Only if you can see where to stop.

Hmmm.... whats more dangerous? Not being able to see forwards, or having a blind spot in the rear? Let me just think that one over....

And I fitted reversing lights to my car with orange bulbs in them, to serve as indicators, that are very big and bright.

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Thanks for the comments.

The MOT station do a lot of classics and the owner has several himself and said to me that he'd pass it without washers as he knowsthat I'd only turn up with a half cockedhome brew for the day of the test.

The car will never be driven in anything other than fine, clear dry weather. As far as I'm concerned, whilst in my ownership, it will never get wet again.

If itlooks like it might rain over a show weekend, I'll leave it at home.

Just the way I roll.

Each to their own.

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Oh great ,i love scenarios so here is my add on to the existing story .Your driving along with some light drizzle and the lorry passes covering your screen in .32 of a second and your wipers have now smeared the mud nice and evenly .Slight panic follows as you start to slow down hoping you dont hit anything, but you've lost the road go up verge towards the shallow ditch so you try and steer back on the road but too late youve hit a telegraph pole and guess what ? You Oval doest have a seat belt ...


I can get pictures to if you like.

In fact i have just scared myself and will be fitting seat belts to my own car soon.Couple of deaths near us recently .one with several people in car but 16 year old girl without seat belt Dies 😞 and others with belt survive.Ask your local policeman for the full lecture.

Mike

Just found this link. its not a gory photo of a smashed VW but instead a story of how a mans life was saved because he wore a seat belt.

https://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk/vwbeetle.htm 

It you are going to use your car on a public road then you should be prepared to make it as safe as possible for other people, drivers, pedestrians and more especially cyclists (who are making the environment nicer). 😎

Okay and even for motorcyclist (who really have no regard for safety or they wouldn't ride a motorcycle). :twisted:

Washers could save someone else from being killed by your sweet little VW. Flashing indicators like-wise. Semaphores are fine on right-hand-drive I find though, even around London in my '58 – because I can see anyone trying to pass from behind, and I can put my arm clearly out of the window to signal AS SHOWN in the highway code! On my '52 Standard I have flashers fitted into the bumper brackets and no holes drilled. :d

Seat belts I hate and never fit, and that is not going to hurt anyone else, only me and its my risk. I could also burn to a cinder trapped in a wreck by a seat belt. They also ruin and devalue a '40s - '50s VW. :evil:

If you want to keep you vintage VW exactly as it left the factory, don't take it on the public road, or put it on a trailer for a show :wink:

Below is the 'Standard Split Deluxe Windscreen Washer Device ©' as fitted to my RHD '58 Semaphore Beetle London run-about. Yes it's a soap dispenser sitting on the open glove-box lid, and it sailed through the MOT like this last week 😛
 Washers on '58.jpg You have insufficient rights to see the content.

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All good and valid points.

I won't ever be driving it in light drizzle, or have the wipers on, but that's just me. It will not see much use.

I agree that a car should be made as safe as possible where safety might impact on a third party....

.... so, does this mean all early cars with cable brakes should be upgraded to hydraulic if they are ever to be used on the road? Should we all swap our cross ply tires for radials? Upgrade out electrics for brighter 12V systems? Wit wider tyres for better grip? Retro fit a large rear screen for better visability?

I'm not trying to be funny, but where do you draw the line?

Who decides what what is safe enough and what is not?

Surely much depends on the roads the car will be driven on, the traffic and weather it will be used in and the miles it will cover.

A car used daily round London in variable weather conditions is a different proposition to a car used once a month, only in the summer, just for an exercise run to keep things running, for only a few miles at a time around very quiet, raural roads in nothing but warm, bright, dry conditions?

Just my thoughts - not saying any body elses opinion isn;t valid, just that there will always be a grey area of opinion and circumstance.

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Been there, done that, got the permanent facial scars to prove it. Putting a seat belt in might have "devalued" it, but it would have saved me splitting my nose open on the steering wheel, and then cutting the rest of my head as far as my ears with thousands of bits of non-laminated glass. The car ended up wrecked anyway, which "devalued" it pretty spectacularly. Ironically, I got a bloody good view of the washer nozzle during the incident...

This was at 20mph, and due to a 17 year old in a Fiesta pulling out of a junction in front of me because he didn't want to be stuck behind a slow old heap, by the way, and it was the first time I'd driven the car in about 3 months (it was a nice day, so thought I'd take it out for a run).  15-05-04_1730.jpg You have insufficient rights to see the content.

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Just watched Genevieve on the telly, no seatbelt and an unrestrained St Bernard on the back seat :)

What I would do andrew is source a vintage washing up bottle and attach a piece of 50's bendy tube and have it ready in your side pocket:)

On the seat belts front buy a really long leather belt, make extra holes so you can wear it, but then when you get into the oval loosen the belt and slip the back of said belt over the back of the seat, tighten belt and bobs your uncle :)

Wear a crash helmet, motorbike leathers, or fill the car with polystyrene (up to shoulder height)

Get some clear vinyl and stick it to both sides of the windscreen voila laminated windscreen :)

If I'm some poor sod coming up to pass you and you turn right, have not seen me and failed to signal clearly... now let me think...:evil:

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If they're passing you on a junction then they're in the wrong... There are plenty of lorries and vans with little rearward visibility, a split or oval doesn't score too badly next to some of those.

I'd run seatbelts every time. My preference is to survive a crash over devaluing a car, even more so when I carry my kids. I drove the oval for quite a while with just semaphores and found it much better than expected, no problems at all at night - but even so, I still mounted some small indicators to the bumper brackets - no drilling required and easily detatchable. I fitted a 356 washer jet and made up a glass washer bottle, but didn't have to drill anything then either as it must have had one there once before.

Even if you plan to only drive on nice days, you can always get caught out - especially in England. I don't see any harm in any steps to make an old car safer, I know a guy who likes everything stock who has added a disk brake conversion to the front and reckons he can stop much quicker - doesn't show unless you lie under the car. If I was driving often, I'd happily run radial tyres.

Where do you stop? Wherever you feel comfortable stopping. If your happy to just look at your car in the garage then don't do anything, if you want to drive the hell out of it then do the lot. if you're inbetween then do something in the middle. :beer:

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But that's not the case if you are turning right into a driveway, car park or other entrances :!:

Seat belts are a personal choice and affect no-one else unless you have a passenger – I loathe the things, which makes my '58 a great choice over a modern plastic box for me :evil:

They can be the cause of your death too – the burning car senario[-x

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That's not strictly true, the governments insentive for introducing and upholding the seat belt law is based on the cost of caring for victims of car crashes. Statistically, you are far less likely to be seriously injured or killed as the result of a car crash if you are wearing a seat belt. The burning car scenario is a bit of a red herring as the chances of being stuck in a burning car as the result of wearing a seat belt are far outweighed by the benefits of being protected from fatal or serious injury at the moment of impact by wearing one.

The cost of caring for victims of car crashes is enormous, not just the hospitalisation, intensive care, facial reconstruction, physio, and rehabilitation but also the cost of keeping people in long term care and paying them benefits whilst they are not working - which is often for the rest of their lives.

All of that has to be paid for from the public purse, which affects us all... :?

Mike

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Spent some time today under the fuel tank area cleaning and scrubbing. Can’t say it was the most exciting job in the world, but it needed to be done.
Once I’d removed the master cylinder and brake lines etc, I thoroughly degreased the entire inner front end with white spirit and a tooth brush until it was ‘clean’
I then took a soft brass miniature wire brush and set to work on the 53 years of hard dried mud, muck, grime and light surface corrosion. Good thing with the brass brush is that if you’re gentle, it doesn’t remove the good paint, but removes the flaky gunk.

Here are a few pics taken after it had been cleaned and brushed. Amazing how solid it is – nothing but light surface corrosion.















Here is an up close pic of the worst of it – nothing at all really!




Satisfied that the area was now clean, yet un-spoilt, I liberally coated everything in clear waxoyl. This initially has the effect of making the rust look worse than it is, but once dry, goes back to a pale patina colour.
I drenched it on with a 1” brush and will do this 3 times in total. This might not be the way some people might tackle it, but I want to retain it’s originality and ‘unpainted’ status. Nothing will be covered up, nothing hidden, just protected.








I removed the brake fluid reservoir and gave the area behind the spare wheel a clean wipe over. Again, lovely and solid.





The reservoir was perfect inside, so with a sympathetic wipe over on the outside, it is good for another 53 years service.





Here it is with a new rubber cap and connection hose.





Thankfully, the hard line from the reservoir to the master cylinder was in great condition, so I just cleaned this up with some wire wool.





The same cannot be said for the original brake switch. Not only is it very grotty, it doesn’t work following a bench test. It’ll go in the original parts museum anyway.





On a lighter note, thought I’d show a picture of the original tool kit and fuel level dip stick. Amazing to have this stuff.







And finally, here is a couple of close up shots of the TDE tail pipes. The quality and finish is second to none and I highly recommend them, despite their price.







Even the end that fits onto the exhaust box has a quality machined end.





That’s it for the moment. Next job is to finish cleaning the frame head which is equally solid, then I’ll give that a couple of coats of black ‘soft’ underseal – the stuff that doesn’t set.
After that, it’s in with the new master cylinder, solid lines, tank back in and finally I can get the engine running again.

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That car just gets better and better, doesn't it? I take it you'll have the camera crew out for the first fire-up... :wink:

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It really is a great, honest, original, rot free, virgin car - I love it.

Yes, I'll get the video camera out when it's fire up time.

This is the one thing I'm worried about as it's an unknown quantity. Everything points to the fact that it should run, and I've been through it thoroughly, but until it runs, I'll be nervous.

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If you have done all this no worries, im just imagining what I would do

- It turns over by hand I presume, If it were mine it squirt some oil down the plugs then turn over by hand to get to all the rings.

- When turning by hand I would do a check to see that all valves opened and closed as they should and there is no sticking of valves especially if they have valve guide oil seals as these may have turned cruddy and stick the valve.

- Oil the distributor drive shaft

- Plugs out and turn over until oil pressure is up and light off

- Plugs in

- Fire up, I would go straight to 2000rpm for 15 mins then cahage the oil.


What you reckon

To save you recapping through the thread, this is what I have done (or will do soon) so far to aid getting it running.

Checked oil - still full and clean from previous oil change (500 miles ago, 1981)
New Battery, fully charged and contacts cleaned and checked.
Engine cranked very well, oil light went out within 5 seconds cranking.
Strip, flush and seal fuel tank.
Fresh fuel with additive.
All new nitrile fuel hose.
Flush all solid fuel lines.
New genuine fuel tap and filter.
New BOSCH plugs, correctly gapped.
New Beru plug leads.
Rebuilt distributor with oiled shaft, new o ring etc.
New BOSCH coil.
New points, correct gap.
Checked and cleaned original dizzy cap and rotor - excellent condition contacts etc.
Fully rebuilt carb with base line settings adjusted and set.
Rebuilt fuel pump.
Timing set 7.5 BTDC
Engine turns freely and smoothly by hamd without any mechanical 'interference' feel.
Oil bath filter clean / serviced.

From the above list, all that is left to do is re[fit the tank, add the fresh fuel and go for it.

With all being well, and with it only having 36k miles from new, I'd hope it would at least fire?

I haven't had the valve covers off, but as I say, it turns over smoothly without any mechanical interference feel.

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Hope it all goes smoothly, valve stick is my only main worry but if you have turned it till the light went out all should be fine

Just went out to the garage as I couldn't resist doing a compression test.

Lucky I did. :lol:

3 cylinders have absolutely nothing whatsoever - not even a needle flicker, and one cylinder has 25 psi - approx quarter of of what it should be.

To recap, it turns over without any feeling of mechanical interference.

I guess it can only be stuck rockers or valves??

My experience of these engines is limited, so can those with experience give me a quick step by step guide on what / how to check the valve train once I've got the rockers off?

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Right now we're talking "flexes fingers"

There are 2 Main causes of lack of compression


1st Would be the valvetrain, The camshaft lobes push the pushrods which connect to the rockers
which in turn push the valves open and shut, a very reliable system when compared to belt driven cams. For a lack of compression due to valves, I would imagine one of THREE things

1. Crud in the combustion chamber and corrosion of the airtight valve seal(Corrosion of valve seating on valve or seat or both)

2. Corrosion of the valve stem resulting in valves being stuck in their open position on some of the cylinders (3 out of 4 compression test would suggest this)

3. Valve gaps non existent caused by crud OR worn out springs or seized rockers

2nd Would be deteriorated piston rings

I know it would be wonderful to turn the key and off it goes but feel heads off and a thorough investigation of the heads, valves and seats and springs would be thoroughly recommended.


Heads off valves out, new valves

a)Seat in head examined and new seat face cut with a seat cutting tool if you have
b)New valves lapped into heads
c)New springs


Head cleaned

Camping stove and big metal container big enough for head

Fill with water and loads of DAZ or AERIAL PERSIL etc

Boil heads for an hour

Cylinders

Examine cylinder bores for obvious pitting

Pistons rings may be very crudded up and not sealing

Thoroughly clean check rings in cylinder and measure gap, if ok then put back

Lap cylinders into heads for a nice air seal.


* LAP with coarse and fine paste


All back together, compression test and we're back in the room! :)

Anyone else add to this?

EDIT** Thought of another push rods are hollow and oil the rockers, soak them and blow them through as well as the rocker oil holes. Oil the push rods with new oil when refitting them and the rockers.

Another, if you have the engine out for this check the oil pressure relief valve as this may be gunked up and not working


I would have been very surprised if the engine did not have this as an issue, not a big problem at all for you as you do everything with patience

I have had plenty of these engines in the past ,some i have bought as runners and some for spares to make up a good one.
One thing i have learned and this may sound obvious is you cant be sure about anything until you take it apart and check
for yourself.I have bought engines with the original paint on the tin with clean low milelage looking ancillaries that look
as if they've hardley run but need totally rebuilding .it can be the other way round to with oily looking engines turning out to
be exellent internally.
I would firstly check your compression tester on a known to be good engine ,but personally i prefer a leak down test as it gives you
a more useful figure and you can pin point the leak by listening where the air is coming from.You can buy a cheap leakage tester for about £50
assuming you have a compressor .

My experience has been to rebuild them from the start especially if the car has been stood .I do sympathise with you as i can see how much you want to keep it as it left the factory.

Mike