Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Finally Back on the Road & Ready for Another Year

My New Pedals
Last time I actually posted about my car I left you hanging. I mentioned that I had a new set of pedals and antennae ordered. Well that easy fix turned into a slightly bigger problem. When I tried to install the metal accelerator pedal I busted the entire pedal assembly. As I got looking at it I realized that there was a crack there previously and it had started to rust out. So I had to order an entire new pedal assembly. More money than I wanted to spend, but hey it looks nice, and that is one other part I won't have to replace when I restore my bug. So it took another week for that to finally come, and then I got my brand new pedal assembly in with the new brake and clutch pads makes the interior look a little better actually, a little cleaner. The other part I ordered was a stock radio antenna instead of the after market one. Sadly it didn't make all that much difference, I can still only pick up two radio stations clear enough to hear.

New Fan Pulley
OK so my car was running for a few days then I decided to do a carburetor adjustment before I took the car in to get emissions and safety done. I also realized the fan belt was really loose, so I took a look at it and realized the fan pulley was pretty warn and a little loose. I went ahead and ordered that, a week later that finally came, it all went together smoothly and the bug was finally on the road again. To top it all off it passed emissions and safety with flying colors, they didn't have to twink it at all. So he's good to go for another year.


I'm really excited the bug has been running really good lately. Usually about every two weeks I have to fix something else, but he's been running really smoothly (knock on wood). Do you guys find that you have to twink or fix something on your VW pretty regular?

2 comments:

  1. Are you kidding? The newest air-cooled VW brought to this country is now 29 years old (the vast majority are over 40 years old), and their expected service life off the showroom floor was about 200,000 miles. No one, not even the people who made them, expected them to still be used as driving cars in any real numbers in the 21st Century (just like Honda doesn't seriously think you'll be driving your 2012 Accord (or whatever) in the year 2050).

    And they were maintenance-heavy cars to begin with. Add to that the fact that the overwhelming majority of aftermarket stuff--including a lot of stuff you have to have--is junk or worse, and yes, you have to mess with them pretty much constantly, unless yours is some amazing low-mileage barn find. Even then, you're changing the oil a lot more often than any new car, not to mention adjusting your valves.

    Alright,
    whc03grady.

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  2. Good Point :) I guess 40 years later and who knows how many miles, it shouldn't surprise me that they need a bit more maintenance than most cars. It is pretty amazing how many are still on the road.

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