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| Now Im making progress |
Saturday, June 18, 2016
Finally!
After many false starts and much second guessing, I finally got the engine out. Most instructions talk about "how easy!" dropping the engine is. "Its only 4 bolts after all!"
I knew the bottom two bolts were studs attatched to the engine and all I needed to do was remove the nuts on the front of the bell housing. I got stumped for a few days because those bolts are completely obscured by the transmission retainer bracket. I finally figured out I needed offset wrenches. Harbor Freight to the rescue...
Next problem was the upper bolts. The right hand upper bolt is easy to see. The left one is completely obscured by the fan housing. You may remember that I started the engine removal because I couldnt get to the bolt that let me remove the fan housing. Now the fan housing was in the way. Ugh.
I found the bolt hole on the front side - it looked empty. I used my phone as a poor mans scope:
Looks like someone decided that last bolt was too hard to deal with. I cant really blame them, Im not sure how I'd have gotten to it anyway.
After this it was just like the instructions: pull,lower, pull, lower.
Now I can see what Im doing. Time to clean, paint, and replace as needed.
I knew the bottom two bolts were studs attatched to the engine and all I needed to do was remove the nuts on the front of the bell housing. I got stumped for a few days because those bolts are completely obscured by the transmission retainer bracket. I finally figured out I needed offset wrenches. Harbor Freight to the rescue...
Next problem was the upper bolts. The right hand upper bolt is easy to see. The left one is completely obscured by the fan housing. You may remember that I started the engine removal because I couldnt get to the bolt that let me remove the fan housing. Now the fan housing was in the way. Ugh.
I found the bolt hole on the front side - it looked empty. I used my phone as a poor mans scope:
Looks like someone decided that last bolt was too hard to deal with. I cant really blame them, Im not sure how I'd have gotten to it anyway.
After this it was just like the instructions: pull,lower, pull, lower.
Today I lifted the car the final few inches to get it out from under
Sunday, March 6, 2016
Jumpin Jack Flash
You know what happens when you accidentally pull out the fuel like at 10:30PM on a work night?
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| Its a gasgasgas |
I figure thats about 6 gallons. Im glad Ive been obsessively collecting glass jars "for no reason."
I yanked the fuel line looking for the final screws still holding in the fan shroud. I had been avoiding taking out the engine becuse it scared me a little. It has now officially been harder to *not* remove the engine. I jacked it up today. Next Ill remove the heater box tubes and perform an engine-ectomy.
Wednesday, February 17, 2016
Wednesday, February 3, 2016
We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming
After a too long break for holidays and vacation Im ready to get back to work. One of the things I noticed the first time I inspected the engine were two pipes so rusty they had breached. It turns out these are called heat risers and are meant to use exhaust heat to pre-heat the fuel/air mixture. Since these tubes are compromised they are dumping exhaust gas into the top half of the engine compartment.
A few months ago, on one of the first chilly days I decided to try the heat, and got a cabin full of exhaust fumes. This may be due to the heat riser breach, or rusted heater boxes. Since I can *see* the heat riser problem I decided to tackle that first.
The heat risers are part of the intake manifold and cannot be replaced seperately.
To get to the intake Ill have to remove the air filter, the carburetor, and the generator. I removed the rear hood, becasue it was only a matter of time before I hit my head. And it does make it easier to see
Heres a shot of the engine before I started tinkering
Amazingly the air filter just pulls off, no bolts
Next up: Carb removal
A few months ago, on one of the first chilly days I decided to try the heat, and got a cabin full of exhaust fumes. This may be due to the heat riser breach, or rusted heater boxes. Since I can *see* the heat riser problem I decided to tackle that first.
The heat risers are part of the intake manifold and cannot be replaced seperately.
To get to the intake Ill have to remove the air filter, the carburetor, and the generator. I removed the rear hood, becasue it was only a matter of time before I hit my head. And it does make it easier to see
Heres a shot of the engine before I started tinkering
Amazingly the air filter just pulls off, no bolts
Next up: Carb removal
Saturday, October 17, 2015
Beep beep, beep beep, Yeah
I started with a bit of research. I had guessed that the horn was probably in the trunk. In fact its in the front drivers wheel well. Theres no cowling or protection whatsoever. Its constantly exposed to road grime, mud, and water splashed inside the wheel well. Its no wonder the horn is prone to failure.
John S. Henry's site http://www.thebugshop.org/bsfqhorn.htm was an excellent resource. He explains simply the various model differences and why the odd design choices were made.
Like the dome light, the horn is switched on the ground instead of the positive. They simplified the wiring by using the steering column itself as the electrical connection for the horn. Had they switched the positive in this configuration....ouch.
The Wolfsburg symbol cover just pries up. Underneath you can see the center bolt that hold the steering wheel on the steering column. The three screws around the edge hold the horn ring on. They are also spring loaded underneath. The the brown wire is the ground. When you press the horn ring you compress the springs and complete the ground connection to the steering column. I tested the steering wheel with a meter and it checked out. The horn connection saw 12 volts too. Really nothing left but to replace the horn itself.
As you can see the horn has seen better days. I ordered a new one,
again courtesy of www.jbugs.com.
I also figured it would be smart to replace the old and crusty rubber boots that are meant to protect the wire connectors.
Theres the new horn in its place. The only thing left is to test it:
.
John S. Henry's site http://www.thebugshop.org/bsfqhorn.htm was an excellent resource. He explains simply the various model differences and why the odd design choices were made.
Like the dome light, the horn is switched on the ground instead of the positive. They simplified the wiring by using the steering column itself as the electrical connection for the horn. Had they switched the positive in this configuration....ouch.
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| Wolfsburg backstage |
The Wolfsburg symbol cover just pries up. Underneath you can see the center bolt that hold the steering wheel on the steering column. The three screws around the edge hold the horn ring on. They are also spring loaded underneath. The the brown wire is the ground. When you press the horn ring you compress the springs and complete the ground connection to the steering column. I tested the steering wheel with a meter and it checked out. The horn connection saw 12 volts too. Really nothing left but to replace the horn itself.
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| New vs Old |
As you can see the horn has seen better days. I ordered a new one,
again courtesy of www.jbugs.com.
I also figured it would be smart to replace the old and crusty rubber boots that are meant to protect the wire connectors.
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| Shiny |
Theres the new horn in its place. The only thing left is to test it:
.
Sunday, October 11, 2015
Helpers
Nothing exiting to report. The horn is definitely broken. Ive got voltage in all the right places,so its got to be the horn itself. A new one is on its way.
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