The Cal-look Lounge

So how about a thread to cover what miles we put on our cars?

I'll get the ball rolling with my bug hitting 92,000 yesterday. Post monthly updates to show who's driving their lookers.

(https://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/2098143.jpg)

Ooh, I'm going to be rubbish at this. My car shows 36000 ish, but it's not the original speedo! What I can say is that it's done about 16 miles since last August...

Prizes for highest and lowest mileage annually  :D

lowest here, just pushed the car in and out of the garage. but i dont think that counts ;D

No other takers? Thought it was a good idea for an ongoing thread that might liven the place up a little.

(https://i.imgur.com/m9lwASc.jpg)

I think it's a great idea! I've been driving the absolute hell out of my car lately, 120+ mile weekends for the last 5-6 weekends in a row, plus daily duty, this is what I'm at right now. Not the original speedo, I've no idea what the ACTUAL miles are at but given my car's history, she's definitely over 200k. It's also a little fast since I have front tires that are way too short (22.58 inch diameter), so this can definitely be taken with a grain of salt.

Good to hear someone thinks it's a good idea  :D

Nice going on clocking up some big miles weekly, reckon we have the no1 contender for highest annual mileage right here already!

The only big problem is I didn't take note of the miles when I started driving mine regularly back in July!
Edit: I found some older pictures, one from back in February and it was at 35889, and the second from early August at about 36500, so I've certainly been adding a bunch!

OK, OK... my $.02!  The first pic is dated Aug 6, 2011.  Extra points for actually starting the car!!

It's been right around the clock huh sarge?  :D

Ye stateside guys should have the advantage here with your climate being much more user friendly to old vws.

  ...You've got a WAY with words!  I bought that speedo brand new (when you could still get 'em) and the used car in 1984 while working at Cotton Goff VW.

When I started driving my '67 bug in 1994, the odometer read 99,603. I don't know why I remember that but I do. My uncle from whom I bought it told me that it had turned over once. As I was pulling into my driveway last night, it read 98,262 so in 26 years of legally driving it, I've put nearly 100k on it.

Nice records sarge. I was just kidding about your odometer having made a full trip around plus some since 2011

So technically your car has close to 300,000 miles on it these days... it's certainly earned its semi-retirement!

Haha. I guess so. I had hoped to hit the 300k mark before the 30th anniversary of buying the car but I didn't make it.

Ah nuts.

400k by 40 the new target  :D

Out on night manoeuvres.

It has gone round once, so 124532 miles. I put about a thousand miles on the clock annually - bit less this year as I decided not to rush working on the fuel lines in February. And then I, well, you know...

[attachment=1]

Not much driving this month due to wet weather and another broken starter motor :-[
Good day today though.

(https://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/2114453.jpg)

No clue how many times around the clock although the PO DID think that this might be genuine...
36,701
[attachment=1]

I see your $.02. LOL

BTW forgot to mention that Ruby is our daily (as much as youre supposed to be using them daily during a Lockdown  ;) )
I think were averaging ~1-2K miles a year  ;D

Got a really bad picture yesterday of my bug's last commute for a while
(https://i.imgur.com/lA28B6q.jpg)

Whys that Andrew??

Unfortunately I'm not able to keep it going year-round, between not having a place to keep it where I live and having to deal with Colorado weather, so this past weekend was finally time to get my Subaru cleaned up and serviced so it can take over for the Bug.

Man I thought you were talking fuel economy! I've owned my '64 since 2014 and have put a little over 18k on my 2276. as for fuel economy, NA with 44idf clones I was able to hit 31mpg (freeway), Turbo with edelbrock 600cfm hit 29.9mpg, and currently with FiTech- still tuning, but expecting that same right around 30mpg.

(https://i.postimg.cc/WpYfGs6C/FAB60-BE6-6-D40-4-C1-D-935-F-C0-F97567994-D.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/kD8c93Hv)acer aspire spacebar (https://keyboardtester.co/keyboard-tester)

Not a looker I know but Got my bus back on the road in January 2020 after a 2 yr full resto and since then I’ve covered 2970 miles in it according to the new smiths electronic speedo.  couple trips to SantaPod but mostly commuting thanks to the pandemic  :-\ had many more trips planned but nearly all that got cancelled. Owned the bus for 13 yrs in total, can’t remember how many I’ve done over the years but it does get used as much as possible, I must normally put 7-8k a year on it at least.

I switched from 44’s to IDA’s while doing the resto and was excepting a bit of a drop in fuel economy but on my trips to the pod (140 miles) it’s averages about 25mpg which I’m very happy with  ;D

That's a badass looking bus, and 7-8k miles per year is nothing to sneeze at, especially running IDAs! What kind of motor do you have pushing that thing?

Thanks man, appreciate that  8) it’s a 2110/90.5x82, FK10 cam, straight cut gears, 1.4 rockers, cb 044 ultramag heads (42x37.5) 10:1cr, full weight flywheel, IDA’s on scat tracs, a full Mallory CDI ignition & an A1 1” 5/8 sidewinder exhaust. Built 091 box and Porsche turbo brakes. Far from the fastest bus around but it’s still pretty damn quick though  and eats miles like a modern car which is exactly what I wanted

(https://i.postimg.cc/4NNZkffp/87-B073-FE-26-A1-48-A6-8999-8-A2-A0-A05-F1-C9.png) (https://postimg.cc/23JgnfB5)

[img width=800 heig (https://postimg.cc/23JgnfB5)

You are assuming that my odometer actually works.
Mine has read the same 43,932.6 since I bought it....
I have put 60-80000 miles on it since I have had it.

That sounds like a riot compared to most of the bay windows I've driven, and 25 mpg isn't far off of what I've seen out of my grandma's '70 with a stock 1600DP.

Yeah it is good fun and nice to drive too. No 3rd progression hole nonsense here  ;) I’ve thought about efi turbo in the past and as great  as 250+ Hp would be I love the sound of an N/A engine and it’s simple, if it plays up it’s easy to fix. I think the good fuel economy can be put down to a 091 box with .77 4th, does 70mph at about 3200 so nice low revs for cruising and never gets hot either. So for all the people who think you can’t run a big cam or ida’s in a bus.... here’s proof you can  ;D

The way I see it, the EFI Turbo stuff is good for show cars that will never need to actually prove anything other than the owner's wallet size, or all-out drag cars running single digit 1/4 miles. The rest of us who just like driving our cars can keep running carbs and enjoying motors with character  8)

I once fixed a odo by taking it apart and it was a tiny plastic gear on a shaft that was spinning.
I pulled the gear off with my fingers, added a drop of crazy glue and slid it back on.

My EFI turbo has been fairly trouble free for a big-ass engine with a huge cam driven on the street and to work every day (when I could) ever since the mid 2000's. So far I've had the hand-made hold-down clamp for the injectors let go and start spraying gas (easy enough temp fix with a zip tie) and as well more recently the 009 points (which I forgot about) used for the sequential trigger for the injectors wore down and it started running rich and blowing black smoke. What was the most difficult to figure out (on my own with some advice) was a bad cold start sensor. The sensor is the one from a late EFI stock VW air cooled bug. Just by temp replacing it with a fixed resistor did the trick as it is basically just a choke equivalent for start up enrichment. Not bad for thousands of miles and over a decade of LOTS of driving. Fires up every spring without a delay (fingers crossed!!).

Andrew, Absolutely not meaning to start a FLAME war here..  ;D
I think the OG Cal Look always has a place for a pair of rip snorting IDA's, points and coil OR Magneto BUT there is a lot to be said for supercharging (exhaust or mechanical)  and perhaps more importantly modern management systems.
Yes they 'used' to be somewhat unwieldy and expensive but now there are some seriously simple setups available and even they have the ability to 'work around' rather large mismatches and provide smooth drivability, idle and even starting ability.
Cam too big? A good system will probably make it 'somewhat' driveable.
Cold starts? Every time it will go.
Engine protection. Hook up a few more sensors and the system will help keep your engine alive by either shutting down or limping if it detects anything out of the ordinary.

At the end of the day its all personal preference, what your comfortable with and how much YOU want to spend...  ;)

Cheers

I suppose that's a better way to describe how I feel about it, definitely not trying to start any crap with anybody on here, I just feel like if I wanted a turbo with EFI I'd sell my bug for a WRX. To each their own though!

I like the hot rod aspect to the hobby and trying new things over the years while still staying with the theme of German air cooled no bling all business taking queues from traditional muscle car hot rodding blah blah. There’s nothing Japanese-looking about my engine.

I know several people who have turbo motors without any issues and the draw of the awesome turbo power is very strong lol. But I love the N/A sound. 1 day id like to build a potent 2387 with a raptor cam etc and plonk my IDA’s on it but the 2110 is reliable, good on fuel and plenty powerful enough for a street driven bus.

My aunt is hassling me to move to the US so perhaps I’ll take the plunge then  ;D as speed parts in the U.K. are £££ lol

What are you high mileage people finding that needs maintenance with your cars over time?

When my buddy heard one of my engines he said the heads are lifting and sure enough the head studs/nuts were loose.
Then, when we checked my other cars, they ALL had loose heads to different degrees, and some we simply tightened the lower four nuts thinking it's better having half loose rather than all loose.
These are high mileage engines in general.
Do you re-torque heads? What about freshening up valve jobs?
Not new heads, or performance upgrades, I mean heads that are still good, ported, etc., how long before they need valves reground or replaced, or dual springs replaced, etc., on high performance engines driven a LOT?

I change the oil & filter and check the valve lash every 1500 miles, check the timing and the carb balance at the same time. Only had to tweek the carbs a couple of times when it was still pretty new, put that down to things settling in. Fit new spark plugs, clean fuel filter & change gear oil every year’s also. I drive my bus pretty hard, but I’m pretty fussy about maintaining it, use top notch oil etc and I don’t give it any shit till it’s warmed up. Bus has had a big motor for 10 yrs and the only issue I’ve had is the crappy DRD heads cracking and the guides moving which we found before anything bad happened. But it’s Never failed to get me home  ;D

I check the lower four head studs every other valve adjustment when I take the rockers off, there's no replacement for peace of mind. When I pull the motor this spring for a new clutch, I'll strip it down and go through all of them, it hasn't been done since I built it a few years back.

First day out of 2021 after a lay up. Filthy.

(https://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/2148995.jpg)

(https://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/2148996.jpg)

Cause of lay up, I've a gift it seems when it comes to breaking starters, luckily I had spare parts to fix it.

(https://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/2148994.jpg)

Car looks good as always Baz. You definately do not starter motors do you! Maybe do a hand crank start conversion  ;D

 :D I know how I broke this one, it was in gear when I started it and it jammed the starter and broke one tooth on that gear, cleaned the broken tooth and put it back in, lasted a few weeks before shedding the rest

The other failures I've no idea, but thankfully a handful of broken starters are handy to have for spare parts  :D

This tells me it's you, not the engines.  What are you doing to your engines that cause this?  Pre-ignition? Too low octane?

My engine, with 103k miles on it, hasn't had the heads off.  When I built it, I purposely installed well used dual springs to get a bit less spring pressure than new ones.
I don't buy into a lot of aftermarket crap unless there's an absolute need.  I'm talking about head studs/nuts. I've never heard of, or seen a broken head stud, so I only use original 45 year old genuine VW studs. 

Probably all of the above Bruce. This was apparent on my original 71 van as well which had a couple owners before me. When I did a top end job on a low mileage 68 bug that had the original engine, never removed (washers still under the 4 engine mounting nuts), I checked and retorqued the case hardware and again ALL of the nuts were loose, and quite loose!

Cracking day today for a little cruise, racked up a few miles this last month using it as a daily for a week or so. No starter issues is a bonus.

(https://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/2158953.jpg)

Well, I've finally been motivated to pony up for a storage unit so that my '67 isn't an hour and a half away from where I live, yesterday was the move-in day, which required it to do its first big stint of driving in well over a year, and I managed to catch some repeating digits on the way up! Once we were all said and done, it read closer to 40030, but this was a satisfying picture to catch.

(https://i.imgur.com/qiUcAyN.jpg)

Nice to be out and about, I have done zero miles since last June

I ran through some calculations this morning and using a 165/80R15 tire as a baseline for conversion, between my last mileage post in here in 2020 and the end of my drive yesterday, I've driven just a hair over 400 miles.

(https://i.imgur.com/RDqsK9Q.jpg)

The old '67 got a good 8 months of driving in this year, unfortunately though it's been down for almost two months with a bad brake master that I haven't had time to fix... Hopefully I'll see 45k by this time next year!

After a 450 mile trip to the mountains last week, this is where my '67 is sitting.
(https://i.imgur.com/zwvFmG7.jpg)

Great to see you're keeping this thread alive Andrew!

I'm out of the game, sold the last of my performance parts just this week. Bug is going back to stock to be sold. I've a bus and a single cab to hoover up my spare cash for next year or two. Maybe one day I'll feel the itch again for a fast bug, if I do I'll do a few things differently like not diving in the deep end with efi when I've zero knowledge and zero support network local to me to help me out.  Still no regrets and happy I managed to build my first motor and put 10k miles on it without it grenading itself.

It's still one of my favorite concepts for a thread, just a nice simple idea that should help keep people invested in both driving their cars and posting here. FB and Instagram might be more convenient, but this place is more important to the hobby and I'm proud to carry the torch as well as I can. I'm sorry to hear about the bug, but keep us posted on the Type 2s!

I thought it was a neat idea for a thread that would help keep the forum alive so to speak.  As the resident 1/4 mile hero says in his sig cars are meant to be driven 😉 We've both drove them as this thread shows, dunno why others didn't get more involved to help breath life into the forum. Perhaps many aren't being driven but there are plenty that are but just don't post up their stories.

Best of luck with your bug Andrew I look forward to seeing that odometer click over the miles and smiles.

exactly! keep doing that.
for me, I am driving it more, not nearly as much as you do.