My VW Beetle Restoration-DREAM COME TRUE

[PAVAN KADAM]

Driving these cars over and over a period of time you seem to actually get to know whats going wrong in them.

Having owned mine since 5 yrs, i am glad to say this cars maintenence is lower than a M-800.

I've hardly changed any spare since 4 yrs, apart from engine oil and gear box oil and maybe a set of spark plugs and some nuts and bolts.

Getting kicked with Byas enthu on DIY, i basically had some problem with my car as it was not running smooth,

Last friday night i sat next to my Beetle and made a list of things i need to do on the next day.

I realised i need to overhaul the carb but since it was a Solex sourced from a super select, i removed it.

Saturday morning 10 am i start my work.replaced the carb with the original VW Solex 32 PICT-2 that came with my 1500.
Tore open the carb, cleaned it with diesel and next with brake oil finally with some spirit,replaced the jets, the packings and the carb was ready in 2 hrs time.




Next went on to check my fuel pump. Theres some kind of filter on top of the fuel pump which i cleaned, and replaced the diaphgram of my fuel pump. The major part of my work got completed at around 3:30pm.



Finished my lunch break and again started with the fuel filter. Noticed it had so much of dirt sediments in it. I instantly knew this was the major culprit . Replaced it with Fowler fuel filter unit used in Maruti's(could not source Originals) but felt as they performed the same function why not use a easily available part.

Next job was to clean my spark plugs. Got all the plugs out and anyways they were clean, but since i had sourced Bosch Super 4 plugs i just replaced them.

By the time all this was done it was 5:00pm, got up had my bath and took my beetle around my neighbourhood for a drive, My fella never gave any trouble and ran fine.Could not do much as i was heading to collect my Safari from Service at Manipal motors Hebbal.

The actual test was done on Sunday, i took it for a spin and drove some 50 kms around Bangalore. Gods grace there were no signs of any problems after my workmanship on it.

what fun and satisfaction you get on Doing It Yourself.

Somehow i am not getting used to upload pics to the correct place, pls excuse

[71Convertible]

Pavan,
Which distributor are u using?

The 32pict2 seems to have cleaned up well. Do u have pics of the left side of hte carb? Do u have the return spring or are you looking for one?

B

[PAVAN KADAM]

Byas,

The distributor is a CDI- the one without any point set and condensor, totally hassle free. on the car since 4 yrs and never troubled.

Thank you very much.The carb has everything on it. Will post the left side of it soon.

[S@~+#0$#]

Nothing to beat the feeling of a DIY gone successful. Well Done Raghavendra!!!

[PAVAN KADAM]

Thanks S@~+#o$#.

My next attention would be on my front brakes, i feel its lost a bit of stopping power, long time since its been attended to.

Will get going around the coming weekend.

[JayD]

Originally Posted by PAVAN KADAM

Thanks S@~+#o$#.

My next attention would be on my front brakes, i feel its lost a bit of stopping power, long time since its been attended to.

Will get going around the coming weekend.

Are you running Discs or drums up front??

[PAVAN KADAM]

Originally this model came with discs.Mine unfortunately are drums.

To begin with during my restoration the car never had the front portion.

I had to buy a donor car , cut the front half portion of that car and paste it on to mine.

In the whole bargain i could get hold of only the drum brake unit.

[PAVAN KADAM]

Now with some regular updates,

6.5 yrs on owning this beauty and having driven it around for approximately 20 k kms, the Beetle has been behaving good overall.

Since last 2 yrs, touch wood, it had not been to the workshop and i've hardly covered 7k kms on it, Off late this fellow has been behaving too decent returning 15.5kmpl mileage on an average. Cant ask more from a 42 yr old car.

This is what i've done so far.

1) One DIY oil change and carb tune up.
2) Fix a Electric fuel pump under the tank, for better fuel supply.
3) Clean the brakes.

So officially my mechanic has not touched the car for last 1.5 yrs . The Bug is now getting close to 20k kms and is due for one complete service where i need to undergo

1) Oil change
2) Clean up the carb once
3) Adjust the Tappets.
4) Add new brake shoes(all 4)
5) Change a new clutch plate.
6) Clean up the oil pressure relief valves
7) Reset the rear suspension.
8) Tune it up.

This service will consume a complete 24 hr schedule from my mechanic.

Will post a complete service report soon,Meanwhile here are some pics of the Bug in action at the recent OTR.

[the mole]

wow the bug is really crawling all over the place just as it was meant to be! what tyres do you have on her again?

[JayD]

Man! It takes real guts to take a classic off road, an i must say, the bug is coping up very very well!! A sleeper 4X4 by any chance??

[gowda79]

Originally Posted by PAVAN KADAM

So officially my mechanic has not touched the car for last 1.5 yrs . The Bug is now getting close to 20k kms and is due for one complete service where i need to undergo

1) Oil change
2) Clean up the carb once
3) Adjust the Tappets.
4) Add new brake shoes(all 4)
5) Change a new clutch plate.
6) Clean up the oil pressure relief valves
7) Reset the rear suspension.
8) Tune it up.

Pavan i was really not knowing that the person who drives the Bug needs to get serviced every 1.5years

By the way where do you get those things checked on you Hospital or Garage

[rohan_fonseca]

Pavan, a 4x4 bug great. Nice car btw.

[PAVAN KADAM]

Hi Folks, its time for some Volkswagen service

Since my mechanic is out of town to attend his wedding ceremony, i am left with me, myself and my Beetle for servicing this lazy fellow who does not actually need service after completing 20K kms

(The speedo reads 15101 kms, but was reset to "0" after the engine overhaul) so i had driven this guy for almost 6k kms before the engine overhaul.

Nice saturday morning, i wake up have my hot cuppa coffee, start myself on giving the Bug a good DIY service.

Here's are the pics of Part One .

[PAVAN KADAM]

9:00 am to 12:30 pm, baked in hot sun, no food, no water....OMG, i am a pro at work

First time i've used Synthetic oil for the Bug, Kicked up by the TOTAL engine oil ads during the F1 season, i hit upon the idea to search for this engine oil and use it in the BUG.I get a free Reebok T-Shirt coupon inside ( A Rs.150/- worth T-shirt for a Rs.2000/- 4 ltr oil can...he, he).

After the oil change, i get the Bug inside my parking area, i start with

1) Cleaning the Oil bath Air filter
2) Carb spray to clean the Carb
3) Remove all the jets and soak in Petrol to clean,and re-fit them.
4) Remove all the spark plugs, clean them, re-install them.
5) Tune the carb and set the timing ( Manual, my mech has taught me to do )

Here the pics .

[PAVAN KADAM]

I am almost at the completion of my servicing schedule, nearing 5 hrs and my stomach grumbling and rumbling after hours of starvation.

Tuning done, engine room cleaning done, All set for a quick drive

After the drive to comfirm everything is in order, i get ready to give the Bug a nice wash, it was due after the T-BHP night drive a couple of weeks ago.

1) Check the engine for any oil leakages
2) Tappets are pending, need to get some more details before i try them
3) Need to flush the transmission oil, not possible now, i am dying of hunger.
4) Washed and cleaned, the Bug is now looking fresh and raring to go again.


Here are the Part III Pics