My 65 Beetle Leela

Not sure what you mean by that. Seems like everything can only go together one way with the exception of the D plate. On that note what is the correct position of that? I got one today, replaced the rear bushing but still can't get jack to work right...
And that spring is supposed to be in under the shifter? It seems to work better without it.

Very frustrating to spend 2 hours today and get nowhere.

I believe the shift rod plate goes like this. (top of picture is front of car)


Did you check the shift rod bushing in the hanger? Seriously, if you think it was frutstrating today, just wait until you get it back together and find it still shifts like crap. That bushing needs to be in good shape to get good shifts. Easier to check/change it now!

I guess tomorrow I will pull the rod.

Well, you can use a flashlight and look down the shifter hole and give the bushing a good looking at. Just make sure it's still in one piece and not cracked all to hell. They do deteriorate though, so it definitely wouldn't hurt to change it out. I did my first bushing replacement just reading through that page on the samba I posted earlier. Wasn't too hard at all.


Edit: ok, went back and looked through the pics, it may be a little more of a pain for you since you have your front bumper installed. You'll likely have to remove the bumper to get the shift rod out . Maybe you'll get lucky and your bushing will still be in good shape.

I didn't have my bumpers on when I replaced mine, so it went easier.

86vwgti8v wrote:Not sure what you mean by that. Seems like everything can only go together one way with the exception of the D plate. On that note what is the correct position of that? I got one today, replaced the rear bushing but still can't get jack to work right...
And that spring is supposed to be in under the shifter? It seems to work better without it.

Very frustrating to spend 2 hours today and get nowhere.

i mean like before you tighten the two bolts that hold the shifter all the way down you can tweak the position of the shifter on the tunnel
for example with mine the shifter was too far to the right and would not go into 1st or 2nd gear, so i loosened the bolts a bit and slid the shifter over a little and problem solved. not sure if thats your problem just a thought

Can I slide the rod far enough forward to put the bushing on in the shifter hole? Not looking to forward to removing ther front bumper. Evey time I do something like that bolts break...

bushing replaced...a little closer but not right, got a friend with experience coming tomorrow....

hardest part of building this car was I have no clue what I'm doing..

Nothing like the school of experience.^

86vwgti8v wrote:bushing replaced...a little closer but not right, got a friend with experience coming tomorrow....

hardest part of building this car was I have no clue what I'm doing..

always a first for everything! second time will be that much easier.

I'm getting close, shouldn't be long before I got a fairly decent beetle.

There was some stupid short shifter bushing in the shifter, problem was diagnosed in about 3 minutes...

awesome! so when is the projected debut of this beaut?

Not 100% sure. Still got a bunch of crap to do. I'd like to make it to the cherokee show but I might be watercooled for that..

Soon

Mild update.


New steering wheel, horn ring, ashtray, glovebox cover, saphire I, got a usable rear seat, fuse block, gas tank cleaned, turn signal lever replaced (it was broke) some of other petty stuff been done.
Waiting until I get some money, I can get the front tires mounted and a battery

Finally, got a battery, bled the brakes, I think I tackled a brake leak. Mounted the rear bumper, got the new tires mounted up front installed the gas tank and put it on the road. Steering is sloppy as hell, going to attempt to adjust that today.

Pulling out my driveway, the little steel arm that extends under the running board scraped and came lose. Can I cut off the bent portion? Should I bend it back up and weld it down?
Pretty sure it's going to happen again.

Also the car its able to turn harder to the right then the left. I removed the "dogbone" looking thing from the steering box and gave it one full revolution to adjust. It wasnt enough. Is there a easier way? That was a major pain!

Hopefully something other then backyard pics, coming soon!

86vwgti8v wrote:

Pulling out my driveway, the little steel arm that extends under the running board scraped and came lose. Can I cut off the bent portion? Should I bend it back up and weld it down?
Pretty sure it's going to happen again.

If the steel arm you're talking about is the jack point, you might want to straighten it out and keep it! Might be hard to jack the car up if you get a flat tire and you've cut that piece off

did not united that was the recommended jack point. The car is almost to low to use it anyway.
Is thats it's only purpose?

86vwgti8v wrote:did not united that was the recommended jack point. The car is almost to low to use it anyway.
Is thats it's only purpose?

With the factory jack, you can jack both the front and rear tires off the ground- might get you out of trouble some time

I would just cut them off.....find a scissor jack out of the junk yard that will fit under the rear spring plate cover......using the stock jack on a car that may have a weak spot in the heater channel could cause damage to the car (not saying that yours is weakened)

also if you don't have a good working emergency brake, the car will roll and the jack will just rotate in the jack point, and the car will fall. this happened to me once. even in gear, the wheel off the ground will spin, and the car just rolls forward. thank god for AAA

That's what I wanted hear! Sad news is my grinder burnt up on me while wire brushing he seat tracks to remove the rubberized coating stuff.

Can any one tell me, does the taillight housing ground out to the body? I've got my taillights working for the most part but seems like they ground out on the body and I may not have a clean ground.
Spent a lot of time in the trial and error process.

My turns some times work..when the lights are on they work less often.

Electrical is definatly a weak spot for me.

Yeah the housing ground to the fender....if you run an extra wire from the housing to one of the fender bolts you should get a more stable/better ground

Awesome, thank you.

Do the headlights ground out in the same manner?