My 1973 Refresh Project

JayC · Posted: Tue Nov 12, 2013 3:31 pm Post subject:

I just took it off and flipped it over (if that makes sense). It pressed right back on. The seal is still one piece and I haven't cut either one.

jay

Ron Domeck · Posted: Tue Nov 12, 2013 3:40 pm Post subject:

Think about the design, the lip faces out to shed the water off, in would push it in to the hood. I have taken apart 15-20 Things and have never had an original facing in.

Ron Domeck · Posted: Tue Nov 12, 2013 3:50 pm Post subject:

If you look at The Thing Shop for these you will see in the pictures that the lip is facing out. Oh yes, The Domeck Brothers built that car for them.

HUGO bOSS · Posted: Tue Nov 12, 2013 4:16 pm Post subject:

Yes, i now that the lip to the outside makes sense... at the moment I see the one on the car I remember this topic... will try to chenge that next weekend... Wink

I will have the car with me... The rear one is ok.

I'm trying to take the last measures of some parts that are missing on mine... Rolling Eyes

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http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=538182

JayC · Posted: Wed Nov 13, 2013 8:21 am Post subject:

Hi Hugo - I was following your build and it was an inspiration. I figured if you could do all that I could at least get mine back together Smile

jay

HUGO bOSS · Posted: Wed Nov 13, 2013 3:37 pm Post subject:

JayC · Posted: Mon Nov 18, 2013 8:53 am Post subject:

Latest update Smile

Fiddled with the timing most of the morning on Saturday. Finally got a digital advance timing light to figure out how far off it was. It was 44 degrees BTDC at idle. That can't be right. The only thing I could figure was the vacuum canister on the front of the distributor was holding the advance open and way to far. I went down to the local parts store and picked up a new American made 009 and the compufire electronic ignition. When I dropped that in and fired it back up, it was right at zero (mark right on the case split). So, that seems to have fixed that problem. I hated giving up the original distributor, just for aesthetics. Was trying to stay as original as possible. And of course now I can't register the car in California Smile

Found the bad connection for the brake lights (the wire wasn't connected under the dash area running to the rear harness. That got me one good working break light (drivers side), but the passenger side still didn't work. Need to continue checking.

Wired up the reverse lights. Found that the backup switch in the nose of the transmissions was leaking just a bit. Tried to get wrench on it to tighten it up and made a bit of progress. Hopefully stopped it. Just for future reference, how does one change the backup switch without pulling the engine and the transmission? That seems like a weird design flaw.

Took the heater apart, cleaned everything and put it back together. It wasn't working when I pulled it out, but I suspect that the reset switch was triggered. It popped when I clicked it. Hopefully it should fire up now. Tested the fuel pump and it is good to go.

Found another loose hose connection in the brake lines. Not sure why the lines won't stay tight on the cylinders, so had to bleed the brakes again. Adjusted parking brakes and tightened nuts on rear axles.

Another round of death by a thousand paper cuts!

Next weekend: first test drive Smile

jay

citroen · Posted: Mon Nov 18, 2013 12:11 pm Post subject:

the reverse light switch is not that hard to replace on the car. if you need to have a vacuum advance on just for looks you can mount one on a 009 just ask ron

JayC · Posted: Tue Nov 19, 2013 11:20 am Post subject:

Oh, I'll get along with out the vacuum advance. The way I see it, it is one less thing to go wrong.

Do you have a special wrench or something that reaches up between the frame horns? A standard box end wrench would turn it a bit, but then I couldn't flip it over to continue to turning. Hopefully I don't have to find out for quite a while Smile

jay

citroen · Posted: Tue Nov 19, 2013 2:52 pm Post subject:

I think I used channel locks ron and I use the 009 on all of our things I know other people don't agree but I see a lot of 009s on things and I was talking about putting on a vacuum advance on a 009 only for looks or judging if you needed one to pass a inspection

JayC · Posted: Mon Mar 31, 2014 2:31 pm Post subject:

I am looking out the window at a beautiful spring day and I realized it has been forever since I last updated this thread. It has been a long, cold winter and I ended up with a side project for my sister (she decided she wanted a CJ-5 and bought one that the owner said "It wouldn't start one day and i am tired of it". What he didn't say was the cam shaft was broken in three pieces and the crank was completely seized. I spent most of the winter rebuilding the motor. Another long story in a very different forum).

The Thing is done! Well, except for a thousand little odd jobs that never seem to get finished. The motor runs, but I can' seem to get the tune quite right. The brakes stop, but the line from the master cylinder to the rear is rubbing on the bottom of the clutch pedal. The wiring is all complete except the windshield wiper motor won't turn on. Finally, waiting for the new soft top and some nice weather to take it out for its first cruise.

I also realized I don't have any updated pictures, so that is on the list for the weekend.

Anyway, hope everyone that has had a rougher winter than Colorado is finally thawing out!

jay

GI Joe · Posted: Mon Mar 31, 2014 8:11 pm Post subject:

Looking great Jay! Always good to get the little battles won!

I'd like to suggest you paint the housing of the tai lights, with a chrome, or at minimum silver color.... Put some more reflectivity in there... These lights leave a lot to be desired for sure.. Lots of VWs with rear end crunches, seems like a likely culprit to me... I lined mine with aluminium tape. That will suffice, until I get the LED inserts built!

Just a suggestion....
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'74 Thing, "Our Thing".... Blue 181

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4...p;start=60
'71 Beetle RPU
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=8080337#8080337
www.NLEOMF.com
Respect, Honor, Remember

JayC · Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2014 7:06 am Post subject:

Hi All,

So got ambitious over the weekend and decided that as long as it was 100 degrees, I would get the heater working.

Long story short, I ran in to a problem. The gasket between the heater body and the exhaust pipe was completely rotted away.

So, does anyone know of a source for the grommet / gasket? I looked at German Supply as they had it listed, but it was out of stock.

Any other ideas?

GI Joe - Good idea on painting the housing of the tail lights. i'm going to add that to the list of things to do.

jay

JayC · Posted: Mon Apr 13, 2015 2:01 pm Post subject:

Hi All,

It has been a while since I last updated this build.

I finally sorted out my engine timing issues. What a pain! No matter how many times I double and triple checked everything, it turns out I had the distributor drive gear in 180 degrees off. Once I re-indexed the cap, it fired right up and I was able to set the timing and the idle. Off for the first test drive! Got all the way around the block before I ran out of gas Smile

The next step was to take it in and get it aligned. My local place did a good job (I think), but it was evidently a pain. I haven't gotten to drive it much yet, but the ride home seemed better. Still a bit wobbly...

While driving it on its initial test drives, there was a clunk sound from the front right wheel. So, up on the jack stands again and pull it apart to find the bolt I didn't tighten. No luck, everything was nice and snug. I thought maybe i hadn't gotten the brake drum tight when I put it on, but it seemed OK, nothing obvious. However, the wheel was not spinning smoothly. I could not figure out what it was binding on, but decided the bearings must be bad, so I replaced them with a spare set I had. No change. This was weird.

I was scared the spindle was jacked up so I pulled the brake drum off the other side and swapped the drums. The left side drum on the right spindle spun perfectly. The right drum on the left spindle showed the same issue, just opposite side. So, the only thing I can think is the drum is buggered? I have never heard of a drum being screwed up before and these were supposedly the good Italian drums.

I ordered a new drum today and will see if that fixes the issue. There is a show in Denver (well small get together) at Painters Grinding that I am hoping to take it down to this weekend!

Thanks all!

jay

JayC · Posted: Mon May 04, 2015 10:28 am Post subject:

Finally! Some new pictures of the first day out in the sun. It was a beautiful day yesterday in Colorado and I got to get out and putz a round a bit. It seems like every I look at it I find more stuff to do, but mostly just cosmetic at this point. The only gremlin left to chase down is the driver's side turn signals aren't working and the auto cancel isn't working well. I suspect a loose wire and the cancelling mechanism is too tight (from reading here).

I'm trying to figure out what to do for a top. I have been contemplating just putting a bikini top on her for the summer as i don't intend to purposely drive in bad weather, but would like to have something in case it really starts to rain. The nice thing about Colorado is even if it gets wet inside, it dries quickly!

Thank you again for everyone's help and assistance!

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

Crap! Forgot the hubcaps!!!!

Hm... guess I should put the center part of the steering wheel back on as well!

jay

GI Joe · Posted: Mon May 04, 2015 10:54 am Post subject:

Looks awesome Jay!!

Good thing about these wheels, they look good with or without hubcaps!!
I pull mine off periodically just to shake it up a bit!

May I suggest you lower your air cleaner a bit on the bracket... That will level out your cross over tube and allow it to set to the carb throat better...

Again, she looks fantastic!!! Like a new Thing!!!
Well done!
_________________
'74 Thing, "Our Thing".... Blue 181

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4...p;start=60
'71 Beetle RPU
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=8080337#8080337
www.NLEOMF.com
Respect, Honor, Remember

germanbilly · Posted: Mon May 04, 2015 12:28 pm Post subject:

Very Well Done. Sure looks like it's ready for the road.
GB

JayC · Posted: Mon May 04, 2015 1:10 pm Post subject:

Thanks all!

Dang - I didn't even think about lowering the air filter! I was looking at that forever trying to figure out what was going on. Stupid Embarassed

I am trying to figure out what clamps to put on that to hold it in place. The ones I ordered from the thing shop don't seem to be big enough. I may pull it off and let soak in the sun a bit this weekend and see if I can make them fit.

jay

AirDirect · Posted: Tue May 12, 2015 10:16 am Post subject: Thing Restoration

Very nicely done! Gives me lots of hope for my restoration. Should be starting on it soon.


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