Pet car

RobM · Post by **RobM** » Fri Nov 30, 2007 12:25 pm

Hey guys & gals,

I picked up a 66 beetle a few months ago. She's been through numerous owners, at least one fender-bender and sports a pile of replacement parts (scavenged & add-ons) But the replacement engine was strong so we bought her.

After putting about 1,500 dollars into getting her fixed up--'funny' wiring replaced, flashers re-installed, new seals so she doesn't drip etc. etc.-- I'm finding she's pretty much a '66 shell with beetle mix & match stuffed into her.

Oh well, she's fun to drive and I'm going through and repairing/replacing worn & broken pieces as I can.

So that makes about $3,000 we've got invested so far. Some folks would say that's a lot to sink into a 40 year old car, but I figure it's less than 6 months of payments on a new car, and I've got a new 'pet' to work on.

The only real trouble I have is that my wife likes driving it so much I'm having a problem getting time to work on it!

Post by **jmartini** » Fri Nov 30, 2007 5:03 pm

Hi Rob and Welcome to the forum! Great to have you as a member - 3000 doesn't sound bad to me at all but the part about having to wrestle it away from the wife spells trouble!

Good luck! Great to have you as a member!

RobM · Post by **RobM** » Fri Nov 30, 2007 7:42 pm

jmartini wrote:Hi Rob and Welcome to the forum! Great to have you as a member - 3000 doesn't sound bad to me at all but the part about having to wrestle it away from the wife spells trouble! Good luck! Great to have you as a member!

Thanks, John.

It was great to find your site.

Yes, it's a problem. I've got little bits of body work to do, door handles to clean out and re-key, scratch-painting, heater pipes to check(no defrost on one side), old stickers and decals to remove and clean-up etc. etc.) and she's got it at work--sigh. I'm itching to get at it.

At least I had time to replace the broken gas gauge yesterday.

I suppose I should thank my lucky stars she dosen't hate the old girl.

Post by **jmartini** » Sat Dec 01, 2007 3:52 am

Right. it would be worse for you if she hated it! Maybe your defrost issues are related to the cardboard pipes that run up from the heater channel in the trunk - they come off every once and a while, or it could be that the heat exchanger is frozen shut on that side (or the wire broke). Most of that stuff is all minor anyway so you sound like you're in pretty good shape - and now that you have your gas tank guage fixed you can cruise without worry - have fun with it.

RobM · Post by **RobM** » Fri Dec 07, 2007 3:30 am

jmartini wrote:Most of that stuff is all minor anyway so you sound like you're in pretty good shape - and now that you have your gas tank guage fixed you can cruise without worry - have fun with it.

- Well my last surprise was, about two days after she was back from the shop, the clutch cable broke at the local grocery store. At 10:00 PM, of course.

- Another tow to the shop and 1 cable + labor. (Good thing my insurance includes free towing!)

- I thought they'd failed to tighten it because it's been getting looser and looser, but then I read that the new cables stretch after installation. I just got the kids old car out of my garage a couple of days ago so I'll go giving a stab at taking up the new slack myself on my day off.

- It looks simple enough in the book . . .

Post by **jmartini** » Fri Dec 07, 2007 4:44 am

I had that happen on my first 66, it was a bear to thread the new cable. Tightening it will not be a problem for you - it is as easy as it looks in the book!