Thanks fellas, only just over 2 months til the big day. I've been thinking of a way to put a little nod to Yoda in there somewhere Grant. It'll either be a figure or a little hand painted yoda head. Not sure yet but it will have to happen considering his sacrifice. :lol:
The car that Yoda rebuilt: THE BIG REVEAL 17/10/2015
- Thread starter BlueDog
- Start date
- Joined
- May 13, 2015
- Messages
- 2,990
Ryan, just found this thread for the time. Awesome work mate. As someone who has restored a number of cars including two beetles, a Triumph Herald and a Spitfire I seriously cannot believe this is your first restoration job: it looks as good as any professional I've seen and better than some.
Congrats on nearing the end of the project. The bug is a super cool and iconic car and to have one with so much family history is brilliant. I do hope someone will be on camera duty at the moment of the grand unveiling. The expression on your wife's face will be priceless and worth every drop of blood, sweat and tears spent. And every Yoda sacrificed!
Congrats on nearing the end of the project. The bug is a super cool and iconic car and to have one with so much family history is brilliant. I do hope someone will be on camera duty at the moment of the grand unveiling. The expression on your wife's face will be priceless and worth every drop of blood, sweat and tears spent. And every Yoda sacrificed!
Thanks Savoury and Scruffy!
That's a huge compliment coming from someone who's done cars before Scruffy thanks mate. It's been a big learning curve but made easier by way of Youtube and websites dedicated to restoring bugs full of helpful info.
My Brother in law is an avid amateur photographer so there'll certainly be plenty of photos of Donna's reaction to seeing it again. I'll be sure to post them up after the fact, although it should be a laugh as the party is fancy dress.
That's a huge compliment coming from someone who's done cars before Scruffy thanks mate. It's been a big learning curve but made easier by way of Youtube and websites dedicated to restoring bugs full of helpful info.
My Brother in law is an avid amateur photographer so there'll certainly be plenty of photos of Donna's reaction to seeing it again. I'll be sure to post them up after the fact, although it should be a laugh as the party is fancy dress.
Just a small update this time, finished everything under the trunk which was to refit the fresh air box and hoses as well as make a new trunk liner as the original one had seen better days.
Looks heaps neater and one more job done.
Finished some minor trimming to the carpet and fitted seat belts and front and rear seats as well as some stainless steel sill covers.
Little in joke between myself and my neighbour, every time we do some maintenance for our elderly neighbours ( which we always do for free ) we issue them with a joke invoice for the work done under the name Blue Cougar as my business name is Blue dog and his is Cougar so it made sense to knock a sticker up for the dub.
Fitted a new fuel pump as she's having trouble starting, even with that she still won't run unless fuel is poured down the carburettor. Tried a new carby as well as her original but still no luck so we'll keep plugging away until the problem is sorted. Can't very well go through all of this and not be able to bloody start it on the day. Officially 7 weeks to go. 8)
Looks heaps neater and one more job done.
Finished some minor trimming to the carpet and fitted seat belts and front and rear seats as well as some stainless steel sill covers.
Little in joke between myself and my neighbour, every time we do some maintenance for our elderly neighbours ( which we always do for free ) we issue them with a joke invoice for the work done under the name Blue Cougar as my business name is Blue dog and his is Cougar so it made sense to knock a sticker up for the dub.
Fitted a new fuel pump as she's having trouble starting, even with that she still won't run unless fuel is poured down the carburettor. Tried a new carby as well as her original but still no luck so we'll keep plugging away until the problem is sorted. Can't very well go through all of this and not be able to bloody start it on the day. Officially 7 weeks to go. 8)
Cool sign 8)
Is the fuel tank original?
Rust getting through to carb and blocking?
I'm no mechanic thouh :?
But jets in the carb may be getting blocked, you can strip it and take out the gasket and clean through with carb cleaner
Just had something similar with my freelander
Is the fuel tank original?
Rust getting through to carb and blocking?
I'm no mechanic thouh :?
But jets in the carb may be getting blocked, you can strip it and take out the gasket and clean through with carb cleaner
Just had something similar with my freelander
Have you taken the fuel hose off at the carb and made sure it's pumping properly? If it is and you can fire it up by pouring fuel down the carb then it's either a blocked jet as Mike said or an air leak. Take the top off and give it a blow out with an airline if you have one. Air leaks are tricky to test unless it's running. You can spray WD40 or something like that all over the carb. A change in engine note while doing this will indicate an air leak.
Of course if there's some sort of cold start that could also cause issues but manual systems are generally easy to set up and test. It is probably a jet though.
Car looks mint mate
Of course if there's some sort of cold start that could also cause issues but manual systems are generally easy to set up and test. It is probably a jet though.
Car looks mint mate
Little update:
After many hours spent trying to sort out the engine it ended up at this. :evil:
Replaced the fuel pump, cleaned the carby jets not much in there and we were left scratching our heads, finally a mate of mine who is a former mechanic and now a Vet ( talk about a change in professions ) came over to give us a hand. One thing I'd noticed before he arrived was that only one side of the engine was getting hot( look at the muffler in the pic above one side darker than the other ), this left us to conclude that it was only running on two cylinders.
Long story short engine out with suspicions it was completely stuffed, feared one of the lobes on the cam shaft may have broken or something similarly sinister. Ended up being a leaking inlet manifold gasket so I went from thinking it was going to cost thousands of $$££ to it coming down to a $4 part. Sure we had to remove the engine twice in the one day to figure it out but that's all part of the fun and we've now got removing the engine down to a 20 minute job :lol: .
Will be putting it back in on thursday evening as my wife is away for four days so by the end of next weekend it will be complete, wahoo!
After many hours spent trying to sort out the engine it ended up at this. :evil:
Replaced the fuel pump, cleaned the carby jets not much in there and we were left scratching our heads, finally a mate of mine who is a former mechanic and now a Vet ( talk about a change in professions ) came over to give us a hand. One thing I'd noticed before he arrived was that only one side of the engine was getting hot( look at the muffler in the pic above one side darker than the other ), this left us to conclude that it was only running on two cylinders.
Long story short engine out with suspicions it was completely stuffed, feared one of the lobes on the cam shaft may have broken or something similarly sinister. Ended up being a leaking inlet manifold gasket so I went from thinking it was going to cost thousands of $$££ to it coming down to a $4 part. Sure we had to remove the engine twice in the one day to figure it out but that's all part of the fun and we've now got removing the engine down to a 20 minute job :lol: .
Will be putting it back in on thursday evening as my wife is away for four days so by the end of next weekend it will be complete, wahoo!
Thanks Vernon, as of today she's officially finished and moved under her own steam for the first time in nearly 11 years. Hopefully we'll get her out in the sunshine over the next week or so and give her a good wash and hand polish. Once that's done I'll take some better pics.
Stunning result 8)
Been great to watch this labour of love ( literally) coming to life, you must be absoloutely stoked with the end result.
Love the Dub ....outstanding piece of work mate
Been great to watch this labour of love ( literally) coming to life, you must be absoloutely stoked with the end result.
Love the Dub ....outstanding piece of work mate
She's a beauty :shock:
Clarkspie&chips
Sith Lord
- Joined
- Apr 27, 2014
- Messages
- 1,203
This thread has been a joy to follow and such a stunning result at the end. Amazing skills
My grandad had a beetle in the same colour so it brings back a lot of great memories from my childhood.
Please get someone to film your wife's reaction and post it up for us to see.
My grandad had a beetle in the same colour so it brings back a lot of great memories from my childhood.
Please get someone to film your wife's reaction and post it up for us to see.
Jimi Woolley
Padawan
How have I only just seen this thread!
Absolutely amazing job Bluedog, she looks amazing!
I restored a 1966 VW Dekuxe Microbus, finished her about 8 years ago. I've also got a 64 Beetle patiently waiting it's turn. It's going to be a huge job as the bodywork is shocking!
Here's my bus:
Can't wait to see the reaction from your wife. When's the big day?
Jimi
Absolutely amazing job Bluedog, she looks amazing!
I restored a 1966 VW Dekuxe Microbus, finished her about 8 years ago. I've also got a 64 Beetle patiently waiting it's turn. It's going to be a huge job as the bodywork is shocking!
Here's my bus:
Can't wait to see the reaction from your wife. When's the big day?
Jimi
aussiejames
Sith Lord
How did I miss start up day?
It will be great to see the smile on the Mrs' face on her 30th!
It will be great to see the smile on the Mrs' face on her 30th!
So inspiring. A massive congratulations.
I want to renevate a classic car.
I want to renevate a classic car.
Hey Jimi, man that's a sweet bus dude. My absolute dream to own a Kombi but at current prices a splitty will remain a dream for a while longer. I had the opportunity to snag a low light a few months ago but it would've been a bit hard to explain to the missus. Presentation day is on the 17th Oct so not long now.
Good luck with the bug you'll have to post some pics up here when you get started.
Sorry James I thought you would have heard it from over there, forgot how noisy the old VW engines are.
Thanks Grant, it's something everyone should do at least once in their life I reckon, best way to know a car and I now have the confidence to fix her when ever she breaks something :lol:
My neighbour and I have already started planning our next project, might be a bit foreign to most on here but it'll be a Holden LX Torana as he owned one in his 20's which was stolen. after that it'll be one of two of my dream cars, either a Kombi or a VF Valiant ( Chrysler ) coupe.
Torana
Valiant
Good luck with the bug you'll have to post some pics up here when you get started.
Sorry James I thought you would have heard it from over there, forgot how noisy the old VW engines are.
Thanks Grant, it's something everyone should do at least once in their life I reckon, best way to know a car and I now have the confidence to fix her when ever she breaks something :lol:
My neighbour and I have already started planning our next project, might be a bit foreign to most on here but it'll be a Holden LX Torana as he owned one in his 20's which was stolen. after that it'll be one of two of my dream cars, either a Kombi or a VF Valiant ( Chrysler ) coupe.
Torana
Valiant
8) lovin the Valiant, but not a patch on the dub mate
Love the vintage cars, think I remember seeing these in a TV series that aired over here a loooooong time ago "bluey" I think it was called something like that, an Aussie Frank Canon :lol: but used to watch that.
Love the vintage cars, think I remember seeing these in a TV series that aired over here a loooooong time ago "bluey" I think it was called something like that, an Aussie Frank Canon :lol: but used to watch that.
:lol: :lol: Mike I haven't heard of Bluey for years, geez we sure do send the very best of Aussie TV to you guys don't we. Lucky Grills was the actors name and yes you would've seen some nice old Aussie cars in that show, I think Bluey actually drove a Valiant in the show.
We had a comedy show in the 90's call the D-Gen, they did a dub spoof of Bluey called BargeArse, very funny. Well it was back then.
Here's a link, not sure you'd get away with this stuff today but it was parodying how they used to talk in those shows back in the 60's and 70's.
[youtube]Fahf77qzEnE[/youtube]
We had a comedy show in the 90's call the D-Gen, they did a dub spoof of Bluey called BargeArse, very funny. Well it was back then.
Here's a link, not sure you'd get away with this stuff today but it was parodying how they used to talk in those shows back in the 60's and 70's.
[youtube]Fahf77qzEnE[/youtube]
