Thank you so much. I was having such a hard time finding “prefabbed” wide steelies for my bug. Did not feel comfortable banding them myself. I’ll be hitting up the add on the Samba.
Need help When I jack up my 67 VW after I let the jack down and remove my floor jack the car stays up in the air like a Baja And only drops back down low when I move it or take off to drive it Like it's all super stiff
Hello! Yeah, I found mine actually did that exact same thing. I know suspension does need movement to help it settle. But the independent rear end of a beetle in specific is really bad for staying way up in the air when you first drop it. In order to find the ride height of my car, I had to adjust it and then drive it around to see where it would actually settle.
Thank you! No all my fenders are stock. Though I noticed one side is slightly wider which I think is just because it’s getting pulled a little differently once it’s bolted in.
sorry, im completley new to this channel, i just bought my own beetle, what egine is that it looks sick and what did you do, cant wait to follow you in this and you earned youself another sub
Nothing to be sorry about! I’m sorry I didn’t respond sooner i have been really busy. I’m planning on getting back into posting quite soon though. The engine is a 2276cc, I have another video on the engine specs alone. But thanks a lot for your sub!
Sorry i haven’t checked my comments in a while. My problem ended up being with a plate that held the brake calliper, it was a part of the disk brake conversion. It was too thick so I thinned it by 1/16” and took out a paper gasket. Seems to have solved my problem. But thank you!
Haha yeah… it was definitely a hard pill to swallow. I actually wasn’t even going to get It, but I just kept thinking about it and it seemed to fit in so well.
I am doing this on my phone, so it is hard to type. One question I have been wanting to ask. Where did you get your heater channels? My channels came from. jbugs, they are also sold at CIP-1. The ridge where the top and bottom of the channel are joined sticks out pretty far in fact, so far, they have to be trimmed so they don't rub on the seat channels. If you used the same type of channels, how did your carpets go around that? Did you do anything special. I believe on newer bugs the wires may have went under that stick out.
I got some heavy duty channels from cip1, and I actually completely forgot to say this when I talked about them. But yeah, when I held them up to my floor pans to make sure they were right, the lip was way too big, so I ground them down all the way around and re welded them for strength because I got close to the spot welds. Having them like that for wires does make sense but I just had assumed it was bad build quality. Even after that, there is a bit of a void behind my carpet there between the floor pan and that lip from the channel. I hope that helps clear up what you’re asking. Edit: you actually reminded me about how painful that whole process was, I completely forgot. I went back and looked at some photos and the lip was wayyyy too big. I almost made the whole thing come apart by trimming it down.
@@smithsgarage273 I was thinking about removing the spot welds cutting them and re spot welding them. One is on the car so Like you I am cutting to the weld on that one and rewelding I am sure. I have the same heater channels by the way. If I were to do it again it would be channels from Classic Fab or Wolfsburg West. They also did not line up at the Napoleons Hat. I had to take the front cap off the heater channel and redrill the holes. Back to cutting the lip right off and rewelding unfortunately that coating is also between the two halfs and the plug weld will have to be cleaned or sand blasted. This problem is not the end of the world but those heater channels should come with a disclaimer that they need to be modified because they are made to fit many years of cars. Thanks for the reply.
Keep it up, brother. I love your channel. Definitely one of my new favorites. Looking forward to the next one 👏👏👏 PS,, your car is fire.That interior is off the charts...🔥🔥🔥🔥
Mr. Smith you have such a beautiful bug, I would like to pattern one like yours one day.. The color choices are great..The tires and rims...I usually notice those little things but I overlooked the Keychain... I had a 72 Camaro R/S with the sport bumpers.. I had looked for one for 4 years before finally locating one in good condition.. How do you like the vintage speed shifter? I had a couple bugs with the SCAT drag 500 shifter.. it reminded me of the old Hurst shifters.. And I never had any problems with them.. Well nuff said about my stuff.. Thx for giving us a little more info on Oliver.. Well Smith, you take care until next video..
Thank you! The key chain is my favourite little memory, plus it’s cool looking. I had looked for an old Camaro for awhile as well before my beetle but I kinda fell in love with the beetles once I looked into them. It wasn’t exactly the short shifter that was the problem, since sand got inside my frame from the sand blasting, the bushing that the shift linkage ran through also got sand in it, that I couldn’t get out. My short shifter was cheaper, from a swap meet and it amplified the grindy feeling. The taller shifter is just a preference of mine really.
If the sand wears out your shifter bushings prematurely, go with the delrin bushings... They will probably last a lifetime .. I think they might something for the transaxle connection as well.. I saw a nice installation video on RU-vid about the delrin shifter bushings.. Well you take care my friend and have a blessed week...
Best to use a weld in mid mount. Not sure what you mean about tying the motor into the body. But a Kafer bar/truss bar will be your best bet in keeping things from twisting.
Thanks, I actually did just order a Kafer setup. There is a traction bar people keep recommending me that comes down from your bumper mounts and straddles the engine. But Im trying to avoid it.
I’m actually away right now and don’t remember but you can check out this video which explains it all. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-8UiZKZzcNH0s.htmli=YHvB1XcBHkkGvQNX
Research “vw wheel hop “ You can’t just have a mid brace alone, you also need berg HD rubber mounts and Traction bar OR go all solid mounts and most importantly you have to stop frame horns from flexing and rebounding-the whole engine is cantilevered off them and that’s a lot of weight- tie frame horns into shock mounts or roll cage or just get a Truss setup, only way to stop what You refer to as engine sag or whatever you called it(it’s wheel hop)
Thanks, yeah, I didn’t know what to call it really, I did a bunch of recording in slow motion and I only ever saw the engine drop, but the wheels never hopped like usual cars do with wheel hop. The mid mount was just a last ditch effort of something easy before I go for a kafer truss or traction bar.
Dude, you are so soft-spoken and level-headed. When I'm working on my bus, and things aren't going well, I cuss and make a fool outta myself! Good idea making the air filters shorter to clear the deck lid.
Alternator light. If you’re using a stock speedo, the wire from the alternator signal goes to the bulb. The bulb on the speedo needs to be an incandescent bulb. If you’re using a stand alone bulb that’s not in the speedo, it also has to be an incandescent bulb. The wire from the alternator signal is “ground” and you run a hot wire to the other bulb terminal from a switched location on the fuse block and not from the ignition switch. Hope this helps.
Look into a Kafer bar to help support the rear frame horns and the engine won’t flex so much on acceleration. If you are using LED idiot lights that could be the issue. Sweet beetle and keep up the great work!
Thanks for all your advice and comments! I had someone else say that the horn stiffeners won’t be enough and to do a traction bar instead, I’m just afraid of it causing more engine noise in the cab so I’m still leaning towards the kafer bar because I really like that idea. I’m also about to checkout the idiot light, I have a feeling you’re right.
@@smithsgarage273 keep us posted on how things turn out. Don’t be shy about asking questions, we all learn from one another and help support each other. The multiple comments will help your algorithm 🤙
@@VWJawbreakerthank you! The vw community is so nice on here, I really appreciate it all. I’ll be sure to try out everything and be back to report, what’s your opinion on either a traction bar vs the kafer horn stiffeners?
Thanks! I haven’t dyno tuned it, but I really want to. The idea of the dyno is just a little bit scary still but I’ll do it sometime soon for sure. It’s on the list.
Do you have a diode installed in your idiot light circuit? I remember having to install a diode to the idiot light. You also don't want to run your coil off of your alternator. It should be dedicated off your ignition switch.
I don’t but if all else fails that’s what I’m gonna do. And yeah, I’m gonna wire it that way for the permanent fix, through the alternator was just my way of checking it and making sure it worked. Thanks for watching!
Just a shot in the dark here, have you updated your dash lights to LEDs? I don't think LEDs provide enough current to 'excite' the alternator, so the alt light has to be the old incandescent style bulb (which is why it works when your test light is connected). If that's not the case, then from my experience 99.9% of electrical problems are with a ground. Cheers, love your Beetle.
Along with the Transmission brace you need an engine (traction bar) I know its limited because of the exhaust you are running but the back of the engine needs to me supported. Aloha and keep up the great work.
Thank you, I had looked into it but I was worried about engine vibrations getting transferred to the body. Right now I’m exploring the brace that comes down from the shock mounts to hold up the ends of the engine horns. But I might have to bite the bullet and go for the traction bar. Thanks for watching my video!
@@smithsgarage273 Im also restoring my 66 VW bug (for the second time) I had a traction bar for years and it only mildly increased the vibrations. You definitely need a traction bar at the rear. Frame horn stiffeners still allow the engine to move too much. Aloha.
You're wiring issue is probably something really simple.. if all else fails take it to a pro.. They can probably sort it out very quickly.. I'm like electricity, I take the path of least resistance..lol.. That is a beautiful bug, and your shop is very nice too.. Well good luck with all the bug issues and I'll see you on the next video.. Take care my friend and God Bless...
Haha yeah I’ve been thinking that the whole time, that’s why I triple checked my grounds first because i thought it might be dumb and simple. Electricity is really not my thing at all, anything but electricity. Thanks for all your support! You’re always the first to comment and it’s nice.
@@smithsgarage273 You've got a good channel, and we've got to get your numbers up so you can reach out to more people.. I like your channel because it's simple and you're straight forward and without the normal BS that lots of people resort to... Mr. Smith you take care... And give Oliver my best...
Thank you! I’ll be sure to update everyone on my work the best I can. And as for your other comment I am gonna try to get down to the drag strip this year, I just haven’t done it yet so I’m a bit nervous but it’s on my bucket list for this year.
I believe there is supposed to be some shims between the alternator and the pulley.. i am certainly no vw guru on the subject, but you might check into that.. love your bug and your channel...
Thanks man, I had thought so too but I never had shims before when the car was working fine. And after I did actually get the alternator apart I could see that some of the friction fit shim inside had moved so everything was moving. By the time I figured it out it was a lost cause.
I'm exploring the idea of getting a 66 -70 Beetle if I can find one with a mostly solid body and for the right price. I understand that dealing with rust just goes along with getting one. I'm not sure my Wife would be too happy about it but when she was a kid her family had a Beetle as their daily driver so maybe nostalgia would win her over. I was looking for a classic Mustang but prices for those are astronomical!
Yeah even beetles nowadays are a bit pricey to begin with. Still definitely cheaper than those mustangs tho. Good luck to you and I hope you end up with a good bug!
how can you get decent air flow across the oil cooler with it mounted parallel to the air current? can't you put a scoop on it to catch air. 914 engines use air flow from the cam shaft powered fan so at least air is going across it. I can't see where your cooler is acting more like a larger oil "sump" using the extra volume and not as a true cooler
I can see what your saying but there’s actually a large fan on the other side that sucks air up from the bottom which should be cool, and on top the luggage rack has a good curve that brings the warm air over the transaxle and out. My only mistake was not putting in a bypass for when it’s cold because the engine won’t actually warm up enough.
@@smithsgarage273 yeah I was wondering if there was a fan there. On my sandrail my radiator was horizontally mounted and even with a fan I wasn't getting sufficient cooling and had to change it to upright. On my turbocharger air to air cooler I had to add a scoop. When I had a 914 I added an external oil cooler like you have and also had to deal with location issues probably to a high degree than you did. Oh by the way, I live in Phoenix where it's 110 in the summer time so you can imagine how important it was to keep these engines running as cool as possible
@@mmricci2861 wow yeah phoenix is very hot. I only put mine in for peace of mind when stuck in traffic during the summer. I don’t know what 40° Celsius is in Fahrenheit but that’s the hottest I’ve been in and the car stays a decent temperature.
On CP1 they sell: GERMAN - PAIR OF AEROSPACE GRADE SILICONE VALVE COVER GASKETS - 100% REUSABLE - SAY GOODBYE TO LEAKS. Part no.VWC-113-101-481-SPR - 113101481FSI
Great vid mate, check your crank pulley nut every few months as they come loose because of the alloy pulley against the metal crank, Remember both metals expand and contract at different rates. We call those alloy pulleys bearing killers as over time they come loose and flog out the mains.
That’s good to know because yeah I’ve had issues with that pulley. I’m thinking about switching but it’s also just nice looking. Thanks for your support!
I love wheels, I have 4 inch narrowed too. I want the wheels. I saw you had some rubbing- was that when you were real low? I am on air ride. Fully up and down. I really want to buy the 6inch wheels.
@@user-gx3pz6qs9f I’m fairly sure it was only from when I was really low. I could only hear it when I’m turned as sharp as I can, and I’m under slight articulation. I don’t think I’ve had any issues with it lately. I’m also on disks instead of drums which I believe change the offset a bit, I’m not sure by how much but that should also be something to consider.
