Right then..... making the most of having this week off work, I did a bit more today.

First job was getting the carb back on. I had a little clean up around the dynamo first whilst access was easier.

Looks much better now.





As I do each little bit, I've been degreasing and cleaning the surrounding area, but by bit.

Already, the engine bay is starting to look a little fresher. As I've said, I won't be 'over-restoring' this car - it will be kept original and preserved, and that means no powder coated tinware etc, etc.



Then I decided it would be a good idea to rebuild the fuel pump.
I recoall there being a kit with all the boxes of spares I got with it so went up into the loft for a root.

First box I opened had the original wipers in, and a set of NOS ones too!..... which was nice....



Amongst all the treasure, I quickly found a nice original NOS fuel pump rebuild kit. Very handy!



I pulled the pump off and stripped it down, taking pictures along the way to use a re-assembly guide.

This pic shows the installation of the valve plates and springs.



To be fair, the original diaphram was perfectly servicable, but it would be daft not to replace it now.



Original and now unavailable bakerlight mounting plate is in very good order.





For the record - it's a pain in the ass to keep on having to remove the latex gloves in order to take pictures so I don;t get my camera filthy!

I then started the clean up process as per the carb - out with the celly thinners again.... For the record, I wash any residue from the thinners off with brake cleaner afterwards, just to be sure.



It's amazing where all these little bits come from!



Time for the new diaphram...



The diaphram needs to be pre-loaded as you clamp down the cover plate onto the pump body, and this is done by depressing the cam link arm within the pump body so it is 35mm beneath the mating face of the body's flange.

You can see it down the centre of the body - it's the shiny bit.



As the pump rod from the engine presses agains this arm, it pulls the diaphram downwards, drawing fuel into the pump.

I got a hard lump of plastic and cut it down to size - 34.5mm to be precise, then used a steel rule of 0.5mm thickness as a shim which allowed me to manipulate the plastic block until it was all square within the vice jaws.



Here you can see the amount of pre-tension it puts on the diaphram. The cover plate is screwed on in this position.



And there it is - all clean, back together with new gaskets, diaphram and valve plates.





The amount of crud and oily paste that had accumulated under the pump was awesome, so it was a good opportunity to thoroughly clean this area and recover all the dropped washers that had collected there!



Just before I reinstalled it, I suddenly realised that the kit doesn't come with the gaskets that sit eitherside of the bakerlite mounting plate.

Hmmmm, what to do.....

On the off chance, I ventured back up into the loft to my box of all conquering NOS goodness, and came back down stairs with this....



... which contains the two gaskets I need.

How convenient!

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awesome work,loving the comprehensive posts 😎

A great car you have there and some fantastic work gong on.

Just one observation on your feul pump rebuld. Because your 0.5mm steel rule run right across the base flange of the pump it did not add to the pre load, If I have under stood your method correctly you only depressed the cam lever by 34.5mm from the mating face.

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Nice catch! I don't know if 0.5mm makes a lot of difference to the pre-loading? I just wanted to chime in and suggest LT could use 0.5mm worth of feeler gauges to make up the difference instead of re-making the 34.5mm spacer.

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Great observation, and yes you are correct. It is only half a mmm which is 1.5% though so I'll not lose any sleep at this stage. If it doesn't run, I can always re-do it with an extra 0.5mm but to be honest, it's not that critical and I'm sure there are pumps out there with little or no preload and some with a rough guess at a pre-load, not to mention the fact that the diaphram with stretch a little over time as it wears.

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Even though I had to mask up and paint the kitchen as well as attend my daughter's parents afternoon, I still managed a little time in the garage.

Before I could remount the fuel pump, I had to remove the old gasket from the engine case which was well and truely stuck on. Had to soften it up with plusgas then gently scrape away at the surface until it was all clear. I then smoothed the surface with some 600 grit wet n dry.



Notice how you an see the cam shaft gear through the hole...



All ready to fit, along with the gaskets from the NOS kit.



Much better.



Refitted all the solid fuel lines etc - engine bay looking better all the time.



Next up was to flush and sort out the tuel tank, hoses and lines.

First I had to drain the fresh fuel I'd put in when I originally tried to get it going. To do this, I taped a length of tubing to a garden cane to keep it rigid allowing me to poke it into the corners of the tank etc to get as much fuel out as possible. I attached this to a little electric pump, similar to a windscreen washer pump which discharged the fuel down a funnel and into a large fuel container.





I then needed to remove the tank. On early Beetles, to do this you must first remove the right hand side front wheel to allow access to the split pin that holds the reserve tap lever to the fuel tap underneath the tank.

With the wheel off, I got my fist proper look at the condition of the inner wings etc, which were even better that I'd hoped.



All over the car is this light coating of dry and dusty surface corrosion with no rot whatsoever - utter fantastic and what I'd always hoped and wished for.

Just before I started on the fuel tap disconnection process, I couldn't resist squirting a little WD40 on the inner wings and wiping it with a cloth , just to see what is underneath the crud....



Result!

Anyway, the tank came out no probelm (with the flexi hose disconnected of course) and I was yet again delighted to see what excellent condition the underside of the tank is in.





I've drenched the old fuel tap in plus gas to soak over night to make it's removal easier tomorrow.



It will of course be replaced with a genuine VW replacement. I was going to rebuild the original, but with fuel being such a safety issue, I decided just to replace, although I'll keep the original as a keepsake.



Likewise, I have the correct fibre seal for when I refit the tank.



And finally - the font bulkhead is just as solid and rot free as everywhere else, albiet with a lot more accumulated dirt grease and grime, but I'll really enjoy cleaning it all up and protecting it.



That's all for today. Tomorrow I'll check if the blockage was in the fuel tap which i suspect has seized in the 'closed position, or whether the solid ful lines are blocked. We'll see. I'll also replace the flexi lines with my new braided nitrile hose and give the tank a good clean out.

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Looks great.Keep the posts coming,really informative.

Really nice, look forward to seeing it on the road!:wink:

Today was fuel tank day.

I wish I'd taken a picture of the inside and bottom of the fuel tank before I started, but let's just say it looked like something between a river bed and a festival toilet on a Sunday afternoon.

I pondered for some time about whether to send it away for a clean and flush or to have a go myself.

Needless to say, I thought I'd have a crack myself first.

Before I started, I decided now the tank was out, it would be a good time to check if the solid fuel lines where clogged or not. I prayed they were clear as the idea of trying to unblock them or worse still replace them wasn't something I cherished.

I got some flexible but semi rigid fine piano wire and fed it through, bit by bit. Came out the other side no problem and clean as a whistle!



Big relief, I must say. I'll still give them a little air line action before I reconnect everything though, just in case there is a little foreign matter lurking in there.

Back to the tank and how to get rid of 53 years of sludge, varnish, gunk, rust and who knows what else was lurking in there.

Firstly, I dropped in the tank this large bowl of nuts, bolts, washers, fixtures and fittings to act as an abrasive.



I then emptied the remains of a bottle of cellulose thinners, a load of white spirit and some panel wipe for good measure - about 2-3 litres of mixture in total, then sealed the top of the tank with duct tape.



I then sloshed and shook the tank for all I was worth. Side to side, back and forth, up and down, rolling the tank over and over and over for about half an hour - bloody hard work I can tell you.

On inspection, this had loosened and disolved all the paste and gunk and some of the scale and rust, but there was still a way to go.

I drained the unspeakably grim fluid out of the tank and began phase two.

I added about a cup full of this superb and highly concentrated water based degreaser I discovered a while ago, then added about a gallon of water.



This stuff has high foaming properties and makes you feel like you're giving it a bath!

Back on with the duct tape and then more shake, rattle and roll. To the point of exhaustion. I knocked myself sick I was at it so hard, and sitting here on the sofa typing this now reminds me of the days I'd go for gold at the gym and not have the energy later to move!
I kept at it for about 2 hours until I couldn't do any more.

I peeled back the duct tape and was delighted to find the inside of the tank lovely and clean and free of all that had sullied it earlier.

The water in there was black, and there was loads of loose debris swilling round so I then flushed it with the garden hose until it was perfectly clear, removing the nuts and bolts whilst I was at it.

I wanted to dry it off as soon as possible, so switched the hoses round on my workshop vac and used it as a blower. 5 mins with the outlet hose in the tank had it bone dry.....

..... and bright orange with a fine coating of surface rust!

D'oh! :lol:

Had a quick think then came up with a cunning plan....



Why the hell not, eh?

I poured about half the bottle in, then back on with the duct tape. This time I just slowly rolled the tank around for 15 minutes makig sure I kept all the surfaces wet.

I drained this off and then flushed the tank with the hose again until it was well and truly neutralised.

Back on with the vac/blower again to dry it out.



The result?



I'd call that a win.

As it might be a little while before there is fuel in the tank again whilst I tend to the master cylinder etc whilst the tank is out, I emptied about a third of a can of WD40 in the tank so it formed a small pool in the bottom. I then rolled the tank around again to make sure everywhere got a decent coating. I'll rinse this out with a little fuel before I reinstall.

Knackered, but satisfied.

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Fantastic thread keep this up because this will be used as reference by me soon! and many others in the future:d

x2! It's threads like this that really inspire me to get out and get on with my beetle!

Thanks


Mike

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X3 great reading, certainly makes a change from some of the rather repetative crap on certain other threads. This is what forums are all about.
Looking forward to the next instalation8)

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Really great pictures and info given on this thread. Did you once work for Haynes manuals :d

I know where to look once I get my early Beetle :beer:

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While I agree, this really is an excellent thread, I don't think that anyone should dismiss any one else's efforts as cr*p. I have had this labeled on a thread created by myself in the past :evil:

The fact is, pre67vw has a very large amount of members, some of whom post nothing, and many certainly never start their own thread. On top of that there must be an enormous amount of 'surfers' and guests (Rob, any estimates per year?) that visit this really excellent site that cannot log-in and so never contribute.

If people made no effort to add their views or piece the whole thing would fold. If any post is truly cr*p, Rob righty deletes it. Its inevitable that there will be repeated points or questions.

The answer to those who feel that the content of some threads is poor is to start their 'more interesting' thread.

If a thread is of no interest to anyone it dies anyway.

Technical and informative threads such as this are a great asset to the forum – but it has to be fun and entertaining too. Many of us VW 'lifers' have had all the rebuilds we want. We just want the social chat and laid-back entertaining side :wink:

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Bit of product advice please?

As I want to preserve and keep original, rather than restore this car, I am keen to protect the bulkheads, inner wings/arches and floorpan etc from further decay.

The car will be stored permanently in my warm and dry garage and will only be used in dry weather, unless I get caught out on the way home from a show, or have to park on wet grass etc etc.

Once I've cleaned all the dry mud and dust off the areas in question, I want to coat them in something to help protect them.

However..... I don't want it to be anything permanent, semi-permanent, textured or coloured - nothing black, no stone chip, undersealetc, etc. Just something a bit better than a can of WD40 etc.

Unless someone can come up with a more suitable option, I'm trying to decide between traditional brushed on clear Waxoyl, or Dinitrol 3125. I know that the Waxoyl will dry out and go yellow eventually and need re-application, and I also know that the Dinitrol is very thin and will wash off more easily in general use.

Any other suggestions or advice?

I'm not going to 'do nothing' and leave it, nor am I going to put anything black or textured on etc....

Tempted by the Waxoyl....

Feedback appreciated!

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Seriously, I really do highly recommend the clear Waxoly option.

It really keeps the damp out, its pleasant to use compared with many other products, and easy to remove 😎

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Totaly agree,
If you go with it, try applying with a trigger spray bottle (I used an old auto glym tyre dressing bottle) you have to warm the waxoyl can in a bucket of hot water to thin it first.
It realy does go on as a fine mist, much neater than brushing and more even than the pukka waxoyl sprayer.

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Brilliant! I'll use the non-approved warmed sprayer tip :beer:

I buff a Waxoyl coat over the exterior bodywork of my '49 periodically. It has the original paint which I of course want to keep on it. Wipes off easily with white spirit leaving the 60 year+ paint untouched :wink:

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Waxoyl seems to have kept most of the at bay on my 53 since it was restored in the 80s but it does need doing regularly in the road spray areas.If your car had been undersealed from new and you were chipping away to reveal the original paint i would agree with cleaning and waxoyling but your pictures show very little original paint .probably not a popular idea on here, but i would remove the wings and check the mounting area.At the very least use a wire wheel on angle grinder to take it back to metal,Spot blast any brown stuff ,etch prime and get the paint matched .After a few years the paint will look factory anyway and you still have a rust free car.

Sorry to disagree, but the vast majority of the car is original paint. The only areas to have had a little paint are parts of the wings, a very small patch on the bonnet and a little on the passenger door. However, this was simply a light coat of paint on paint and I have been systematically and carefully removing this with 1500 wet n dry to reveal the original paint underneath. By the time I'm finished, it will be pretty much all original paint front to back.

Being from Portugal, it has never been undersealed, so just needs a gentle clean up and some protection, hence the waxoyl question.

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