All posts in My Beetle Project

AirCooled Renovation – The 12v Alternator and Oil Filler

By Beetle Fan | July 23, 2008 | Air-Cooled Fun, Automotive Restoration, My Beetle Project | 3 Comments

This last experience was some of the most interesting. Looking for advice online is akin to asking monkeys for directions. As one person put it, “The internet is proof that a million monkeys typing on computers will never reproduce the works of Shakespeare.” How True.

6 volt starter
I got completely befuddled by all of the advice on the starter and keeping the 6v starter vs replacing it with a 12v starter and adding the bushing to make it compatible with the 6v flywheel. The upgrade kit that I received from MidAmerica Motorworks had the bushing, but no parts for upgrading the starter or flywheel. A few calls to the helpful people there, and I realized that i was just reading too much. I just needed to stick with the program and do what I was doing.

The 6 volt starter will work just fine in a 12 volt upgrade in a 1200 air cooled engine. Though the main advice was not to grind the ignition, as the starter will hit the flywheel harder with the 12 volts surging through the line. I saw where some people complained of teeth breaking off the flywheel because the starter was hitting it hard, but some simply replaced the flywheel and didn’t have any more problems.

The alternator came out very easy – really, it’s a matter of locating all of the bolts and keeping a note of where they came from. The shroud was amazingly dirty and oily – i had to wonder when the last time this beetle had thorough maintenance. At points in the project i had to wonder how this thing still ran.

I had to go to Harbor Freight, my new favorite hardware store and get a set of large metric ratchets. The bolt on the old alternator was 36mm, larger than anything I had, and the bolt on the steering wheel was 26mm – time for new ratchets.

Removing the Alternator
Simply by holding the fan and using the monster ratchet I got at the store, everything came off surprisingly easy. I used my miter saw box as a platform for holding the alternator upright, and it worked out OK, as the miter box was bolted into the workbench. The fan got a nice bath and cleaning, and then it was ready to go on the new 12volt alternator.

Oil Filler and Breather
Meanwhile, i was stumped on the alternator stand, as the Oil Filler and Breather was attached to the old stand, and it somehow had to come off and join the new alternator stand. The new stand was threaded, and I could barely budge the filler to twist off. I noticed that the inside of the oil filler was notched, and fortunately at that time, my engineer brother showed up in time to to save the day. Looking over the shop manual, they recommended the VW 170 tool to remove the cap. Right. I’ll run right out and get a VW170 shop tool to remove this thing, which I’ll probably repeat when?

This is when having an engineer brother comes in real handy. First we tried clamping the stand to a workbench – didn’t work out well, but, since it was an old workbench, we simply screwed the stand to the bench through the existing bolt holes – genius!

After reviewing the notches in the oil filler, we realized that we only had one tool that was wide enough to hit the notches – the crowbar. My brother took the end of the crowbar and put it on the grinder to take off the taper and make as much of a wide edge to grab the notch. It looked to work well, but still tough going.

Funny enough – he asks me for a torch. I looked at him odd, which i think he expected. He tells me this is what “the guys in the shop do.” He heats up the oil cap with the torch, takes the crowbar and easily twists off the cap. Amazing.

So much for the VW 170 tool. Putting the cap back on the new alternator stand was just as easy. Screw it on, heat it up, tighten it, and that thing was on.

Aircooled Renovation – 6 volt to 12 volt Engine Upgrade

By Beetle Fan | July 11, 2008 | My Beetle Project | 1 Comment

As the previous post mentioned, I combined two major projects into one – mainly because i was pulling the engine apart anyway.

Replacing the wiring harness
Upgrading from a 6 volt system to a 12 volt system

I spent most of the time in the past few days dismantling the engine. I quickly realized that simply removing the hood would make life much easier.

I have two manuals: The original shop manual for the VW Beetle, 1960-1965, and
How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive: A Manual of Step-By-Step Procedures for the Complete Idiot
. The difference between these two books is shattering. On one hand, the direct no-nonsense German engineering text, on the other: “Dude, like remove the carburetor, but you’ll want to rest first . . .” OK, it’s not that extreme, but it is fascinating.

My biggest complaint on the shop manual is that it isn’t cross-referenced. Step one of removing the alternator/generator is that I had to remove the carburetor. So, i had to flip through all 500 pages to find the carburetor removal instructions. Hardly efficient. The two manuals do make an interesting compliment each other. The Complete Idiot Manual lets me know when something will be especially difficult and where I can expect to skin a knuckle.

On the technical side, I was surprised at the amount that i needed a ratchet extension, though in thinking about it – it made sense. The process went fairly smooth. Removal of fuel line, air line, electrical connectors, carburetor, clutch assembly, and then the alternator. I kept all of the parts in marked plastic bags so that i know where they go later.

The fan shroud came out very easily. remembering to feed the clutch line back through it was important, as I realized. but after so many years – this stuff was dirty!

When I moved into our current house, the owner left behind a couple of galvanized steel tubs. I often wondered what to do with them, and couldn’t bring myself to throw them out, but now they have come in very handy as a safe place to wash down all of these parts with de-greaser.

Aircooled renovation – Re-wiring the Beetle

By Beetle Fan | June 25, 2008 | Air-Cooled Fun, Automotive Restoration, My Beetle Project | No comments

Aircooled – heh, it’s 90 degrees. I’ve considered placing the window air conditioner in the garage while we work on this project. The work lights alone put off an immense amount of heat while working under the hood. Blech!

Two projects are in play:
1. Replace the wiring harness
2. Upgrade the bug from 6 volt to 12 volt

and yes, i should have done this in the winter . . .

Someone asked me why I am wasting my time with the harness, as it is a tough job. well, i got the answer as I was pulling the wires under the hood. there are more splices than wires, some of the insulation broke off in my hands, and some of the insulation was just melted to other wires. Not a lot of stuff to keep you confident. No wonder i got stranded a couple of times when the bug wouldn’t start.

Now that the wires are cleaned out – it looks much better. I also ordered a wire cover for when this is all done. The new wires look and have that great new plastic smell! I purchased all new lines and connectors from MidAmerica Motorworks.

Getting the trunk line through the chassis wasn’t too bad. I did end up ripping part of the headliner in order to get access to the channel. Fortunately, I plan on replacing the headliner with a newer, different color headliner when this project is completed.

Yeah – the original cardboard glove box. I think this is getting replaced, as it is kind of moldy on the inside.

The hard part is removing the steering wheel. I need to buy another wrench, as my set stops at 20mm. Crud.

Custom Leather Interiors from MidAmerica Motorworks

By Beetle Fan | January 14, 2008 | Automotive Restoration, Beetle Resources, My Beetle Project, VW News | 1 Comment

MidAmerica Motorworks has announced that custom leather interiors for the Volkswagon Beetle are now available as part of their product catalog. The custom leather seats available for all 1958-79 Standard and Super Beetles.

You can view examples of both custom and OEM options available for the Beetle at the MidAmerica Motorworks website: Custom VW Beetle Leather interiors.