Galloping Gertie - It's got a name, now to fix her up

Russ Wolfe · Posted: Sat Oct 23, 2010 9:03 am Post subject:

Paint the flat area in the front with a look of a WWII Jeep grill?
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heywebonya · Posted: Sat Oct 23, 2010 9:39 am Post subject:

I was thinking of tall black ovals (ovid?) decals for this purpose. I am also considering a second pair of lights.

Jeff
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If I knew what I was doing; I wouldn't be building a buggy!

JiI · Posted: Sat Oct 23, 2010 1:06 pm Post subject:

I'd chop the pan and body down to the normal 80" wheelbase, ditch the back seat, sell the 2 kids, buy some long travel suspension with the money and go do some dune launches! Cool

Jeff

heywebonya · Posted: Mon Apr 11, 2011 9:29 am Post subject:

Picked up a different exhaust at the Midwest swap meet for $40. I really like to be able to hear while driving.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

I like the look, but it feels like the buggy has started to hang off the back. But it doesn't block the license plate cover like an off road muffler.

I added a oil filter / pump over the winter, removed the heater channels from the shroud, removed the mouse nest from between 1 and 2. Replaced distributor with the proper dizzy. Added a tachometer.

I also painted the rims - not too bad. Bought a HF tire changer and put new rear tires on - really decent tool. I picked up a set of tires from CL for $30.

Took the family (wife and three kids 6,4, & 2) for a ride after church on Sunday and the buggy died ~ 1 mile from home. Bummer! I think the coil died - no spark. The fuse for the coil is fine and everything else is fine. I am going to figure it out this week. I need to change out or remove the front bumper - a towbar does NOT fit because of the mounts on the bottom tube.

Jeff
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If I knew what I was doing; I wouldn't be building a buggy!

plasticman1432 · Posted: Mon Apr 11, 2011 8:22 pm Post subject:

I like what you've done with the buggy, and it's good to hear you and the family are enjoying it already.

heywebonya · Posted: Tue Apr 12, 2011 4:35 am Post subject:

- Troubleshooting question -
Sunday was ~ 80F and we drove around ~ 1/2 hour with no issues. I slowed down at a corner and the engine died. I could not get it restarted, even with starting fluid. Towed it home.

Sunday evening briefly tried to start again - no success.

Monday checked fuse (good) and voltage at coil (12V) and the buggy started weakly (battery was weak from start attempts).

Q1. Does this seem like vapor lock (Fuel volatilized in the line before the carb)?

I am running 1/4" steel line that passes over the engine. Should this be insulated?

Q2. Do coils get finicky / fussy when warm? It's 39 years old.

Thanks, Jeff
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If I knew what I was doing; I wouldn't be building a buggy!

lostinbaja · Posted: Tue Apr 12, 2011 4:48 am Post subject:

A bad coil will usually fail once the coil heats up. Many times the engine will restart once the coil cools then stop once it heats up again.
You can check the coil with an Ohm meter the specs and instructions are in any decent shop manual. Also make sure your points are correctly adjusted.
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Jerry...
If it's being towed, it must be a trailer!
"Vee Grow Too Soon Oldt Und Too Late Schmardt"
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heywebonya · Posted: Tue Apr 12, 2011 2:31 pm Post subject:

I do not know what year coil is, it is a Bosch coil on a 1973 engine. I measured 1.7 Ohms across terminals 1 and 15 and 4.48 K Ohms across the Secondary. (note - this may be off by a factor of 10X - but ta 44.8K Ohm resistance seems too high)

Is this correct?

Also I noticed that the input was coming on 1 rather than #15, does it matter?

Thanks, Jeff
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If I knew what I was doing; I wouldn't be building a buggy!

heywebonya · Posted: Thu Jul 07, 2011 9:57 am Post subject:

I am thinking about trying to morph / meld a HMMWV front end on the buggy, any thoughts? I would remove ~ 2' from the middle and blend it together.

As a minimum, I am going to use the grill portion to replace / fill in the front flat section of the current body design.

I picked up this hood for $5 as a donor. Any ideas?

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If I knew what I was doing; I wouldn't be building a buggy!

gr8cobbler · Posted: Thu Jul 07, 2011 5:59 pm Post subject:

Start a new buggy. Your Gertie is a pretty nice machine, it's got style. I'd hate to see it grafted with Humvee stuff, you'll most likely end up with something far less appealing. IMHO Wink

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Gary

Being a cheap old fart is just a front for my actual lack of money. Smile

heywebonya · Posted: Fri Jul 08, 2011 2:01 pm Post subject:

I would like to start a second buggy, but I am only allowed one at a time. I agree that Gertie is pretty sweet. I guess the hood is going away.
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If I knew what I was doing; I wouldn't be building a buggy!

heywebonya · Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2011 12:32 pm Post subject:

I looked at buying a second buggy with a bigger rear seating area and found a basket case that would require a full rebuild.

So......

I am extending the rear seating area so people with legs can sit back there.

I measured and found there is easily 12" of space that the seat can be moved back with no issues. There is still 6" space in front of the shroud opening as well.

Before picture - note the 3" of leg room Smile

Measured and marked a 12" removal. Pieces are held in place with 1/4" plywood that will be glassed into the body.

Any suggestions on filling in the compound curves on the side with glass? I am thinking about using the fiberglass strips like "ribs" but this seems kind of silly.
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If I knew what I was doing; I wouldn't be building a buggy!

heywebonya · Posted: Sun Aug 24, 2014 2:48 pm Post subject:

Compression check questions and seating of rings.

I "rebuilt" or freshen up an engine I had picked up with a set of 88 mm jugs and I tried to do several things at once (it was my first teardown). Regardless, I managed to have the world's smokiest engine. I may have "fuel washed" the cylinders. I changed the oil.

I finally got the carb set correctly (I was not as meticulous at cleaning as I should have been) and the engine runs, but it smokes for a few minutes at start up.

Is this "normal" until the rings seat? I probably only have 200 miles on the engine.

I ran a compression testing (warmed engine) and had the following:
#1 110
#2 110
#3 130
#4 120

I had run a compression test back on 20 Jan and had the following"
#1 115
#2 120
#3 125
#4 120

I am concerned that the 1/2 head may be loose. I tried wiggling the bolts and could not detect any motion. There is no appearance of blow by.

Here are pictures of the plugs.

Thanks.
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If I knew what I was doing; I wouldn't be building a buggy!

heywebonya · Posted: Tue Jun 02, 2015 10:47 am Post subject:

NEW LED taillights. I struggled with visibility and placement of the classic 65 Ford Mustang tailiights. I wanted brighter and bigger, I found a set of 4" LED tailights for less than $20.

Point of no return

Holes cut with hole saw.

Two colors

The old light for comparison

Done

Works great and very bright, I can check that they are working by the amount of light in the garage.
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If I knew what I was doing; I wouldn't be building a buggy!

vpogv · Samba Member Joined: August 14, 2008 Posts: 230

Most of the time I'm not a huge fan of the off the shelf round or oval lights but I like them here. Then again I'll always side with brightness when it comes to taillights.

heywebonya · Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2015 7:54 am Post subject:

Based on the experiences of Daanbc http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=629244&highlight=finger

I installed the fan belt guard on my buggy. I have put off carb adjustments until this was complete.

I had to take ~1/4" off the edge to get it to fit between the bottom pulley and the muffler.

I just couldn't risk my "nose-picking" buddy.

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If I knew what I was doing; I wouldn't be building a buggy!

daanbc · Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2015 8:07 am Post subject:

Glad I saved another finger. LOL. Seriously If ANYONE is going to work on a running VW engine. Please have a fan shroud in place!! Even if you don't like it, just place it on to do the work needed, then you can take it off. Trust me, it is worth the extra time to be safe. Lights look great. My buggy has very small LED's in the bake. They look like reflectors. But those suckers are bright when lite.

heywebonya · Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2015 4:19 am Post subject:

Went through some mud puddles (small ponds) on Sunday and flooded the horn. The horn's last gasp sounded very sad.

So, using the mantra of "If it's worth doing, it's worth doing EXCESSIVELY!" I added an air horn.

It is an old SEARS brand horn and the plating was shot, so I cleaned it up and painted the trumpets.

Wow is it loud!

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If I knew what I was doing; I wouldn't be building a buggy!

heywebonya

The buggy is running great and now it is time to make it more enjoyable to drive.

Made a wind buffer between the seats using Sunbrella shade material. $13/yard is enough to make two and used some extra buckles I had on hand.

Sunbrella is pretty cool as it does not unravel or fray after cutting and is pretty strong. I could not pull a cord through a 1" segment (tear through test)

1 hour later.

Pink foam template

Cutting the fabric - the black marks will be the 1" slits for the buckles and strap.

Finished

_________________
If I knew what I was doing; I wouldn't be building a buggy!

heywebonya

I haven't posted much about Gertie since she is running great.

I decided to freshen up her rims and add a set of wider rear tires (12.8" wide)

I am super stoked how the paint and hubcaps turned out.

Lots of prep (sanding, cleaning, taping)

Turned out great

Installed with hubcaps (I picked up caps a few years ago and had to find rims/tires for them!)

Repeated with front rims.

I may be getting a set of 325/50/r15 tires to replace the current old ones, but they are fine for the summer.
_________________
If I knew what I was doing; I wouldn't be building a buggy!


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