manifold madness...

so, in my few spare minutes here and there, i've been working on cleaning out the preheater tubes on the intake manifold...  got a good technique off the samba using a drill and a snake... i also used a cut up clutch cable... i got it pretty clean i think...

cleaned, primed, painted and ready for install...

had some free time yesterday, so i figured i should get started on the install...  i forgot tom (you know, bigger, stronger older brother tom) couldn't get the generator nut off when we dropped the engine... i couldn't budge it either... but there was a broom hanging in the garage with a metal stick, to i took the end off and made a cheater bar... 

and liberal use of WD-40....

and it actually worked!!

lifted the fan shroud up and started to pull out the generator and fan, but it was still hitting the manifold and carb...

so, the carb had to go, and i had to detach the throttle ring behind the shroud to get it high enough to get the generator and fan out...

and it worked... you can see the throttle ring behind where the fan was...

got a little nervous with all the parts and fasteners laying about...

wiggled the manifold out of there... had to move the starter...

here's what i found at the back of the manifold...  the hole is in the preheater tube, but i guarantee it is rusted through between the preheater and the intake... you can see my attempt at JB welding it, but i couldn't see back there so i didn't know there was a hole...

the worst part about this whole experience is that it appears as though my big brother was right... again... an air leak in the intake somewhere, probably sucking air from being rusted through to the preheater tube...

i suppose i should start listening to what he says....  at least when it comes to volkswagens....

stripped out racer!!

started getting ready for carpet... pulled out all the seats except driver...

pulled out what was remaining of the original carpet up front...

and out back...  the original tar board insulation was a pain...

the rubber tunnel was so dried out, it cracked off in pieces...

backed it out to clean the garage...

got my wolfsburg west carpet the other day too... it's super nice and is going to look sweet!!

One more pic

Never mind Swiss cheese manifold, Swiss cheese car

Another week thrash on Buzz Saw. With the occasional interruption for school x-mas parties and birthday parties, i got a good bit done. 

- moved peddle assembly forward 2", shortened 2" .. so I can drive the car
- installed gas tank with gas gauge, fuel pump and filter
- installed remote oil filter and cooler
- installed seat belt anchors
- fixed steering column
- final rendering of colors and graphics
- raise rear shock mounts 3"... otherwise it would bottom out
-  supper dupper pretzel exhaust re worker

interior

got some work done on the interior.. finished up the door panels, and installed the rear panels...  that's original carpet and sound deadening in the rear...

heard tom took the week off and worked on the buggy... no proof though...

swiss cheese manifold...

so, i think the more i seal up the manifold, the more holes are made/found...  ran it on wednesday and it was idling up and down again, then noticed some liquid on the fan housing behind the manifold, stuck my finger on the backside of the manifold and it was all wet...

so, i think there are weak spots all over and every time i seal one up, it blows another hole in it some place else... so, i bought a manifold on the samba and i guess i'll replace it at some point...

here's some shots of the damage area from the left side of the engine near spark plug number 4 down the back of the manifold... the arrows point to where the holes were...

so, of course, i slathered it in JB Weld...

ran it on sunday and it settled into a decent idle again...  i am sure it's only a matter of time until it blows another hole out at a weak spot... 

however, i did get it out of the driveway and down the street...  i adjusted the brakes a few weeks ago, and they are better (the right front doesn't lock up when i tap the brakes)...  the clutch seems to be better, no slippage in 3rd...  the tires are rubbing on the headlight buckets in sharp turns, but i expected that... might raise the front a tad...

JB weld rules... and i am pretty smart...

so, used some JB weld to try and seal up the whole in the manifold...  here's some before and after...

so, not the prettiest fix, but i'll throw some flat black paint on it so it doesn't stand out... 

on the plus side, it seems to have helped... i wonder if sealing the manifold to the head blew open that little hole a little more so i could see it... anyway, it seems to be running better, still idles up and down, but then settled into a pretty steady idle, but it was still too fast for my liking...

i couldn't get it to idle down, and it looked like the accelerator cable was too tight, so i loosened it up, and bingo!! sort of... 

the best thing was after that, i was able to make it stall out by turning in the mixture screw!!!  it was actually doing something!!!  i guess the accelerator cable was too tight, just bypassing the idle pathway in the carb... so, i adjusted that, then adjusted the idle screw to get it close, so i think i have the carb adjusted pretty well now...

like i said, once i let it run for a bit, it settled into a decent idle... i'll start over with checking the valve clearance, timing, etc, and make sure its all on...  then i need to adjust the brakes (they drag bad, and may need to bleed them), then i can make sure the clutch is good to go...

anyway, here's some proof...