Bnicho's 1974 Volkswagen Super Beetle

[bnicho]

Olive's clutch started slipping back in June. So I put her in the shed and took the MR2 out.

One problem with having multiple old cars is that there is no immediate need to fix the broken ones. Then they all break one by one and you end up with an insurmnountable load of fixing.

Despite my best intentions, Olive hibernated for the best part of two months. Part of this was due to my son unexpectedly spending a week in hospital right when the clutch failed. I enjoyed fanging around in the MR2, so it made me a bit lazy too.

I removed the lump from the rump five weeks ago. The main seal at the back of the flywheel had gone, so I ordered a new clutch, new seal and various other gaskets that were oozing the black stuff. The fuel lines looked a bit iffy so I replaced them. Then the motor and engine bay was given a good cleanup.



The worst job was chipping away the copious quantities of expanding foam VW Australia inserted at the sides of the engine bay and up into the rear pillars. This rudimentary attempt at adding some extra sound deadening just promotes rust!



Copious quantities of mag wheel cleaner softened it and made the job a little easier. There was a bucketful of this crap in there.



The rust the foam has caused on Olive's rear pillar. I can't really complain, this is basically the only rust on the car.



One the weekend the lump went back in with minimal swearing and Olive is back in daily service again. This morning I forgot VW's need petrol occasionally! The result was a 1km walk with a petrol can.

Cheers,
Brett.

[bnicho]

Olive is continuing to provide sterling daily service.

The old Solex carb (appears to be the original) was starting to get worn, with play in the throttle shaft causing an inconsistent idle. It ran okay when hot, but when cold I had a massive flat spot no matter how much I tried to adjust the choke. The final straw was when the needle and seat gave up and the carb began dripping fuel out the throttle shaft. Cleaning the needle and seat didn't help either.

I investigated rebuilding the old carb, but it was cheaper to buy a Chinese replica carb brand new. I bought one on eBay for under $150 Australian delivered to my door and it arrived in ten days. Apart from an extra vacuum port I didn't need it looked almost identical to the old carb and high quality. It took about 30mins to fit and adjust yesterday. Now Olive is singing. I'll be interested to see if the fuel economy improves too.

Cheers,

[Ridgeback]

Awesome colour.
Think I've only seen a handful that shade.
I'm a big fan of the standard look too.

[bnicho]

Olive disgraced herself on the way home one day last week. As I pulled up to a roundabout, she spluttered and died, refusing to restart. A mob of angry drivers soon built up behind me before someone actually got out and helped me push her through the busy roundabout and off the road.

I had a quick poke around under the lid and I couldn't see anything obviously wrong. I called my breakdown cover and they told me to expect a 40 minute wait.

I decided to have another poke around and discovered a wire with a broken end near the distributor. Then I found the terminal and matching length of wire still connected to the coil. The wire must have snagged on something and slowly fatigued before it finally snapped. I stripped the two broken ends with my teeth, twisted them together and wrapped them in electrical tape. Olive started up straight away, so I cancelled the breakdown call-out and drove the rest of the way home. A few days later I soldered a new length of wire on and fitted a new terminal. Good as new.

This is why I love driving an old car daily. It might be more likely to break, but if it does, it's more likely to get you home again.

[bnicho]

Olive has continued to provide sterling daily service. My only real complaint is it can't seem to get the choke settings right. It either stays on fast idle too long, or drops off it too early. I just can't find that happy medium.

A couple of days ago I was driving to work and the gearshift felt a bit weird and rattly. I stopped at some lights and select first gear. There was "clang" from the centre tunnel and the gearstick went all floppy. Suddenly I could only select 1st and 2nd gears. I drove through the intersection and pulled over.

I had a fair idea that the problem was at the back where the gearshift rod in the centre tunnel met the gearbox. I pulled up the rear seat base and removed the access cover under the seat. The six month old (cheap crappy Chinese non-genuine) gearshift linkage bush had broken. The two halves of the bush had fallen down into the tunnel somewhere I couldn't get them.

I cut the end off a pencil eraser to the approximate size and put a hole through it with a corkscrew. Then I jammed it into the linkage and held it in with a cable tie. The shift action was surprisingly quite good. I had all gears available again and it got me home no problems.



The eraser is the white bit covered in grease.

Cheers,

[Xantia-nut]

Ay up!

True Aussie inventiveness! Good on yer, Brett!

[bnicho]

I had a bit of a hiccup with Olive a couple of months ago. Beetle meets concrete pole. Pole wins.



I took it to my favourite VW specialist for a quote on repairs and claimed on my insurance. The insurance coughed up for the damage without an issue. Brand new rear wing, bumper, tail light and bumper brackets.

Then I decided that since the repairers had to match the paint it was worth getting the rust on the rear pillars and A panel attended to. As usual, it was much worse than it looked and the job snowballed. They found the rear pillars had been filled in the past and there was more rust in the roof gutters. They are doing a great job of the rust repairs, but I am a bit nervous about the impending bill!

Cheers,

[vulgalour]

Sad to see Olive crunched like that, but at least you're getting the work done that's needed, if only insurance companies in the UK were so reasonable about paying out on this sort of damage. This is one of the best colours I've seen on a bug, it rivals even the brilliant orange they came in.

[89rallye]

Loving this! Although being a VW nut I would say that

[bnicho]

We are pretty spoiled here with a few choices of good classic car insurers. Even the mainstream insurers here are far less penny-pinching than insurers in the UK.

I love this car and I'm keen to see her repaired properly. My kids ask me every few days when Olive is coming home from "Car Hospital".

Before I collect her she is also getting a new stainless exhaust fitted. I'm mulling over making a few subtle mods. More comfortable seats, lowering the front two inches and maybe a set of widened stock wheels. We will see how the coffers look when I get her home.

Cheers,
Brett.