Gretchen wall

ruckman101 · Post by **ruckman101** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 5:32 pm

Well, finally got tires on Bertha Bus, so back to Gretchen's pedal cluster.

I hit the wall with it. I picked up a used set, and was ready to put it in, oiled it up, aach, gas spring broken, which way does it go, where does the back of the brake spring go? And then I just keep looking at the pocket of rust there where it bolts in.

I just couldn't do it without hitting it with POR 15 or something first, and the same with the pedals themselves, tearing them all the way down, cleaning, painting, putting them back together. That's where I hit the wall.

I ran out of something from the POR 15 kit, where is it? And dissarray in the back room with the workbench, massive disorganization, where the daggum is anything.

So I bought shelving.

If it isn't one thing, it's another.

neal

Bookwus · Post by **Bookwus** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 6:16 pm

Hiya Neal,

Actually, that's a smart move.

Whenever I start losing tools or parts during the middle of a project, I know it's time to take a break. Might as well keep it challenging and fun instead of aggravating and frustrating. Besides, the time off allows me to do a little thinking ahead and that alone has saved me a lot of time and grief.

Ha! I'm doing that right now with the Bug. My brake lights disappeared. Switches most likely. But I've just been through some contortions with cleaning the switch plugs and contacts (thinking that the corrosion may have been the culprit - but they needed the cleaning anyway) and "lost" the plastic plugs a couple of times. Time to stop! And I just had the thought to hook my 12v converter to the leads back to the brake lights to check that circuit.

Think I'll wander out and do that now..................

hambone · Post by **hambone** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 7:25 am

Boy howdy are you guys right...soon as that ol' over the top feeling starts sinking in after too many hours, things start to go haywire. I wish I'd learn my own lessons.......

ruckman101 · Post by **ruckman101** » Mon Nov 05, 2007 6:37 pm

Well, get the floor treated and the pedal assembly back in yesterday morning before work. Onto clutch/accelerator/brake adjust and Gretchen should be back on the road. Dismaying how attuned you become to spots of rust once you start dealing with it. !!!!!. Now I know what inspires people to strip a car down to bare metal to start over.

neal

Post by **Amskeptic** » Mon Nov 05, 2007 7:00 pm

ruckman101 wrote: Now I know what inspires people to strip a car down to bare metal to start over.

I kind of like my piece-meal approach. It always feels so satisfying to wrest back a new section of car from the rust. I had to do that pedal cluster front floorboard deal with the Squareback due to the leaking windshield wiper pivot. It was a real pleasure to get smooth light pedals as a reward for that ^*^%$* greasy hairy clutch clevis nonsense and that big old brake pedal return spring. . . .

ruckman101 · Post by **ruckman101** » Mon Nov 12, 2007 4:45 pm

Ok, so I got the rust patched up and POR 15ed, pedals all lubed and clean back in Gretchen, ready to go, but to do it in style I decide, since the back is jacked up still, to put in the new heater cable, as the old one is gone on one side and the flap was wired open to the brake line (!).

And sure enough, the drivers side tube is hopelessly blocked so I spent the afternoon grumbling and trying to clear it out to no avail. Drat. So finally giving up, I get the distributor back in and get a cough out of the engine before it dies from lack of gas and of course then the battery dies.

So it goes. Blustery wet Vets Day kept me inside today.

neal

hambone · Post by **hambone** » Mon Nov 12, 2007 6:25 pm

Today is a day better left to the beer bottles and the green green delites.

ruckman101 · Post by **ruckman101** » Tue Dec 11, 2007 5:44 pm

Good grief, weeks go by, Bertha's floor collapsing, but did get Gretchen off the jack-stands today.

However, all is not perfect.

Just like the bus, Bentley suggests that for 1970, I need to know the month for the correct timing. I guess that would ultimately be based on the current engine in there. I'm not sure how to nail it down. Like the bus, all advance in at 3k rpm?

And seems to be some carb issues. Chokes, bogs, struggles a bit from idle. Detected a couple of flat out misses on the test drive.

Wired open the heat at the heater boxes as the driver side tube for the cable is still blocked shut. A thin wire will run through, but not the thicker end.

Some obvious water issues still. Carpet on the passenger side is soaked. Rubber gasket on the driver side rain catch pan under the engine lid is cracked and water leaking in there. Oh my.

The thought was to start driving Gretchen so I could fix the floor on Bertha. I guess I'm not quite there yet. So it goes.

Felt fantastic to be on the road again. A bit unnerving to be so low after driving Bertha all this time, ahh, but corners are fun.

neal

Westy78 · Post by **Westy78** » Tue Dec 11, 2007 6:06 pm

ruckman101 wrote:
However, all is not perfect.

Just like the bus, Bentley suggests that for 1970, I need to know the month for the correct timing. I guess that would ultimately be based on the current engine in there. I'm not sure how to nail it down. Like the bus, all advance in at 3k rpm?

Time for the specific distributor not the month of manufacture. Over the years who knows what distributors have seen that engine. Now if it's a stock dizzy, that originally came with the engine, then disregard my suggestion.

Post by **Amskeptic** » Tue Dec 11, 2007 8:18 pm

ruckman101 wrote: Just like the bus, Bentley suggests that for 1970, I need to know the month for the correct timing.

Blaaaaah. You only need to look at the distributor. Does it have centrifugal advance? 1970 was the final gasp for vacuum only and August was the final month, that's why they get all excited. If you have vacuum only, timing is a static 0* and make sure the vacuum is clean lubricated excellent in every way. In August, they switched to the centrifugal/vacuum, that thar you want 28* at 3,200 RPM vacuum hose pulled. Same if you have centrifugal only. What is your build date for the Karmann Ghia? I want to drive it next summer.
Colin

hambone · Post by **hambone** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 8:34 am

If you can get the # of the distributor there's a site out there with all the timing data, but Colin pretty much said all you need to know. You can still time the later distributors statically.

ruckman101 · Post by **ruckman101** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 12:11 pm

Errands today, including new ignition for Gretchen, some RTV apparently, etc., then off to Dunnigan mountain, not back until Monday.

neal

ruckman101 · Post by **ruckman101** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 6:17 pm

Ahhh, winter broke some. Got the car canopy up yesterday, and today, new ignition into Gretchen except for the points as they are the wrong ones. The wire to the condenser is oriented the wrong direction and thus the wire is too short.

The old plugs had a gap of .030 or more. Engine is much happier. All vacuum advance, so I need to reset my timing, or at least check at 3200 rpm.

Running her to the Lucky Lab tonight.

neal

Sylvester · Post by **Sylvester** » Tue Feb 19, 2008 8:18 am

ruckman101 wrote:Running her to the Lucky Lab tonight.

neal

How was the run Neal? Nothing like cruising in a fine tuned Bug.

ruckman101 · Post by **ruckman101** » Tue Feb 19, 2008 11:39 am

So far, so good. Going to give Bertha a bit of a rest and run Gretchen this week then up to Amboy for the weekend. Today, tooling about town looking for a couple used tires for the back of Gretchen. When did Sears stop selling their branded tires? That's what's on the back, sidewalls brittle and cracked.

And points. The set Halsey sold me are wrong for the distributor. So far another beautiful broken winter day encouraging daffodils and the like to come forth.

neal

Itinerant Air-Cooled

Itinerant Air-Cooled

Gretchen wall

Gretchen wall