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.

My other Bug Project

Big Blue as it appeared on Ebay.

With the purchase of a life size Beetle my interest in smaller collectible die-cast Bugs has increase. Like many small kids I collected Matchboxes and Hot Wheels as a kid. Just the last few months I've gotten more into it. I even came across people on YouTube who restore or customize old Matchboxes and Hot Wheels. Especially the Matchboxes, although I like many Hot Wheels I seem to to be drawn to Matchbox stuff a lot more. It's what I had the most of as a kid.

The restoration of them looked fun and interesting. Not too much different that other models I've made just on a smaller scale. I like restoring something back to life. I've bought a couple of Matchboxes with intent to restore them. One is a 64 Chevy Impala Taxi and the other was a VW Beetle drag racer called Big Blue. 

Big Blue was found on Ebay and is model that came out with a few different paints schemes with similar body and chassis. It also had names like "Dragon Wheels" and "Hot Chocolate". 

The one I got was in rough shape but all the paint was scratched and missing in many places. A front pillar was missing. The orange windshield was loose and standing legs were mostly missing. The wheels were also misaligned. 

Being a VW fan I thought this one would be an interesting one to restore although I'm going for a custom paint job inspired by my life size Bug. In my next installment I'll go over how I got started.

Is it spring yet?

Winter quarters.

We're in the midst of the holiday season and in the northeast many of us VW enthusiasts have probably put their prized possessions in storage or like me the Bug has taken a back seat as far as attention priorities go. Also it just get's too cold and if you've got no garage like me you depend on nice weather for chances to drive or work on their VW.

WE've been fortunate to have some relative mild weather, at least precipitation wise, so on Christmas Eve day I did take my Bug out for a spin around the neighborhood to stretch the legs out a little. It was nippy but I was only going for a short ride. It was a bit overcast with some very light snow flurries which melted as soon as the hit something. Not enough for them to put salt on the roads which was my primary concern.

I had already parked it under the old leaky awning that has seen better days. I hop in the front seat and flip the light switch above the door and see the light still shining brightly. Good we have power. I put the key in the ignition and turn to see the seat belt light go on, another good sign, and pump the gas a couple of times and turn the key. The engine turns a couple of times before that tell-tale sputter starts. Then the Bug finally comes to life just as if I drove it yesterday. I still love the sound of an air-cooled engine.

I back out of it's spot and head down the road. The flurries were so light even the Bug's wiper's extra slow wipers had no problem keeping the windows cleared. I go quick two mile spin around my neighborhood. Just enough to go thru all the gears a few times and give me a smile, VW's just have a way of doing that to you. I head on home and back her into her winter quarters not know when the drive will be. With a sigh I wonder "Is it spring yet?".