Read the workshop manual, looked online and most importantly, asked my uncle. My uncle is a mechanic who worked in a specialist VW workshop since before I was born. He helps me out with a lot of tips.
The actual process of swapping engines is easy though. You just need to take off a few pieces of tinware, disconnect the coil wiring, fuel line, throttle cable and heater control cables. Then you undo the four bolts which attach the engine to the transmission, slide the engine back off the gearbox input shaft and it's free!
It's helpful to have some large wooden blocks which are taller than your jack. That way, you can lower the engine down until the heater boxes rest on the blocks. Then slide the jack out from under it. Then, lift up one side of the engine at a time and remove the blocks. I left mine sitting on a piece of cardboard so that I could slide it along easily. Beetle engines are light enough that two blokes can pick one up and carry it fully dressed with the exhaust on. You can then put it on a workbench for disassembly. No engine cranes or stands are required!
In order to get it out of the engine bay you need the car to be high enough in the air to slide the engine out from underneath. It's very high, something like 66cm. I found out after doing this that you can go lower if you slide the engine out sideways through the wheelarch.
In order to achieve this with only axle stands you need some monster stands. I got mine from Sprint Auto Parts, they're enormous and are rated to about 4 tonnes. They're so tall that I normally use them fully collapsed for oil changes and other servicing. They will barely slide under the car with my jack at full reach. To get the car up to the right height for the engine change, I jacked it up to the full height of the jack, put the stands under it, let the jack down and then stacked wooden blocks on the jack! Then back up to full lift again. Be very careful and make sure you never get under the car unless it's properly secured.
Alright, looks like I have a lot to do before even going ahead with buying an engine.
I'll go for a trip down to Sprint Auto Parts down the road from mine once Zelda is back up and running, that'll give me an extra weeks worth of pay to spend on her.
Just wondering how much you grabbed those axle stands for? I'm thinking that'll be the easiest way for me to get Zelda up and get the engine out.
If only my Dad lived in Adelaide, he changed the engine on a Type 3 Squareback back in the day, so I'd assume he wouldn't have too much of an issue with Zelda...
Albeit he is down Saturday morning, he might be here for the engine swap if he takes the bill for whatever is wrong with Zelda, because then I'd easily have enough cash to grab a 1600cc dual port as soon as possible.
Was your 1600 a single carby when you picked it up or what? I'm seriously considering grabbing a dual carby kit off of
http://vwparts.net if all goes according to plan.
Must thank you for all of this information, it's great to have a community that actually want to help and not just boast about their own cars
🙂My 1600cc engine was stock when I got it, with a 34Pict carby. It's still on there now in fact! Here is a photo from the day of the swap, of the two engines together. I painted the muffler and heater boxes before the swap. As you can see in the photo, I swapped over a few parts from my old engine onto the new one, including the generator and various other things. The fan shroud was off the engine in this photo because I had been cleaning and painting it. Always easier outside the engine bay!
Vee Dub Parts Unlimited (which you linked to) are very good and I do recommend them as I had no problems with buying my stuff through there and it was at a good price. If I hadn't already bought my stuff though, I would be going for these on eBay:
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/VW-VOLKSWAGON-BEETLE-MANX-BUGGY-TWIN-WEBER-WEBBER-CARBS-/170659412683?pt=AU_Car_Parts_Accessories&hash=item27bc17facb
Look like a bargain. For now, I'd recommend that you keep focused on just getting the car fixed and running again. A car on the road is worth 10 in the garage!
I can't remember how much I paid for my stands, but they weren't super expensive. Something like $70 seems to ring a bell. Just shop around at a few places. I remember going to about 4 shops that day and Sprints were the cheapest by about $40 or so. To give you an idea of the size of these stands, here is one fully extended, next to an average pin-type axle stand.
When you do get around to the swap, if I'm not busy I'd be willing to even come around to your place and help out if you like. Since you're taking your car to GHR I assume you're roughly in the southern suburbs so probably not too far away from me.
Sounds like a plan, to get her back on the road and to get her rear guards and bumper changed, after that it'll be the engine.
I'll definitely shop around for everything and check prices everywhere before committing to anything, I want to make sure I get what I need no matter what.
Unfortunately I'm not in the southern suburbs, I'm just willing to drive an hour/hour and a half in traffic to get her to GHR and back. I live in the eastern suburb of Glynde, no doubt too fair for you to travel to come and lend a hand in swapping her out :P
Anyway, tow truck is booked and seems like everything is a go for tomorrow afternoon, somewhat depressing. Just want to get her back on the road and really want her to be running perfectly again.
Glynde is closer to Volksfactory at Holden Hill than it is to GHR. I'm very surprised that you're not going there. Paul from Volksfactory definitely knows his VWs at least as well as GHR do. If you need used parts, Volksfactory also happens to be pretty much the only shop in Adelaide which is still wrecking Beetles. Paul mentioned to me on the weekend that he just recently had a few Superbugs in, so if it turns out that you need a used transmission he would probably be the man to ask.
Oh, and the eastern suburbs aren't that far away. I drive 50km each way to work every day! 🤓 🤓
I originally took her to Volksfactory first, but something about Siggi at GHR, well, let's just say he talks to me more and likes me (I think) :P
I'm thinking that if I do need a used transmission I'll definitely approach him, but I somewhat want to stick with GHR. More of a, well, sentimental value knowing that the Type 3 Squareback that I used to grow up in is being serviced by them...
Damn, that is a massive trip per day, I drive about five minutes to my work! But yeah, it'll be during the school holidays, depending on the price of which this repair will cost me, hopefully it won't be like, a million dollars!!
But regardless, if you're keen to lend a hand, I will supply beer or whatever beverage you prefer :P
Zelda goes in this afternoon.
Really hoping it isn't something massive. But I guess I just have to go with the flow, regardless of what happens.
Really hoping I get her back next Monday or Tuesday afternoon. Hopefully it doesn't take too long, I hate having to rely on mates to take me places.
Guess you really do realise how much you rely on your car when it's gone.
Went out last night and had a look.
This is what is happening.
Clutch in, gear stick into first (yes, it feels normal, so that is a start), then slowly off the clutch (without the car even on) and nothing happens.
Did the same with the car on, didn't even feel like it was trying to move forward.
So, my thinking is it definitely isn't the gearbox, as the linkages feel fine. It could very well be the clutch, but I don't think it is.
That leaves one major thing, the drive train. It could have just popped out or something, I don't know exactly.
SebastienPeek wrote:Clutch in, gear stick into first (yes, it feels normal, so that is a start), then slowly off the clutch (without the car even on) and nothing happens.
Did the same with the car on, didn't even feel like it was trying to move forward.
So the clutch pedal feels completely normal?
and no strange noises when you let it out with the engine running?
Clutch pedal felt perfect, and there were no weird noises at all.
Gave Siggi a phone call last night, he said exactly what I thought, the drive shaft had gone bang and six CV joints had cracked. Supposedly they were really loose after a lot of wear and tear, and had just exploded.
Cheap fix thank God, only $145 for the removal of all the crap throughout the rear end. Going to pick her up Monday afternoon with the father hopefully, depends if he wants to come and pick me up from school and go for a long drive! :P
If the Clutch still feels fine and there's no trouble getting it into gear like that it's the first sign the problem's in the axles.
The CV bolts may have been slightly loose, amazes me how many people try to tighten them with Allen keys 🙄
Another common one is the splines on either the axle or the brake drum strip and not having a LSD it just tries to drive the wheel with the least resistance, but usually you get some horrible noises letting the clutch out.
Yeah, I'm just extremely grateful it wasn't something a lot more time consuming/expensive.
Looks like I'm going to pick up the guards tomorrow, along with the rear bumper and wheels.
Should be good!
Great stuff! I'm glad that it was cheap to fix for you. Now to get out there and rack up some km! Enjoy driving it.
Heading down to pick up the guards, rear bumper, hubcaps and steelies.
Looks like this should be good fun!
Will post pictures when I get back and have them all tucked away in the garage.
Have been scanning through other members rides and am seriously thinking about doing what Joel has done with the LED strip inside the speedometer.
I'll than take a look at mounting LED strips underneath the dash so that I can actually see during the night, otherwise, it is pitch black inside Zelda.
They seem to have removed the interior light too, (there was one originally, right?) and I'm thinking about adding one.
I'm assuming it would have been attached to a sensor somewhere, where would I be looking on the doors to find where I should be mounting a sensor?
I'd probably link it to the LED strips underneath the dash in the end as well.
I just fed mine off the interior light, so they only work when the interior light does either always on/off/door mode.
Hmm, that makes it a lot more difficult for me, as my interior light is missing...
I'll grab a few photos, where is the interior light supposed to be?
There should be a hole in the metal frame above the passenger side door for the interior light, and if you are lucky, there may still be the wiring for it as well. If you get a pin, you should be able to feel for the hole by sticking it through the holes in the headliner.
Here is a photo (not a very good one though) of where the hole is located on the passenger side.
Here is a better photo, but it is of the light switch hole I cut in the corresponding location on the drivers side, so I could have a 2nd interior light.
From your ole' mate Jeff
SebastienPeek wrote:I'll than take a look at mounting LED strips underneath the dash so that I can actually see during the night, otherwise, it is pitch black inside Zelda.
They seem to have removed the interior light too, (there was one originally, right?) and I'm thinking about adding one.
Why do you need light inside the car at night? Having the car interior as dark as possible is best for night driving, it lets you see the world outside much more clearly. The only thing which needs to be lit is your speedo. You shouldn't be looking down at the gearknob or any other controls whilst driving so you don't need light for those. If you're talking about light for when you're parked at night, then by all means go for it. I haven't even bothered to wire up my interior light in my current bug because I don't need it.
I'm not sure about L-bugs, but most late Beetles have the interior light in the headliner, just above the rear corner of the LHS door. You should have switches mounted on the A pillars of the body inside each doorjamb, which have little rubber flange seals around them.
Glad to hear Zelda's on the road to recovery, all credit to you for persevering and staying so positive - especially when on a part time wage whilst juggling school also!
Keep the updates coming when time permits.
Kris 😀
Jeff, as soon as I have Zelda back in my possession tomorrow afternoon, I'll have a look around and see what I can find.
I can say now though, there will probably not be wiring. The previous owner at some point redid the interior, I'm hoping to rip up all the carpet some time next year and redoing the whole interior at the same time I am putting a new engine in her.
Mark,
I only want interior lighting when the car door is open. Basically like what Joel said, on/off/door mode and that is all. I find that my speedo however is very dim, I'm thinking it has something to do with what joel mentioned on his build thread about the numbers not being transparent, so I might see what I can do about that as well. If I get enough time though.
Kris,
Yeah, I figured that I have to look after Zelda and in turn she'll respect me, hence why these upcoming school holidays I'll be putting in a lot of effort to get her looking beautiful again.
As for this afternoons adventure, I picked up the following from a fellow forum member, SpLiTmEiStEr.
Four four lug wheels.
Front bumper and rear bumper (three hubcaps too).
Rear right hand guard with tombstone light.
Rear left hand guard with tombstone light.
The guards do have a lot of surface rust and the left hand side one has a bubble, will sand them back when the school holidays start. Really feel like sandblasting the wheels and getting them done as soon as possible, but the mother is being really strict about the fact that I'm taking up her garage space and in turn I have to wait till the holidays.
One more week and then I get to start though, so that should be good fun!
Nice work on the fenders and lights. Polish up those lenses and keep them! The new reproduction ones which you can buy now are nowhere near as good quality and don't last long.
SebastienPeek wrote:I find that my speedo however is very dim, I'm thinking it has something to do with what joel mentioned on his build thread about the numbers not being transparent, so I might see what I can do about that as well.
The dash lights are dimmable, try fiddling with the dimmer as they can sometimes have weaker/stronger spots in their range of adjustment.
Thanks Mark! Yeah, I'll polish these ones up and keep them, but I'll grab the new reproduction ones for when I'm just driving her normally. Can never have too many spare parts I learnt today!
I'll give that a shot, will see what happens tomorrow afternoon. Going to have a look for this whole where the interior light was too.
Here's where all bugs after 6/70 have the interior light
before 5/70 it was directly above the B pillar.
As Jeff said if you find the opening hopefully the wires are still there although one is live all the time so if it is still there I would hope its well insulated.
Joel, thanks for that, will definitely take a look tomorrow afternoon.
I guess I'll be looking for it with something that doesn't conduct electricity though!!
I've also found that my head unit is straight off the battery, don't have to turn the ignition on first. When I get the chance I'll rewire it so that it automatically turns on and off with the car.
That's the best way to have it if you don't listen to music while the cars not running.
But if you leave the ignition turned on while the engine's not running to listen to the radio you will soon fry your ignition.
You're right, I was just thinking about it and I do sometimes listen to the radio when the car is off. Well, once or twice anyway.
I shall just have to always remember to turn it off when I get out, if I decide to hide it in the glovebox then I'll have to have a sticker somewhere to remind me :P
But nah, did you ever get your glovebox light to have it's own switch for when the glovebox is opened or closed?
Seriously considering that once the rain has ceased and it is the school holidays, I'll clean Zelda right up. Give the interior a massive vacuum and give the exterior a nice wax and polish.
Should be very good to start cleaning her up and making her look respectable. Can't wait to start on the wheels as soon as possible!
Got Zelda back!
Put in some good kilometers in this afternoon, driving really smoothly again and am loving life.
Can't wait to drive her again tomorrow, it's just something about her that makes her so much fun too drive.
I guess that's what all VW lovers say about their cars though 🙂
Just a quick little update, I took a peek at where the interior light should be. Here's a photo of what I currently have above the passenger door.
And seeing as though I was there and found where it should be, I marked it in red pen. What I'm thinking is if I can find an original light fitting I'll install it. I don't want to cut anything until I'm certain I can install the light straight away, so I'm not too sure if there are any wires behind it...
As you can see, whoever redid the interior did it shockingly. So that is definitely something on the list to do, but I just want to get an interior light in as soon as possible.
Also, where are the door sensors and where is the switch to set it on/off/door supposed to be?
The switch is part of the light and the door 'sensors' are little switches in the front of the door jambs, below the check straps. If you open the door and look at the front edge of the body they should be there, or at least some square holes.
Ahhh, so that's what those weird little things are for! Finally, I understand!
I'm pretty sure the driver side one gets a little stuck, but not all the time...
I'm assuming that if the wires are still there, then they'll still be connected to the sensors?
If not, is it a hard task to get them connected? How much work will be needed to put into ripping everything out to get it done.
