Civilizing a Cal Looker
andrewlandon67:
Quote from: Martin S. on October 27, 2019, 20:37:12 pm
That funky pedal problem is common on bugs, and dangerous too.
If you don’t want to do the $$ upgrade kit, you can buy stock replacement parts for the gas pedal for cheaper.
Check my pics I posted over in the technical forum.
I actually installed one of those on a customer's car a few years ago, the difference was incredible! Depending on my financial state this winter I might have to order one of those up soon, otherwise yeah, I'll just replace the stock parts with new ones.
Bryan67:
The kit is a must have for me on any car now. The one thing I don`t like however, is that the gas pedal is a little bit longer then the original. Which makes the rubber cover sit a little too high at the bottom. So I will have to do something about that on my current build.
andrewlandon67:
Quote from: Bryan67 on October 28, 2019, 17:25:37 pm
The kit is a must have for me on any car now. The one thing I don`t like however, is that the gas pedal is a little bit longer then the original. Which makes the rubber cover sit a little too high at the bottom. So I will have to do something about that on my current build.
Yeah, it's the only upgrade I've seen for the gas pedal that's actually any better than stock, and to the casual observer it doesn't stand out much either. One of those stuck on a nicely refurbished pedal assembly might make my car almost too easy to drive...
andrewlandon67:
So a few weeks ago I stuck my car up on jack stands for the first time in a while, and I saw what 10-11 weeks of daily driving and parking outside had done to the already crumbling rear bumper mounts and weakened rearmost body mounts/quarter panels and I've decided that this winter is gonna be one of cutting and replacing all the spots that I've been putting off for the past 6 or so years of owning my bug. While I'm going to try to keep away from anything that'll show on the visible sections of body, I'll still have plenty to do over the next few months. I'm not sure why I've been so reluctant to do these repairs, I know that getting this taken care of will keep the rest of the car from crumbling to pieces and I know it'll be nice to have the peace of mind of having a more solid car, but there's just something about my mind that can't fathom cutting out 53 year-old steel and replacing it with new stuff in roughly the same shape. So far, the only work I've done is remove my exhaust header/muffler to pull the motor out to have some more room to work, and I got brave and checked to see if the original rear mounting bolts would come out without seizing (luckily they both did) so I still have quite a long way to go, but with the knowledge that those bolts won't need to be drilled out, I can actually think about the rest of the job at hand.
The list of stuff to be done is: Remove the motor, remove both rear fenders, replace both rear bumper mounts, pull the left quarter panel straight, cut the old body mounts off, replace them with new ones, cut out and replace the two crusty sections of floorpan, rebuild/clean up the pedal assembly, figure out the weird clutch noises, install new engine compartment seal, and finally put it all back together. Luckily I have friends with more tools/knowledge than myself when it comes to rust repair, so it really shouldn't be all that bad, but I'm still nervous about the next 6 months.
The only deadline I have is my wedding in late June, which should be enough time to get it done over a few weekends, but it really NEEDS to be done as any of the plans my fiancee and I have discussed for the ceremony involve my car to some degree. Anyways, sorry for the rambling, and if anyone's interested in seeing some rust repair, I'd be happy to upload some photos to my other interior thread when we actually get started on it!
Martin S.:
Try to keep the old original metal and repair it, rather than replace panels with the replacement parts. Unless, of course you can find NOS replacements.
Yes, I'd like to see your pic story of your repairs. I've got plenty of ugly rust pics of my own cars heh :P
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