, but this fall I've got my groove back. I've had "Run Gas out of Bug" on my garage "to do" list for two hand a half years, and I've almost accomplished my goal. A fuel line break helped me a little.

You'd think it would be easy to just hop in the car and cruise for a couple of hours, but it's hard to find the time. The Bug doesn't have seat belts, yet (cars manufactured before 1966 are exempt in Iowa), and so I don't let anyone else drive it or ride along with me.

If the weather's good, I'll drive for 15 minutes after school before Char and Daphne get home. I can't let Charlotte see me driving the Bug because she gets really upset that she can't come.

Almost there... never before have I cursed getting good gas mileage.

Hopefully the eight-year-old gas is already gone, and all I'm using is gas that is two years old... poor car. Once I fill the tank with new fuel I'm going to treat the Bug to new spark plugs. I wonder how the motor will sound then.

And the Winner for "Most Creative Use of an Old License Plate" goes to...

... whoever made this dustpan.

I found this at a church garage sale (fifty cents!), so I have no backstory whatsoever. I think it's cool, though, and I keep it on a hook in the garage. I think of it as folk art.

Costume Shopping at Target

We're having fun, but Charlotte already has her costume picked out for Halloween, and it's not any of these. It's a secret.

Bug Update: Grounds Keeper

The time I've spent on the Bug's electrical system has taught me that having power means nothing if you aren't grounded (think Lindsay Lohan).

With this in mind, I've been wondering why the Bug turns over so slowly even though the battery is charged. I'll turn the key and hear, "ruh, ruh, ruh, ruh, ruh, ruh, ruh, ruh," before it starts. Or if the battery is low, "ruh, ruh, ruh, ruh, ruh, ruh, ruh, ruh... click, click, click."

I installed a new battery two years ago, and I remember cleaning the cables that connect to the battery. But I didn't know that I should also clean the surface the ground cable is bolted to. If the contact point for the ground is dirty, then it doesn't matter how shiny the cable is.

I removed the battery's ground cable and used a wire brush to clean that area last night. I returned the cable when I was satisfied that I could see a decent amount of bare metal.

Wow, that's a difference! I was hoping the car would turn over faster, but I didn't expect the motor to pop to life so quickly. If this keeps up, I might even dare drive the Bug on errands.