Gambler 500 Baja Bug Rehab

Nope. I wish I could say the few warm days we have had recently were put to good use on it, but nope. Unfortunately my focus right now is finishing the e21 so I can take it out to our autocross season opener in mid March. If things progress like I hope they will over the next couple weeks I'll be back at it again. I hate leaving it in this sort of limbo, but hope to at least source a complete beam assembly to swap out soon. Yesterday I was watching the Boon Duggy episode of Roadkill Garage, and it had me hankering to get this thing sorted. If it's even a 1/4 of the fun they appeared to be having, this will all be worth it.

Ah hell, Friday is a half day at work with decent weather. I can at least get valve lash done with the wheels jacked up, change plugs, and quickly wire this thing up.

I'm ready to get crack a lackin on this fine specimen again, but weather isn't cooperating too much for me. If I can weatherproof the e21, it's going to swap places so the bug can have it's turn in the warm dry spotlight. This weekend is supposed to be a bit warmer only accompanied with that pesky rain. I need to try to get it in there before then.

Untitled by hatchethairy, on Flickr

Motivation for projects has been at an all time low, especially since I bought the FRS. I've been debating getting this thing running and selling it to partially fund another motorcycle, or stick to the original plan of super cheap rehab for Gambler usage. I'm leaning towards the original plan today, but who know what I'll be thinking after a few days.

Saturday morning I had the wife and kiddo help me push it into the garage. The kiddo pushed the clutch in and did some steering stuff while me and wifey shoved it around. I figured that if it was in my way in the garage, or at least in a dry/shaded area that work was more likely to be done on it.

Autocross on Sunday finished up super early, so I spent a few minutes installing new plugs. I wish I hadn't bothered as cylinder one had a helicoil in it. Unfortunately the helicoil came out with the plug, so I quickly tightened that turd back in place and retreated inside the house before setting it on fire. I'm not used to doing things half assed, so this project has it's challenges for me. Three new plugs is better than none, and at some point I'll order a new helicoil to repair it properly if that's ever on the to do list again.

Today I watched the new Roadkill episode and was inspired to get back to work. All of their projects are pieces of poopy, but after doing the bare minimum they manage to have a lot of fun. That's why I bought the car, that's what it should be doing. Providing fun. So today I picked up a up a new budget set of plug wires from Autozone since what I have are pretty crusty. They were put in place in what I hope to be the correct firing order. The coil was then poorly bolted to the dog house. To facilitate a quick start I pulled out my auxiliary gas tank I use for tuning bike carbs, just need to sort a larger fuel line adapter to fit the Weber.

Tomorrow I have an early day off from work, so I'll be putting the rear up in the air on jack stands. After that I'll do some quick wiring and hopefully be trying to light some internal fires. With the wheels in the air I can cycle the clutch a bunch to help free it from it's current grip. I've done this with old motorcycles that have been sitting for decades, so maybe I'll get lucky.

Untitled by hatchethairy, on Flickr

Untitled by hatchethairy, on Flickr

Untitled by hatchethairy, on Flickr

Untitled by hatchethairy, on Flickr

Today was the day. No matter what I was going to find out if this pig would ever do engine noise making stuff under my ownership. After spending some time wiring up a quick few connections the moment of truth. Nothing but a faint click could be heard. I double-triple checked wiring. It was good to go. Hmmmm. I jumped the connections on the starter, but nothing happened. I remembered there was a spare starter in the tub of parts the guy made me take, so I dug into that pile. Heck yeah, it's a high torque unit! A quick check with a battery confirmed it did spinny stuff, so out with the old, in with the somewhat newer.

The motor officially turned over!

Before putting any fuel in the carb I checked for spark. Nice and fat arcs were present, so I started looking to hook up my fuel bottle. The barb to the carb is larger than the tube, so I had to do a makeshift adapter. It wouldn't fire up at first. Just coughed a bunch of acorns and other junk that found it's way into the exhaust. I sprayed some brake cleaner in the carb and it sputtered to life.

YEEEHAWW!!!

So I need another exhaust. This one is pinched and smashed in a bunch of spots plus it has some major leaks at the flanges. It's probably a big reason for the flames. The carb is functional but I don't think it's quite ready for the big show. I may buy something cheap and ready to bolt on for both carb/exhaust to just get it done.

Best news out of all of this? The clutch isn't stuck any more. I got it to sit at a high idle while I put it in gear a couple times pushing the clutch in and out. After dropping it to the ground I tried starting again to see if the car would lurch forward. It stays put and doesn't flinch. Now I can roll the car back and forth without the motor spinning while in neutral. Still haven't tried to drive it yet, but I'm getting close. Very close.

Today was a good day.

Untitled by hatchethairy, on Flickr

Untitled by hatchethairy, on Flickr

Untitled by hatchethairy, on Flickr

First fire!!!! It's a video, but I think you have to click the pic to see it.

Untitled by hatchethairy, on Flickr

After some fuel finally made it to the bowl. Another video, click to see the noises made.

Untitled by hatchethairy, on Flickr

Sweet!

Y E S ! ! !

Man oh man. I thought I had a good deal on a full front link pin beam so I could get a set of non bent spindles/trailing arms, but it ended up being a ball joint. Rats! I'll keep my eyes peeled for another one. The guy tried to convince me it would all fit, but I know it's not a simple bolt in solution.

Tonight I'm going to pull out the dual ICTs again to see what all they need other than linkage to work. Air filters I'm sure, but as far as them being close to usable is anyones guess.

Also looks like there's a fuel pump block off plate on the block, but I see no signs of an electric pump anywhere. The tank is bone dry and the fuel line was cut really close to the back side of the block. Maybe he ran one right before the carb? Not sure if I should get another mechanical pump setup or go electric.

Is that SportWagen a TDI? That's what I'm looking for to replace the Acura. 

AxeHealey said:

Is that SportWagen a TDI? That's what I'm looking for to replace the Acura. 

Yup. Picked it up about a month ago for the wife. She's in love with it. Personally it's not my thing, but the torque makes it interesting!

I spent a few minutes tonight looking at the 34 ict carbs and I think a quick rebuild kit should do the trick for gaskets and such. A Scat linkage was recommended before so that's probably the one I'll go with but I'm too cheap to go that route just yet. Maybe I can scrounge up a couple of the little parts I'm missing to fix what I have.

Since I have neither a mechanical or electric pump I have to decide which route to go. Mechanical pump plus a little tweaking to get the right pressure seems like the best bet, so that's the direction I'm kinda headed. It requires no wiring and seems to be pretty stone simple in function. Cost is super low too.

After some more poking around, I found the link pin bushings are toast on both sides. I originally was checking to see what camber difference between each side was, but noticed that they have way too much play in them vertically. I knew the driver side was already suspect with the tie rod part of the spindle being bent, but these are just way too sketchy. The guy(s) before me must have never adjusted or greased them so they are extremely worn. I contacted a local VW yard called Way Out Salvage that would sell me a full front beam or just spindles/trailing arms, but don't know if that's the route I will go. I'd still have to buy a link pin rebuild kit for each so I'm in a holding pattern. The driver side is the worst, so I could buy arms and spindle for just the driver side, then rebuild my passenger with the new driver side. I'm still hoping a cheap beam will pop up elsewhere in decent shape.

ICT's are really simple carbs. Check out the throttle shafts, make sure they are still nice and tight. The dual single barrel carbs often have worn out throttle shaft bushings, which cause vacuum leaks.

captainawesome said:

AxeHealey said:

Is that SportWagen a TDI? That's what I'm looking for to replace the Acura. 

Yup. Picked it up about a month ago for the wife. She's in love with it. Personally it's not my thing, but the torque makes it interesting!

Glad to hear that. The TDI (see: torque) is what draws me in as well. It's a fun powerplant around town. I also have a real thing for wagons. 

EDIT: I also really enjoy seeing the the Bug come together.

In reply to AxeHealey :

I like the car, but think I liked our Hyundai Elantra GT more for handling. Comfort wise the VW has it beat, especially interior spec, but it's numb in steering and just keeps flopping over into corners. I'm sure there's some stuff out there to make all that better but no sense fixing what the wife doesn't think is broken.

In reply to bashr52 :

I'll check the shafts, but don't remember there being any play when I looked them over. Part of the reason the progressive runs crappy is no throttle return spring and no pump to keep fuel in the bowl. It was only being gravity fed which I don't think is enough. While I get the pump and pressure sorted the ICTs will get cleaned and refreshed. The throttle response and gas mileage will be a nice benefit to the duals as well.