GermanLook Forums  

Go Back   GermanLook Forums > General > Project Builds

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #511  
Old April 16th 2014, 08:40
NO_H2O's Avatar
NO_H2O NO_H2O is offline
Administrator
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Stockbridge, GA.
Posts: 2,810
Congrats. Nice coverage on a great build.
__________________
NO_H2O
72 1302 Smack Black GL
73 Bus (2L CIS Powered)
66 Beetle, 73 Standard Beetle
72 Pinzgauer 710M
Volksport Kafer Gruppe
Reply With Quote
  #512  
Old April 23rd 2014, 12:13
owdlvr's Avatar
owdlvr owdlvr is offline
Administrator
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Canada - West Coast
Posts: 851
Thanks!

Just finished a 3,400 mile South Western USA road trip adventure (sadly, not in the beetle) and home to Prepare for the Hagerty Spring Thaw. It's wheels-up-wednesday, and time for some new rubber!

-Dave
__________________
'71 Type 1 - Rally Project
'58 Type 1 - I bought an early!?!
'73 Type 1 - Proper Germanlook project
'68 Type 1 - Interm German 'look' project
'75 Type 1 - Family Heirloom
'93 Chevy 3500 pickup - Cummins Swap
Reply With Quote
  #513  
Old October 7th 2014, 14:19
owdlvr's Avatar
owdlvr owdlvr is offline
Administrator
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Canada - West Coast
Posts: 851
Oh gee, six months away from the GL forums. Whoops! I should really take some time to update the thread. Not much in terms of modifications or fabrication done, but a whole whack of kilometers added to the odometer this summer. My absence from GL has been mostly related to my career move. In January I finished an 8 year career working for a company in Whistler BC, and decided to venture out on my own. Classic Car Adventures has been a side business / project for the past 6 years, and I thought now was the time to see if I could make it fly as my 'career'. Anyone who owns their own business knows it's more work than you can imagine, so I haven't had much time for playing in the garage!

Will sort through my photos and see what I can come up with for some updates...



-Dave
__________________
'71 Type 1 - Rally Project
'58 Type 1 - I bought an early!?!
'73 Type 1 - Proper Germanlook project
'68 Type 1 - Interm German 'look' project
'75 Type 1 - Family Heirloom
'93 Chevy 3500 pickup - Cummins Swap
Reply With Quote
  #514  
Old January 13th 2016, 20:43
owdlvr's Avatar
owdlvr owdlvr is offline
Administrator
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Canada - West Coast
Posts: 851
Tried to post this in Off-topic, but I guess I need moderator approval in there. So! when in doubt, toss it in my build thread:

I've been looking at the Germanlook Button in my bookmarks tabs for months, knowing I need to comeback but always without enough time to really explore all the threads I've missed since taking a hiatus...but, I do really intend to get back involved.

I think it's probably been a good solid two years since I was actively checking daily, about that time I was done with my full-time employer and embarked on turning Classic Car Adventures, my hobby business on the side, into my full-time gig. 2014 was spent planning an expansion, and putting together my plan for the next five years. 2015 was "the year", and I added events in Colorado, Ontario Canada, and Washington/Oregon. Expanding the business with three new events, two of which are a minimum 3-day drive from where I live just to get to the start location, was a bit crazy to say the least!

...but, it actually all went really well. Feedback from each of the new events was very positive, and 2016 looks to have a lot of momentum behind it for my events. Should be a good year!

The rally bug hasn't 'suffered' over the past two years, but it's definitely been neglected in the sense that there have been no upgrades...it has literally just been worked on enough to keep it running for my events. I put just over 60,000km on it in 2015, not exactly sure how many in 2014. Regardless, it hasn't been 'exciting to read about' work, just a hell of a lot of oil changes :P

I did pull the bug off the road for the winter this year, the plan is to go over it bumper to bumper and take care of a few things, including some upgrades. With Classic Car Adventures being my primary income, I've had to put the German Look project on hold...I know some of the items I had planned for it will be going into the Rally Bug instead. Sigh...I've somehow aged a bit and become 'responsible' :P

Anyways, hopefully some of the 'old crew' is still kicking around, and I'm looking forward to reading up on any projects which are being worked on...

-Dave

__________________
'71 Type 1 - Rally Project
'58 Type 1 - I bought an early!?!
'73 Type 1 - Proper Germanlook project
'68 Type 1 - Interm German 'look' project
'75 Type 1 - Family Heirloom
'93 Chevy 3500 pickup - Cummins Swap
Reply With Quote
  #515  
Old January 13th 2016, 21:42
Steve C's Avatar
Steve C Steve C is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Sydney, Australia
Posts: 1,757
Good luck with new venture, with your attention to detail that you show with your car I'm sure the business will be a success
__________________
STI powered 1303 in the works.
Reply With Quote
  #516  
Old January 14th 2016, 04:25
owdlvr's Avatar
owdlvr owdlvr is offline
Administrator
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Canada - West Coast
Posts: 851
I considered trying to go through my photo library to find some highlights of the past two years, but quickly realized that it would take me forever, and I’d probably never get around to actually updating the thread. So, instead, I’ll simply start from today and if a project comes up that requires some history, I’ll tell the story at that time.



One such story involves the fairly ambiguous fresh air box seal. From the day I built the Rally Bug, I’ve had a leak I could never find. It wasn’t a big leak, sometimes I’d wash the car and it would have a few drips on the trunk carpet…other times nothing. Sometimes I’d drive in the rain and it would be damp under the trunk, other times nothing. Coming back from our Hagerty Fall Classic event, I hit the biggest rainstorm I’d ever been in. We’re talking 3-4” of standing water on the interstate, and rain just POUNDING down. As I’m considering where I can get off to wait this out (due to 1971 wiper technology) I suddenly noticed my legs were getting wet…REALLY wet. Where is that coming from!?! Oh, it’s only water dripping through the fuse box! I’ve since determined that the seal on my fresh airbox doesn’t actually seal against the hood. So far I can’t figure out why. The seal appears good, the box appears to be at the right height and the hood fits the car extremely well. Ah well, the search for a better seal begins!

Also on the Hagerty Fall Classic, we had some clutch issues. The event began about 5 hours away from my house, and I was almost picking up my co-driver at the Airport when I had the first crunchy shift. “Hmmm, that’s odd”, I thought. The clutch pedal felt the same, but it was as though it didn’t disengage the clutch. Visions of breaking cables, the hook on the pedal and a number of other possibilities filled my head the rest of the way to the start location. As the weekend progressed, things got worse. I adjusted the cable, no help. Any shift was a question mark. Sometimes you’d put your foot on the clutch and it would work like butter. Other times you’d put your foot on the clutch and it definitely wouldn’t disengage…but it felt the same everytime. We finished day two and three with me shutting the car off at each stop, and planned on using the starter to get the car rolling if the clutch didn’t work. The weird part was you’d come to a stop sign, and the car would want to stall with the clutch in. The moment you went to start it, though, the engine would spin freely just fine…even if you never moved your foot off the clutch!?!

We figured it must be the pressure plate failing, but when I finally pulled the motor in November I got a bit of a surprise:



So, apparently the pilot bearing failed. Fair enough, I think it’s the same one from when I built the car in 2012. It’s got a LOT of miles on it. Must have started seizing, and eventually failed completely. I presume, from what I’m seeing here, that the clutch was probably working fine, and the bearing bits were keeping the engine connected to the transmission ‘just enough’. Bizarre, but the best theory I have.



But that’s a really long around the block story about the next project for the Rally Bug. Adjusting the clutch cable, the fact that over the years I’ve found the 901 to beetle clutch cable isn’t perfect and the fact that I’d like to move to dual masters on the brakes eventually means the clutch cable simply has to go. The ‘big’ project this winter is a hydraulic clutch setup for my car.

Researching it, the early Porsche 901 box I use is going to be a bit of a challenge. I bought the SACO hydraulic clutch kit for a beetle, but quickly realized that I won’t be using it. The external slave would have to either a) be mounted below the frame horn or b) require a bent and convoluted connection to the clutch fork. Couple that with the fact that know the Porsche clutch requires more pull travel vs a beetle setup, and it’s not going to be a simple installation.

So, if its not going to be simple, we should make it even less simple…right? I don’t mind a challenging initial install, as long as once it’s all setup it works and requires little playing with it. Bending linkages just right, figuring out the ideal spot to drill a new leverage ratio into the clutch fork, etc etc. seemed like the external kit was going to be too much work. So, I started looking at concentric slave cylinders.



A concentric slave cylinder replaces the throw-out bearing, and clutch fork with a hydraulically operated bearing. Once setup, there are no adjustments. It automatically compensates for clutch wear, it feels the exact same from the first shift to the end of the clutch life. There is a Saab unit which is often adapted to transmissions for a cheap(ish) option, but we’ve got a pile of Tilton Racing stuff here for the MK1 Escort project, and I sort of got swept up in using one of those…plus all the dimensions were in the catalog, so I didn’t need to buy one to see if it would work!



After measuring up the 901 Transmission and related clutch parts, the Type 1 Engine, and using the Tilton bearing dimensions, I came up with the following adapter ring:



The ring will require some modifications, as the inside of the bellhousing isn’t flat. What this does give me, however, is all the important locating points and a spot to start modifying from. But, I need the part in my hand…So, bring on the 3D printer. I’ve been meaning to buy one for a few years, but never seem to get around to it. With the technology becoming popular though, I had this one printed for $13 and picked it up the next day.



Before I can start modifying it, though, I need to pull the pivot ball from inside the Porsche bellhousing. On most 901 gearboxes this is actually threaded into the transmission. On the Early-Early 901’s, like mine, it’s pressed in. Okay, easy enough, a slide hammer should pop that out. Hmmm, I don’t own a slide hammer. Fine, went and bought one ($150) and discovered the jaws don’t go down small enough to grip the ball. Hmmm…I need access to a lathe or a mill.



All of this clutch stuff happened pretty much on the Christmas holidays. I just launched the registration for our first 2016 event on the weekend, so I’ve been pretty busy locking that down. For the past 2-3 weeks, though, I’ve been thinking about how I’m going to make the final mount once I modify the plastic version to fit. I don’t have access to good mill, and my skills on a lathe could create the basic disc, but wouldn’t allow me to lay out the bolt holes in an accurate function. Plus the backside has some radiusing on the mount that require a mill, not a lathe. Hmmm… I think I’ve figured out a solution, which I’ll be taking care of this weekend.

To be continued…
__________________
'71 Type 1 - Rally Project
'58 Type 1 - I bought an early!?!
'73 Type 1 - Proper Germanlook project
'68 Type 1 - Interm German 'look' project
'75 Type 1 - Family Heirloom
'93 Chevy 3500 pickup - Cummins Swap
Reply With Quote
  #517  
Old January 14th 2016, 04:34
owdlvr's Avatar
owdlvr owdlvr is offline
Administrator
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Canada - West Coast
Posts: 851
Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve C View Post
Good luck with new venture, with your attention to detail that you show with your car I'm sure the business will be a success
Thanks Steve! So far, it seems to be going pretty well :P
__________________
'71 Type 1 - Rally Project
'58 Type 1 - I bought an early!?!
'73 Type 1 - Proper Germanlook project
'68 Type 1 - Interm German 'look' project
'75 Type 1 - Family Heirloom
'93 Chevy 3500 pickup - Cummins Swap
Reply With Quote
  #518  
Old January 22nd 2016, 05:10
owdlvr's Avatar
owdlvr owdlvr is offline
Administrator
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Canada - West Coast
Posts: 851
So the clutch project is going to need a milling machine...and, realistically, it’s going to take a couple of test parts to get it all correct and working. I mean, true, I could painstakingly measure and model the inside of the bell housing, but it’s faster to make a part, revise it, and make a new one. So…I kinda went overboard on “the Christmas bonus”...



Okay, its not a ‘real’ mill, but rather one of the smaller “Mill/Drill” machines. Table size is 33”x8.5” and its got a 1.5hp motor in it. At 650lbs, it’s about the largest machine I can get and still realistically move. Plus, it’s the perfect fit in our garage, any larger and it would be a pain to squeeze in there. So far I’ve found it to be quite capable, even using a 3” facing mill was no problem at all. True, I won’t be taking ¼” of steel off in a single pass, but do a number of light passes and it works just fine.



The Tilton slave cylinder finally arrived, and I sat down at the computer to remodel the adapter using some thoughts I’ve had while waiting. My original design couldn’t fit the 0.150” clearance they spec between the bearing and clutch fingers. If I swap out the studs holding the clutch guide tube with button-head hardware, however, I can do even better.

I suppose I should mention at this point that I’ve never actually been trained on a mill. My high school didn’t have a shop class, and while I’ve borrowed a buddies once or twice it’s always been for a specific modification to a pre-built piece. Turning a chunk of metal from the store into a finished part is totally new. I’ve used a lathe a fair bit, made a bunch of parts there from scratch, so I did have some knowledge to work from, but not a lot that was mill specific. I think it’s much easier now a-days, especially with the You-Tube. Not sure how do something, there’s a video for that!

After working out the part design, I worked out what I think are the most logical steps to make the part, ensuring the front and back both end up “on center”. First I had to make a pallet to go on the rotary table, something big enough that I could bolt the parts, and a jig to. Then I made a simple jig to hold the part after the first flip.



And then I started machining the “bottom” of the adapter. The bottom, or bell housing side, integrates the clutch tube mounting shape into it. Originally I was going to make the part to fit over the factory clutch tube, but I figure I’ll just machine in the necessary bits. The backside will be done in two stages, first the main steps, then the part is flipped for front-side machining. Then it will be flipped one last time for some final work on the back.


...will make more chips tomorrow.

-Dave
__________________
'71 Type 1 - Rally Project
'58 Type 1 - I bought an early!?!
'73 Type 1 - Proper Germanlook project
'68 Type 1 - Interm German 'look' project
'75 Type 1 - Family Heirloom
'93 Chevy 3500 pickup - Cummins Swap
Reply With Quote
  #519  
Old January 22nd 2016, 22:37
Clatter Clatter is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 118
Stoked to see your operation with the annular throw-out!

Are you _sure_ there's enough room for the throw-out when fully compressed?
A hard measurement to get..

Wally performed a similar operation with his G50.
Dig through his build thread.
Using a Passat throw-out IIRC..

There's also a thread on the transaxle forum about this, too.
None used the Tilton AFAIK, however.

I chickened out on my 923 trans.
(street car)

Excited to see how this works out.
Glad to see you back..!
Reply With Quote
  #520  
Old January 23rd 2016, 02:49
owdlvr's Avatar
owdlvr owdlvr is offline
Administrator
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Canada - West Coast
Posts: 851
Quote:
Originally Posted by Clatter View Post
Stoked to see your operation with the annular throw-out!

Are you _sure_ there's enough room for the throw-out when fully compressed?
A hard measurement to get..
Honestly? No.

It's a very difficult measurement to get, and the Tilton is damned thick. I did have a few tricks up my sleeve though. First off, I found a "clutch depth measuring tool" at the PRI show. I took photos (which I can't find at the moment) and was able to reasonably duplicate it in the shop. Well, I think. hahaha.

I was also smart enough to disengage my clutch cable without touching the adjustment (one benefit of the Porsche arm). This meant with the engine out I could manipulate the clutch arm and get a visual of "about" where my bearing sits. My Porsche clutch guide tube has some wear marks from the throw-out bearing, which I was able to confirm are in "the right spot". I was able to compare wear marks on my old throwout bearing and my newish (2yr old) one to the marks on the guide tube, and confirm where the "clutch action" was occurring. That measurement matched up almost exactly to my measurement on where the pressure plate fingers *should* be from the bell housing. So with all three measurements coming up within the same tiny area, I figured I had to be pretty close.

Quote:
Wally performed a similar operation with his G50.
Dig through his build thread.
Using a Passat throw-out IIRC..

There's also a thread on the transaxle forum about this, too.
None used the Tilton AFAIK, however.
Funny enough, in all my research for this I never thought to check the Germanlook forum, instead focused on the Porsche forums. There is lots of G50 info, and plenty of options out there...but very little on the 901 trans, and even less on the early 901 trans. Tilton DID have a Porsche 901 throwout bearing setup a few years back, but it was for the later 901 gear box that has a different bolt pattern and clutch setup.



I also think that I'll end up milling two initial adapter plates. The first one is the plate I *think* is correct, which will help me work out where I need to clearance the plate and/or the bellhousing. The second plate, which is actually the first one I'll try, is going to be designed to slide snugly over the factory guide tube...but not actually "bolt in place". If I do it right, I should be able to bolt the engine in, and using the clutch lever arm hole slide the bearing forward and back to confirm I have the needed 0.100-0.150" clearance. Either that, or I'll find out I've really messed up and have a very expensive paperweight!

Quote:
I chickened out on my 923 trans.
(street car)

Excited to see how this works out.
Glad to see you back..!
Thanks! Sorry to be gone so long.

-Dave
__________________
'71 Type 1 - Rally Project
'58 Type 1 - I bought an early!?!
'73 Type 1 - Proper Germanlook project
'68 Type 1 - Interm German 'look' project
'75 Type 1 - Family Heirloom
'93 Chevy 3500 pickup - Cummins Swap
Reply With Quote
  #521  
Old February 24th 2016, 02:06
owdlvr's Avatar
owdlvr owdlvr is offline
Administrator
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Canada - West Coast
Posts: 851
So, completed the machine work on my Version 1 adapter piece. Actually finished that up back in January but got swamped with other projects.






…and it was at this point that I realized I’ve screwed up. Somewhere in my initial calculations I carried a one, or something equally silly. Bottom line, there is definitely no where near the space I need to make all this work. The yellow line you can see on the splines is roughly where the face of the bearing is. If you look inside the bearing, you might be able to see the pink dot (or the yellow one close by)…yeah, that’s where the pressure plate spring fingers are with the motor installed. OOPS! I’m roughly 0.585” out. That’s 14.7mm for us metric folk, that is a smoking huge error. I went back and dug up my rough notes, and some how had figured I’d be 0.120” (3mm) short of the space I needed, and figured I could make that up with Rev2 of my aluminum mount. But 0.685…yeah, that’s not gonna happen.

So, back to the drawing board…or Google. First stop, Windrush Evolutions aka WEVO. They make the Porsche 901 hydraulic adapter in gold that pictured in my last post. I believe, from internet searching, that it was originally a Tilton product but ended up under WEVO license/control. Regardless, the WEVO unit is part of their full kit that uses a Tilton multi-plate clutch and custom flywheel. The kit is over $3k USD, and since it’s setup for a Porsche motor not an option. They’ll sell me a hydraulic throwout bearing, but the cost is more than I’ve spent on some vehicles…Porsche tax!

While I waited for the my solutions to ship (which you’ll read about soon), I hammered along on a number of items the car needed. After four years of running, I seemed to have added quite a bit to the electrical system. Heated seats, oil-cooler sprayer, GPS, Phone connections, second intercom system, interior map lighting (red), interior lighting (white), GPS speedometer & antenna, the list goes on. Problem is, each install was done right before an event with the intention of “cleaning it up later”. Basically, zip-tied on top in a hurry. I had a new electrical system to add, and I’ve reached my limit. It was all torn out, and put in cleanly and properly…


The newest electrical system is a dash cam setup with front and rear cameras. I don’t live in an area where fraudulent insurance claims (Russian style) is a huge concern, but I’ve always thought I need one. You see, if I ever DO have an accident…who is going to believe me that I was driving responsibly? Thus, dash cam system. Picked up a used Blackvue 5500 system and did a permanent install. All the wires are tucked away and hidden.


I’ve run out of room for switches on the dash, so the oil-cooler sprayer and interior lighting switch is on the mount for the driver’s seat. Passenger seat has switches in the same location for the red and white reading lamps. The oil cooler sprayer runs automatically with the fan, but I can switch just the liquid sprayer on and off using this switch.


I also tore out the rear shocks and kafer bar, rebuilding as required. Oddly enough, the left spring and right spring were different heights when I pulled them out. So, swapped those out with a fresh pair. One of the Kafer bar ears had cracks in it, so I've started the job of actually rebuilding them all into double-shear mounts. May not be easy to do for each of the mounts, but a good project for later on in the Spring...

And with that, it was back onto the Clutch project. Stop number two on the world-wide-web was much more successful. Kennedy Engineering has a dual-plate clutch system for high-torque applications. Here’s the trick, though: they stuff two clutch plates, and an intermediate plate all into a package that is no deeper than a stock beetle clutch system. Hmmm, that got me thinking. If they’ve squeezed those plates into the same package, the pressure plate must be thinner? A couple of phone calls later, and we worked out that they have a custom pressure plate which is 0.230” thinner than a factory clutch. Kennedy was able to make me one to match the Stage-1 pressure plate I have. So, I’ll use the pressure plate with a single clutch disc by sinking the pressure plate mounting surface 0.230” into the flywheel.


Partway there!

The internet is an awesome, awesome machine sometimes. While looking up the Kennedy double-plate clutch system, trying to work out what the trick was (before I could call them), I found out the current system is actually their Generation 2 system. Get 1 used a standard pressure plate, and a 0.500” spacer between the engine and transmission. Hmmmm…a spacer eh? I knew I didn’t want to go with a full half inch, but I also wanted the proper lip to be machined on either side of the spacer if I’m going to use one. Worked it out with Kennedy Engineering that spacer could be made 0.375”, but probably no thinner. So, I ordered a custom spacer to be made up:


So…
0.120 - Rev 2 of my spacer
0.375 - Spacer
0.230 - Pressure plate
———
0.725” -> More than enough space. You know, presuming my math is correct this time. :P

For the moment, however, I think I need to shelve the Hydraulic clutch system. My first event for Classic Car Adventures is the end of April (Hagerty Spring Thaw), followed three weeks later by the Colorado event (Hagerty Silver Summit). I have a lot of work to do before them, with route books and other details! Warwick’s Escort Rally Car is project #1, he’s hoping to race it in early April…and as you can see I have a lot of work to do. I’m concerned I won’t have enough time to setup the pedal side of the equation, test it all, and swap back if it’s not working correctly.


Having said that…I can’t stop thinking how quickly I could get the engine and and out to see if there is space. Plus these puppies just arrived. More modifications to be done!


-Dave
__________________
'71 Type 1 - Rally Project
'58 Type 1 - I bought an early!?!
'73 Type 1 - Proper Germanlook project
'68 Type 1 - Interm German 'look' project
'75 Type 1 - Family Heirloom
'93 Chevy 3500 pickup - Cummins Swap
Reply With Quote
  #522  
Old February 27th 2016, 12:28
fahrvergnugen fahrvergnugen is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: The Netherlands
Posts: 285
Hay Dave.

I made this, and it seems to work.





It's a Porsche 914 gearbox with an Opel Vectra thrust bearing. the mounting bracket is 5mm
__________________
If some is good and more is better, then too much should be just about right!
Reply With Quote
  #523  
Old June 23rd 2016, 19:59
owdlvr's Avatar
owdlvr owdlvr is offline
Administrator
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Canada - West Coast
Posts: 851
Not much new to report! With everything I had going on, I've taken a pause on the Hydraulic Clutch adapter. I've got the engine end sorted (I think), but when it was time to do the pedals I realized I really don't want an adapted-stock pedal setup. I've got my eye on a Tilton reservoir-under-foot floor setup, but the price is hefty. Figure about $1k USD, plus plus. So, with that in mind I tossed it all back together with a cable to revisit it this summer. As these things go, it will probably get pushed back to the winter :P

In the meantime, however, I keep adding to the miles on the odometer. Since Feburary I think I've put roughly 8,000km on it...which for me is a massive reduction from normal. Late last year the motor developed a 'strange rattle' that we couldn't source. When I pulled the motor out and found the destroyed pilot bearing, we figured we had probably found the issue. Problem forgotten, winter passes, and finally I tossed the motor in for the season. Hmmm, the sound is back. And it changes, sometimes its far worse than other times. Hmmmm. It sounds like valve train noise, coming from dead-center in the engine case. We've checked the valve lift (in spec on all eight), and we've checked everything we possibly can without splitting the case. If the motor wasn't 2 seasons, and 90,000ish miles old, I would be tearing it down. But life is busy, priorities are higher in other areas, and thus I seem to start every Classic Car Adventures event with "well, if it blows it blows!" And yet, it still runs like a champ.

I am driving it less though. The odd sounds means I'm more likely to take my truck for a trip around town, or even if I'm zipping into Vancouver. Gotta keep that motor together for as long as possible, still have three more Classic Car Adventures events this year!



This year, for our Hagerty Silver Summit in Colorado, my mom flew out to play co-driver. We enjoyed an awesome three days of sunshine and mountain driving, with only one minor mishap the entire time. Coming into the small town of Mt. Crested Butte, where the event's second night hotel was, the clutch pedal went soft for three shifts...and then the cable snapped. Fortunately we were rolling in 2nd at the time, so I just blew a couple of stop signs and drove it into the hotel parking lot.



That night I discovered I wasn't actually carrying a spare cable, a problem since my setup uses a short one out of a split window beetle. Not going to find one of those at NAPA!

The morning driver's meeting was pretty funny. "Okay," I began, "so today you're all going to wait here in the parking garage while the Rally Bug starts off on the event. We have to blow through all the stop signs, and I don't want to get caught behind any of you. Oh, and while I think of it...do as I say, not as I do. Make sure you drive responsibly!"

We put the car in 2nd (facing down a slight hill), started the car by rolling on the starter in 2nd gear and we were off! I taught mom that coming up to a stop sign she was only allowed to say two things: "Clear Right!" meaning the road was clear to proceed, or "NEGATIVE!" meaning I had to stop.



Normally, I wouldn't be too worried about driving without a clutch cable. You can easily start a beetle from a dead stop on the starter in first gear, but we had a couple of other factors working against us. The car is normally tuned for Sea Level, not the 5-11,000ft we were driving at in Colorado. I had done a re-jet and re-tune, but depending on the altitude it was hard-starting at times. The battery, as well, seems to be getting weaker in the car. Combine everything, and I just wasn't willing to risk it.

We made it 174mi (280km), before I was finally caught by a red-light. The first restart didn't go so well, but once I figured out the perfect throttle position we were laughing our way through the next two stops. At the surprise of many of our entrants, the Rally Bug pulled into the finish with zero damage. Whew!



Now, a wise man would probably toss the car up in the air, tear the motor out and pull it apart on the five days I have home. I've rebuilt complete motors in far less time...but I think I must be getting older. The prospect of the late-night motor tear-downs and rebuilds just isn't nearly as exciting to me at the moment. I mean, it runs currently, right? :P

-Dave
__________________
'71 Type 1 - Rally Project
'58 Type 1 - I bought an early!?!
'73 Type 1 - Proper Germanlook project
'68 Type 1 - Interm German 'look' project
'75 Type 1 - Family Heirloom
'93 Chevy 3500 pickup - Cummins Swap
Reply With Quote
  #524  
Old June 28th 2016, 12:43
owdlvr's Avatar
owdlvr owdlvr is offline
Administrator
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Canada - West Coast
Posts: 851
Whelp, it would seem that worn lifter-bores are the most likely candidate for the sounds that I'm hearing. Guess I will be pulling the motor soon after all. Not sure whether I should try and build up a backup longblock now, or wait until this one is out of the car. Hmmmm...

-Dave
__________________
'71 Type 1 - Rally Project
'58 Type 1 - I bought an early!?!
'73 Type 1 - Proper Germanlook project
'68 Type 1 - Interm German 'look' project
'75 Type 1 - Family Heirloom
'93 Chevy 3500 pickup - Cummins Swap
Reply With Quote
  #525  
Old February 15th 2017, 16:38
owdlvr's Avatar
owdlvr owdlvr is offline
Administrator
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Canada - West Coast
Posts: 851
...and half a year goes by.

Well, I didn't pull the motor in June. At the time I was living in Squamish BC, halfway between Vancouver and Whistler. Housing prices are insane, and while I would have loved to buy a house...there was no hope. About the time I was making my last post, I was looking around at houses for sale in another town, very similar to Squamish but 4 hrs away on Vancouver Island. The price was right, I worked out that I could actually afford it, and put an offer in. Whelp, there goes the next German Look project budget, my offer was accepted. So in August I bought this:



The house came with this out back, but please note two of those 'doors' are white tarps. It's just a bare shell with 2 pads concrete, one dirt. Still, it's an 800sqft shop divided into two halves. The small door has a single bay, and the two larger doors are one big room with a post in the middle.



The house was also being sold with the lot next door, which has a gravel driveway to access the shop in the back of the house. It also has three large carports and a storage shed on the lot. I managed to scoop all of this up for less than an apartment would cost me in my old town. True, I'm on an island and ferries are crazy-expensive to get on and off ($80 one way)..but it's a BIG island, and anytime I have to travel off the island it will be a business expense.


I closed in August, but didn't move until October once all the Classic Car Adventure's events were done. The rally bug couldn't be trusted for the final two events of the year, so I ran my 1958 Beetle on the Hagerty Fall Classic in WA, and my Dad's '79 Beetle convertible on our Hagerty Maple Mille in Ontario. October, November and December were spent finishing the shop. I had the floor poured, doors installed, and then did all the electrical, insulation, walls and painting myself. Turned out pretty stellar, and I'm super stoked on it.




Bay One is the "storage bay", I've got my shelves of frequently used items, the '58, my woodworking bench and left over wood supplies in here. I also build a super-hefty storage shelf above the garage door that's 8 feet wide and 8 feet deep. Currently it's unorganized crap, but eventually I'll clean it out and store less-frequently accessed items. In some ways, bay one is a bit of a wasted space. It would be FAR better to have this room set up either as a "clean room" for building engines and assembly of cars, or as a dirty room where all the grinding, welding and other dirty work occurs. But, despite all the space I managed to stumble into, I have a space problem! I'm using the garage in the house to store my best friend's Audi Coupe Quattro, and I'm no longer keeping a storage unit where lots of my 'crap' that I don't want to throw out would be stored. In a few years, once the budget recovers, I will probably close in and insulate one of the car-ports and move all my storage over there, thus giving me a clean and dirty side of the workshop.



Bay two and three, the larger half of the shop, is where my general work will occur. I've also brought my 1975 Standard Deluxe out of storage...figuring that now I have the space to finally decide what to do with it.

Security Cam shot with all three cars jammed in, while I finished out Bay one:


Workbench & Cabinets


FINALLY, this week, I started to use the shop for what it was built for. Pulled the motor on the rally bug and tore it down to find the valve-train noise. Turns out it wasn't a lifter bore, they're all tight and happy. The timing gear on the crank, however, was loose. I've never seen one come loose before, and neither had my buddies. Keyway in the crank was okay, but the key was pretty hammered out. Also discovered that after 92,000 miles on the 2110cc engine, it was time for bearings. Rod and cam bearings all looked worn but not damaged. The crank bearings, however, weren't so lucky. Definitely starved the middle (split) bearing for oil at some point!







So, while I wait for new bearings to arrive, I thought I'd go back to the hydraulic clutch conversion...the new adapter is 120 thousands thinner than the original, and so now I just need to figure out what box I packed all the flywheel, pressure plate and adapter stuff into. I know it's around here somewhere...





I keep looking at this box on the shelf wondering if now is the time to do it...


-Dave
__________________
'71 Type 1 - Rally Project
'58 Type 1 - I bought an early!?!
'73 Type 1 - Proper Germanlook project
'68 Type 1 - Interm German 'look' project
'75 Type 1 - Family Heirloom
'93 Chevy 3500 pickup - Cummins Swap
Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 17:49.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
© www.GermanLook.net 2002-2017. All Rights Reserved