JBJetta's Drop Box

[Nacho]

I see a doodle bug for the Woodburn show

[coolblue57bug]

Just put in the narrowed beam already. Quit making excuses. Why in the heck would you get wider fenders over a narrowed beam? They only ride rough if you put them on the ground. Mild lowering would not have that effect. The narrowed beam will give you more clearance to run those wider chrome rims you have while still being mildly lowered.

And nobody cares if you like the look or not. It looks cool so just do it!

[corradojeff]

What he said. The pick you have above was with the narowed beam in :)

[Nacho]

 

[LooseNuts]

I'm with all these stupids 

bring me the adjusters and your beam  i will give you a budget narrowed beam for $200
minus the tie rod ends for $200 with your beam and your adjusters. have it back to you in one day

[jbjetta]

You guys crack me up

I will get around to swapping out the wheels this weekend. If it looks like the front wheels will rub on the fender I may consider it. I'd rather have the wheels fill up the fender, then having the look of Brian's friends car used in his avatar.  When the wheels are sucked in that far in the front, it looks like a clown car to me. I don't find that look "cool" in any way shape or form. Maybe it looks worse because of the dinky tires on it. Maybe it will look better with the wider tires that I prefer 

I have a 5" narrowed beam that I believe to be complete that I got from Jeff with the car. I don't know if that is too narrow for what I would like. I think maybe a 4" would do. Guess I won't know unless I put it on and try it out. I'll send you a pick of it later today J.

[coolblue57bug]

Ok, then I need that beam...

[jbjetta]

It's a select-a-drop beam. You sure you want it Brian?


I made some progress on the bugs this weekend. I have decided to get rid of my blue '66 to appease the HOA, and to free up a little money that will be going into the '65. I didn't know that the '65 was Mike Soto's old bug until I had a run in with him today

I pulled everything that I needed to complete the '65 from the '66. I have a buyer lined up for the '66 already. But I must say that just swapping the wheels, headlights, blinkers, and roof rack has already made a HUGE different in the looks of the '65. Sadly... The brown has actually started to grow on me. But I'm still set on painting it back to what it was before the satin brown got to it. I am really liking the stance of the front right and where the tires are inside of the fenders. I don't know if the tires will rub or not until I get it on the road and drive it. But as of right now it doesn't look likely. Down the road if I decide to put disc brakes in the front then I may have to consider getting a slightly narrowed beam. I won't know what the ride height of the rear is until I get it up and running. Then I can decide whether it needs lowered or heightened. I prefer a nice raked look myself. The front is already considerable lower then the front of my '66.

Over all I think the '65 is not in as good of shape as the '66. But it has LP front end and a sun roof. And a clean title. So even though I may have to invest more time and money into it now... It will be worth more down the road.

[coolblue57bug]

Brown  paint sucks. Trust me I know...

[Revs71]

That sho is purty.

[jbjetta]

Well... It's official. I'm a dumby 

I pulled the '65 up the hill today to Mike's house to let him have a look see at all of the rust and work ahead for me. I had just put on those wheels on the bug last weekend. Apparently I forgot to torque down one of the wheels before slapping on the center caps. Needless to say just a few hundred yards from my house and one of the front wheels fell off and rolled passed me. I had to jump out of the van and run it down    I could have sworn that I had properly tightened all of the lug bolts on ALL of the wheels. I only was able to retrieve 4 of the 5 lug bolts. Curious    No Bugs were warmed in the actions of my stupidity. I guess next time I shall go have a look see and check for lug tightness next time I go to tow my bug 

I got the wheel back on and I checked the other wheels for good measure. And off up the hill I went to Mike's. He gave it a look over and I pointed out the stuff that I knew about. Mike will be helping me with the restoration of my pan and body. Looks like we will be replacing both pan halves. The heat channels need some attention as well. The front end has been cut off a few times, and the PO really did a number on it. AND it looks like it might have possibly been hit in the rear at some point. Mike suggested replacing both the front and rear clips. He might have those parts available. Since the heat channels need help as well as the pans halves, we have decided that we will be pulling the body from the pan. I envision a lot of sand blasting in my near future. But I'm hoping if we tackle the rust now and do it right, it will last me another 40+ years But with all of this work means that I will be out of a running Vw for the rest of the year possibly  I might have to pick up something to run around in for the mean time.

Mike doesn't have a rotisserie ATM. He may have to make one for this project. Or see if I can find someone to rent one from. But in the mean time... I need to track down some pan halves and heat channels.

[jbjetta]

I went out to the shop today to start dismantling the 1915 that I have out on an engine stand. I just picked it up in some trading I did a few weeks ago.

I got the heads off and verified the valve sizes.  40mm intake and 37mm exhaust valve sizes. I noticed some cracks between the valve seats. I can't tell how deep they go yet. I was concerned at first. I know anything water-cooled vw, those heads would be no good. Except that it is normal and common on Vw diesel heads. From what I have found on the Samba... The cracks on larger valve heads is fine and dandy? Or no? I don't plan on running the heads myself. I was fancying a larger motor... But these heads are turbo prepped and I don't imagine myself ever getting a turbo. So I just need to know if the heads are any good if I decide to use them for barter or sell them.





Also got a good look at the P&C's. They appear to be in great shape. These are 94mm slip-ins that are machined on the lower end to fit into a 92mm cut case. I'm told they are B's which are used for stroker engines?  I'm not sure if they have ever been ran on anything. I don't know that I will needs these and they may be up for sale to help fund fixing my Bug pan and body.



I have enough parts to build an 1835, so I'm going to stick with that for now. I will save my good case for possibly stepping up to a 2074 or 2180 down the road when I collect up the proper parts to do so. Right now I just need to focus on getting the body and pan in good shape. The big motors can come later when my bug can handle them  Right now... They would probably twist my rust bucket in two

[CatBox]

Mike at DIP looked the heads over and was not overly concerned with the cracks between the seats.

As far as the piston's and cylinder's go they are brand spankie new and are in fact 94mm B pistons.
They are no longer made and if you ever want to make a bigger engine you should KEEP those as they will only get more and more expensive.  Mahle has seemingly left the ACVW market for the time being, although they are still making loads of other manufacturers parts.

Or sell them for $300 or so....

I just sold a set of just the cylinders for $80, they are in demand as people don't want to use the chinese offerings.
If I need to buy another set of pistons it will be the ACN super squishies that allow you to run 13 to 1 compression...

[jbjetta]

Last night I only tore down half of the motor. Tonight I pulled off the other head and P&C's. I managed to not break anything during the disassemble, so I'm doing good so far 

Tomorrow night I will try to pull all of the other bits that are still bolted onto the case tomorrow after work. And I hope to have the  case pulled open by this weekend so I can see what I have and where to go to next from here for my 1835.

I was looking around online today for the pan halves and heat channels. I'm looking at around $400 for both pan halves, and $200 for the heat channels. The pan halves are the "orange" ones. Supposed to be heavy duty pan halves. I've noticed that some of the sheet metal parts are all colored. Is that just a manufacturer thing? Or does it mean for different strengths? What color pan halves would be ideal for a "round" guy like me (Don't laugh... I'm in shape... "Round" is a shape) Any thoughts on the new heat channels? I'm going to have to assume that most of this stuff is Chinese made. Is there a brand that I should look for?

[jbjetta]

I would like to introduce to you the newest member of the family. It is a '67 Bug. I haven't settled on a name yet. But with being Plum in color and having wrinkles in the front... I'm leaning towards Prunelope (Prune-el-oh-pee) 

I picked her up for a smoking deal! The car is in really great shape except for the damage in the front. But it was a slow speed collision and really didn't do a lot of damage. 3 of the 4 drums are brand spanking new and it had brand new brakes all around. One of the front wheel wearings was toast and was replaced yesterday. And the heads are sparkling clean. Looks like the motor might have been gone through or gotten into within the last 2-3 years. The #2 cylinder looks like it might be leaking a tiny bit at the head. May have to pull heads and lap them for good measure before torquing them back down. It either has a 1500 or 1600 SP engine in it. It does have a dog house cooler on it. The case is an older single relief case that Volkswagen has reconditioned at some point in its life. It has yet to leave any noticeable oil spots in my drive way  I think it has been sitting for at least a year now. I need to go through and replace the shifter bushings. And it DEFINITELY needs some drop spindles for the front. Oh and some early style fenders on the front. But other then that this thing is rock solid. Well... there is some crusting in the passenger side pan that will need addressed at some point. But I really made out like a bandit on the deal. I appreciate the person very much who sold it to me 

I have some cleaning in the Bug ahead of me yet. I have to find out how to remove the rear seat back without just getting very angry and ripping it out of the car. I'm trying to be civilized as much as I can with it. I did come across a first edition "How to keep your VW Alive" book. It is not in the best of shape though. I might have to tuck it away for safe keeping anyways.





Is this lever factory? It seems like the cable or what ever it is hooked up to appears seized. Next time I'm under the car I'll try to figure what it is connected to.