Why Did Volkswagen Kill The Beetle?

Replacing Brake Light on 2013 Ford Escape

Recently I had to take my daily driver, a 2013 Ford Escape on a long day trip to pick up my oldest son in Philadelphia. It was a about a 5-6 hour trip each way. Part way on the trip down from Massachusetts one of my brake lights went out. Of course being a relatively modern vehicle it tells on my dash. Of course midway thru the trip I had no way to fix it with not tools or time to fix it I had to hope I wasn't pulled over by a observant officer of the law until I got home.

Well I did make it home and the next day I went down to the local O'Reilly Auto Parts and picked up a new brake bulb. I did a quick search on Youtube and sure enough I found someone changing a brake bulb on a Ford Escape like mine which was very helpful

All of what I needed was an 8mm socket with a long extension and a small ratchet, a flat head screw driver. The bulb I used was a Sylvania 3157. 

First you have to open the rear hatch. There are two bolts under two round plastic caps to remove the tail light. They must be pried off. I used a worn screwdriver with a narrow blade. This will work but it did mangle one of the caps so use care when prying off. 

Using your 8mm socket you remove these two bolts. They're not torqued down much so they come off fairly easy.  Now the only thing holding in the housing on is a clip that is under the forward part of the taillight. It's just pressed in but takes a some pushing force towards the rear of the vehicle. This is kind of tricky as their is only one set of wires going to housing and you don't want to yank and damage them either. I'd advise watch the above video I've posted above. With the the palm of one hand tried and hit towards the rear of the vehicle while using your other hand preventing it from flying off when it suddenly comes free. Please watch the above video first before attempting.

This is clip under the taillight.

 

 Once off their is one connector that easily pulls off and you can easily change the bulb(brake or reverse light) you need.  I replaced the brake bulb on mine which just required a quarter turn and pulled out the defective bulb and replaced it.

Only one connector to the housing.

 

 

Then to reinstall you just do everything in reverse. The whole process, once I got everything together, was maybe 20-30 minutes. When you restart the brake light bulb warning may reappear momentarily. I just tapped the brakes once and the dash warning disappeared. I hope this helps and don't be afraid to check out the attached YouTube video as I found it very helpful. This process you can also change your back up bulb too. Thanks for coming by.

Back to the Bug

New bumper shock bracket from Wolfsburg West.

April was a busy month so not a lot was done with my Bug for a few weeks. My mother was hospitalized for a week with pneumonia which when paired with her ever present COPD made matters worse. Add on an extra week at home with intravenous antibiotics twice a day. To add on top of that my daily driver(2013 Ford Escape)needed expensive repairs(tax return disappears)  to pass state inspection. Needless to say it didn't leave time for much else. Good news is that Mom is doing much better this week and car passed inspection and life is returning to to somewhat normal. which means more time for the Bug. 

Before my tax return disappeared(see car repair above) I managed to order a pair of bumper shock brackets from Wolfsburg West(click here to find them). They are the first I now to reproduce these late model(74-79) US only parts. Trying to find used ones wasn't always easy. I spotted them on sale last fall but had to wait for tax return season to purchase them. If you don't know when these shock mount are pushed in they can get stuck pushed in. I believe they were originally designed to return to original length but that obviously isn't always a reality. 

One 13mm bolt removed and the bumper comes off easy(with some penetrating oil too).

Comparing the new & the old.(rear bracket)

Newly installed. Now my engine lid doesn't hit the bumper.

Along with the bumper bracket I also purchased the related hardware for installation which also included a small U bracket that attaches inside the bumper. After pulling stuff apart I realized I could have reused much of existing hardware but I installed the new stuff anyway since I already had it. 

The front bracket I had to work around the horn.

The inside nut on the U bracket is welded in place. Just needed to remove the 13mm from outside the bumper. 

I removed the bracket using a combination of 13mm wrench or ratchet. Three 13mm bolts hold the bracket to the car inside the fender. I was able to reach it just laying on the ground. A 13mm is also needed to remove the U bracket from the outside of the bumper, if you still have the rubber strip on the bumper you'll have move it out of the way. There is a metal clip holding the strip on, I used a flat head screw driver to bend it open. Take it easy on the clip as they do break as I found out. 

You can see how much this was pushed in.

old vs. new(front bumper)

Front bracket installed.

I used a jack stand to prop up the bumper once I got it off. Once the three inner bolts were off I pulled  out the bracket out of the hole. To remove the U bracket from the shock I used a pair of 3/4" wrenches. The plastic insert is easily removed and installed on new shock. The installation is pretty reversing everything in order. Like I said watch those clips on the rubber strips as they break easy. I haven't found anyone reproducing them without buying the whole strip which averages about a $100 which I'd rather not spend when it's just the clips I need. 

Finished!

 

One happy Bug!

I also did the driver's side front and the only difference was that I had to work around the horn which was easy enough. All together it only took a few hours to do and the second one went a lot quicker as I already knew what I needed to do. Good luck if you should try this.

Spring is here....sort of

Spring has somewhat arrived here in New England. It's the part where it's relatively warm during the day and you can wear t-shirts and for the more daring shorts. Yet at night you're still bundled up with a warm hat and hoodie at night. Warm enough for a Red Sox game during the day and yet a Bruin's playoff game seems appropriate at night.

 

It's the time of year the Bugs start come out, both the creepy crawling ones and the four wheeled motorized ones. Just recently I took mine out on one of the those warm days recently brought my VW back to life. I grabbed the battery from the tender where it's been trickle charging most of the winter. Installed the battery under the backseat I put it back tentatively as it's bit of pain to install back in. I checked the oil and checked to make sure no critters took up residence there over the winter.

 

I hopped in the front seat flipped on the dome light above the door and the light worked so I knew I had power. Slid the key into the engine, pumped the gas peddle a couple of times and turned the key. Withing a chug or two the engine roared to life with little hesitation. I let it warm up until it settles to a relatively smoother idle. I still love the sound of the chirpy exhaust. Spring has come back.

Project Orange Bug

This is a continuation of my smaller Matchbox Volkswagen Bug I'm restoring. I started by drilling out the posts holding chromed plastic engine and seat inside. I then drilled out and tapped the posts to fit screws when I reassemble it.

 I test fit the new screws  and it seemed to go well. The tiny wire wheels are a little bent up too and will need adjust them on the final fit.

 Then I used a citrus based paint stripper, which seemed to work well after sitting for awhile. I scrubbed with a toothbrush and was able get most of the paint off. The longer stripper was on it the easier the job got.

 After I used a small wire brush to get most of the rest of the paint off. 

Next up fixing the post with some super glue and baking soda which is a trick I've seen other restorer's use on YouTube or perhaps some J-B Weld(or equivalent). I'll post some more pictures as I move along.Thanks for coming by.  

Bug Repair #3: Replacing fuel sending unit

 

I've had an on and off again battle to get my fuel gauge to work, I had replaced the sending unit and thought perhaps that would do it but nothing changed. I changed the regulator on back of the gauge thinking it might have been that. same result.

New sending unit.

The issue got put on the back burner until recently when checking the tank for gas when it wouldn't start. After removing the sending unit I noticed the arm was stiff and didn't move easily. I thought no wonder the gas gauge needle is not moving. A little while later I also found a fuel line leak under the tank so I took care of that recently which (hopefully)took care of the mystery of my disappearing gas.

 

First step is clearing off my junk off the top of fuel tank. Second is to disconnect the wire to unit on top of the tank. Loosen the phillips screws and put them aside so they won't fall inside the tank by accident.

The sending unit I had originally got was a different style than the one I got from JBugs. I'm hoping the new one works better.

 

I insert the new one with the float pointing to the driver side and screw the top back on and reattach the wire. That's it. I started the Bug up and the was happy to see the needle come up on its own. It still shows on the low side. The tank was on the low side so I'll recheck it again next trip to the gas station. Hopefully it'll go up although from what I heard these gauges can be erratic even when working correctly.

Unfortunately it took me awhile, like weeks, to get to the gas station to fill it up.  When I did the needle only went up about the quarter mark which isn't the result I wanted but it was at least something. It's better than nothing but could have been better. Oh well. Better luck later.