Ulu

I just realized that you don’t have a voltage regulator. On a dune buggy they would normally be screwed on the fan shroud by the generator. But on cars they are either under the backseat, or on the body, inside the engine compartment. You don’t have a back seat, you don’t have an engine compartment, and I don’t see a regulator on your fan shroud.

Salesmanship is the business and talent of developing a desire in other people that clouds other considerations from their judgment. You want others to desire what you offer. Not just like it or want it, but have an unreasonable passion for it. A passion that is unsupported by the facts of the situation (which in this business is that you can generally always have a better modern car for less.) And by better, I mean in terms of function, economy, durability,and reliability. (Ignore styling for the moment.) All car sales pretty much works this way, and the old car business even more so. Hemmings is selling their service and publication, & as salesmen they know that their business depends on the personal development of your passion, for whatever they offer. When they are selling you an attitude about this business, they are selling you something which promotes their financial interests, just the same. They will promote restoration in cases where only repair is warranted, because That is their business. But the truth is all in the perception of things. The words restoring or restoration or restored say different things to different people. I had a beautiful Plymouth that was absolutely not restored but was a trophy winner nonetheless. It was repaired. It was fixed up to make the car look nice and operate well, but it was in no way an exact original vehicle. Edith d’ Plymouth never can be restored in the Hemmings Pebble Beach Sotheby Concours sense of the word, which is the truest sense. She can only be fixed up to the level where she fools 90% of the people who read Hemmings.

Oh holy Lord of Mercy! Paul what license plate would you put on a 4 cyl 1937 British car replica? I’m calling dibs on that plate you guys!

The automotive archaeology continues apace. Since gasoline and some rain water had gotten into the upholstery and carpet I stripped out the entire interior. To make it easier I took off the doors. It’s good to have a reliable wiring diagram in the car with a professional wiring kit if, however poorly installed.

Back in 1990, I tried this with a steel bar. I put 4 barbs on it with a torch and ground them sharp. I got it in good, and pulled it with a 2lb slide hammer. It hooked in well and the tube moved 1/2" easily. Then stuck. I pulled the slide hammer hard and it came half-way out in a shower of rust. Not the tube. The bar. The tube is still half there, but it is just big flakes on a solid spine. I put it aside 30 years ago, thinking I'd never use this 230 at all, but it was running, and I think this Summer it will run again. I'm going to stand up the engine, nose down, before try this. I also have a gallon of pool wash to chase out the rust first. Phosphoric acid and some soapy water is all it is, but it is strong! I'll have to flush the engine with water and washing soda to neutralize trapped acid. I'm not sure if this'll work better than old DuPont 2-step radiator flush, but I think it's much stronger and will work quite fast. After that I'll remove the dissolving remains of the tube with homemade tools, pulling down, instead of horizontally. I expect it to come out like a heap of red dung. After, I'll pull all the freeze plugs and replace them, before I try to fill the coolant.

And reliable electric power as well. But nowadays you can generate that and use wireless and the real problem is you don’t know when the government is going to turn. One palace coup could reverse all your fortunes.

If he could keep that thing in a straight line he might win. But I think as soon as he mashes the gas down the empi is going to go sideways. The chassis was pretty badly compromised last time I saw it. On the other hand my car steers like a gocart but it has the disposition of the Unimog. The front and rear axles of the car can operate on totally different planes, not only due to full independent suspension but an entire lack of torsional rigidity between the drivers butt & the front bumper. It looks like the Empi sportster has about 16 inches cut out of the middle of the pan. It is short and Squirrley. I have an uncut 73 IRS pan, With an 11 inch extension between the front frame yoke and the front axle beam! It is long and Squirrley. But every dragster is long is Squirrley. The gas tank had a leaky fitting and I took it out and I also took out the battery because there is gasoline in the battery box which is that red pan down on the floor. Did I mention that the wiring was junk? The fuel tank is too big by half, and I will get a smaller one. I’m going to make the whole thing slightly heavier by adding reinforcements to it. But it needs is to have the various fiberglass body panels joined together in a rigid unit, as I get everything aligned properly so it looks nice.

I bought a plastic Volkswagen kit car and it is currently a jalopy, evidently built by some teenager in his mom’s garage. Yeah I know it’s plastic, but I do ‘glas, being a boat customizer from long ago. My skin is so tough nowadays it doesn’t really make me itch anymore, though it was bad when I was a kid. It has changed hands at least 4 times now since it was started about 1980. My wife fell in love with this car, so I decided to build it up. Will it remain Volkswagen powered? Well I’ve built a number of Volkswagen engines and owned one for some years. They are not too mysterious. But I could put other things in it too. I just need to build up the right chassis. But no matter what I choose to do, I almost need to disassemble and rebuild the entire vehicle from scratch with a light frame and lots of extra fiberglass gussets. The body is not damaged and not all stressed and cracked because no one drove this car. And it would have cracks, because this is one flexible flyer. It has 360 miles on the odometer and generally looks like it, BUT if you look closely and you understand cars, you would say that it was a crime to drive the vehicle even 1 mile. So, 1 mile is exactly how far I drove the car, but the engine runs well, and has a new carb & electric fuel pump. It’s a 73 on a 73 pan. It steers and stops fine. All the electrical is new but the wiring was done by a blind monkey. Switches are wanting badly. So if you give a monkey an unlimited supply of quick taps, will he put one on every wire!?! They spent way too much on the stereo and not enough on quality switches. Already the Ancient Volkswagen steering wheel lock & cylinder are causing trouble, so I took them out and will just get rid of them. My car don’t need no stinking keys! Someone did a good job cleaning and painting the pan and there’s no dirt on the car. It appears that it has been trailered around because there is virtually no wear on the tires and it has a brand new battery, cables, etc. Should I list the litany of sins committed upon this helpless Volkswagen? One by one I likely will, plus more photographic evidence of this abomination from the underground custom automotive industry.

Regarding the split valve stem, Krazy Glue or similar works great for emergency repairs on this sort of thing and it will also fix punctured inner tubes and flapping sidewall bits. Use the thin stuff, Rather than the gel formula, and coat thinly, holding the split open slightly to dry and put an extra drop on & stick it together forever. Less is more, and when this is done correctly you cannot pull it apart, but the rubber itself will tear instead, elsewhere. This also works great for repairing torn driveshaft boots, bellows and seals, after you get the grease off of the wound.

I discovered this old scan of a photo from 1986. I had installed overdrive, lost the rear VW tires, and put bigger radials on. Firestone 721s, which eventually split apart. Recall issue, but mine were bought used. Removed the lowering blocks too, as the lakers would drag all the time. Long chrome shackles in back brought the tail up a bit, but I eventually lowered the front more. In those years I was commuting every day in this car, some 40 miles a day. Most of it was 55mph+ too, so the OD was a blessing.

I've been looking at bugeye Sprites for a while. I always wanted to sell off all the gear of my Midget and re-power with Datsun stuff. Or similar. I used to break MG cranks and strip gears, and curse at Lucas, the lord of random voltages.

It's gonna have MIG splatter. ? Cover it up well and weld that frame buddy!

I would say that every bolt on the passenger side of my car was rusty, and I oiled them and fought with them for a bit. On the driver side they were fine. That looks very similar to the spridget mill that I built on my mom’s kitchen floor. I picked up the long block with the tin on it and carried it outside by hand.

This is very true but unfortunately the bolts between the fenders and the cowl are usually very rusty. If you have an engine hoist it is no problem to remove the doghouse by yourself once you get the bolts out. I removed mine without problem, But I didn’t have a problem with rusty bolts in that area.

By the way, if you don’t have a repair manual for your car, there are reprints available for a very reasonable price and they are invaluable.

First you’re going to remove the hood. And the battery. Take the Driveshaft loose and Unhook the shifter linkage, Parking brake cable, backup lamp wire, and speedometer cable, then take the transmission out on a rolling jack. There will be extra wires if you have overdrive, and the OD cable. Leave the clutch alone but unhook the linkage and the rear motor mounts. Unbolt the exhaust pipe from the manifold and remove the accelerator linkage and choke cable from the carburetor. Remove the fan. Drain the radiator and remove it. Remove the fuel line and wiring. Remove the carburetor to prevent damaging it, but if you’re very careful you can leave it on. Be very careful when you pull the bordun tube & bulb out of the block. If you kink that tiny tube the heat gauge will never work again. At that point you can bolt some chains to the block, Remove the front motor mount bolts from the crossmember, and pull the whole engine. Don’t smack the glass bowl on the fuel pump against the body and break it. In my car the engine hast to tip up quite a bit to get out of the doghouse.

Exactly. This procedure is only possible if your crank can be polished by hand in the car. You can pull the head and re-ring the engine, change the rod bearings, rods, wrist pins, pistons, and even the main bearings, and lap the valves right there. You can even change the cam if you remove the radiator. But It is extremely messy and difficult to clean everything up adequately for a good reassembly, plus, getting the crankshaft out is a nightmare. You have to remove everything you need to remove to get the engine completely out, plus more.

I spent $900 about 30 years ago for a complete 6cyl longblock rebuild on my core. I would expect to pay about twice that now if your crankshaft is repairable. It almost certainly is. While you can rebuild some of the engine in the car, it is a total pain in the butt. Better to buy an engine hoist so you can get it out and do a complete overhaul.

Did you get the welding all done? I didn't think you were on to paint yet.

If you need to pry the shells off, use a sharpened wood or plastic stick. No steel.

That’s just some really high oil consumption. I can’t imagine following you in my car for 60 miles. That rod bearing looks so wiped out that I find it impossible to believe that there is no metal in your oil pan.There should be little flecks of stuff all over. I don’t think it’s possible that your crankshaft journal has survived this without scoring. If it’s extremely light you might be able to buff it out with the crank in the car. Judging by that bearing I don’t think it will be light. In any event that connecting rod Looks like it will need to be repaired. Also since the wrist pin oil comes from the connecting rod bearing journal you will probably find the oil passage in the rod plugged up and some wear on the wrist pin bushing. You can check this by wiggling the rod up and down once you get the crank out of position. But you can’t do anything much about it with the engine assembled. You could blow some air and penetrating oil up through the passage.

Yep. #4 is badly spun. Your previous oil consumption seems extremely high leading me to believe that this thing should’ve been producing a trail of blue smoke behind it down the road. Also,is there a constant drip of oil coming from the road draft tube?

Didn't Crabby Appleton pilot one of these?

This was the closest one found in the online searchable records. There's a bit more green...

The tartan upholstery is awesome. I wonder if it's common, corporate, or known from a particular clan? They allow corporate registry of tartans. Chrysler may have actually used a custom one, registered to them. There is one known from my clan, but it is not nearly so attractive.