What every Beetle should have -Gearbox Earth strap

Every Beetle should have one of these...

its an Earth/ground strap attached to the chassis and the gearbox

If its missing or broken , the engine including the starter motor need to find a way to get grounded/Earthed - -NEGATIVE

I had one case where the headlamps used to get brighter every time they changed gears.. or Maybe the clutch cable was grounding/Earthing out..

anyway , check to see if your Earth/ground strap is still there...

LEE

had a big $$$$$ cobra replica in the shed with issues whilst trying to start it.........it didn't have an earth strap fitted by the builder and the next thing it decided to use was the stainless FUEL HARD LINE 👎

A mates old Holden used to use the accelerator linkage.

I found out that the one on my Baja was broken just recently. The only reason I found out it was broken cause I was lying under the car unbolting the rear cage. Not sure how long it's been snapped. I had an auto sparky make me up a slightly longer one out of battery cable. This way, when I bolted it up it is looped upwards away from the ground, so it doesn't snag on anything offroad. I've heard that the the engine can earth through the clutch on accelerator cables and weld them solid. That might be one thing for everyone to do this weekend. Crawl under your dub and check the grounding strap!

I made mine from a long earth battery lead I had..

and soldered the ends, then I drilled holes to put the bolts/studs thru...

Your front gearbox mount may look different as My gearbox/transaxle is a semi automatic...

Good idea, also is to take the old strap off and wire brush both ends and where it bolts on, so there is a good contact...

LEE

Thanks for the tip Lee. Going to check it tomorrow.

I have a semi-auto too!!
I think I saw yours at Warwick last year.
It is awesome, I'm quite jealous.
Do you know the best place to get semi-auto parts from?
I need a diaphragm kit for the clutch assembly, cause mine is torn.
Have tried Mick Motors but they didn't have anything.
I suppose I'll have to import something from the US of Americaland.

SHIT LEE! There's something on your car not painted!!!!!

I had a look to see if I had mine connected and at first I thought it wasn't there. Its not in the spot Lee's is. Its on the left side of the trans looping up to the chassis fork. Kinda hard to spot.

Lee

thats common sense

alien8 wrote:I had a look to see if I had mine connected and at first I thought it wasn't there. Its not in the spot Lee's is. Its on the left side of the trans looping up to the chassis fork. Kinda hard to spot.

yup, most late models have the strap under one of the upper nuts on the nose cone running across to a stud on the chassis fork just in front of the fuel line coming out

smileyman3000 wrote:I have a semi-auto too!!
I think I saw yours at Warwick last year.
It is awesome, I'm quite jealous.
Do you know the best place to get semi-auto parts from?
I need a diaphragm kit for the clutch assembly, cause mine is torn.
Have tried Mick Motors but they didn't have anything.
I suppose I'll have to import something from the US of Americaland.

Was that the beige semi-auto bug at Warwick ?

thats mine 😊

(unlike Lee's semi-auto, mine is all one colour !) 😂

www.evwparts.com

or

www.cip1.com

still sell some semi-auto parts - even the hard-to-get bits like seals and diaghram kits.

cheers

Daniel

Duh! must be a quite day in Scone.

amazeer wrote:SHIT LEE! There's something on your car not painted!!!!!

Well, I wasn't going to say anything...
BUT

It Is painted with clear VHT paint...

I didn't want it to discolour.... lol

I was going to paint it Gold...lol...

LEE

Hiya Smiley,

smileyman3000 wrote:.....Do you know the best place to get semi-auto parts from?
I need a diaphragm kit for the clutch assembly, cause mine is torn....

A word of advice........be very careful about buying servo repair kits. The prices on these things are all over the board. These kits had gone out of production and the prices went through the roof. I bought a kit back in 2003 for $15US. In 2007 the same kit cost $125US. However, Zanoni in Brazil is now making these kits again and while prices are coming down, there are still folks out there who want big money for these kits. Don't jump on the first one you see; do some comparison shopping.

Bug City, here in the States, often has an auction on e-Bay for the Zanoni kit that starts at $8US. Lately this auction has been getting only one or two bids. Might be worth checking out.