Tommy's A-series Misery - Cambridge Fettling

[Tommyboy12]

First stop on the way home for fuel. Wipers are a bit pants and right hand indicators don't work but that's not enough to stop me!

 

[tooSavvy]

😯... That MOT history reads like 'war & peace'

Epic pattna 👌

Well bortt

😉

[Tommyboy12]

Stopped for lunch. Still got 3 hours to go. Progress is steady at about 60mph before things get a bit deafening.

Lunch:

Poo count: 1

Wiper repairs: 5. Currently held together with cable ties and hope. The wipers worked, then they didn't, then I found the blade on the drives side wasn't clearing anything, then when I swapped them and they nearly fell off. Now I have something resembling a wiper on the drivers side which is useful given the ongoing rain. Passenger side may as well not be there

[N Dentressangle]

A long time ago I had a 1200 which was incredibly slow, but nice to drive in a relaxed kind of way.

How's the acceleration?

[Tommyboy12]

2 hours ago, N Dentressangle said:

A long time ago I had a 1200 which was incredibly slow, but nice to drive in a relaxed kind of way.

How's the acceleration?

Sedate at best but it's a nice drive

Nearly home. About 30 mins away. Wasn't sure on fuel so stopped again. It's done about 35mpg.

[N Dentressangle]

35 sounds decent for a Beetle - they were never great on fuel. I guess that's a relatively inefficient air-cooled engine for you.

I like the 'sedate' way they just cover ground though. Less buzzy and stressed feeling than most old small cars, I thought

[bezzabsa]

that brown mini

DO NOT PAINT

[Tommyboy12]

1 hour ago, bezzabsa said:

that brown mini

DO NOT PAINT

Not planning to 😂

1 hour ago, N Dentressangle said:

35 sounds decent for a Beetle - they were never great on fuel. I guess that's a relatively inefficient air-cooled engine for you.

I like the 'sedate' way they just cover ground though. Less buzzy and stressed feeling than most old small cars, I thought

It's more peppy than I was expecting but definitely sedate. I don't mind sitting at 60mph watching the world go by though. Stops you going deaf and gives you more chance to watch the people laughing and pointing at you 😂

We made it home! There's definitely some niggles to fix and whoever MoT'd was actually blind but it's not a bad car and bodywork is pretty good considering it's age and looks. It's solid just rough looking. Exactly the kind of thing I like!

 

[bunglebus]

I need another Beetle in my life, they all seem to be expensive, rotten, or both though

[hairnet]

late bus wheels and painted headlamp bezels ftw

 

[Zelandeth]

How wet did you get?  Last two I drove leaked like a sieve.

They look so odd only with one exhaust though.

[Tommyboy12]

1 minute ago, Zelandeth said:

How wet did you get?  Last two I drove leaked like a sieve.

They look so odd only with one exhaust though.

I did not get wet at all! I was cold though. Haven't quite figured out the heater and all the vents

[bunglebus]

1 hour ago, Zelandeth said:

They look so odd only with one exhaust though.

Going back to their roots

[Tommyboy12]

Decided to fix some issues on the Bug. Right hand indicators being one. Front and rear where bad earths. Wing was missing the earth wire completely. Bit of a pain soldering a new wire on but didn't fancy replacing the whole unit.

 

Now have working indicators

Also cleaned up some contacts in this rat's nest so I now have dipped beam in both headlights as opposed to just one. Still don't have main beam though. Ill need to go through it more but I'm not convinced the stalk isnt broken.

Swapped out the radio with no facia for a top notch cassette deck. I need to find the speaker wiring though as I only have one speaker wire under the bonnet and have 3 speakers so there must be more somewhere!

Also fixed the wipers more permanently. Still haven't got new wiper blades but they sweep across the whole screen now rather than just half and the washers work now

Finally I did some engine wiring. The vac advance hose was broken so fitted a new one. Also adjusted the timing some more and selected a different setting on the dizzy.

Also fixed this excuse for wiring...

And adjusted the fan belt which was slipping. It's not got much life left so I've ordered a new one. There's as many unused wires under here as in the front 😅

[bunglebus]

Ugh, I hate bodged up wiring. There's no excuse, it's not like a Beetle has complex electrics 

[Tommyboy12]

Agreed. Bodged wiring is a pet peeve of mine

[Zelandeth]

Ugh that spaghetti is a mess...given how little wiring is in a Beetle it almost seems like it would be better to just rip the lot out and start over...

[dave j]

Good to see progress on this bug. Seen a lot of Beetles with wiring that looks like this, you will probably find a lot of redundant wiring in there! 

[Sham]

10 hours ago, Zelandeth said:

Ugh that spaghetti is a mess...given how little wiring is in a Beetle it almost seems like it would be better to just rip the lot out and start over...

I tend to agree, if you can see that much wrong, imagine what you can't see.

[2flags]

The wiring definitely looks like it had been got at by a serious 'enthusiast'. Very enthusiastic about adding wires whether they are needed or not!

 

[bunglebus]

I wonder if some of that stems from the conversation from left to RHD. Some conversions were more professional than others!

[tooSavvy]

2 hours ago, bunglebus said:

I wonder if some of that stems from the conversation from left to RHD. Some conversions were more professional than others!

Similar vein...... I moved my Morris 1000 van 'centre speedo' across to infront of wheel.

As an 'enthusiastic yoof' + stripped out vacuum cleaner flex... Interesting loom 🤦.

OTOH it ran until scrapped (I bought a PO yellow MM1000 at auction/stripped odd parts over) so no one saw my handiwork 🙊🙉🙈.

🚙💨

[Tommyboy12]

Potentially from the conversion. The speedo wiring is all black wires with butt connectors which is more likely the conversion. A lot of the wiring with labels seems to be 'aftermarket' like the radio and multiple keys and buttons that have been options to start the car in the past.

I need to sort the main beam and fog lights really. Beyond that I am only tidying the wiring of redundant wires, sorting bad earths and soldering butt connectors. I really dont want to strip the loom out. I have enough major projects without adding anothe to my list!

[Bazfr69]

I ran across a lovely Mexi a couple of weeks ago, year 2000 model and the tidiest I’ve seen in the metal. 
My own rather less glamorous motor behind it when I parked for a nosey. 

[Tommyboy12]

Weather was good today so did various jobs on the fleet. First off my girlfriend's car needed a CV joint. I forgot the boot and couldn't get it apart again so ordered one of those split boots. I am going to get one of those CV splitting tools for any future joints. I am sometimes reminded how much easier working on modern cars is. I had this driveshaft out in about 10 minutes and back in in even less time.

Also tried to get the MGF running properly. Fitted a new lambda sensor and a new catalytic converter. It was easier to take the exhaust manifold off to change the lambda sensor as it's tucked between the block and the manifold. A really stupid place. Catalytic converter that came off is one of the budget ones. I fitted another budget one 😅 Also it still runs like shit despite my effort. I'm *this* close to torching the damn thing. The scanning tool seems to imply it's not running as rich as it was but the new lambda isn't giving any voltage variations and it's still throwing sensor faults. I cheaped out on this lambda so I've bought a Bosch unit and will try again...

I made myself feel better by doing some wiring on the Beetle. I now have working headlights and a working telltale for full beam (bad earths again). I also replaced the fog light that didn't exist. I now have a full compliment of working lights on the Beetle!

Fitted a new fan belt. It doesn't squeal anymore. Tweaked the dizzy a little more. It's running really nicely now I think. Pulls really well. Also fitted a new speedo cable and now have a working speedo! Straightened up the steering wheel that had been bolted on off centre. A pet peeve of mine.

Found out why the heater doesn't work too...

For those that don't know I'm missing the ducting from the heat exchangers to the heater channels.

 

[Tommyboy12]

Lastly I decided to do some wiring on one of my Minis. I've been meaning to fit these MK2 tail lights for a long time. They look so much better on this car than the MK4 lights. I've gone for a kind of 70s look on this car so it really suits it

[stuboy]

love minis, but never got the appeal of beetles..

[MiniMinorMk3]

16 hours ago, Tommyboy12 said:

Lastly I decided to do some wiring on one of my Minis. I've been meaning to fit these MK2 tail lights for a long time. They look so much better on this car than the MK4 lights. I've gone for a kind of 70s look on this car so it really suits it

I did the same on my 1993 Mini Sprite, but also stuck some of those old style fog and revere lamps on.

Final incarnation before sold

[Tommyboy12]

18 hours ago, stuboy said:

love minis, but never got the appeal of beetles..

Agreed. Im definitely more of a Mini man. But a Bug has been on the bucket list for a while.

[Tommyboy12]

The Beetle continues to be fettled. I fitted luxuries such as a throttle pedal and new brake pads.

New pads means I've been able to adjust the brake pedal so there's the mandated 5mm of travel before the brake master engages rather than the previous 50mm. It was like doing a masonic dance trying to operate the brakes before. Now with a throttle pedal rather than the previous knub I actually feel comfortable driving it! See said knub below...

I also wired in my radio and have it blaring through the only functioning speaker. All very mod cons! I may buy a new pair of speakers, I may not. Who knows!

Once I had my radio going I wasted well over an hour removing all this redundant wiring from the engine bay! I haven't even got to the front yet! Also found a dizzy cap and an empty tin of hard boil sweets. So disappointing...

I also got the engine cover light working. Very posh.