Civilizing a Cal Looker

[Bryan67]

What is the part number for the Bilstein steering dampner?  

Those seats look great Bryan!  How do they compare weight wise to the stock seats and comfort level?

  Thanks, I can`t tell you how they compare weight wise as I`ve never weighed them. But They are pretty similar I would say. And as far as comfort goes, they are WAY more comfortable then stock seats without looking too out of place.

[andrewlandon67]

One other thing I'd like to work on quietening down is the rattly shift rod in my car. I replaced the hangar/bushing a few years ago and while that certainly smoothed out my shifting, it didn't stop the incessant rattle at sustained cruising rpms. I don't know if that's been much improved with my new transmission, but as it always sounded like it's closer to the shifter, I'd imagine not. Any advice on ways to shut it up a bit?

And, on second thought, I've had some issues keeping my carbs balanced for any extended period of time. I can get them to synchronize at idle and at cruising throttle/RPM, but not at WOT, and if I go and floor it after getting the idle/cruising set, they immediately go out of synch with one carb hanging open and one idling where I set it. Do I just need to keep working at it, or is there something I'm missing? For the record, I'm running Berg linkage with some arms I bought from Midwest Control that are more similar to the traditional linkage arms with LH/RH threads for ease of synchronizing.

[Martin S.]

I’ve read that a buzzy shifter is caused by worn out main bearings. I know you don’t want to hear that but it does make sense that loose bearings will let the crank vibrate which can transfer thru the shift rod. After all, what else could be the source of vibration except the engine? A recent tear down of my 71 bus revealed bearings worn right thru to the copper even though that engine ran great and never had the oil light flicker or low oil pressure when hot which is typical of loose bearings. Things wear out.

[andrewlandon67]

I’ve read that a buzzy shifter is caused by worn out main bearings. I know you don’t want to hear that but it does make sense that loose bearings will let the crank vibrate which can transfer thru the shift rod. After all, what else could be the source of vibration except the engine? A recent tear down of my 71 bus revealed bearings worn right thru to the copper even though that engine ran great and never had the oil light flicker or low oil pressure when hot which is typical of loose bearings. Things wear out.

While I don't doubt that worn bearings could cause a buzzy shifter, I'm a little hesitant to say that's my problem. It's happened with three motors, before and after I fixed the shift rod guide, and with both stock and Berg shifters, as well as with various mounts. I might try pulling my traction bar off to see if that changes anything though, since that's still the one unbushed connection between the engine and the car.

[Martin S.]

Have you looked at the shift rod coupler?

[andrewlandon67]

Have you looked at the shift rod coupler?

I haven't looked too hard at it in a while, I replaced the bushings a few years ago, but it could be my old cage is transmitting some vibrations.

[Sam K]

I had a similar situation once in a bug and I found that the rear shifter bolt was a tiny bit too long and was coming into contact with the shift rod.

[Garrick Clark]

You might find its the brass bushes in the end of the gear box nose cone.

[Catbox]

Late to the party...
But while I did this to mine in the engine compartment, you could do it on the inside of the interior under the carpet.
I used HVAC Mastic sealing tape for sound deadening.
While it is not meant for sound attenuation, it works well and is much cheaper than dynamat.
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You can see how much of the roll I have left of it hanging on the input shaft of the transmission.


That is now hidden under a solid stainless steel backing out of sight.
It cut down on the interior noise very well.
My car has a healthy exhaust note from my homemade muffler section.
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[Arnoud]

Have you looked at the shift rod coupler?

I haven't looked too hard at it in a while, I replaced the bushings a few years ago, but it could be my old cage is transmitting some vibrations.

This is THE answer:i have them in both my cars and they work perfectly:
http://kaefertuer.com/schaltstangenfuehrung-und-schraube/

[Andrew]

When collecting parts for my 63 build I wanted to get a set of 911 Recaro replicas with hounds tooth centers. But at $1100 a piece I just couldn`t do it. So I called Scat and they did a custom set of Pro 90 seats that I`m very happy with. And for much less.

Very nice taste there!

[RichardinNZ]

When collecting parts for my 63 build I wanted to get a set of 911 Recaro replicas with hounds tooth centers. But at $1100 a piece I just couldn`t do it. So I called Scat and they did a custom set of Pro 90 seats that I`m very happy with. And for much less.

Very nice taste there!

I agree, those seats look great.

Sent from my CLT-L09 using Tapatalk

[Andrew]

CSP have Koni steering dampers. Do they have a US retailer, anyone know?

[baz]

Late to the party...
But while I did this to mine in the engine compartment, you could do it on the inside of the interior under the carpet.
I used HVAC Mastic sealing tape for sound deadening.
While it is not meant for sound attenuation, it works well and is much cheaper than dynamat.
[ Attachment: You are not allowed to view attachments ]
You can see how much of the roll I have left of it hanging on the input shaft of the transmission.


That is now hidden under a solid stainless steel backing out of sight.
It cut down on the interior noise very well.
My car has a healthy exhaust note from my homemade muffler section.
[ Attachment: You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Any videos of this car online? I'd love to hear the exhaust as I'm thinking I might do something similar.

Does it sound anything like this?

https://youtu.be/a0C2i7r3yxI

[Catbox]

That is now hidden under a solid stainless steel backing out of sight.
It cut down on the interior noise very well.
My car has a healthy exhaust note from my homemade muffler section.
[ Attachment: You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Any videos of this car online? I'd love to hear the exhaust as I'm thinking I might do something similar.

Does it sound anything like this?

https://youtu.be/a0C2i7r3yxI

My car has a deeper tone that that one.
I am in the process of getting it to play nice now that I have put a 1915 into the car.
I am finding out why the previous owner gave me the engine after he had, had enough of it.
The engine case stud that my throttle center post attaches to is stripped out letting my center post flop about as you drive.
It was just another thing and I have been pissed at my car and driving my wife's Suburban to work.

I will get it up and running soon and get a video of it.
I have ran this exhaust for the last decade on the car and it still looks pretty good.
Although that was on a 1600 and a 1500, now that the engine is quite a bit healthier the muffler may need to be replaced.
Fresh packing in there may make the neighbors happier with me as I drive off to work in the mornings....
 

[Catbox]

Ok.
Even though I am supposed to be hard at it, I went through my phone and found a short video of it.

https://youtu.be/D4Z4LV4QMqM

This was the first start up after we got things assembled and into place.
The engine is a 1915 that was built for a club member a while ago.
He put it in and could not get it to run well for him and threw his hands up and gave it to me.
It has stock valves in the heads and the heads have been semi-hemi'd by the builder so he could use some junk pile heads.
It currently runs Kadrons and it feels pretty good for a sweep the floor engine.

My 16 year old did almost all of the work to install it, I only stepped in when he needed help or sense of direction.
The engine was only rev'd up to maybe 3,000 in the video.
Above that it has less bass and more rasp.
With a stock crank I have only taken it to 4500 on the test drives.

[andrewlandon67]

Well, after about 10 weeks of daily driving, my '67 is tucked back in my mom's garage for the winter. I'm pleased to report that other than some occasional temper from the carbs, and some abnormally hot weather, I didn't have any problems with it, even going from days hotter than the middle of the summer to some light snow and well below freezing. Now that it's back in the garage and my Subaru is back up and running, I'm thinking of some small stuff I can do over the winter to keep occupied and keep the momentum going of making a fast VW into a (partially) civil daily driver. While doing the interior work, I found some rusty spots in the pan, under the battery and directly under the pedal assembly, so those are going to get patched in this winter for sure, and I might get brave and replace the rear bumper mounts as well.

Other than the rust repair, I'm thinking about some minor upgrades that would make the car even easier to live with and drive for a minimal cost, and two things that come to mind are a stereo of some sort and finding a way to mount one of the stock '67 reverse lights to a T bar. The stereo will probably be the most difficult as I'm looking for something that is basically a Bluetooth receiver that has power and output for a dual-range speaker to fit where the stock speaker is. I'd ideally control volume with my phone/whatever device is synched to it, but I'm not too technologically minded so I'm not sure how it would work. I've been able to find one or two companies that sell such setups on Ebay, like Woody's Custom Shop, but I'm not 100% sold on it yet.

Aside from those two things, I'd like to just tighten some things up and smooth them out, like rebuilding my pedal assembly. Hopefully I'll be able to keep y'all updated on the progress, and I'm more than happy to hear suggestions!

[Martin S.]

I recently overhauled my pedal assembly on the turbo and was very pleased with the results. The gas pedal upgrade works fantastic! And cleaning and lubing the entire assembly resulted in an easier drive with smoother brake, and clutch as well. Stay tuned and I'll post a couple pics.

[andrewlandon67]

I recently overhauled my pedal assembly on the turbo and was very pleased with the results. The gas pedal upgrade works fantastic! And cleaning and lubing the entire assembly resulted in an easier drive with smoother brake, and clutch as well. Stay tuned and I'll post a couple pics.

Awesome, thanks for the advice! I pulled the throttle cable out and lubed it up a little while ago and it made a massive difference! My biggest issue is that my gas pedal occasionally falls off the roller and sticks at about quarter throttle, which is more than a minor irritation, so I figure if I'm messing with that I might as well take care of the other two pedals as well.

[Martin S.]

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.

[andrewlandon67]

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]

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 

[Neil Davies]

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 

Yes, I buy repair panels and the trim them down as much as possible to keep as much original metal as possible. It also means that when it rusts out again in a few years, you can get another repro panel and cut it just a little big bigger.

[andrewlandon67]

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 

As much as I'd like to just try and repair the original panels, they're way too far gone to be worth the effort at this point... When I get some pictures up, you'll see what I mean. The bumper mounts might be more easily fixable while keeping the OG metal in place behind them, but we'll see what it looks like once I get the fenders off.

[andrewlandon67]

Well, the rust hasn't gotten much worse over the years, but my drive to get it all repaired certainly has. The battery tray has been fixed, but that's all I've been able to do on that front. I know it's an old topic, but it's still relevant as I've been hard at work with getting the car to where I truly want it to be.

Last summer I pulled the trigger on a few big jobs that had been really wearing on my psyche for a while. Several years ago, I replaced the crusty original beam with one that I'd had a local guy narrow two inches and fit adjusters to. I didn't look into replacing the inner bushings or bearings at all, I just wanted to be able to lower my car in accordance with my personal tastes at the time. The guy who did the narrowing of the beam and leaves did a good enough job of welding it, but for some reason didn't include the steering stop or the damper bracket. Between the beam and drop spindles, I ran my car around extremely low for about a year or so before I got sick of smacking my poor car's nose on every damn bump in town. Once I'd adjusted it to a more reasonable height, and re-indexed the rear torsion bars, I had a car that missed most bumps but with no front sway bar and 175/55 front radials it didn't handle particularly well either. It did drive straight however, and was more stable in crosswinds than I expected, so I ran it like that for a few years, only adding a 3/4" sway bar in 2020.

I only drove the car a handful of times in 2021, but each time I felt less and less confident in the car's stability to the point where I raised it up and reset the camber and toe settings, but that wasn't enough. A worn tie rod end on the drivers side provided some insight, but the real culprit was a worn lower beam bushing allowing the lower left trailing arm to move back and forth by about a quarter of an inch. After several months of digging, I finally decided a new beam would be a good starting point, keeping the two-inch narrowed, adjustable factors but with new bushings and bearings, plus steering stops and a damper mount to boot. It was then that I found a deal on Koni Special-D Adjustable shocks on Summit Racing's site, all four corners for less than $400, so naturally I had to get those ordered, since I was on cheap EMPI fronts and no-name rears that had been on the car since at least 1989.

After some serious work getting the whole car's front end replaced, I spent about a day getting everything aligned and adjusted properly, though to get the correct ride height took a few separate attempts but the old bug was driving better than it had since I'd been driving it. The tires on the other hand were looking rougher than ever. Due to the misalignment and play in the front end, the front tires had worn extremely unevenly and were nearly down to the wear bars, so I made some puppy-dog eyes at the wife and ordered a set of Sumitomo HTR A/S PO3s in 175/65 front and 195/65 rear and had a local shop mount them up, only mangling one of my BRMs in the process (which they still haven't come through on fixing) but with all this work and money, over the course of 6 months my car went from driving like a spooked wheelbarrow to taking rail crossings better than my Saab, even at 50+ mph.

Next up, I'm really hoping to have time to get a CB Camber Compensator mounted, though the HD side plate on my transaxle might need some massaging I'd really like the rear to be a little tamer around corners to match the incredibly solid feel of the new front end.

[ibg]

to get around the side cover issue with the camber comp, I once saw one that attached to the frame horns rather than the gearbox.
A sorted beetle is still a quite good handling car 

[Iryanu]

Dynamat do a shed load of pre cut kits for the bug. I fitted the lot which cut down alot of noise. Doors / inside rear quarters / wheel arches and also the rear firewall and roof. All done. The kick panels under the rear seat squab do kill alot of sound, as does a full rear seat with parcel shelf. The c-pillar pillows kill alot too.

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doors close with an incredible thunk now. (thanks to probably 4kg of shart added)

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(before the final big piece on the firewall itself was fitted)

Not great for weight saving, but the noise was driving me utterly insane!