The rest of the story...

Well I decided to take my Saturday night and finish the rest of the tear down. We helped a great friend move to a new place earlier in the day. This new place had some dogs that were very friendly, one hates those rubber horse heads. Lily demonstrates.....

 After pulling off the rest of the cylinders and pistons, I could get started on the case. These actually looked pretty good. I'm going to take them somewhere I can accurately measure them so I know where I stand. But plus side of this mysterious place, its free!

After all of the studs are removed and I can get started on taking the pulley off the front. This is needed first before taking the last of the tin off to get the oil pump off. The pump's studs are on both halves of the case, if you do not remove the pump first then you can't get the two halves apart.

It took a lot to get this off, there is a special tool that I should probably invest in if I am going to do more of this.

So I took to lifting the whole thing up by the pulley and using a mallet to beat the two apart. There was some heat involved and some WD-40, and 90 minutes later.

But then it was time to get the case apart. The pump came out very easy, and I took the clutch off the back. I don't have the tools to lock the flywheel or the 36mm socket to remove the gland nut. Again this will be done at that mysterious "free" place.

The case came a part some what easy, as easy as you'd expect with only mallets and patience. Again there's a special tool for this, again, I should probably invest in if I am going to do more of this.

I had some help with reading off the dimensions of the journals for the bearings. It was awesome being able to teach her things about motors.

She surprised me when I was explaining the four motions of the piston. She knew them because of the kids encyclopedias she has in her room. She could name off all what the motor did in each stroke of the piston. When this motors starts going back together, she'll have all the blanks filled in. Whenever I have issues with the car in the future, I'm sure she'll tell me what's wrong with it.

You can see the crank behind Lily in that photo, well some more bad news....That #1 rod? Well, it doesn't look good.

What ever caused the demise, it also gouged the crank. The bearing looks really bad, the whole bearing was mashed to one side of the rod. So it looks like the engine kit I'm going to need will have to include a crank. I need to get a new battery for my caliper so I can see if the case is going to need machining. If it does, I need to see if there is enough to do it. I really hope that I can reuse the case, I still don't have the birth certificate for Hubert, but I'm almost 100% positive that is his original case.

Lily helped me get everything packed up in marked baggies, this is in case we need to do more investigating.

To finish the night, we had some shells and cheese!

We also watched an episode of "How its Made", I had a Sodastream special mix....

Looked around a little more for parts....

Well, I found suppliers with better reputations. And I figured if I'm going to need to have this case line bored, then might want to have it stepped up a bit.

Through some thorough reading on thesamba.com I've found that whenever someone asked what they should build with, the instant reply was a 1778cc. This is due to the little extra punch that it has over the stock 1584cc. So I've been looking around at kits.

http://vwparts.aircooled.net/SCAT-Volkstroker-III-Engine-Kit-78-8mm-Crankshaft-p/volkstroker-iii-engine-kit-78.htm

I've just got to do more studying about which cam I want. I also need to get the motor more apart to figure out if the case needs line bored, or if it can be even.

Deep motor teardown, looks good, oh wait, uh oh.....

So I started tearing in to the motor deeper today, pulling off heads and whatnot, only after getting a load of dishes started. I first started to notice that 2 of the studs on the right side (1 & 2) were bent, this might mean that the motor was rebuilt before.

But I took off the head for initial inspection. I don't fully know what specific things I'm looking for, but it does look like there was a lot of carbon buildup, not a big deal.

Then I started to take off the cylinders, again, they dont look too bad, but I should've waited until I had the motor more torn down before I power washed it. It caused a little bit of rusting in the cylinder from just sitting a week, but nothing deep. It can still be honed out if needed, haven't decied yet what I'm going to do for a rebuild kit.

I then started to take the studs out, and as I mentioned above a couple of them were bent. This may mean that it was rebuilt before, but it may mean nothing.

What concerns me the most is after I pulled off the #1 piston, there was considerable slop between the rod and the crank. I'm talking like 1/8", major. So there is a good chance I'll need new rods and crank.

 

 

I hope the rest of the build doesn't look bad. As long as the line bore that may be needed doesn't put it out of spec. I'd be pretty bummed if I had to change the case out.

More on the motor...And questions too!

So, I've started to ask questions of the gear heads at work. Since none of them are VW people, at all, I can only ask the typical gear head questions. The rest I've been leaving for TheSamba.com.

I've been asking questions about the engine tin, should I powder coat or should I paint?

I've also been researching what original colors of the engine were from the factory. There is tons of information on thesamba.com, almost too much. I'm looking for someone who knows what the colors were on the motor. The intake manifold, the tin mounting screws, the tin, pretty much everything. I cam across a pic on thesamba.com that I would be pretty happy having mine look like.

All credits due to the owner of this picture, its not mine.

Engine kits, should I get the ones from Mid America? or find authentic VW? I would love to keep this fully VW as possible. I've seen many people say I have this Thing and the engine case starts with 211, does that mean its a bus motor?. Which some answer them YES, however, I have with reasonable certainty that mine is the original motor, and its case is a 211 part number.

Motor case part number

Motor serial number

I'm going to start taking the motor apart, hopefully with my redneck garage I'll be able to keep the parts organized. I am going to try and determine if my case has been line bored so that I know what size bearings I need. I would love to be able to get full VW kit, but it sounds like pulling teeth, and it will probably only matter to me. It won't make much of a difference at car shows.

http://www.mamotorworks.com/VW/product/major-engine-overhaul-kit-for-1600cc-dual-port-engine-without-fuel-injection_300184

I do know one thing for sure, I need to get the books that everyone keeps talking about. Well at least the Wilson OR the Bentley book. These seem to be mentioned the most.

http://www.mamotorworks.com/VW/product/how-to-rebuild-your-vw-air-cooled-engine-book_308340

Not sure if this one is the correct one for a Thing but it seems the closest
http://www.mamotorworks.com/VW/product/manual-robert-bently-factory-service_301240

I would love some comments from Volkswagen veterans, I am working up the courage to go talk to a neighbor two doors down. I'm not sure what his attitude is towards me as we've had some interesting conversations, some political, that since then he hasn't cared to talk to me. But maybe its just a coincidence and I shouldn't have anything to worry about.

I have a coworker who is currently building a 1933 Ford whom I've helped with an Arduino driven dome light controller, is going to loan me an engine stand, I just need to get the compatible bracket for the VW.

Again thanks to all the readers, and PLEASE leave comments below if you have suggestions or questions. I'm very excited to be working on this.

~James

Minor Motor teardown

 

I got the motor pulled out of Hubert last fall, and started planning........

 

While still in the car (obviously) but with some exhaust, cooling tins, and bumper off.

 

And out, yes that's a paint can that was used as a jack stand, you would think I would have better options but I don't.

 

Very excited to finally get the motor out, its been since probably Y2K since I removed it for a clutch.

 

 

So I wanted to get started tearing apart the motor parts today. After getting the garage door open, because my opener shot plastic guards and gears all over the place the last time I tried to shut it, I just got the minor stuff apart, none of the major stuff yet. I had it on a table in the garage to start, the table was made from old folding table legs and a hollow set door. When I pulled the motor out of the car several months ago, I had some some help getting it up there, and to my surprise it has withstood the forces so far.

I decided to put the motor on something that would move, I have a co-worker that will let me borrow his engine stand, but I don't really need to use it until I go to put it all back together. So I found a cabinet in the garage that hasn't moved since I bought it on a company auction. So I still had mobility I put that on a creeper. This looks very red neck, but I was desperate to get the project started.

To keep this going, I'm going to publish this post and start working on the next. As a side note, I joined the thesamba.com forums, full of great information!

Initial Research

Alright, so some of the information I've already done is mostly an overview of what's needed. What sort of body work, body parts, which side curtains I want, what to do with the motor.

For those who were around in the early years of Hubert know that he has a fender problem. Me and Natasha were on a date and driving down O street in Lincoln. When we were just about at 64th street, Hubert chose this to be one of those random moments where he would leak all brake fluid from Eagle (approx 10 miles). The light turned red and the car in front of me stopped, I started to brake early. Noticing almost immediately that there was something wrong, I started to use the hand brake. This was helping just not quick enough, knowing that I would hit that car in front of me. To avoid this I turned the wheel and went up the curb and hit a fire hydrant. Fortunately for me it didn't break off and cause some sort of fountain like what you would see in cartoons. The cap of one of the ports of the hydrant hit directly on the headlamp. The head lights on these and other VW's of the time were sealed beam, which means the entire thing is glass with filaments inside and reflector on the back. Miraculously it did not break the glass but merely scratched it. It did however fold the fender back to where it was touching the tire and bent the bumper.

Shortly after this happened I had ordered a fiberglass fender from The Thing Shop in Arizona, you'll hear more about them as time goes on. This new fender is 4" wider to accommodate wider tires. However if you do not replace both renders at the same time, they will not match as the housing for the headlights won't match up. In my case this round I am going to see if The Thing Shop will take back the fender on credit for a steel original. If they can't or I can get more from eBay, then so be it.

One of the other items I am eye balling is the motor in its entirety. I started looking up info on these motors online and found some interesting stuff. Several sites say that my motor was a re-manufactured motor because the motor ID starts with AM. You see the Thing's motor was also used in several other models at the time and can fit a lot of different dubs. The AM is usually the factory replacement for beetles and ghia's, however I found a site that had a lot of information. It had said that the AM motors used as replacements had the old number machines off and thus had a sort of relief. Then the VW shop that would install it would stamp the same numeric digits from your original motor. Hubert's motor does not have this machined relief. This tells me that He either has his original motor or another thing's motor.

So I once heard of a place that would verify the motor number of your VW at a certain fee. Through some research I found it is a historical museum in Wolfsburg Germany for 50 euros, or approx $63 by today's prices. So I put in my application and have the return e-mail saying so. I will pay them sometime next month as a Christmas gift. This report says everything there is to know about Hubert. They even call it a birth certificate. It will have the date it rolled off the line, color, motor #, all specs.

The place to get this information in case you are doing the same:

For the museum: 

http://automuseum.volkswagen.de/urkunden.html?&L=1

Motor numbers:

http://www.bustopia.com/vw-engine-number-codes.html

It is important to note that the VIN or chassis number will not match exactly the motor number!

In my endeavors I have contemplated several times which side curtains (windows) I might want. In the case of the thing the side windows are attached to the door with pegs that are riveted to a vinyl jacketed steel frame. This vinyl is sewn together and a clear vinyl is sewn to it. This makes for interesting stops at a drive-thru. With the new Hubert I don't have many plans on doing much eating in the car. However it also makes it hard to ventilate any smells or temperature quickly. If it starts to rain and you have them off you have to stop and put them back on. So I have choices of side curtains that open, original style vinyl with flaps that snap, glass that slides, font and back or just front? Way too many questions! I have come to the conclusion that I would like the glass as they are much easier to maintain without scratches.

I am most likely going to go The Thing Shop's sliding glass side curtains, the shakiness in my voice is because of the price: $1,360, and that's before the sleeve you put them in when not in use!

http://www.thethingshop.com/prodinfo.asp?number=181SLIDSET

There is another interesting fact with Hubert, he has the gas heater that is located in the trunk (front) that's uses 1 pint of fuel every hour to heat the cabin. Let me tell you from experience, the old style of heating in the classic dubs use air blown across the exhaust then ducted up to the front through metal tubes. All of this has losses, in fact the ducts are usually the first to rust out. So this gas heater was a standard on the '74's but just an option on the '73's. So whoever bought Hubert in '73 bought him with the hard top and the gas heater. These are the two most sought after items for these cars. That gas heater gets so hot that when the thermostat got stuck on mine one day on the way to work, the plastic duct work under the dash had gotten soft and malformed and fell out of the dash. Needless to say I didn't use the heater after this.

Also in looking over Hubert and what should be original, he has carpet that was glued down in the floor boards and doors, and just about everywhere. Thankfully not that shag carpet, but it is still very colorful and flamboyant. Not stock item for sure! This causes parts of the car to rust very fast, most of it was removed the first year I owned him, however there is still some left over. Needless to say this is not something I want in my car!

http://www.thethingshop.com/prodinfo.asp?number=181DB

On a last note, one of the other first things I plan on getting to help me through this is the original dealer service manual. The Thing Shop also supplies this:

http://www.thethingshop.com/prodinfo.asp?number=181%20SM

Well in closing, I am going to start with taking the motor apart and seeing what major parts are going to need replaced. This will most likely be the cylinder heads, cylinders and probably the pistons/rings/crank. I have seen parts on e-bay, some even stock VW. So we'll see how it all goes. Thanks for tuning in! Please leave a comment or questions below, even subscribe if you would like updates!

Thank you for your encouragement!

James

First Post - Intro

So this will be the location where I post my updates of restoring my High School car "Hubert", a 1973 Volkswagen Thing or Type 181.

My love for Volkswagens started a long time ago. My second car I ever owned was a VW Beetle, or Type 1. Her name was Samantha. She had a lot of issues early on, and being a young kid not knowing right from wrong with cars, I didn't take care of it like I should've.

This car, Hubert, was a gift from my mother. Was looking at it in the Wheels For You, a locally published classified that only lists cars and I seen it in there. I was working down town, just a couple blocks from my mother's work. After a few days of drooling over the picture in the classified, my mom decided one day we should go over there after work and look at it.

When we arrived at Burt's Auto Sales, he was already closed. We decided to look at the car anyway! When we pulled around the lot to where it was parked, I was disappointed to see an 'In Transit' sign already in the window. Only after walking around the car at least twice did I notice the transits had my mothers name on it. At this point I was too excited, and then she handed me the keys.

Hubert was going to be his name, kinda of a nerdy name but with the added touch of kookiness.

Me and Hubert just a couple months of knowing each other.

After examining Hubert a little closer a few times I did notice that the paint job that the dealer told us he put on the him, had some bondo work. That's to be expected with something like this.

After moving out of the house and into a different town, we had put Hubert into storage a couple of times. He was not fully ready anymore to be on the road. He had some mechanical issues; I tried to replace the existing exhaust with one that would have been stock on him in '73, a set of dual headers that exited through the bumper. When removing the old exhaust system, as anyone that has worked on old dubs knows, I had rusted studs on the heads that would end up breaking off. This prevented me from putting on the new mufflers until I could re-stud or replace the heads. 

All of this was put on hold for family. My wonderful wife and I got together freshman year, April 4, 1998. We graduated and moved in with each other on graduation day. Got married that Christmas Eve and had our daughter the end of the following October. After this we bought our house the following November and have had a rough ride with jobs and other cars. Our son was born in May 2009, he has Down Syndrome, had to have open heart surgery the following August, near death scare October after that. It has been one heck of a ride.

So here we are, Me with a job that I can support my family. Two vehicles that will be paid off soon that are mostly dependable (no thanks to a local dealership). And finally I could get my Hubert out of the hole he has been sinking into located in my back yard. He had a cover on him but it deteriorated to the point that the fall storms had left shreds in the yard. He had rodents living in him and under him, the tires were flat and front drivers wheel was seized.

You can see the neglect, never again.

I got the garage cleared out of recent project items and made room for him, by the way he is only 12' by 6'. Pulled the mini van in the back yard and grabbed a tow rope and drug him up front to get him into the garage. He was dragging that tire the whole way, I had aired up all the tires and used the steering lock to help me steer him up front. 

When I got him in the front, I jacked up the front tire and removed the drum which was filled with rust. Cleaned out the rust and cleaned off the brake shoes, put it all back together. 

Ready to put away in garage for winter work.

While doing all of this I had a steady flow of cars driving by the house that were very intrigued by what they saw. Even the neighbor across the street was asking "What is that?", after replying "VW Thing", she then asked "Whats it for?". I explained to her its a very fun car and I drove it in high school.

Well in the following posts you will see the steps that I have taken to get Hubert back on the road and loved like was was back in the day. I already have the content for at least two more posts, if you have any questions for me or suggestions  please leave them in the comments below. Feel free to look me up on Google+ or Facebook, even twitter (usually only use it for weather reports).