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

[AoT]

Aside from that, it was a fun run!

Thats what's its all about, even though you've got some fixing to do!

Keep it going...

[williamblanda]

Nice, Charlie! Starting to look real good, I like the body colored headlight rings.

[Big_kid]

The colored rings were done out of necessity. They were rusted up pretty badly, I think one has a small hole. They didn't clean up very well, so they were put on a coat hanger and primed and eventually painted once I settled on a color.

[Raj]

nice.

What is the 'bump' on the hood on the other side of the gas fller?
Subwoofer mount? NOS spray blow off? Spare tire mount ( for hot wheels cars)?

[Big_kid]

In another life this body had a fuel filler on that side. I opted to leave it rather than hack it off. None of the tanks I had lined up with it.

[Raj]

does the tank sit like a std beetle? If so, my 65 has the filler on that side of the car ( drivers side). A pre 67 ( or whenever they converted to exterior fill tank) would prob work and are easy to find at the swaps. I might even have one already sealed for you.

[Big_kid]

The tank leans forward a little bit, there's probably a gallon or two of gas that's actually below the tank outlet that will still remain in the tank if I ever run out of gas. IIRC that's the tank from the '70 donor I had.

Next time I get up to LI I'll let you know. Unfortunately, it's not very often anymore.

[Big_kid]

I took the shifter out today and looked in the Haynes manual, the plate was in backward. Got that flipped around, tried out, readjusted, everything seems to be where it should be now. Started to wire up the horn button, dropped a terminal screw, and packed it up for the night when it was too dark to find it.

Small steps are still steps.

[Big_kid]

Horn button is wired & mounted, driver side seat tracks with 3" rise have been replaced with flat ones. Passenger side going in this weekend hopefully. Tonight I field engineered a switch that should work for reverse lights. Re-doing the crappy crimp & rerouting the wires tomorrow. Also going to try a red LED 1157 in the socket wired up as an alternator light. The one that's in there now backfeeds the ignition when the key is turned off.

[Raj]

nice

[Big_kid]

Since my last post:
Adjusted the shifter again,Still haven't changed out the passenger side seat rails, installed the passenger side mirror and repaired with that FLAPS repair-a-mirror stuff. Not perfect, but it's something. Reverse light switch is still working, still haven't gotten it inspected. I brought it to my regular guy and he said he REALLY didn't want to inspect it. At least he was up front about it and didn't nit pick it.

The LED 1157 for the alternator light is working out well. It's visible in sunlight and the diode function has stopped the ignition backfeed like I thought it would. I just hope the diode is strong enough to hold up long term.

A while back I was tootling around the neighborhood and it stalled at a stop sign (haven't installed the rebuilt carb yet). When I hit the key all I got was a 'click' from the solenoid. Played with the battery cables, still just a click. Tried to push start it, ran over my foot and still no go. Standing next to the passenger side I reached in for grins & giggles and hit the key- it started. Fast forward a week or two, and now it's doing it again. I'm thinking I need a hard start relay as described in Matt's (Not Steve's) thread. A voltmeter across the battery shows a 1 or 2 volt drop when I turn the key. It does turn over when I jump it with a screwdriver, so I guess that proves the theory of low voltage to terminal 50 on the solenoid. Just for grins I pulled the starter & tested it (autostick starter), it's still working fine. I also needed to get the standard bolt off of it & replace it with a proper 'D-head" starter bolt that I'd picked up in my travels. Another question was that I've never had the rear wheels off. The passenger side came off fine, I've not pulled the driver side yet. I do want to pull the drums & at least inspect the brakes. I didn't have any suitable steel on hand to make a drum holder, so I stopped. The rims are pretty deep back there, I suppose I could try using an extension on the breaker bar and break the nut loose with the wheel on.

I've also been playing with making a vinyl top for it, nothing special so far. I managed to figure out the secret of the harbor freight sewing awl. When your awl comes back out of the material with 3 threads it means you fed the thread through the wrong side of the needle. I know that will only make sense to people who have done it, but it's still worth sharing. It took me a long time to figure that one out. I stayed up late one night sewing it up, got 2/3 the way through a big seam and after putting the needle through my finger I noticed the next day that the seam was really crooked. Not 'unstraight', but not where it needed to be. I walked away from it for a while. I picked it up for a few minutes again last night, undid some of the seam, and tried to install a snap to hold it in place while I sew it. I got ½ the snap on, I ran out of time before I could figure out how to use the pliers on the bottom half. This is just a first attempt but it would be nice if it works out.

Cutting it off here, I started this post almost 2 hours ago. The phone has been ringing, it's time to go earn some money to fund this thing.

[Big_kid]

Today saw the hard start relay I picked up at Radio Shack finally get installed. Halfway through that project I found a baggie in the garage with 2 relays in it. I have no idea where I picked them up or when, I have no recollection of even having them. I'll have them for the next buggy I suppose. The Radio Shack relay is working just fine so far.

Since I got it running I took it around the neighborhood a few times. The air leak on the carb is really bad. It's getting tough to keep it running, it lacks power & it misses/pops pretty badly. I need to make time to swap out that carb.

I was about 2 blocks from home testing out that top I'd been playing with when I noticed that it had come out of the channel and the wind was picking it up over the windshield. A snap, a pin, a tighter pinch in the channel, something will be needed to hold it tighter. The second time around the block I ended up stuffing it behind my back until I got home.

I also shot the shifter cover with flat black rattle can, something I'd been meaning to do since I made it. Nothing photo-worthy.

Again: Small steps are still steps.

[Glenn A]

This thread needs more pictures.

Keep at it Charlie.

[volksbugusa]

Charlie....

things are moving along very nice...i did the same exact switch for the shifter rod...love to see more pics...
matt

[Big_kid]

Pics uploading as I type...

Matt- I just noticed your avatar is of a sequential port fuel injection system. I've always liked that GIF.

I also think my buggy might have a ghost. It seems every time I try to take a photo, the same kid ends up in the picture- and he's not even my kid!

edit:
ok, here's more pics-

The top laying on the grass


The ghost


back view



driver side


Driver side mirror from an '87 Jaguar. They're power, but won't be connected.


Passenger side I repaired with that 'fix a mirror' stuff. It looks better in the pics than it does in use.


The dash. I labeled it in case whomever inspects it can't figure it out.


Not my proudest moment in wiring history, but it works.


Frontal


next to my daily driver (that's going to need a starter & flexplate together soon)


Oil light above column


The windshield is hazed, I tried to get it to show in a pic. So far the only things I've tried on it are pledge furniture polish & armour all. I'm afraid to try much else because it's acrylic. I'm thinking I may have to get in touch with Bugshields by Dino before too long.


Hand sewn seam on the top (Sorry, no pic for the carnage thread. It was 2:00 am, and that was the last thing on my mind.


Topless frontal and the ghost again


Home made shifter cover that used to be a pc cover/video recorder


And last but DEFINITELY NOT least, a good sized extinguisher I picked up for free. We lost an orange bay window bus on one of the bridge tunnels here this past week. I don't want that to happen to anyone else, let alone me.

[williamblanda]

Looks great!

[Big_kid]

Thanks!

[Big_kid]

Finally decided today is the day to swap carbs, I'd forgotten how much fun it is. I finally got it swapped and even got it to start long enough to get fuel in the bowl. I turn the key again, and 'CLICK'. I already installed the hard start relay, now what? I break out the meter, 12.4 @ rest, 11.4 and STEADY holding the key over. No improvement with jumper cables (motorcycle battery in the buggy). I think I have a weak starter solenoid. It's from the autostick donor, I have a standard starter (maybe 2) in the shed that I think is good. One I know has a broken mounting flange, I might try to scavenge parts from that. I think I have the correct bushing in my parts locker should I need to replace it.

Rant/vent over, time to get back to work...

Edit:
Found the bushing, found not just 1, but 4 starters out there. The one with the broken mount is an autostick, and was the only one whose solenoid didn't fire right up when I touched it with a test battery (testing only solenoids, not motors). One of the other 3 is from a bus, I believe it's the one with a different flange/bellhousing mating surface. It's getting dark and cold so I packed it up and added a new scratch to the rear pushing it into the garage. THIS is why it has a rattle can paint job. Maybe I'll get back to it this weekend if Santa doesn't have other plans for me Saturday. I'd like to drive it a little bit next Sunday.

[volksbugusa]

wow looking real sweet...I hate the sound of a CLICK..but it seems you have the solution to the issue...Good for you..

Matt

[Big_kid]

Thanks! I forgot to mention I put a piece of wire (ok, bicycle shifter cable) on the fuel inlet. I didn't remember to take pics until after it was halfway bolted down.

There's more than meets the lens, the part you can't see is what's doing the holding.

I had a b17ch of a time getting the front nut on. After dropping it into the abyss, and eventually figuring out that it could usually be found between the fuel pump and the generator stand, I got creative and put a piece of a hard drive magnet on there to help hold things together while I got the nut started. It's the little piece clinging on under the solenoid.

[AoT]

.. I got creative and put a piece of a hard drive magnet on there to help hold things together while I got the nut started. It's the little piece clinging on under the solenoid.

Love the creative solutions we configure to get the job done! Kudos!!

[Big_kid]

I made the time today to play with it some more. I pulled the starter again and tested it. I mostly expected it to pass, since it still looks almost out of the box rebuilt by Bosch, even the paper label is still very legible. Surprise surprise, it passed. Bypassed the positive cable, still no go. Grounded with jumper cables- and it cranked over. I THOUGHT I had a good ground strap, I guess I didn't. I moved the negative cable to the nut on long starter bolt for now.

I drove it around the neighborhood a bit, tweaked the carb & managed to get it to idle and halfway run better than it has in years. I took it up and put $10 in the tank, drove around the neighborhood on the major roads this time. Driving in real traffic is going to take some getting used to. Maybe tomorrow I'll be able to take it down to the beach. I've been wanting to do that for close to 10 years now.

[volksbugusa]

charlie
Very nice work....nothing like the first ride...

Matt

[Big_kid]

Thanks! The first ride went well. Today's ride however had me pushing it out of an intersection. Seems that I blew a fuse and it killed the coil. Swapped with another fuse & drove the last 3 blocks home where I put the fuses back right. I'll look into it further soon.

Maybe it's a good thing I didn't run away to the beach with it today.

[Big_kid]

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.