Starting after a long nap.

I'm no expert on reawakening a car that's been asleep for a while, but I've been told that squirting some oil into the cylinders helps ensure that there is some lubrication present for those first revolutions before the oil gets pumped everywhere.  I've also heard that on some cars you can spin the oil pump with a drill to do the same thing.  Lubrication would be my biggest worry.  Hopefully those more knowledgeable that I am will chime in here.

If you have changed oil the motor moves freely just crank it with ignition disconnected until you have oil pressure & fire it.

I was going to say the same as Alan only a little more simply (like me). Pull the coil wire and crank it over until you're sure that you have oil pressure.

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Mechanical fuel pump or electric?

That might make a difference on whether or not you need to pump the gas a few times while cranking it or just flipping the switch to fill the bowls.

Found this on a blog about starting cars that have been sitting around:

However, if the car has been sitting more than week, the gasoline will evaporate out of the carburetor — so although you may be pumping the gas pedal, there’s no fuel inside the carb available to squirt. And unless you have an electric fuel pump, the only way to get fuel back up into the carb is to engage the starter (since a mechanical fuel pump only runs while the engine itself is turning over). So for a non-electric fuel pump, carbureted vehicle that hasn’t been run in a week and is proving hard to start, keep pumping the gas pedal while you engage the starter.

This is pretty much what I thought. Thanks for the feedback gents!

Based on when I started my car after the carb rebuilds, engine removal and replacement, oil lines removed/re-connected and after sitting for 3 months, I pulled the coil wire and hit the key.  It cranked for 10-15 seconds before the oil light went out.

If yours cranks as long, regardless of mechanical or electric fuel pump, you'll probably have gas in the carbs after that.  Re-connect the coil wire after the initial cranking and pump the heck out of it.

Started up with a little coaxing. No drips, no leaks, and the new exhaust sounds great.

I'll put the rest back together and go for a test drive this evening.

Thanks all for the guidance and encouragement these last few months. Lack of knowledge, some health issues and a busy family life slowed this down considerably.

Well done!

Bob, I'm glad your baby started right up, such a great feeling! Now get out and drive that thing!

Thanks, Phil! it's really satisfying to get this done. Now I can fall back in love with the thing.

Thanks Will! Putting the drivers seat back in and the cover back on the tunnel and then I'll do a test drive. Fingers crossed! 

"Panhandle Bob" wrote:

"Lack of knowledge, some health issues and a busy family life slowed this down considerably."

hmmmmmmm...................  

Sounds like most of the rest of us.

'Course, for me....There was this Carb rebuild....And then there was this Stainless Nut.....But three months later, it started!

Now, Get out there and DRIVE it!

Aye Aye, Gordon!

OK, Gordon. Panhandle BobG it is!

Well known fact (by locals) is that you can't rush Florida craftsmen.  

Heck, it's hard to get them to even come out and give an estimate.  I had the mother of a mature guy we hired to paint our condo call me (condo president).  She said we had to pay him more money because he was driving 40 miles one way and gas was costly.  I told her he doesn't show til 10:30, takes hour lunch and leaves by 2 each day.  You'd think with FL heat he'd be setting up at 7 am on West side so he could be in shade on East side by mid-afternoon.

Wolfgang wrote: ......

Well known fact (by locals) is that you can't rush Florida craftsmen.

We know a Florida craftsman that has been working on a speedster since Moby Dick was, a minnow ~ 

Good one, Dude.......

If he is that old, Jonah might know him 

Abraham, himself, maybe!

Attached are photos of my finished engine bay. As part of all the mods, I lost the heater boxes and so I fabbed up tin plugs for the holes in the tins themselves. 

Thanks for whoever gave me the tip to use baby food jar lids on the heater hose openings on the shroud. They fit perfectly!

Moved the fuel filter out of the engine bay and away from the exhaust and heads. Switched to a metal filter. All those lines underneath are new. Good braided German fuel lines added.

Got the bus "H" cross section seal installed yesterday as well as the rubber seal on the breastplate tin behind the shroud. Not excited about the fit on the rubber seal. I may screw it to the breastplate at the ends.

I know that everybody talks about a cutout on the firewall of VS's, but I don't have one, and have not had an overheating problem in the past. I do have an oil cooler mounted on the firewall however.

Looking good, Bob. Leave the seal between the breastplate and firewall off and it will let air into the engine compartment, while being a small enough gap that nothing can get pulled into the fan. Al

Thanks, Al. You hit on my concern, that seal getting sucked into the fan, but I think it would be difficult for anything to work its way up into that gap between the firewall and the breastplate with the seal taken out. It is no more than an inch wide at any point along the breastplate/firewall junction.

I got the seal as part of a list of stuff necessary for a beetle, not a Speedster. Perhaps I should have saved the money on that one!

Glad the baby food jar lids are working; I first heard about those some 30 years ago!

PS- And yeah, I wouldn't worry too much about anything getting sucked into the fan. With the opening only an inch or so wide it's really not a concern. It is possible (not probable, but possible) a plastic bag could get swept up from the road and make it through into the air entrance into the shroud, but if you're watching oil and head temps fairly diligently you'll catch it right away. If your auxhillary cooler is up on the firewall I'd be more concerned about getting it down in the fenderwell. Al

Panhandle Bob posted:

Thanks, Al. You hit on my concern, that seal getting sucked into the fan, but I think it would be difficult for anything to work its way up into that gap between the firewall and the breastplate with the seal taken out. It is no more than an inch wide at any point along the breastplate/firewall junction.

I got the seal as part of a list of stuff necessary for a beetle, not a Speedster. Perhaps I should have saved the money on that one!

PHB, I kept hearing about the hole in the firewall on a VS too but my firewall does not have that hole either. I haven't worried about anything getting sucked in there because the space is so small and I usually drive so fast nothing has time to get sucked up there.

I have an oil cooler mounted horizontally under the car along the frame and it works superbly. 

Adjusted the rear drum brakes today and took it for a spin.

Replacing all three trans mounts made a significant difference not just in eliminating the chatter and vibration upon acceleration, but I thought I was developing a problem with second gear popping out on deceleration. That is gone!

The front mount was falling apart, and the rear passenger side wasn't much better. Replacing all three, the job that started all this, really made a difference, and it got me to address a bunch of other stuff that I had been avoiding. It also revved up my latent gearhead abilities (such as they are).

Best of all, the car is running great, and the 15/8" header exhaust system has provided both better sound, and noticeable increase in power.

I'm going to take it out this weekend and blow it out, then come back and check all the connections and re-torque everything again.

Mounts that are falling apart can really wreak havoc with the trans and engine; glad to hear you got it all cleaned up.