New Owner, 70' Fasty

[wdollie6]

Replacement signal switch arrived yesterday finally had time to pull it out and work on it today. The switch had 3 additional wires that I did not need and the plastic housing was somewhat different so it had to be "adjusted" with a dremel tool to remove excess pieces and to put slots in for the wire chase.

Once I had the chase fitted to the switch I simply swapped wires over one at a time by directly soldering bare wire to bare wire, followed by heat shrink. Time consuming but not the end of the world, actually worked out better than I anticipated

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Final Wiring Switch Signal.jpg (1.74 MiB) Viewed 737 times

In order to fit it into the column the outer plastic radius of the signal had to be filed down to fit into the housing, the overall quality of the Chinese part was not impressive, cheapened up in every way possible. For $30 including shipping I couldn't expect much more.

Here is the finalized signal switch slid into the column. Again, not sure what to expect with regards to life of but better than the one I had (which I have kept, just in case).

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[wdollie6]

Anyone have any thoughts on my earlier post about the rear view mirror? I gave it a try again today with no luck.

HELP!

[wdollie6]

After installing the new signal switch I still struggled with getting the blinkers to actually work. After crawling under and then up into the abyss under the dash it was to understand the cause. The flasher relay had been mounted so that the rear faced upwards which in the case of an original relay is where the circuit board soldering is. Suffice it to say that with the amount of rust this car had, water infringed on its space, much of the solder was peeling up or missing.

Strangely enough this Dec. 1970 car was wired to the 1971 specs., i.e. a 3 spade relay vs. the 7 that is on the 1970 wiring diagram. Since the wiring matched and appeared to be original I assume it was a mid year change. Regardless, bought an inexpensive 3 pin relay from NAPA, figured out how to wire it then had the pleasure of watching the signal lights work.. then not work... then work, aaaahhhhggg (the Emergency Flasher didn't work at all). So back to the wiring diagrams and onto the emergency flasher switch, fortunately turned out to be another easy fix.

When I pulled the Emergency Switch it came out in two pieces, fortunately it was in great shape. I put it back together, cable tired it, reinstalled and like magic everything worked, signal lights and emergency flashers. The only other challenge is that the indicator lights in the speedometer worked fine for the blinker lights but not at all when the emergency flashers are on. Seems like they flash in the other VWs I have, hmmm? Oh well a small concern in the big picture.

I also tested the high/low beam switch, another win, although I did have to adjust the contact on the signal switch slightly. The steering column is all reassembled and everything works properly, can't test the horn as of yet, don't have one. Also can't find my original horn mount, another part lost to the universe.

[wdollie6]

Progress continues with front and rear bumpers temporarily mounted to make sure everything fits up properly. The structure that goes behind the front bumper was challenging to fully insert, some aftereffects of the accident that it was obviously in. The round tubes do not fit their holes properly and jam up against the frame at the rear. The rear bumper slid in with no problems and bolts went in easily (after chasing the threads).

These bumpers are the ones I purchased that are manufactured in Vietnam, they are of good quality and unlike the ones on my Super Beetle Convertible the holes did not need to be re-drilled. Note that the drivers side bumper is not fully tightened as of yet as the alignment needed additional work. The gaps between the front fenders and doors have been inconsistent, still trying to work this out as the interface between the bumper, the front fender, and door is challenging to say the least. I have to admit to dinging some paint along the way but am getting closer to the fit I desire.

Next steps are inserting the fender welts so that they can be permanently positioned and tightened, followed by the interior. Then I will start the tedious process of wet sanding as I have some dirt, orange peel and drips to deal with. Another first for me. Still trying to be ready for the Type 3 event in Ticonderoga as it is only a couple of hours away.

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[Amskeptic]

Now on to the rear view mirror, HELP! The very same mirror I pulled out when I ripped the headliner out (literally) refuses to go back into its slot. I have smacked, rocked and rubber malleted with no luck, even after adding a dab of lubrication. I have hit this as hard as I dare and yet can't get it to seat. If anyone knows tricks of the trade with regards to this please let me know as this should have been easy!

Inspect the opening and see if you have inadvertently bent the edges of the hole. VW had to get tricky with the engineering here so that it would break-away under impact. There are some ramps that must remain ramped. Look at the mirror end and you will see a "hook" at the rear and two sort of "blades" at the front. The hook comes up on a spring-loaded "roll pin" that needs its own application of silicone grease. The second that any of this gets bent, nothing works.
Once straightened out, I stick the blades in the hole and do a little side-to-side rotational movement as I look where the hook has to get around the spring-loaded roll pin. A press up and you hear it thonk into place.
Let me know,
Colin

[wdollie6]

This is what I am working with, nothing appears to be bent or out of sorts. Either I can't get the leverage I need or I am taking the wrong approach but I've tried twice since your response with no luck. Thankfully I have plenty of other things to work on, but would like to get this task completed. Who would have thought that this somewhat simple task would be driving me up the wall.

Also I have looked at one other picture on the samba and mine is in the same condition, that person was able to rotate it into position. My one concern is that the black plastic around the mirror itself is a little fragile from UV degradation so I am trying to be gentle.

So am I supposed to hook the rear first then rotate towards the front glass, or vice versa?

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[Amskeptic]

Your is different than what I was envisioning. You do have the spring-loaded pin, and yes to bringing it up sideways and rotating into position.