Paul, the guy who is my “new” mechanic prepares and races sand rails, and he says that my car is just about like a sand rail in that the engine is just sitting there, wide open underneath.  I suspect my engine is like yours.  The only tin I have is on the fan, the cylinders, and the rear tin.  Air can freely move from the front to the back and fr…[Read more]

New information.  I was trying to understand how the VW cooling system worked when I discovered the probable cause of my heating issues.  I could feel strong puffs of very hot air coming out by the #2 cylinder, with no apparent duct there.  The exhaust was tight, so I traced this to the heat riser, which was unprofessionally installed by so…[Read more]

I think Eddy is right.  Too much worry.  The Beetle’s original design dates back to the 1930s and oils likely weren’t as good back then, so perhaps there was more need to worry about engine failure due to overheating back then.  Today’s oils are likely a lot better, particularly the synthetic ones.  Apparently today’s oils can stand the heat.  Th…[Read more]

I spent a lot of time adjusting my doors, but I am not sure I understand your problem.  When I got the car, my doors would go shut with a slam, but they’d rub on the body and the passenger door sagged and had to be lifted up to close it.  I was not able to do what BillinParts suggested; the screws fit too tightly in the hinge holes, and I c…[Read more]

Jack, I have two responses that may or may not be helpful.

You said your engine temperature went up to 220.  My own engine temperature almost always goes to at least 210 and frequently hits 220.  That’s mostly stop and go driving in Las Vegas, where we’ve been 110 degrees or more for a couple of weeks now, and that may make a difference.  …[Read more]

Jack, I have two responses that may or may not be helpful.

You said your engine temperature went up to 220.  My own engine temperature almost always goes to at least 210 and frequently hits 220.  That’s mostly stop and go driving in Las Vegas, where we’ve been 110 degrees or more for a couple of weeks now, and that may make a difference.  …[Read more]

You are right, it is all in who you talk to — also maybe it’s how you deal with them and whether you hit them when they’re busy and having a bad day, or in a good day and not doing much.  I know that Doug of Doug’s Garage had a dickens of a time with Nevada DMV registering his TDR.  Took him months.  My own experience was very easy, but that’s pa…[Read more]

You are right, it is all in who you talk to — also maybe it’s how you deal with them and whether you hit them when they’re busy and having a bad day, or in a good day and not doing much.  I know that Doug of Doug’s Garage had a dickens of a time with Nevada DMV registering his TDR.  Took him months.  My own experience was very easy, but that’s pa…[Read more]

My Fiberfab is has the same setup as Kent’s and Allen’s.  The builder held on the tank with four bolts and large fender washers that he bent the corners of and act like clamps.

Ed, that is incredibly helpful!  I’ll get on it.  Can I ask two more questions, though?  First, would it be safe to drill that tiny hole into the filler neck even though there’s gas in the tank?  Probably should be, as long as the cap is still in place while I’m drilling (?).  I don’t want to set my car and house on fire.  Second, what is a “crush…[Read more]

The discussion Al mentions does not really help me.  I have no vent at all right now.  That’s really odd, but that’s the way the guy built it.  When I got the car, the gas cap was poorly sealed and the garage smelled like gas all the time, and a tank would evaporate in short order.  However, I’m sure he never had my problem of fuel starvation.  Si…[Read more]

Re:  “Radios were optional from most of the kit manufacturers. They are also easily added by the owner.”

Probably true if you don’t select a RetroSound.  I finally got my RetroSound working, but I lost half my hair pulling it out, trying to get there.  One issue with a radio is figuring out how to mount speakers.  The one thing good about Ret…[Read more]

You can narrow the front track of a VW to make it look more like a real TD.  I put one like this on my car:

http://www2.cip1.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=C26-401-017-4

IMHO, nothing makes a TDR look more “fakey” than the wide VW track with the tires sticking out beyond the fenders.  The narrowed beam really makes the TDR look a lot more l…[Read more]

Have to agree with Edsnova.  I had cut too much out of my hood and made it too thin.  My body shop told me it would crack, so I had to reinforce it, but they weren’t really interested in helping.  OK, I had never worked with fiberglass before — was scared to try it, but someone had to do it.  I read a lot and watched a lot of YouTube videos, and…[Read more]

The items listed in my post of June 20, 2016 at 5:33 pm are still available.  In addition, Items # 4, # 8, and #32 are also apparently still available.  Thank you to those who bought the other items — you should be receiving them shortly.  As for the items still available, I need them out of my garage and so anything not ready to be sh…[Read more]

What is a “late model Chev 230 with Powerglide”?  Seems mutually exclusive since the Powerglide was last made in 1973 …

I think you have a great idea about putting the six in the car, but if I were you, I think I’d aim for something like a 240Z engine and transmission (or 260Z, 280Z, 280ZX, etc.) or maybe an old six-cylinder BMW…[Read more]

To see the photos, do this:  Next to each post there is an icon with the poster’s name.  To see my photos, click on my name.  On the left side of the resulting page, there is a listing of “Activity,” and under that you can see “Media.”  Click “Media” and there are 35 photos posted there.  Each photo also has the correct number to the part on the p…[Read more]

Sam, Items items 17,18,27, and 28 were the bumper and bumperettes, and the bag of old chrome stuff.  That was spoken for by another member whose message didn’t get posted here.  Ditto for the mahogany dashboard (16), gauges (11), all mirrors (1, 2, 12, and 13), and hood chrome (19, 20, and 21).

The cost of shipping items 17,18,27, and 28 is su…[Read more]