New Guy- Here's my story!

[fireflyfarm]

Hello! I found this site a few days ago, and I am now an excited new member.  I have a 1969 Automatic Stickshift. I bought it, my very first car, on July 21, 1989, just before my senior year of High School. I drove it a lot, and it took a bit of a beating.  I went to Penn State, and the Bug stayed home, occasionally being driven by my mom or sister, or me when I was home.  My sister t-boned a Chevette with it in 1991. (The Beetle won- the Chevette was towed!)  In 1993, I went to Florida to work at Walt Disney World for 6 months. Six months became two years. I returned to Penn State. The Beetle stayed home. My dad and I finally dragged it out of his garage, and pulled it up the block to my grandmother's garage, with his Diesel Rabbit.  It hibernated in her garage until my sister moved into Grandma's house in 2007. Bug was flatbedded to our farm, and pushed into a shed. 
  Last summer, I set a goal for myself. I have many half-finished projects sitting around, and I wanted to FINISH one. The Bug was that project. My deadline is October 2, 2010. That day is my 20th High School Reunion. I am going to drive my Beetle, my high school car, the first car I ever owned, to my reunion! 
 It's been a lot of work, and I'm nowhere near finished. I've repaired most of the crash damage (I had put new hood and fenders on in '91), and pulled the 1500 1-port engine. It was sticking (would make almost 1 revolution by hand, then stick), and when I checked the oil screen, there were broken round "Washer" things in it. Some sort of seal? Plus I discovered the reason for poor compression on cyl 3 all those years ago- there's a broken head bolt in the cooling tin.
  Luckily, I found a 1970 Autostick on Craigslist. Some rust, new tires/brakes, a running engine, and NO TITLE!  I brought it home 3 days ago, and the engine is out and cleaned, ready to go in my Bug. "ED", the Engine Donor, will also be donating its front beam, running boards, doors, and a few other parts. ED will then be resold to pay for some of the repairs. 
  I hope to have my Bug running by the end of the week. There's some welding I have to do before I put the engine in, but that should be a few hours' work. I'll keep you posted, and get some pics up soon!

[Airhead]

Great Story

Good luck with it you'll find all the AS information you need around here.

Airhead

[jaywiz]

that is a great story,there's not alot of activity here but some very smart ASVW folks on here!Good luck with the goal.

[Bookwus]

Hiya fire,

Welcome to this corner of the VW universe.

As has been mentioned, we are sort of a backwater traffic-wise.  But there are folks here who know AutoSticks inside out.  Better yet, they are willing to help you if you should have any problems.  So, don't be shy.

What's more, as well as being AutoStick owners, we are, of course, VW owners.  So, this is also a good place to find general VW information as well.

Best of luck with getting that Bug back on the road for your reunion!

[fireflyfarm]

I got the front beam out of ED today. It's in pretty good shape, except for a little rust hole in one shock support and the bottom edge of the passenger side bracket that bolts to the tunnel head. I MIG welded both, after scraping about 10 pounds of "Concretion" (the stuff sunken treasure is embedded in) off. For some reason, there are two pieces of wood hose-clamped to the uprights between the torsion tubes. Hope to have the bent one out of my Bug tomorrow.

[Hollis]

Great story.   Hope it works for you.   I am hoping to have the interior done on our '69 by the end of August. 

[fireflyfarm]

IT'S ALIIIIVVEE!!! I welded the rust holes around the rear bumper mounts and got the engine in yesterday. This morning I connected the fuel line, installed an electric fuel pump (From my '78 Goldwing- ED had a very old electric pump, and I didn't want to take it off!), connected the throttle cable, popped the battery in, and for the first time since 1993, started the engine! The shifter isn't working- there's some bunged up wiring in there yet- but my little bug has a heartbeat!

[Bookwus]

Hiya Fire,

Yes!

Getting those pistons moving and the crankshaft turning is always the big first step.

Congratulations!

[fireflyfarm]

Today, for the first time in nearly 18 years, my beetle moved under its own power. The problem with the Autostick turned out to be Pneumatic, not electrical- the tube going into the vac can had broken loose, but there was a crust of dirt and undercoating holding it together. I was checking the hoses, and the tube just pulled right out. I swapped the can out of ED, started it up, and it dropped right into gear!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33Qw9wgcKOk

[Bookwus]

Looking good!

Thanks for the videos!  I caught the engine start-up too.

You are definitely getting there.