Autumn reflections...off to storage. What can I say, it's been interesting...and expensive.
We just eclipsed the $12,000 mark, and if you remember the post when the superbeetle was safetied, that's 3 grand more....in 2 months. oy vay! My kids can read this when I'm dead and gone and see where their education money went...
She's still not what I consider reliable transportation. I've adjusted the valves 3 times, and I swear the EMPI valve adjusters are indeed hardened...hardened plastic! Will look at the whole valve geometry in the spring, I suspect they might not be centered on the lash caps. I also roasted the brand new 'premium' coil wire after like 20 mins of operation. These aftermarket parts are really trash now days. Don't recall having issues with Bugpack stuff.
The carb is also flooding when shutting the engine off. I cut 0.025" off the pump rod and it seemed to help, but it's still not solved. I did buy a 1-10 psi gauge to nail down the fuel pump pressure at no more than 4 psi. All the pressure gauges I have in the toolbox are for fuel injection, which won't register something as small as that. And it looks like I'm getting 15L/100km so far, but I don't have a 6' box to put stuff in, so we gotta fix that.
I topped the fuel tank up for storage with Stabil mixed in, and yes that 'new' '5 star' 'excellent reproduction' fuel filler hose is still leaching fuel stink. Not so much wetness as the first attempt, but just smell. Maybe a silicone turbo intercooler hose is needed here instead.
The reversion back to original steering gear is working fine. The old steering box I bought seems to be tight enough too. John from Granger Firestone did (another) great alignment job, and she drives straight and true and isn't trying to kill me (and my children) anymore. Now the question is; what to do about the massive hole in the trunk? I'll have to tin-whack something in the spring. Still not sure I want to put the original deep sump pit back in and abandon a R&P solution.
The airdam is also a nuisance. She's too low...I said it. Even hard braking makes it scrape on the ground. 2 fat guys going for coffee makes it constant. She needs to come up one ring groove on the strut tubes, so for now I'll just remove the airdam (in the spring) Future plan is for a Porsche 924 front end and disc brakes, so we can raise it up a bit and put the dam back on.
Now here's the skinny. I don't really like driving it. I really don't. Is this because its proved pretty unreliable so far, embarrassing to start with a flooded carb, distributor advance arc still not perfect, exhaust leak (worldwide shortage of exhaust systems right now). It's also pretty uncomfortable, probably because I've been driving progressively more comfortable cars in the 25 years its been gone, but it's a pretty M'eh experience at this point. It's also attacked my wallet relentlessly, and I'm pretty mad about that.
Like sending a kid to their room, or dog to their crate, we'll shove her in the garage and see what a new year brings....
