Chesil Speedster - my planned winter overhaul of '98 build

Weekend update:

Fuel filter - took it apart this afternoon. What a mess!

Whilst I was there I blew out the fuel line to the back and cleaned the rear filter too.

Suspension - I managed to drop the front end more easily than expected, although I only dropped the lower beam a notch, which was enough. I also raised the back end a fraction. Luckily, because it had adjustable spring plates, it was a simple matter of spraying the screw adjuster with some penetrating oil, a bit of a tap with the hammer to free it up and then use a 7mm allen key to wind the screw to adjust the height.

Seeing as I didn't have a 7mm allen key, I remembered the spindle of screwdriver bits are 7mm, so I used one of these that fits sockets, and used a spanner to get the necessary leverage.

So, in between rainstorms, I took the car out for 5 minutes and the steering was much better, as was the engine with no dirt in the carbs! THe only problem I had was a temp gauge that immediately went to the max as soon as I turned on the ignition. After searching on this site, it became clear it was a bad earth, so I fiddled with the wires and managed to sort that too. Happy days!

Busy, busy, busy. That fuel filter looked hideous. Smart idea taking the time to blow out the fuel lines too. Some of that crud had to make it past the filter.

"I think there’s a problem with scrub radius as well - but that’s down to the drop spindles and disc brake conversion, plus the wider tyres - 195/55/15 tyres placed further away from the steering axis means that, even with a perfectly smooth and frictionless steering wheel to track rod end movement, there will be increased friction. So, narrower tyres should help (185/60/15?), as will higher tyre pressures, but I think I can only do so much, if I want to keep lowered suspension with disc brakes and a Fuchs alloys.. Which I do!" - @Martin's Eleven (UK)

I have the fake Fuchs  15" x 5.5 (5x130 bolt pattern) and front drop spindles. As for tires, I am running 185 x 60 x15. The 55 series tire is too low of a sidewall and will be such a rough ride. I run the 185 x 60 tires with front pressure at 20psi and rear tire pressure at  22psi. It provides a smoother ride without rattling teeth out of your head.

I like the more aggressive stance the drop spindles and 185x60 tires give. However, the geometry combination of the drop spindle (which widens your track by 5/8" on each side) and 4.5" wheel offset does give the car a wider turning radius as well as noticeable understeer . Hope this info is helpful! 

Look forward to following your upgrade projects! 

Looks like you have a good handle on things. It is fun working on old cars. It feels good when your cruising around, knowing that you've had your hands on every nut and bolt.

BTW, when you straighten your steering shaft, inspect it very very carefully. That crush cage has a tendency to fatigue and fail. During the Tour De Smo, yesterday, one of the gang had his completely fail in the parking lot of the hotel, just after some very spirited driving on some tight and twisty mountain roads. He got very lucky.

https://www.speedsterowners.co...smo-after-all?page=4

@Alan Merklin makes some very good points concerning this item.

Yes carefully inspect the column crush cage they tend to break welds from upward pressure dur to incorrect mounting to dash  ( you column up into the dash may be a major issue)   Red steering rag joint get rid of it and use a German OEM black rubber one .Fuel filter use a " Gold / NAPA metal filter (no glass or plastic) Steering box , I would just replace it with a new unit.  The exhaust needs to be wrapped or very soon the fiberglass will catch fire and you list will become invalid .   Seriously your list looks good ...carry on !

Good list and a good car. You've got an independent rear suspension so the car should handle very well once it's tuned up.

I think you said you want to get rid of those headers but if you don't—or if the next set of pipes also gets close to the body parts—get you some of that stick-on heat insulation and apply it to the fiberglass. I bought a roll almost a decade ago and affixed it to the rear splash pan of my MG TD replica, just above the muffler, which was burning the glass. Never a problem since.

I got some more recently for my Spyder's aluminum underpan project. Not strictly required there but the originals had something like it so why not. 

RE: Column, If you want a more original look, a key on the dash does it, and maybe an early beetle column could be switched for your 1969 ish column that you have which would allow you to have a longer or closer steeering wheel to the driver. 

Thanks guys for all your tips. Regarding the steering wheel, I may well look for a 'normal sized' standard column. My understanding is the previous owner got a garage to 'cut and shut' the shaft to shorten the whole thing by a few inches. Fine if done well, scary if not. I don't mind the current steering position - for some reason it suits my 5'7" frame quite nicely. I'll check over the crush cage closely for any sign of cracking etc.

@edsnova - I was thinking along the same lines as you regarding heat insulation foil/shielding. For now I've wedged some old heat cloth between the exhaust and body and have ordered some new stuff to do similar to what you've done to your Spyder.

@MusbJim - thanks for the vote on 185/65/15 tyres. I know my Toyo Proxes are almost brand new but I'll sell them on because it's not worth being unhappy with the car for the sake of a new set of tyres (v cheap compared to the overall cost of the car!). And not for one minute was I claiming my wheels are original Fuchs - I thought on a replicar site, it's implicit that they're 'fake Fuchs'! I originally thought I'd prefer steel wheels and dome caps, but the alloys are growing on me every day - the chrome goes well with the black body.

@Alan Merklin I see what you mean about no glass/plastic fuel filter! I'll look for a metal Napa equivalent in the UK.

And here are some pics of the front brake hoses. Not sure when they were fitted but whoever did it obviously didn't bother to check safety! On the right side (shown) when the steering is turned full to the right the braided hose rubs on the tyre. And ditto for the left tyre when turned full left.

I presume a better way would be to have a copper hose from the brake caliper to somewehere near the pivot point, then a flexi hose to the chassis, reducing the range of flex needed? Can anyone post some pictures of a safer setup for reference, please?

So much for our MOT certificate (roadworthiness) - I'd have failed this, ditto for the oil coller pipes resting on the hot exhaust..

Carlos mentioned this earlier and with some of the previous discussion earlier on steering I would like to add. If you have one of these crush baskets incorporated in your steering column...GET RID OF IT.

I drove the SMO with are small band of eager curve seekers for two days and on the second day I turned into the parking lot the steering wheel spun like a roulette wheel in my hand. It's Monday AM and I have since then relived the what if's of every mile driven, me going over a cliff but more discerning is me injuring someone else.

The steering on my car was checked by me before our departure from home and everything was tight,straight and aligned. I believe what happened is that with all the hard driving this column (coupling) was working very hard and was heated and it finally broke.

I've attached some photos and the maps were done by Carlos and the run was like a well catalogued play list. Thanks Carlos.

Anyway I'm walking and talking and will be able to celebrate another Birthday and perhaps see everyone in Carlisle.

Thanks for that warning Mike. I guess it goes hand in hand with the increased fatigue of (typically) increased scrub radius overloading the 50 year old steering components, and driving the car in a way an old standard Beetle would rarely be driven. You were indeed a lucky guy that day. As per my original list at the top, No. 1 priority is to make the car safe. So this has just moved to the top of the list alongside the chafing brake hoses.

The two I had go bad broke at the upper cage to shaft weld, haven't seen  a cage fatigue like that !  You can have a piece of pipe pro welded in the same dimensions as the cage.  The reason I say pro welded is many home wire feed TIG welders do not provide the penetration needed. All that matters is that by some miracle you are safe .

Brake lines: buy a set of stock Beetle flexible brake hoses and install. Done.

Those braided ones are marked "off road only" and typically a little longer than stock. They are good for custom installs (I have a couple incorporated in the rear brake lines of my Spyder) but not ideal as a direct replacement for the original hose. 

Tigermoth: the hoses should not have a loop. Mine bend in a U shape, closer to the "ohm" symbol.

The columns with the crush cage are later years. In the sixties VW used a solid rod to properly pierce your sternum...... I believe the earlier one is what most have.

Thanks @edsnova and @DannyP, I’ll get some oem hoses and fit them correctly. 

As for the steering column, I always thought people would drive more carefully if they had airbags removed and replaced with a large spear pointing at their chest!

More electrical gremlins today. I’ve lost my dash lights. Looks like a bad earth similar to the oil temp gauge so I’m working my way through the dash and all instruments to check the wiring.

One question, if I may. How do I disconnect the Speedo cable from the speedo unit? It's not like any connection I’ve seen before. It has a white plastic latch sleeve kind of thing, which I’ve managed to undo, but cable won’t pull out after that, and there doesn’t look to be any kind of thread. 

Is more brute required, or some kind of ninja technique that I haven’t got? I’ve googled speedo cable disconnect but can’t find what I need. Many thanks in advance!

AFAIK it just pulls straight out. Every speedo I've ever seen is just a square cable into a square hole. Make sure you're pulling it straight out and it should come out with little effort.

Looking at your pic again, that galvanized sleeve may have a little corrosion underneath it. A smal blast of some PBlaster or Seaform DeepCreep (or whatever anti-corrosion agent you have) may be in order. VDO gauges have a threaded cap that holds the cable in place. Once you unscrew that, the cable just slips right out of the speedo. 

On my TD the instrument lighting is on the same fuse as the brake lights and running lights. I thought that was a clever way to let a driver know the lights he couldn't see were also out.

Well, the dash lights problem turned out to simply be an old dodgy light switch, so I cleaned up the contacts using contact cleaner and compressed air, and that was that. Sorted.

As for the oil temp gauge reading maximum as soon as I turned on the ignition.. Well, this is embarrassing, but the car has a dipstick temp sensor, and I’d obviously disconnected and reconnected the feed and earth the wrong way round on the dipstick! Problem solved. :-)

Yup

To be honest, I don’t really like the dipstick. It’s chrome and smooth, so you can’t tell where the oil mark is, unless your oil is old and dirty. It doesn’t seal against the top of the dipstick tube well, so there’s a potential leak point. And having wires attached to the top of the dipstick makes it a right pain to pull it out, wipe it clean with some tissue, reinsert, then pull out to check the oil level. But until I get under the Porsche-style fan housing I can’t see where else I can put an oil temp sensor that is in a good position. Now I’ve written that, I think I’ll do a search tomorrow morning on here to see where y’all have your oil temp sensor on a full flow system.

Goodnight all

This is exactly the kind of thing that happens.

@Martin's Eleven (UK) posted:

Well, the dash lights problem turned out to simply be an old dodgy light switch, so I cleaned up the contacts using contact cleaner and compressed air, and that was that. Sorted.

As for the oil temp gauge reading maximum as soon as I turned on the ignition.. Well, this is embarrassing, but the car has a dipstick temp sensor, and I’d obviously disconnected and reconnected the feed and earth the wrong way round on the dipstick! Problem solved. :-)

Don't feel bad. Two winters ago, I made a big project of replacing my cooling system with a new Thing shroud and OEM thermostat flappers, etc. I got the final parts I needed on Tuesday afternoon and set about installing them.

About 5 o'clock on Friday, I finished the last details and tried to fire it up. Only to realize I'd hooked my distributor wires backwards and burned up my point and condenser. Right after all the shops had closed for the weekend.

To add insult to injury, my coil measured fine with my Harbor Freight digital multimeter and I chased a partial throttle misfire for a month, thinking it was an issue with my carbs. Once I pulled out my antique Simpson 260 analog multimeter, I realized my coil was hopelessly NFG as well. A new black coil from FAST and a yellow Bosch sticker from eBay and it ran better than ever.

And it hasn't run hot since!

Wasn't it Stan that said, "90% of carb problems are electrical?"

Something like that.  You can't beat a 40-year-old Simpson.  They sell for low bucks but are reliable as heck.  That's my go-to even before a Fluke digital multimeter.

I just recently bought a BitScope BS05 USB Oscilloscope to watch the waveform on a pulse generator that will soon be controlling my gas heater.  For about $50 bucks I got a full blown logic analyzer the likes of which cost us $150,000 when we needed them back in the very early 1980's.  I am blown away at how the costs of computer related stuff has come down in the past 40 years - Especially in the last ten years.

@Gordon Nichols posted:

Something like that.  You can't beat a 40-year-old Simpson.  They sell for low bucks but are reliable as heck.  That's my go-to even before a Fluke digital multimeter.

Heh, heh, heh, I got mine for free.

Long story short, I was perusing a state surplus warehouse when I found a PALLET of NIB 260's.  Talked my supervisor into buying 3 for each of our venues and "Hey, as long as we're buying 3, my birthday is next week."

My fluke, otoh, which I did pay for, is now world's most expensive continuity tester after I dropped it from about 2' high.  

Simpson made all the old K-S meters for telco use. I might have one, but I can't remember.....they don't use them any more. Now they use a meter called a Sidekick. I never had one, did all my troubleshooting with the trusty old Simpson. Dead reliable, like a hammer, always works.

This was the offending light switch. I think the dash light adjustment (twist) had corroded. A quick spray of contact cleaner and blast of compressed air sorted it.

Yup.  Looks just like mine.  Give 'em a blast every 5 - 8 years and they keep on working.

Contact cleaner is good stuff.

@DannyP posted:

Contact cleaner is good stuff.

30 or so years ago I found out about Caig ProGold.

I started using it on auto/moto connections soon after. Every time I make/break a connection, I give it a dose. It's a cleaner/deoxidizer plus a protectant. It's expensive but it's worth it's weight in gold. Hence the name.

A little goes a long way. I still have about 1/4 left of the can (like above) I bought in the 90's, but TBH, the best formats for automotive use are the pin oiler and this little "trial size" kit you can buy on Amazon. (The kit comes with fader lube, which is useless for garage work, but it's got enough of the cleaner and cleaner preservative to make it worth it.)

Oh dear, I spoke too soon.. All I seem to have done is push the problem down the road. So, having supposedly fixed the lights, I take the car out for a final 'test drive' this afternoon before I have surgery on my wrist on Monday - which will mean no driving for a month or two. Over the top of the deafening exhaust, I heard a solenoid clicking like crazy. I pull up behind another car at a T junction and see my headlights are flickering on and off and then end up staying on full beam.

So I recheck the light switch - even when it's switched off the headlights are on. I head under the bonnet and eventually the only thing that works is to pull the blue lead off the relay which I'm guessing is the main/dip relay, and the headlights go out.

I guess I'm being paranoid after reading about fires being the major risk factor with fibreglass cars.. But better safe than sorry I say!

So it's back to the drawing board on the electrics - I've downloaded the wiring diagrams from the library here and I'll work through that this weekend. To be fair to Chesil (as was), the state of support for kit builders was pretty poor 20 years back. It was very much a 'working it out for yourself is part of the fun'. Like pretty much anything back then - there just wasn't the focus on customer service like there is these days.

Talking of fire risk, remember the exhaust/bodywork interaction pics I posted at the top of this thread? Well, I did what I could in terms of strapping some heat shield fabric between the exhaust and the body, but it's not enough - the heat shield works best for radiant heat, but this gap is so tight, it's conductive heat. So I pulled out my IR temp gun when the engine was up to temp (after 10 minutes reasonable motoring), and opened up the engine bay to see a wisp of smoke coming from the slightly oily heat shield. As you can see the heat shield (from the engine bay) was 278°C - that's 532°F in old money..

So you can see why I'm paranoid at the moment. Time to put the car away until my wrist is recovered, and in the meantime I need to find a local specialist exhaust fabrication company that can cut a small wedge out of the exhaust , reweld it and steer it away from the body. (and at the same time swap that muffler and trumpet end pipe for something quieter). And perhaps get it ceramic coated for further temperature reduction?

But I'm still loving it! :-)

And to prove it, I took a couple of quick pics to show the new attitude of the car (lower front, slightly raised back) after I adjusted it earlier this week.

Scrumptious!

I've got this madness good and proper!

Really nice looking congrats.

It looks like the more serious problem now is getting the exhaust away from things that might catch fire.

Once that is done (and your wrist is healed) there's some diagnosing to be done about the electrics.

My first question would be, do your headlights have a 'flash-to-pass' feature? In other words, when your headlights are OFF, is there a spring-loaded button you can activate to momentarily flash the headlights? Sometimes this is incorporated in the turn-signal stalk (push the button or pull the lever and the lights flash).

(This is usually the same button you use to switch between high and low beams when the headlights are ON.)

Not all VW's (and not all replicas) had that feature, but if you do, that would help in diagnosing why your lights are on even when the headlight switch is off.

The rest of the explanation is a little long-winded and not worth going into if you're not wired for 'flash-to-pass'.

(Looking at the wiring diagram on the relay in your photo, I think you do have 'flash-to-pass' even if you may not have discovered it yet.)

Good afternoon (UK) and morning (USA) all. Hope you're enjoying your weekend.

@Sacto Mitch - many thanks for your help. It does indeed look like I have a 'flash to pass' feature. The original Beetle was a late 1970 and has the main/dip and flash function on the indicator stalk. The Chesil build manual has limited electrical info, but it does list all the relays, of which there's this:

Which explains why pulling the purple lead shut off the headlights even when the ignition was off. I guess I need to check another relay in case it's that (the existing one does look very old) and also the switch unit on the steering column in case that's shorted or similar.

How do Chesil wire colours compare to existing VW colours? They're not colours I remember, although to be fair the last time I worked on a Beetle was 1990..

The Chesil manual states:

• All black wires are earth
• All light green wires are fused and go via ignition switch
• All purple wires are fused but not switched via ignition

So that would explain the purple being a permanently live feed to the flasher relay.

As you say, the exhaust is the more serious problem to solve, but that can be put on the back burner (narrowly avoiding the pun) for a while whilst I can't drive. I'll do some research locally for a decent exhaust fabricator. An initial online search seems to result in finding websites for 'Performance exhaust services' that define performance as 'loud and deep' (as the actress said to the Bishop). I need to find someone who listens to what the customer wants.

A quick update. My wrist still being in plaster (ligament surgery) means I'm having to bide my time on any kind of spannering. However, I thought I'd have a go at aligning my gear shift because it was very tricky to get into first and going from first to second would sometimes graunch the reverse gear - yikes..

So, thanks to this site and YouTube (as well as my secondhand Bentley manual from Ebay), I thought I'd check the play in the connections before trying to adjust the gear lever mount. After all, everything else I've looked at on this car is either worn or needs adjusting, so I might as well do it right and future proof everything.

The gear shift guide bush looks and feels tight - no play between shaft and bush.

The gear shift coupling, however, is a different matter. About 2mm fore/aft slack in the bush, and a small amount of rotational play too. So I need to replace this.

Question, which coupling option do I buy - urethane or stock rubber? I normally err towards stock/OEM rubber rather than urethane for most parts (eg steering rag), but perhaps this is one part that benefits from urethane? Answers on a postcard, please. Thanks :-)

Also, I noticed the steering rag really does earn its place in the car, given the difference in angle between the shaft coming out of the steering box and the steering column - it's around 5 degrees.

You can see the amount of flex the coupler has to cope with. I think this is mainly due to my car being right hand drive and the steering box has the shaft on the left hand side as you look towards the front of the car, so there's extra displacement to cope with compared to LHD cars?

The whole arrangement means the steering wheel is definitely skewed compared to the dash:

Looks like this is a case of "They all do that, Sir" - unless I convert the steering to utilise universal joints..

@Martin's Eleven (UK) - While I am not knowledgable enough to respond to your questions, your picture did bring something up worth noting.  I see your car has a crush coupler on the steering shaft.  At our recent tour of the Smoky Mountains (Tour de Smo') one of our group had a catastrophic failure of his coupler.  Luckily it was at the last turn to put his car in a parking place at the hotel after a day long, very vigorous run on twisty roads.  Given his obvious good fortune we encouraged him to go out and buy some lottery tickets.

I encourage you to go to the "2020 Tour de Smo' - after all" thread in the "Events" forum and see the video.  The general consensus is the those couplers, after many years of use, are probably all fatigued and likely to fail, and therefore should be removed/replaced.

Good luck with your project and I hope your wounded wing heals quickly.

Hi @Lane Anderson thanks for your kind wishes for my recovery - the cast comes off next week and then it's a lot of physio.

And yes, I'd got the message on the crush coupler (see halfway up this thread) and that is on the 'to do' list once I get a few more things in order. The list is so long that I've got a full blown Trello board up and running with separate columns for each major area.

Some are relatively easy, some are more complex and need professional help, and this is one of latter (I can't weld). So these will need doing in a kind of waterfall project plan - you can tell from this that I'm a techie geek..