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?

Some Fresh Air Anyone?

Hey All, this is a continuation of the posts I've been doing on the interior improvements I've done in the last 3 months. Today I'll talk about the ventilation system. This is one thing that I have liked about the 1303 super beetles ever since I got one, they came equipped with an improved ventilation system. VW redesigned their dashboard for the super beetles for the 1973 model year. When they did this they increased the windshield size, and updated the dash style. In doing so they also improved the ventilation system. This includes a better defrost system, as well as an improved fresh air system. The fresh air system includes a vent on the out side and a fan that directs air inside towards the passenger through rear facing vents on the dash board. Its a cool feature that sets aside this car from many vw's. 

When I bought the car the fan and system worked great but it did not have the fresh air ventilation knobs. They were removed by the previous owner. They can sometimes be an annoying part to try and find. I was finally able to find some though. They nicely completed my dashboard for a very clean look. It is now very easy to turn on and off the air with the turn of a switch! It actually makes the car very pleasant to drive in the summer. Role the windows down, turn the ventilation and fan on, and you can't help but grin while driving down a sunny road. :)

Tunes

Hello! Today I'm continuing my posts about my car's "cockpit". This is a series of posts is about all the things I've upgraded on my interior and specifically around the dashboard. Today I wanted to write about my sound system.

When I first bought the car it had a good radio, the same one I have in it right now. But it didn't have an antenna and there were wires running everywhere for speakers that were not installed. He just had two speakers in the back seat area that were loose. They flopped around as I drove. It was really annoying. I wanted to put in a good looking speaker system, a stock looking one. So when I pulled the dashboard off I took advantage of the opportunity, and redid the radio.

I rewired the radio.  It didn't have a memory wire installed. It was annoying to have to redo my presets overtime I started the car. I got that all fixed. Now it keeps time, it saves my presets! I bought a nice speaker from auto zone and installed it in the stock speaker location. Now I have great music, it looks stock, its fun to drive. I can drive down the freeway with the windows open and still hear my music. Its such a small car that the new radio and speaker does just fine. I love how the dash is looking, it really has a clean classic look to it!

Speedometer

If you've read my previous posts you'll note that I've recently done some pretty major repairs on my car. During this process I had the dashboard off and I went through some of the problems in the dash. I'm working on a series of posts to write up all of the different repairs and upgrades I've done in the "cockpit". Today I'll be writing about the Speedometer.

During my repair process I decided to rewire the speakers and radio, unfortunately this required me removing the dashboard. Fortunately this provided a perfect opportunity to partially rebuild the speedometer. Like many of the parts on my car the speedometer has had issues since I've bought it. The lights on it were finicky, When driving at night the light would flicker on and off, They were also not very bright. The second problem was the odometer not working.

So I pulled it out and pulled it apart. I replaced several bulbs and repaired the bulb socket that kept flickering. A very easy repair actually. While I was at it I put reflective tape on the inside, this is a great suggestion I read about online to help brighten your speedometer at night. I would definitely recommend it!

The main problem with odometers in old beetles is a plastic gear that tends to break. You can buy brass replacements for this part. On my gear I realized the break wasn't bad and I was able to glue it with some simple super glue. Very easy fix, and now my odometer works perfectly!

While it was out I took the opportunity to repaint the trim ring. I like it  when the trim ring isn't just plain black but is silver so I repainted it. Even something as small as that has really freshened up the dash board.

I'm glad I took the time to do a partial speedometer rebuild, It makes my car that little bit better, and that little bit more mine. My car I think will continually be an ongoing process. But I really love doing these little repairs, putting my car back to sorts. Making sure its put back together right!