What did you do to your volkswagen today?

paints is paint it just good know got hurt, still sucks though

Dude that soooooooo sucks! I'm sorry to hear it but the damage looks minimal compared to what it could've been and the important thing is that you're OK.

I can see two very important VW lessons you've learned from this...

1. When you're car starts to make funny noises, it's talking to you. Sometimes it's just a quirk and others it's more serious. Since you're just getting started, you don't know the quirks yet and need to chase stuff down. VWs rarely just break. 99.99% of the time they'll give you a warning that something is about to go wrong. It's important that you listen or you could find yourself in trouble. You listened just in the nick of time this go around. Imagine if you were rolling 50mph and that wheel departed the car. That's one of the reasons I said to roll it around before you made the trek to Sonic. Give the car the once over again and take it for another spin. Make sure all you hoses are clamped, look undeneath and make sure the trany bolts are still snug, ensure your dizzy is tight (sometimes people forget to snug it after timing), check the steering coupler, check that the brakes aren't leaking anywhere and the res is till full, smell for fuel, grab the dipstick and make sure it's not runnning too hot. Gradually work your way further with each spin untill you feel comfortable.

2. Always have tools with you and start to build your spare parts cache now.
Mimimum: Small metric tool kit, belt, points, dash bulbs, fuses, zip ties, tape.
Good to have: 36mm socket, breaker bar, clutch cable, accel cable, dizzy cap, plug wires, rotor button, spark plugs, engine gasket kit.

You've got over a week to work out the kinks before the Sonic meet. If you would like, I'll roll out to meet you and follow you over to McDonough that day. Let me know.

Thanks for all the kind words guys. The car will get a major inspection this weekend. I'll check every nut, bolt, clamp, and else anything that can move. I have to work everyday next week, so I'm not going to have a lot of time to do test drives before the weekend. I work downtown, so test drives to and from work won't be an option. I'll only have a little time in the evenings. Thanks for the offer Glenn, but I'm just not sure I'll have enough time to be comfortable with it. I still plan on coming out either way so I can meet more of the crew. Thanks again for the words of encouragement.

Got a few things done on the old bus over the weekend.
Oil change, gaped points, set dwell and timing. She is running well.
I have not gotten to the main seal, (no place to pull motor, and have never done it before)
so i will continue to check oil level frequently, and try and drive in the back of the line the
next time we go for a cruise (hopefully to invade the Airheads)
Also i ordered the seals to fix my freshair duct so it will stop dripping on me when it rains.
I also found me a 65 GA plate, going in the morning to get it legal!

Back in 1999 I had a rear wheel come off because I didn't get the lug nuts tight enough. When I pulled the drum, I found that the hub was almost stripped because I didn't tighten the axle nut tight enough.

I forgot to mention it here - about 10 weeks ago I was stranded on the side of the road because my car wouldent go. It was in gear and engine running. I went to the back and saw the hub spinning but the drum and wheel just stayed there - on both sides. It stripped both drum hubs. I had just received my order for my new drums so it was not that bad. I never checked the torque since I has purchased the car.

All this is not good for my OCD because now I check and recheck the hub nut over and over again. I use my breaker bar and I stand on it. I am about 230 lbs so I know if it dosent budge then it is good.

This morning I got my vintage plate legal.
Looking at the picture below, I guess i need a lens cover for the license plate light. (anybody have one?)

Got the beam down today. Mostly broken down and cleaning 41 years worth of grime off of it. Parts and dirt and dirty parts everywhere. Spindles are off and ready to be shipped. Just realized that I have 205s on my bus. Probably going to have to buy 195s or 185s for the front to get them to clear without rubbing. We shall see.

bumblebuggy wrote:
VWs rarely just break. 99.99% of the time they'll give you a warning that something is about to go wrong.

.

I most be in the 00.01%. One of my mufflers decided to take flight going down the highway. Bounced off the road and over a Jeep Cherokee. Made it home and put a stinger on till I get another muffler.

Joe wrote:

bumblebuggy wrote:
VWs rarely just break. 99.99% of the time they'll give you a warning that something is about to go wrong.

.

I most be in the 00.01%. One of my mufflers decided to take flight going down the highway. Bounced off the road and over a Jeep Cherokee. Made it home and put a stinger on till I get another muffler.

If you made it home it wasn't really broken...just missing parts.

True that
I need to get a bumper sticker that says stay back 500 feet.

65type2dailydriver wrote:This morning I got my vintage plate legal.
Looking at the picture below, I guess i need a lens cover for the license plate light. (anybody have one?)

Looks good! It actually matches the paint, that doesnt happen often

aircooledaddicts wrote:

65type2dailydriver wrote:This morning I got my vintage plate legal.
Looking at the picture below, I guess i need a lens cover for the license plate light. (anybody have one?)

Looks good! It actually matches the paint, that doesnt happen often

I would love those colors on my car. I got stuck with red on white for a blue and white car.

Friday I tore my front drum apart. Checked all the bearings, races, brake components, and inspected the hub. Everything looked good, so I cleaned it all up, regreased everything and put it back together. While checking this I noticed that my link pins had a little slop in them. Tightened them up yesterday. Yesterday I also sandblasted my bumper brackets and overrider supports. This morning I por-15 the bumper pieces and later today I plan on painting them with a silvery paint close to their original color. I've put about 15 miles on the car this weekend trying to make sure it's ok after my wheel "mishap" earlier this week.

Got some new L.E.D. lightbulbs for when I throw it into reverse...

Put the cover on her and pushed her in the garage until my temper over the brakes or lack there of cools down.

Put my new WW bumpers on . Here's the front, getting everything lined up!


And here is the rear all finished. Also installed the mounts for my mud flaps. The flaps are just loosely hanging by the bolts, I need to make a trip to Ace and pick up some nuts

Sweet Flux! I say you chance the drive from Newnan. We all want to see that car. PM me and I'll give you my number and we'll send the cavalry if you have any problems.

This week I sent out my spindles to be flipped @ WegensWest. Sadly the Jolly Rancher won't make it to Sonic this time.

Tomorrow I'll be running the beam over to a machine shop to get the center pin bushings reamed. Then it'll be time for some paint and reassembly.

Thanks Glenn, I'll send you a pm. I'm gonna try and put about another 30 miles on it before this weekend. I can take backroads and it will be about a 1 hour/45mile drive to the Sonic. I think I'm just going to leave a little early and take a few cool down breaks along the way. Now back to the thread topic, last night I mounted a reverse light. Just need to run the wires to the nosecone which I hope to do tonight after I buy some electrical connector thingys.

cars looking great fluxcap

picking up my rebuilt engine after work today

Just put on new front shocks, and replaced my deteriorating brake fluid cap yesterday.

So who did you end up going with for the engine rebuild?

ill wait to see wht i got for the money before i give them any plugs

Well I hope it turns out good for you!

Just got back from having some 195/65/15s put on the wheels I just got from Jason. Now I just have to find time tonight or tomorrow to get the wheels put on the car before cruising to sonic Saturday.

It is going to completely change the look of your car. Cant wait to see it!

Eric,

I am looking forward to seeing how the car is going to look whith the wheels. Post some pictures up soon.

I'll be at Cobb hospital all weekend. My wife is having a c section tomorrow morning. I really hope she is able to recover enough to go to the Bugs at the Branch show next weekend.