Project Car...The Beetle.

[JWC]

Tomorrow is round 2 for the rear brake.

I filled the brake drum with WD-40 and if it doesn't let go tomorrow...it's air chisel time.

[JWC]

I took a picture of the VW's stablemate for the past decade or so.  I wouldn't mind having it also, if I could get an original set of Firestone 500 tires.

[JWC]

Round two...and the VW won.

I did manage to peel back the backing plate enough to peek inside.  Seems someone drove the car with the brakes metal-to-metal and the shoes are welded onto the drum.

It will have to sit under a car cover until I get the other Bug and tow/drag it to the workshop, then remove the axle assembly.

This project car is officially on hold.

The 1971 will have to come first.

[Raghavan]

I saw a '71 Super Bug for $1200 on Craiglist that actually runs and has a little bit of rust.

[the Teuton]

Depending on the condition of the EJ18 after I see my car again, I'd probably be able to ship it out for the cost of shipping if you ever wanted to make a hotrod 110 hp Beetle.  They do fit, and they are really fast when put into Bugs. 

Best case scenario:  blown head gasket
Worst case scenario:  cracked engine block
Most likely what happened:  thrown rod

If you're interested for a rebuild, I'll check on the engine when I get my car back in the near future and I'll check it out in May when I'm home for the summer.

[ChrisV]

cool idea with the subie engine, and I've seen some fast conversions, but it'd cost less to build a 150 hp Bug engine from the 1600 DP. No adaptors and mounts, and no running lines and cutting holes for a radiator. Especially if you also have to rebuild the subie engine.

[Soup DeVille]

cool idea with the subie engine, and I've seen some fast conversions, but it'd cost less to build a 150 hp Bug engine from the 1600 DP. No adaptors and mounts, and no running lines and cutting holes for a radiator. Especially if you also have to rebuild the subie engine.

That's why that conversion makes more sense when you use one of the turbocharged Subie engines for well over 300 HP.

[JWC]

There are enough performance parts for air-cooled VW that going through the trouble of converting it to a water cooled Suburu wouldn't be worth the effort.

Of course, now that I have found and made agreements on two VW's, I have since found two more. One in a salvage yard that doesn't have a speck of rust on it.

At least the one I haven't picked up yet, while needing some minor body work...runs, has never been wrecked, and though faded, has never been resprayed.

[Danish]

Wow... that is awesome. Keep us posted!

[JWC]

Nah, he wouldn't even know what to buy. He'd waste all of his money on electric superchargers, throttle body spacers, and cold air intakes.

I had never heard (or imagined) an electric supercharger...I thought this was purely a joke. 




Then, I found one on Ebay.

[Raghavan]

I had never heard (or imagined) an electric supercharger...I thought this was purely a joke.




Then, I found one on Ebay.

So does it run off the battery or something?

[JWC]

http://www.electricsupercharger.com/

[Raghavan]

Wow, 15HP...
I'd just get a new intake or something cheaper.

[footoflead]

Wow, 15HP...
I'd just get a new intake or something cheaper.

A new intake isn't going to give you 15hp  , i still wouldn't buy one.

[Danish]

It was a joke man.

[JWC]

Just a quick update.

Got home from work this evening and finally got the rear brake free on the convertible.  It now resides next to the studio awaiting photos (before shots) and then dismantling.   Floors will go in first to keep snakes and squirrels out of it.  Once a primary need list is made, I'll pick up the '71 sedan to the minor work it needs and then move the 'vert to the "work" area.

BTW, after struggling off and on with that brake for 2 1/2 to 3 weeks, it took less than an hour to finally get it loose.  I attacked it from the rear.  Heavy duty drill through side of the backing plate to cut the hold-down hardwar loose and a few solid smacks with the hammer to break the rust free.

Turned out to be a piece of cake....after I relaxed and devised an attack plan.

[sparkplug]

dynamite would have took it off.

[Rupert]

Man, I gotta get time and money to buy a Bug...

Maybe next decade.

[JWC]

Well, this really pisses me off.

One of the local LEO's came by today to pick up his patrol car after we serviced it.  He overhead myself and a couple of other people talking about old cars.  He mentioned that he noticed the VW was out of my yard.  I told him I was rushing to get it rolling before they came along and tagged it, but now it was in the back yard under a cover until I could get around to restoring it.

Turns out, it doesn't matter.  The town ordinance states that no "inoperable" car can be stored, unless at a garage, within the city limits.  Back, front, or side yard...doesn't matter.  It has to be stored inside and, unfortunately,  I converted my garage into a photo studio. 

I told him it was under a car cover, in my back yard, and behind a gate.  He said that didn't matter.  The penalty is towing the car away....more on that later.

I asked him, what if the gate is padlocked.  That, he says is different.  They can't go through a locked gate...that would constitute breaking and entering.

Anyway, I got home, went on the town's website and looked up ordinances (something I should have done before, I know.)  Seems that the ordinance only allows a car to be "inoperable" for a period of twenty four hours. After reading almost every section of the town's ordinances....there isn't any mention of what the penaly is.  No mention of fines or of towing the car away...it just says you can't do it.

You talk about some vaguely written crap.


So, I'm putting a padlock on the side gate.   If they don't like that...I'm going to "enclose" my carport with some lattice, put a half gate on it and put the VW "inside".

[JWC]

Man, I'm having a hellava week with authority figures.

[JWC]

This is the only thing the ordinance says:


"Residential Districts. Only vehicles intended for personal use shall be parked or
stored on any property in a residentially zoned district, excluding commercial
vehicles driven to and from a place of employment by an employee. No junked/
inoperative motor vehicle or nuisance vehicle shall be permitted to be parked or
stored out of doors longer than twenty-four (24) hours."

[Raghavan]

So the city tells you what you can and can't do within your own back yard??

[JWC]

So the city tells you what you can and can't do within your own back yard??

Yep...that'a about the size of it.

I know you can't fight city hall...........but, I'm  a firm believer that you can be creative and get around certain laws.  This is one I'm going to start working on.  Even if I decide not to keep the car, it is a matter of principle now.

[Soup DeVille]

Yep...that'a about the size of it.

I know you can't fight city hall...........but, I'm? a firm believer that you can be creative and get around certain laws.? This is one I'm going to start working on.? Even if I decide not to keep the car, it is a matter of principle now.

As long as its out of sight from the front yard, and your neighbors aren't unbearable pricks, you really shouldn't have much of a concern.

[Eye of the Tiger]

I had never heard (or imagined) an electric supercharger...I thought this was purely a joke.




Then, I found one on Ebay.

There has been at least one company (Thomas Knight http://www.boosthead.com/ that made genuine universal electric supercharger kits. Of course, they aren't $30 on E-bay, more like $1600+.

They actually took 3 starter motors and hooked them up to a gear box to drive a roots-supercharger. A couple of extra car batteries mounted in the trunk let it run for 20 seconds or something until they needed to recharge via the alternator. The kits even came with proper intake piping to divert air around the supercharger when it was not being used.

Here's one of the originals:



Now that I visit the website again, I can't seem to find the roots supercharger, rather a centrifugal one with just one starter motor on it.?

[JWC]

As long as its out of sight from the front yard, and your neighbors aren't unbearable pricks, you really shouldn't have much of a concern.

That's what I'm thinking.  I do have one neighbor that can be a prick, the one behind me, but I have a privacy fence between his  property and mine...he can't see much of anything.

The ordinance does say "operable".

Doesn't say it has to be street legal, licensed, or insured.  Technically, it doesn't specify what has to be "operable", though I'm sure they will try to pin it down to the engine if a problem developed. 

I have to photograph bicycle races this weekend, but I'm thinking that I might spend an hour or so seeing what is keeping the electric fuel pump from coming on.   Shouldn't matter how it runs...as long as it cranks and runs if that is all the town needs to see.

[sparkplug]

That is vaguely written. If you buy a new vehicle and the next day it won't crank. Then two days later they can tow it away and crush it. hmm....

[J86]

Haha, you're fine.  Just lock the gate.  We've got a situation like that in my town...you're only allowed one unlisenced vehicle or boat in your yard.  We have SEVEN boats in ours.   But, theres no provision for what they can do about it, they just tell you you cant do it!  Idiots...

[Rupert]

I bet most places have ordinances like that. And I bet they're only invoked when there's a specific issue. Don't want rednecks and their fifteen junker cars in the front yard next door, eh?

[ChrisV]

Check with SEMA legal department, they tend to have ways of fighting ordinances like that for hobbyists. Many states now specifically have provisions for collectors and hobbyists to protect them from ordinances like that. Others are trying to kill hobbyist loopholes. Damn busybodies.

http://www.semasan.com/main/main.aspx?ID=/content/SEMASANcom/HomePage