Nothing is ever straight forward!

After purchasing Myrtle my classic 1965 Volkswagen Beetle, a few weeks ago, both Ern and I have been "jobbing on" and sorting out things that either the old girl needs doing, or things that make her that much more comfortable to live with...Oh and just little personal touches, like my Dubtastic Custom Mini Surfboard keyring. The Joker is also there on my keys.

The Joker

Custome Dubtastic Design

So far as mentioned in an earlier blog I have replaced all of Myrtle's locks and we have tried and tried to get the wiper motor to sit in it's parked position, however, this has proven to be one of those occasions where we have had to admit defeat. I am now quite happy to have the whole wiper motor and switch put back in the car and just treat the operation of using the wipers and turning them off when they are in a suitable position as one of Myrtle's quirks, a part of her personality lets say.

Speaking of wipers I had ordered 2 new wiper arms along with blades, period correct. Man the hours I have spent trawling the interweb to try and discover what is period correct. Anyhoo upon fitting one of the wiper arms, the place where the grub screw goes in just exploded. Have to say Just Kampers the place where I got the arms from were superb when I contacted them telling them of my problem, as they agreed to get another one out to me at no extra cost. Can't ask for any more than that.

Oh Dear

Moving on that is not where our frustration ends. After discovering Myrtle did not have any heat exchanges I ordered a Deluxe kit. This came with everything we needed to fit new heat exchanges. I was also very excited as I had purchased a new Vintage Speed Stainless Steel Sports Muffler...My she looked fine. Imagine our horror when we went to fit her up and she just would not go near. There were a few explanatives from both Ern and I. Ern got his tape measure out and upon measuring from centre to centre the Vintage Speed Muffler was 610mm, whilst the Heat Exchange pipe was only 595mm. Needless to say, I have had to send the Vintage Speed Muffler back to VW Heritage, which has been quite the chore. Further to that apparently the exhaust I need is not stocked and will take anywhere from a month to 6 weeks, good job I am not going anywhere in Myrtle soon. Oh and whilst I am on about Vintage Speed I am also wanting one of their Quickshift gear sticks, however, no one appears to have them in stock. I can't see the Guidosimplex semi-auto clutch set up fitting on my current Gene Berg set-up.

 




 

Will have to order up another one and then wait.

The style I am looking at, will have to wait and see how the Guidosimplex auto clutch fits and works.

 Whilst lying under Myrtle we have also discovered an oil leak, so it is on the list of "things to do"

Oil Leak

Ok continuing with minor problems and patience being tested. The Heater Tubes I ordered, upon going to fit them yesteday, guess what? Yep, they did not fit. So they are now bundled up and awaiting confirmation to get sent back and we have had to do more measuring and more research to find a pair that will fit, and I have had to order these. Now awaiting delivery.

Dam it they don't fit

Oh, and I am not finished there. In order to get heating and demister to work correctly, we have encountered another problem. The heater tubes/pipes running from the sill and up inside the inner wing, where it's practically impossible to get to without cutting a huge piece out of the car, well they are missing. Both Ern and I tried in vain yesterday to get a piece of the flexi hose onto the bottom of the sill mount. Ern has made a hole that was originally there, a bit larger, it's on the inside of the inner footwell, and we have been trying to twist the pipe onto the mount without success. I have now ordered some slightly larger tubing "Original stuff" and hopefully we will have more success with this. I am gutted as when we have removed the carpets from the footwell is has taken some of the paint off the inside of Myrtle. I mean once the carpets are back in place you will never see it, it's more to do with my "OCD" LoL. I am actually fancying new carpets, something custom, as the car is never going to be a  totally "Original 65".

OK have to stop looking now it's making me anxious

A few other various shots of Myrtle and bits and bobs we are on with

New Door check strap and light switch on order

Apparently, you can no longer get these pipes anymore

I will get interior sorted at a later date when I have more Wonga

Awaiting a new horn push kit

 Some of the engine "tins" removed to gain access to exhaust and heat exchange. I also ordered the wrong seal for the "Popes Nose" Number plate light, however just as well as Myrtle did not have a seal on the small light anyhoo. The "Popes Nose" is from an earlier year Bug, a 64 I am guessing.

Some of Engine Tin removed

Got a seal to pop on here, just going to sort some new studs for lens

Trust Haynes Manual

 A Few shots of Under Myrtle

New Heat Exchange

Looking a bit stripped out, probably best left like this until I get the seatbelt mounts fitted. Heat cables on one side routed through and fixed to the heat exchange. Also awaiting a nice new Handbrake boot.

 

So today and over the course of next week, expecting a few parcels to arrive. Once I get reimbursed for my Vintage Speed Muffler I will order up, what I  hope is the correct version.

Almost forgot I have no interior light, so have ordered up door switches and a top end Wolfsburg West interior light. Only problem being I do not know exactly where it fits, and I am slightly worried about my roof headlining. I may have to get it sorted by a professional along with my throttle pedal, which at the moment is a roller throttle pedal, which is a little cumbersome for me. Oh and I still have to get the seatbelt mounts sorted as there are none at the bottom of the B pillar. I have checked and checked again...Nope, none there.

A few bits arrived for Myrtle Today

After having a bit of a go over of Myrtle, my new/old classic 1965 Beetle I discovered she was in need of a few bit and pieces and yesterday was spent doing a little research, asking various questions upon Classic Bug forums and also contacting some VW suppliers to make sure the parts were in stock and that I was actually buying the correct said parts.


There are so many differences from year to year on these cars, so it is essential you do your homework. Picture of Original and new handle

Handle Removed

New One Fitted with keys

Anyhoo first things first. Upon getting Myrtle home I soon discovered that the key for the ignition would not fit either the driver's side door lock or the rear deck lid. This meant I could not lock my little car. I did a spot of research and figured out if I took the rear deck lid lock off I could potentially file down the tumblers and get the ignition key to work in the lock. Huh! easier said than done. The lock came off ok, however, could I hell get the chrome surround off the end of the barrel.

Ah well plan B. I went online and checked out how much it would cost for a complete lock set. I soon discovered that to buy a whole set was really expensive. So what I did instead was purchase 2x new door handles and an ignition barrel complete with matching keys (2x) I then ordered a separate deck lock with 2x keys. This means I now have a set of keys for the doors and ignition which match, and a separate key to open the deck lid and get in at Myrtle's engine. 

 

It has been some time since I tinkered with a car. I used various Youtube videos as guides to help me complete the tasks at hand. Firstly I thought I would have to remove the door cards to get in at the door handle, soon discovering that the actual door handle is held in place by 2 screws in the side of the door. Ah well, at least I figured out how to remove the window winder and door release handle.
Once I knew what I was doing the job was easy and didn't take long at all. I now have a locking drivers door. i didn't put the other handle on the passenger side as the passenger side locks from the inside and has no key in the original handle.

Next, I decided to do the ignition barrel. The ignition is situated on the dash in Myrtle. Mmmm, how to remove the ignition barrel. I could see a small screw under the dash. i removed the ashtray, nope no access there. I then opened the glove box, again nope couldn't get at it there. I then figured out it must be under the bonnet. So I pulled the release lever and had a look under the bonnet.

Neat little touch

Myrtle is very tidy under her small bonnet

Myrtle is very neat and tidy under her bonnet. She has a lovely custom cover and inserted in this cover is a violin case. The case is old and empty, but just looks cool sat there. Sure I will figure out something to pop in there. The custom cover was easy to take out, being held in with about 6 screws. Once the cover was out I could see the ignition barrel switch. At this point, I went inside Myrtle and disconnected the battery. I am not good with electrics and didn't want to either inadvertently short the car out or worse still cause some sort of a fire or get an electric shock.

I took a photo of the new ignition switch and carefully replaced each wire from old to the new one at a time so that I knew which one went where. One of the wires came loose from it crimped connector so I had to find a new connector. I then spent about 45 minutes searching in Steptoe's Shed, that's my dad by the way. Seriously, everyone, where he goes there is just mess. The shed is utter chaos, and no not even organised chaos. It was originally built to store a buggy I bought back in the day. Ern then took control of it and now it is just one huge eyesore, a total shit tip. I ended up using a pair of huge pliers to crimp the new connector onto the wire and then attached the last wire to the ignition switch.

Now for the fun part trying to pop the ignition switch in place, so that I could go inside the car and fasten in the one small screw to keep it in place. The job would have been easy with a helping hand, however doing it all on me todd was a nightmare. Each time I went to put the screw in the bloody switch fell out of the hole in the dash. I had to go back to the front of the car and under the bonnet and place it back in. Never mind eventually got there. I reconnected the battery, popped the new key in the ignition and turned it. Myrtle fired into life and nothing went bang or caught fire, well chuffed.

Next on my list was to fit the deck lid lock. This was easy, only 3 screw holding it in place. I had to adjust the catch slightly to get the lock to fully lock and open, but no real issues.

Getting in and out of Myrtle is a little difficult with my stupid leg. I had the idea of installing some copter tape on the inside edge of the door frame. My thoughts, this will stop my foot from marking up the paintwork if it catches it. I applied the copter tape and smoothed it out. I then thought I should probably heat it up to get all the excess moisture out and to stretch the thin layer of tape. So off I went and got my hair dryer. Oh, I need the extension, so it was back into the chaos of Erns shed. Another hour looking for an extension cable. In the end, I gave up, that fecking shed depresses me LoL It's like when a job should take you 5 minutes, however, it takes you 4 hours. 3 hours 55 minutes to find the gear and 5 minutes to do the job.

The Bug Report by Ernest A Johnstone

The Bug Report

This is not a report about some nasty infestation ravaging the countryside, but rather my first impressions after collecting Glenn’s old/new car from across the border in Scotland. We travelled up to Lockerbie in Grandma, Glenn’s GSR Beetle, to collect his latest acquisition which is a 1965 VW Beetle. It was raining or as we say in the North “Pissing down”, upon the journey up,  the weather then changed for the better, when we neared the Scottish borders and we even saw a little ray of sunshine.

Ern and Myrtle