Yes I agree, that is great advice. I’m am learning a lot.  30 years ago I set my 009 distributor on my bug with the engine off and turned it until I heard the click.  My neighbor tried that and we didn’t hear any clicking.  Also, there are multiple notches in my flywheel, so I don’t know which one is TD.  I’m going to go read more in my boo…[Read more]

BDriver…that was a great explanation! Nicely done!

 
Mark,
Old adage. When something goes wrong, the culprit is usually whatever you just fixed. Your neighbor set your timing by ear.
Did your neighbor tighten the distributor hold down nut enough to keep it from creeping? I suspect not. You cannot time a VW by ear. You can trash a VW in a hurry if you run too much advance. It has to be done s…[Read more]

Thanks for the advice.  I don’t remember having to clean a screen during oil changes, but my last VW was over 30 years ago.  My very first car was a 1967 VW beetle that I picked up in 1977.  I did get the John Muir book then, How to Keep your Volkswagen Alive, The Step-By-Step Guide for the Complete Idiot, and loved it for what I learned.  I did…[Read more]

For the gauge issue, maybe pull the fuel sender and bend the float rod down a bit. Costs nothing and it might work.For the spillage: sorry. I was a gas pump jocky in the 1980s and recall it as the era of spilled gas. For some reason, cars made from the late ’70s to the late ’80s very often had this problem. No reason to think the kit cars would be…[Read more]

I’ll second that. And never forget that basic, key, advice, applicable to every car: always make sure your sparks are in order before turning even one screw on the fuel system. 

To your question, B, “has anyone whittled down the seat box?” Yes. Check out the thread called “Another Project Reported” under My Projects. Montie has replied there to another tall new owner about how he (Montie) reshaped the box under his seats to gain some head and leg room. Photos pending.As for the foot box, to gild Paul’s response a…[Read more]

I did 2 things to get more leg room.   Main thing was moving the seat back to the top of the tub. I had to narrow it about 1″ on each side but was well worth the time and money.  Then I re-did the seat bases—  I angled them toward the back.  It didn’t take much I think I used 4″ in front and 2 1/2 in back still left a little storage under th…[Read more]

 
Mark,
It sounds as if you are new to type 1 VWs (Beetle). They are high tinker factor vehicles. They were designed in the 1930’s. Nothing is terribly complex. There are just a bunch of little things that need looking after. Adjusting valves, cleaning the filter plate when you change the oil, timing staticly, checking the valves, again, finding…[Read more]

We got the VW engine running for a while this afternoon.  Discovered mixed up spark plug wires, and a loose pan under the engine that was tightened up.  So I took her on a test run, 2 miles of surface street to the Interstate, then 8 miles up the road and back again.But I didn’t make it all the way back before she died on me again.  I noticed he…[Read more]

That mock seat looks about right for an after foam install. Here’s a site with a lot of detail info on the original TD. Those cars were tight for big guys but it’ll give you an idea about what they looked like.Here’s a pictorial of the renovation of a TD that was formerly owned by Angie Dickenson. You can see here that the back edge of the seat…[Read more]

 Look in my photo gallery. The picture of the seats looking thru the right door is the position I started with.Too far back for me to reach the pedals at 5′-8”. The picture looking thru the left door is my present location ,about 2” to the front with the front of the seats raised up 1”.I have the rear of the seat bottoms directly on the floor…[Read more]

They are all a little tight, but they do vary.

 
Shoe size.
I just read a thread about footwell size. The author was writing about using an automatic because his feet were too big for three pedals in the available space. Does the pedal space vary with manufacturer?  
 

 
It appears that ones ability to fit under the top is based on the height of the box under the seat. Have any or the taller members whittled that down?  

 
Someone commented on the CMC cars having wider front fenders to accomodate the Ford suspension and dished wheels.
Do other Ford based cars use Chevette suspension or Ford?
Is it the wheels that give the CMC cars a wider front stance, or is it the suspension?
 
 

I love a happy ending, um GROUNDING!

They only save the images for 60 days. I suppose I could rebuild the thing but. . . . not super motivated tonight (long day at work). Sorry, Rich.The other thing would be for anyone who wants to follow the link, rip the photos from here (like I did) and make whatever you want–posters, calendars, whatever.While we’re on the subject, BTW, bigger…[Read more]

Hey thanks everyone for the info!

just want to mention before any welding to check the pinion angle, so you dont have drive line vibration problems. google it and get lots of info. you are gonna have a great car from what i see so far. quick,light and well engineered