Welcome, sir! I can already see you have some skills with the wrench and the torch. I’m here to tell you they’re more useful than the keyboard variety–don’t let anyone tell you different.

Sounds like yet another retirement project for me. I think there was a “bell housing” that holds a VW starter available that is already modified for a test bed.
Ed…you should should have seen what is available in the powder coating world. My powder coater is a great guy and can use all the trick new coatings. He’s local too!

 Hi welcome to a fun hobby and informative site   good luck with the rebuild   Dan

The test stand wasn’t difficult: bus bellhousing, a $39 Harbor Freight stand, some extra casters, a Sportster tank and some rusty tubing off the scrap pile. I used an old oil pressure guage, and a universal choke cable for the throttle. A rainy evening with the welder, and there you have it. 

both those mills look good enough to eat off of. I totally gotta up my game.

Welcome Steve!
By the looks of things we have a new VW expert joining us. I have a built 1776cc that is in an engine stand…wish it was like yours and I could test run it. It’s getting a Single Weber 40 IDF carb and an “010” Distributor w/Pertronix Ignitor.

If you are into guitars, the Martin factory is in Nazareth PA, an hour and 50 minutes from Harrisburg. Some might call it nirvana!
But tours are only on weekdaysPMOSSBERG40512.6051157407

The Hersey Factory was the last place I visited back in 95. I’ve been down south in Georgia helping the Air Force since then. Might just swing by that way over the weekend. Have to work before I play darn it!!

 Steve, Looks good to me and far from just a beginning. Give yourself some credit for getting this far along. We are glad to have you here.

Glad to help Steve!
And welcome aboard!

Hi Steve,
Welcome aboard!
You are way ahead of some of the basket cases I have seen “recovered”. Nice clean motor too!
And I love the micro-bus in the background!

Carlisle is just field with a few pole buildings and a couple pavilions…and huge hill. IMHO, not worth a 125 mile round trip to check out an empty Carlisle Fairgrounds.
If you headed south on PA 272 to US 30 east, you’ll be in Lancaster in 40 minutes. There’s tons of neat stuff to do in Amish Country…Strasburg Railroad http://www.strasburgrailr…[Read more]

Cool! 

Our cars tend to be a little bigger than the originals. Not saying I know it won’t fit, but for the money I’d buy a bolt of vinyl or canvas, a big zipper and some snaps from somewhere like this and make the thing myself. Or try to get my wife to do it.

 Allen, Check the photo gallery. Look at c6810, suntansailor,and jeniken’s pictures to see different views,some with the driver’s side open and some fully covered.

VW have no head gaskets, so I doubt if you have a blown one.
Are those Dual Kadrons? If so, get rid of the steel intakes and invest in a set of aluminum one’s from EMPI or Bugpack. The SCAT linkage is way better too.
I had no problems with clearance on my 1776 in the VW based first Pink MG. The air cleaners were a little tight, but “clocked”…[Read more]

Well I might get a chance to drop over to Carlisle and see what it looks like before going there in the spring. Not sure if I’ll have the TD finished by then but I’ll go anyway. It’ll be worth the trip.

That’s about 60+ miles east of Harrisburg, between Pottstown and Reading, PA.
Too bad it’s not Carlisle Kit Car Show time…that’s only about 18 miles west of Harrisburg.

Thanks, guys. FYI, yeah, this is a ’69 Beetle beam, ball joints. I got those shims in my shopping cart at CIP1. The rust damage seems minor–just a sheet metal “skin” between the beefier parts. Might just epoxy those shims in there and call it good. Still pondering the bushing v. bearing question. Seems so easy to just buy that $30 urethane…[Read more]

Ed,
The procedure to replace the front beam is the same between Ghia and Bugs provided you’re using the same type beam (ball joint to ball joint; link pin to link pin.) I decided not to mess with replacing individual pieces of the front beam and ordered an adjustable beam from CIP1. They were very helpful and the beam assembly is bolt off/bolt on.…[Read more]