How to build in just 12 years: My Glitter..er.. KC Clipper

[AoT]

I finally got a 3/4" breaker bar this week and this afternoon I put it to good use. I pulled the RR drum and found what I'd expected- everything covered in wet, slimy black dust. I've got about $80 left on a gift card, I guess I know where it's going. Pics when I can.

Gift cards are like found money, glad you've got one to use. Go for it. I got a gift card to advanced auto. Have go make out my list.

[Big_kid]

Advance ALWAYS has online discounts. Subscribe if you haven't already, or at least do a Google search for discount codes to order online & pick up at the store. I just got 2 power inverters & 2 cans of carb cleaner for $5-10 after rebates.

Hopefully the Bughouse will have what I need in stock, otherwise I'll be going to 3 chain stores for the parts I need.

edit:
http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/webapp ... -111230___
20% off & $50 off next purchase of $100 if you spend more than $100. Promo code NYEAR .

[Big_kid]

Went to the Bughouse (support the local VW specialist, his customer base is constantly shrinking)& got shoes, cylinders & hardware. Fought with the drum for an hour wiggling this way & that way trying to get it on- no luck. Compared new shoes to old, old ones are narrow new ones are wide. Back to the Bughouse, traded shoes & cylinders, then slammed my finger in the front door going back out to the driveway. ¼ fingernail is purple, nothing carnage-worthy. Installed parts, drove it around the block a few times, all feels well. On the way back home I noticed the turn signals not working properly- initial investigation indicates a short. Disconnected battery & pushed it into the garage, had to go make dinner.

Cue Bruce Springsteen: 1 step up and 2 steps back.

[Raj]

Cue Bruce Springsteen: 1 step up and 2 steps back.

lol.
but this is fun isnt it? Chin up charlie. Keep up the good work!

[Big_kid]

I'm tryin'. I'm tryin'... Thanks for the encouragement. I found & cast out the gremlin and am researching options.

The front tires rubbed the turn signal wires & they shorted. This follows the chain of events, as it shut down while I had the signal on, but ran fine otherwise & didn't act up at all until I signaled again. As luck would have it, the $30(?) turn signal switch protected the 25¢ fuse by letting it's smoke out first. There's a '73 Beetle @ pick n Pull, switch is $15.49, column is $32 including $5 core charge. I'm about to look for compatibility/interchange/new part availability.

[Big_kid]

I finally made myself go install the TS switch today. I've not felt well in a while and today was too nice of a day to waste. I should have done this sooner (like when I still remembered where all the wires went). I got the signals working, but hung it up without tackling getting the 4 ways working again or re-centering the steering wheel. It's WAY off now.

[Big_kid]

Wow, it's been a while since I updated this thread. Since I'm feeling better I've:

Finished installing the TS switch

Broke said switch so it is no longer self cancelling

Removed & centered steering wheel

Found that same switch somehow was sending power to both sides when either side was activated. This was baffling for a while, since it took me so long to get back on it. I had to figure out the whole TS/flasher circuit again. The good news is that I found out the emergency flasher knob is supposed to light up when activated, and now it does.

Disconnected TS switch, and connected to a second set of contacts on it. Signals working normally, still not cancelling on right turns, not sure about left. I'm having too much of a blast while I'm driving to pay attention.

Connected hi-beam relay to the new TS switch, pulled button out of dash. Eventually I'll put a power port in the hole where it was.

Found some black spray paint, touched up the body under the lips. Touched up some scratches on the body.

Filled the tank for the first time today. Found 2 fuel leaks under the hood. Pushed it to the parking lot to see if it was just spillage/overflow. It wasn't.

Got home, dismounted hood & raised as much as possible- 2". Found small vent hose broken at tank, found larger vent hose split at tank. Blocked off both hoses, no more leaks. I'm just glad it wasn't the tank. That tank looked just about brand new when I got it, and it still looked it when I put it in last year.

Went to remove the plastic fuel filter from the engine area after seeing pics of the fire damage done to the other buggy that will be in tomorrow's parade, then remembered I already got rid of it. It's under the tank. (other parade buggy has been repaired already)

Started prepping it for tomorrow's St.Patrick's Day parade- my first. I'm looking forward to it. Mrs Kid volunteered to pick up some greening supplies- I now have a felt hat, 2 green pool noodles around the light bar, and 150 feet of thin garland.

http://www.villagerealtyobx.com/OuterBa ... DayParade/

[AoT]

We had a parade last week, had a blast. Post some pics of your ride for the wearing of the green.

Glad your fuel issue was quickly resolved with no damage. I have the metal fuel filter in the wonder. Be safe.

[Raj]

It's gorgeous here today..... Must be awesome weather down by you. Perfect day for the st pats. Enjoy it!

[Big_kid]

My daughter & I drove it about 75 miles down to Kill Devil Hills for the St.Patrick's Day parade. It did well until 30 minutes into the return trip when we ran out of gas. I think I'll have to fix that gauge one of these days.

We waited for Mrs Kid to bring the gas can I filled for the lawn mower yesterday, and were on our way. No sooner do I pull back onto the road, the gas cap that I forgot to put back on goes sailing to who knows where. Within 30 seconds of that, it starts raining. 2 miles up the road I top off the tank, and wrap a plastic bag over the neck and secure it with a ponytail holder. Field engineering at it's finest.

All in all, it turned out to be a fun day!

[AoT]

T-shirt weather on St. Pat's Day, how lucky!! Sounds like a good adventure!

[Raj]

HAHA... its never easy is it? But then again... if we wanted easy we'd buy a kia! I'm glad you made it and glad you had your daughter with you for the lending of her 'tools'. Thats awesome.


Kill Devil Hills - ahhhh yes..... home of the 'grave digger'! Sweet!

[Big_kid]

WOW... 7 months and no updates- I'm a slacker.

I bought inner tubes for the rear wheels on eBay after contacting hte seller and asking if they'd fit my 235/60/15's. He said they would, so I bought a pair. Umm, yeah. I feel like I should be in that "It can't be on the internet if it isn't true" commercial. I could fit BOTH tubes inside one tire. They're not flat yet, so I'm going to keep on rolling while I can.

Manx on the Banx was this week. I've been super busy @ work and had a trainee amongst other things, so I wasn't able to make it to any of it. Even Saturday I had a wedding that took up the whole day. I decided today after I finished up some waiting chores to take the buggy for a little spin. I wound up passing a few members of the local VW club on their way back from a cruise I would have gone on, had I been able to. We waved, they turned left, I turned right, and we were on our ways.

I decided to go down a back road nearby, and remembered it led past a lake where people would stop & park/fish/delay traffic. It's been a few years since I'd been by there, it's been redone and now has a small mudpit errrr... I mean parking area. I swung in and thought to myself "Self, this looks like a good spot for some pictures"- so that's what I did. Crappy cell phone pics, but pics none the less.

[Raj]

Nice Charlie. Vws don't hold grudges.... They will take any love youcan give them, despite how infrequent. Good seeing you at the air raid and hope to see the buggy in person one day.

[Big_kid]

I don't remember if I mentioned getting rid of the old motorcycle battery that was in there for the last 2 years, but I finally got it out of there about 2 weeks ago. Yesterday while out putzing around town the generator LED started to flicker. I came home & put a meter to it, found the battery wasn't charging. I disconnected & grounded the generator, found 30 - 60 volts thankfully, found & repaired a bad connector on the regulator, reconnected it & put it away for the night. Today I found the regulator (Bosch Mexico) was loose. Tightening it didn't help, so I swapped in another one (Bosch Germany) I had. Fired it up, battery is charging, and no warning LED in the dash.

While on the test ride around the neighborhood, as the engine warmed up it started to pop & backfire through the exhaust. My neighbor mentioned yesterday (and a year ago) that it sounded like it was sucking air. I broke out the carb cleaner, and sure enough- the passenger side intake boot has a leak. Looks like a trip to the Bughouse is in order. I have a full gasket set in the garage, but I'd rather not break it open to take out 2 seals. Maybe next weekend or the weekend after that. My raise @ work ought to kick in by then.

So- how tough is it to replace DP intake boots & gaskets? This is in a buggy- no body on the sides, but the body comes down over the carb and makes it a PITA to access it.

[Brown]

So- how tough is it to replace DP intake boots & gaskets? This is in a buggy- no body on the sides, but the body comes down over the carb and makes it a PITA to access it.

I'm pretty sure I did it just loosening the manifold to head bolts, boot clamps and the case nut that holds the manifold! It's I PITA though

[Big_kid]

Thanks- that's what I was afraid of. Another project rather than a fix. Eh- it is what it is.

[Big_kid]

Ok, so I re-read Raj's post & moved my post over here. Maybe I should read a little more carefully. (/smacks head)
After charging my battery in the Astro van, I found it was dead. I had it charged enough to re-start the van but 2 hours later all I got was a click. Considering I didn't pay for that battery in the first place I got my money's worth. I guess that's buggy related in that I didn't steal the new battery out of the buggy for it. Anyways... back to the original post about rear rims:

Here's what I have now. The valve stems are dry rotted, and now the left rear is flat. The tires are polyester, I'd like to find another pair similar. Seems to me they're more flexible than steel, and that's a good thing if I ever get out on the beach down here. The rims themselves seem straight and round, but they're not set for tubeless tires. Thinking about it, I guess I could just clean these up, find some tubes & another pair of glass tires. I'd still need something for rollers in the mean time. I do like the way these fill out the wider rear fenders.

[Raj]

i like the stock looking hub on widened rim look. Cant you just sand and paint them as a cheap short term solution. Not for nothing, theyd look great long term.

[AoT]

Charlie,

I steel wooled and sanded rims on the wonder and gave a coat of a paint and they came out fine. 'worth the try for a cleaner look!

[ObnoxiousBlue]

I wish I could help your tire situation... But IMO, that thing would look rockin with a little sanding and respray of the wheels. Add some hubcap clips and put some hubcaps on... I LOVED the way Jim Lynch's old Manx looked with "stock style" wheels and hubcaps. Quintessential, period correct, and much better looking than the alloys people bolt on willy nilly.

[AoT]

I bought these used and repainted by hand.

[Raj]

I bought these used and repainted by hand.

notice the 'red'!

[Big_kid]

Can't miss the red!

I'm starting to lean toward cleaning these up and finding new tires & tubes. I guess I should keep tubes in them if I'm going to run polyester tires at low psi. Maybe even squeeze a few more miles out of the tires. It's not as if they're under a lot of stress, but they are old. Maybe I have reservations in the back of my mind about running tubes for some reason. I never thought about the hubcap clips, I guess they're available somewhere. I could go for some baby moons or something similar back there.

Whatever I do, I'll have to get some roller rims or do one side at a time. I have a pair of wide 5/Chevy adapters, but nothing on a Chevy rim. I have 4 aluminum rims, but no 14" tires. As the wheels turn I think I see some attempts at some horse trading in my future.

The Chevy rims I have are similar, if not these(but not as pristine, and mine are 14", these are 15"):


I think these would have looked better on the Tuff Tub.

[Big_kid]

WOW I'm behind on the updates on this thread. A LOT can happen in 9 months! (Right Raj?)
The plates ran out last October, I finally re-registered it today. I'm hoping it will serve as inspiration to work on my buddy's buggy (see "Which comes first body or pan" thread) and get down to MOTB this year.

I took off the wide wheels in the back since the tires were likely made during the Carter administration. I have adapters & a gawd awful neglected pair of chrome Chevy rims back there for the time being. At least those tires are from this century. I can't complain for the price though, free isn't always easy to come by.

I'm SO not digging the rat look on the pair I have, they just look wrong on the buggy.


I WILL eventually sand & paint the wide rims, I like Mike's idea of new clips & stock hubcaps. I still have the 4 from the donor bug if they'll work with clips rather than bumps in the rim. Just need to get some valve stems & some wide tires.