So a new set of replacement thermostat flaps and and FI thermostat arrived from Awesome Powdercoat up in Vanlue, OH arrived and man it is nice. Now VW stopped producing replacement thermostats decades ago, and the Mexican Beetles ended up using a much different, through still roughly compatible thermostat. I wanted to reinstall what was…
Category: Projects
Murbella – Day 39 – Unhappy Fan Shroud
So I can’t say my first 2 paint passes came out very well on the fan shroud. Hell. A couple of other pieces either. I ran out of the first can of the satin black so I went to one of the new cans I bought the other day and it was with this can…
Murbella – Day 39 – Crankshaft and rod cleaning.
Engine – Day 4 Crankshaft The crankshaft had the last of the cosmoline removed, as well as the oil passages cleaned and brushed out. I went over everything about 4 times and I was seeing nothing coming off on the paper towels. Now I am not sure if I’ll get to assembling the crank today…
Murbella – Day 39 – Manifold mock-up!
So while I was waiting for various tins to dry , I decided to do a mock-up of the new injectors in the the restored manifolds so see what kind of hose adjustments do I need to make. Now I originally had everything assembled and then tried to place the injectors into the manifold as…
Murbella – Day 39 – Oil cooler clean-up and out!
I have typically reused oil coolers. None of the engines I’ve disassembled have had had disastrously bad coolers. Most have some internal fin damage and Murbella was no exception. Honestly, I don’t know how this kind of damage happens to an oil cooler inside of the housing. Outside, yes. Inside? Huh? Now I started this…
Murbella – Day 39 – New Throttle Body Seals
The Harwal oil seals arrived the other day so I test fit them into the throttle body. These are the same seals that the guy on The Samba used on his bus throttle body. Now they aren’t perfect fits as they are not a 1:1 replacement part. However, I think they’ll do at keeping the…
Murbella – Day 39 – Some detail painting
So the FI system has 2 fuel injectors per intake manifold. They are surrounded by a dual-ring holder, which them mounts to the intake manifold itself. The injectors have a large O-ring seal that really just locks them in place against the dual holder and then the small o-ring seal that seats them into their…
Murbella – Day 39 – More tin painting. Other painting.
The tin cleaning and painting continued today. Some of the ones already done had drips and areas I was not happy with so I sanded them down and recoated them. Finally got around to more sanding and cleanup of the fan shrould. It took several acetone baths for it to really feel clean. While I…
Murbella – Day 39 – Cleaning up more parts.
Today was the first time I used the new ultrasonic cleaner and it did quite a nice job on the small parts, nuts, bolts, and washers I used it for. It did quite an admirable job, especially on some of the chrome and aluminum pieces. It removed a lot of funk from the injector holders…
Murbella – Day 38 – Do I paint the new case?
So I received notification today from AA Performance Products that Murbella’s new engine case is getting ready to ship. That sent me down a path that I probably should have not gone down, but I was thinking… should I try painting a new case? Now I’ve seen a lot of painted cases, and I’ve read…