I've returned to the light

After three long years, I'm back in the VW game. Three years ago I sold Felix after discovering some cancerous rust in the heater channels (they were completely rusted through covered by paint and Bondo) I was at a point where I needed a newer more reliable car as a daily driver. It's no fun making grown-up decisions.

Fast forward three years and I'd really been bitten by the Bug again. After months and months of searching I found Carl. Carl is the newest member of my family!

He's a 1975 standard beetle with everything I had hoped for on my next bug. Strong 1600cc engine nicely upholstered interior, original color on the exterior, original paint on the interior. The paint job is older, so no hidden rust issues like before.


It didn't take long to get my hands dirty again. After a small tune-up he is running great. I'm excited for the future projects I'll get to work on with carl. He is by far in the best condition of any Beetle I've had up to his point. But I still have some plans for him.

I'll keep updating my blog here with all the little things I do to him as I continue to keep him running and in tip top shape!

Thanks for reading, Please subscribe to keep getting updates on work I'm doing and helpful hints and tips on working on your own Classic Veedub!

Christmas Tradition in Lithuania Meets the Bug

Hello! Today I'm going to be posting about something I bought while I was in Lithuania. I was in Lithuania for two years, I loved it, it was an amazing experience. I would defiantly recommend that you visit Lithuania if you are ever in Eastern Europe. The people there are always willing to help if you get lost. The history and culture is rich with stories and legends. Their cities have castles and forts, old cathedrals. It is a wonderful country.

I was able to be in Lithuania for two Christmas's. The Christmas of 2014 and the Christmas of 2015. It was a neat experience. I enjoyed experiencing a different culture and way of celebrating Christmas. One of the traditions that I really enjoyed is similar to one we have in my family. In my family we would always have a Christmas Eve program and everybody would perform something. It might be reading a story or poem. Playing a song on the piano, guitar, or violin. It is one of my favorite memories during Christmas growing up.

In Lithuania they have a tradition where on Christmas Eve the children have to perform something in order to receive their gifts from Grandpa Christmas (Santa Clause). Occasionally Grandpa Christmas even attended activities and parties. One year the branch of the church I was at in the city of Klaipėda put on a Christmas Activity. At the end of the activity, after celebrating the birth of our savior, the Christmas Grandpa came to wish the children a Merry Christmas. They according to tradition had to sing or perform for their candy. Usually the gifts that children receive are boxes of candy. So at Christmas time all of the grocery stores would have sections for different boxes of candy from different candy makers.

One day I was doing my shopping at the grocery store and as I was walking through the aisle piled full of boxes of candy for good little boys and little girls, I saw a very special box. It was a candy box in the shape of a bug. The description of the box even called it a beetle. It made me happy to think that really good little boys and little girls could be getting VW Beetles full of candy. What better gift could you ask for?

I am happy to report that I was good enough that the Christmas Grandpa brought me one for Christmas. The candy was good, but my favorite part by far was the box.

I'd love to hear from you in the comments below, what are some of the coolest Christmas themed VW things you have seen?

I can see clearly now, the smudge is gone...

Windshield wipers and the fluid are both vital parts of a car. They let you see when its raining, snowing, or bugs and dirt splatter on your windshield. Well neither one worked very well when I first got the car. It was yet another part of the car I had to work completely through to get working properly. But now it does...

When I first got the car the passenger side wiper would stick in the up position, and stay there. It couldn't push snow off the windshield, it was useless. I realized that on both sides the shafts that the wiper arms attached to, and the wiper arms were both stripped out. Luckily I was able to find a good working wiper assembly, and well as wiper arms, ones that were not stripped out! I then replaced the blades with brand new blades and it works like a champ!

The Windshield wiper fluid was also a mess. He had rigged up a button that dangled out of the dashboard that operated a cheap electrical pump. After doing some research I was able to figure out how to restore the original system. I got ahold of all the original parts, a new washer valve, and new washer fluid lines. I was then able to restore the system, which uses air pressure to pressurize the tank and a switch on the wiper switch to turn them on and off. Now it works like any other car on the road. Push up on the switch and it turns the wipers on, pull the switch towards you and it sprays the windshield! Little by little the car is getting easier and more fun to use! It is a good little car.

Clean Connections

Hey Everybody, Today I wanted to post about the fuel injection connectors in the engine compartment. When I first bought the car the owner told me that the connectors on the fuel injectors sometimes came loose, so he wedged them on with some foam and it worked great...

Well that defiantly wasn't safe. I found that auto zone carries the connectors with pigtails, so I was able to go through with my dad and replace all of the connectors by soldering on the new ones, using heat shrink finished it for a nice look. Its these little things that are important to me in fixing a car. If your going to do it, do it right. It wasn't very hard, or very expensive, but now I have more peace of mind as I drive down the road. This car really has become a safe car to drive. We've made sure that the engine is put together right and that there aren't any concerns or issues.

So todays post was shorter, I think its cool that we can still buy these little parts for these cars. But I wanted to share this cool repair that I was able to do to make it that much safer.

Day/Night

Good Evening! Today I'll be posting the last of my "cockpit" posts for a while. I'm really excited about the way the interior looks, its clean, and complete, and very stock. Its a fun car to drive! I'm excited to share many of the other upgrades and repairs I've done to the car since march. There have been a lot, and its been fun, and now, its running really, really good. So for todays post I'll be talking about the rear view mirror. You know when you drive down the road at night, and the lights from the car glare in your eyes through the rear view mirror? That's pretty annoying right? Luckily you can switch your mirror from day to night and the glare is gone. What you may not realize is that old cars did not always come standard with those type of rear view mirrors. How annoying would it be to not be able to switch back and forth? Well its pretty annoying, I know from experience! Luckily I have been able to find an original VW accessory! A Day/Night mirror was an option from the dealership. My car did not originally have one, but now it does. It makes a huge difference when driving at night! I love finding little accessories that modernize the car just a little bit while keeping the original class and style of the car. :)

Safety First!

Good Afternoon! Today I'm continuing my posts on my "cockpit" improvements. Today's topic: safety harnesses. Of course we mostly refer to them as seat belts. One thing I never thought about when buying an old car is how annoying old seat belts can be! When they get old they don't retract they just dangle loose, which honestly is not that safe. And they are old and worn. Well when I got this car it had old seat belts. And yes it was really annoying, I know this from experience. But things like that are important to me, after all safety first! So I purchased new seat belts. I got a really good deal on them actually. They are the correct size for my car, but they are actually built for a military Hummer, and I got them new from military surplus. But they work just like the original VW seat belts did. Who knows maybe even better, after all it was designed for the military! Its just one of those things that can really freshen up an old car!

Organization!

Hello All! I'm continuing my posts on my improvements the the "cockpit" of my car. Today will be a shorter one, but its something I'm still pretty excited about! Today I wanted to share a really cool accessory that I've added to my car since purchasing it. This was an accessory that was originally available at the dealership, available for customers to purchase. This is an original VW center console. It isn't something you find much anymore but I was lucky enough to get my hand on one and install one in my car. I really like it, its a place I can put my iPod, or my phone. I can keep change. Or if I keep it empty it finishes of the interior very nicely! I love little details like this that add a touch of class and uniqueness to a bug. Any cool accessories that you have on your cars?