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Mustie1: 68 barn find beetle, broken brakes and a happy dog.

I've recently came across this guy on
YouTube called Mustie1 and I've become addicted to his channel. He does a lot
of video's on VW's but he has videos of working everything from lawn
tractors to antique Honda trial bikes. He also has an unofficial series
called "Will it run?' in which he try and get something to run that's
been sitting for years. I admire his 
ingenuity and just plain persistence he will usually get them running.
He's the type of mechanic that if he can't get it running no one can.
He's also has a positive attitude and you can tell he loves what he's
doing.  Many of his videos are long but many times you want him to keep
going.  

I believe that's Mustie1 filling out some paper work at VolksFair 2017

One of my favorite of his projects is a 59 VW single cab lumber yard truck he rescued from Tennessee. It turns out I had actually seen this truck at a VW show last which I had posted recently. I'm still going through the videos of him restoring it. He does some amazing work.

VW's On The Hill 2018

I was able to make in to this years VW's on the Hill in Cumberland, Rhode Island. It was again held at the Diamond Hill State Park as it was last year. It turned out to be an awesome day weather wise as the humidity that had been gripping the area recently broke after thunderstorms had gone threw the area the day before so it made for a pleasant day to see the beautiful Vw's that made it to the show this year.

I had hoped to bring my 74 Bug this year but I hadn't finished a project I was working on it yet and I had also discovered a gas leak that needs attention so I didn't feel safe making it over. Better luck for me next year.

Turn out seemed to be similar to last year although vendors at the swap meet area seemed a bit more sparse.

Here are some photo's I took:

Nice gold Super Beetle.

This one's from New Hampshire.

If I was to pick out a water-cooled VW's it would be one of these pickups.

A rare(at least I haven't seen them much) optional factory AC on this 70's Bug.

Clean interior on this Super Beetle.

I liked the custom slim bumper on this mid 70's Bug.

This had a Chevy 350 up front.

This oval was in the vendor area.

 

 

Modern day Beetle made it.

Clean and neat interior.

Herbie made an appearance.

I'd love to add this to my Bug

A special thanks to Vintage Volkswagen Sales out of Cumberland, Rhode Island for organizing the show and hope they do it again next year. Not only do they sell Vintage VW's they also offer key making services both generic and factory replica style keys. I'm forever grateful for them bailing me out last year year when I lost my one and only key. So be sure and check them out. Looking forward to next year already. Enjoy the pictures.

Bug Repair Lesson # 2: One thing leads to another

If their seems to be one constant I've noticed with older cars is that even while doing one repair you'll undoubtedly discover some other issue. I was working on the front beam when I glanced inward toward the center of the car and I notice a wet braided hose that was soaked and even had a white slime on it too. I dabbed my finger and smelled it: gas. Sure enough a few seconds later a slow drip fell. I just found the answer to my mysterious gas disappearance over the winter. 

Just for a little back story when I had stored my vehicle for the winter I had topped of the tank. Come spring time I assumed I still had a full tank of gas. Then shortly after uncovering it it stopped running. I couldn't figure out why it wouldn't start. Brand new battery and I assumed I had fuel. Well you know what the say about assuming. After some trouble shooting I figured out I wasn't getting any fuel. I thought maybe a clogged fuel line. Which led to me knocking on the fuel tank and hearing an empty echo. I uncovered the sending unit and sure enough..no gas. Where did it go? I had hardly driven it at all. I don't remember smelling gas, at least not more than usual. Threw a gallon of gas in and she started right up. I couldn't figure out where my gas went. I even replaced the old gas cap thinking it evaporated cause of a bad seal. Now a couple of months later the mystery has now been solved.

At first I'm thinking "Oh great I have to pull that tank out to fix this" and all kinds of panicking cause my hopes of going for my state inspection sticker went out the window as I don't think a leaking gas tank will pass a safety inspection. Oh well. After mulling it over I did some research on how to fix this and came across a how to video by JBugs(see video below). Now things didn't seem so bad as it seems like a straight forward repair. I ordered the necessary parts and will do the repair once they arrive.

 

I'll do a future post highlighting the repair work. I wonder what that repair will lead to. Thanks for coming by.

The VW Beetle is Back! Next Generation Discovers Air COOLness - Beetle D...

Fixing a Bug's Horn

One of the iconic things about a Beetle is the horn. I hear the horn I still think of Herbie "The Love Bug". It's part of the Bug's personality and charm. It doesn't have the big boisterous horn American cars had in the 60's and 70's. It's more of a tinier and friendlier but still enough to say "Hey I'm here."and likely to bring a smile. 

My Bug's horn did work but the steering wheel button didn't work. A previous owner had rigged up a button under the dash. It worked but was a awkward to use and and the ground wire had a tendency to wiggle off which added an aggravation factor on top of the awkwardness. Plus I knew this probably wouldn't pass the muster come state inspection time. 

I reasoned that original problem lied in the horn button on the wheel didn't work hence the addition button on the dash. I researched the horn switch and found it reasonably priced but was on back order. I ordered it anyway as I had other stuff to do and winter was approaching so it wasn't an urgent item.

Fast forward to spring time I finally received the horn switch and decide to tackle this project. First step is to remove the plastic horn button cover from the steering wheel. Using a screwdriver I as able to pry the four corners off. One should be careful and not be too forceful prying as the cover is plastic and may break, you may have to work at it a bit. Once you get it off it is loose but still held in the  middle. and you'll also see the horn wire going to the cover so don't just rip it off. Turn 90 degrees and the cover should now come off. You can then remove the wire.

Almost there. I see my horn wire but I still have to remove steering wheel to get to the horn ring. I believe it is a 24mm deep socket( I forgot to make note of it at the time) and an extension and good size rachet or breaker bar. I also soaked it with some Liquid Wrench as the that nut has probably been on there since Nixon was President(those were the days). I also put wheel in a locked position so the it wouldn't move. I don't remember it giving me a major problem.

Now it's just a matter of pulling the wheel off. A suggest marking the wheel before taking it off so you can line it up again. I forgot to do this so my wheel is a bit cockeyed, learn from my goof. You may need to wiggle it a bit but it should pull right off.

 

You'll now see the horn ring switch on the back of the wheel. It's only held on by three Phillips head  screwdrivers. This is the easiest part. I removed the the three screws and installed the new ring. It only goes one way as the wire goes thru a hole and screw it in place. Now you just reinstall in reverse order. Hopefully you avoided my mistake by marking the wheel position ahead of time. Do as I say not as I did.

After I got it back together it still didn't work. I crawl underneath to see the horn is hooked up but it's hooked up to the rigged up horn button. I found the correct factory wire and hooked it back up to the horn. I pulled out the old wire as I have enough of rats nest behind the dash already. Now the horn works wonderfully. Like music to my ears!

What the Heck is a SUPER Beetle? Beetle Diaries Ep. 6