So one 6 hour round-trip later and I’m back from dropping off the transaxle and 2 FI heads to Jim’s Custom VWs way up northeast of here. Given their current queue, I’m probably looking at August I imagine. So being able to do a complete long block assembly will indeed be some time in the…
Category: Vendor Sourcing

Other People’s Parts – More Used FI components
My order of used FI parts from Bugcity.com arrived today. The throttle body with TPS of unknown status is generally clean, and then plastic on the TPS is perfect, so I can use the cover portion to replace the damaged one I removed from Murbella. I know have 2 backup throttle bodies and linkages and…

Murbella – Day 34 – All the important bits are here!
So all the remaining key long block parts arrived today. I can start putting some order to chaos in terms of the parts bins, make sure everything is easily accessible as needed, etc. So I’ve gone with the 4140 Forged Counterweighted Crankshaft VW Journal crank for the rebuild. If I lived in southern…

Murbella – Day 33 – And the parts continue to arrive!
The parts continue to arrive from all of the vendors. Sparx Werks The restored Bosch 043 905 205H Distributor arrived rom Sparx Werks and it is a thing of beauty. William Fowler does a service to the classic VW community here! Compared to the old ones I have, I’m just blown away at how new…

Murbella – Day 22 – Is a cam upgrade possible for original FI?
Since I am already going to be over budget to some degree on the 2020 Murbella Project I thought I would at least explore if there were some cam upgrades out there that could be put into her if I ultimately have to crack the case anyway. Now the key requirements here are… It cannot…

Trying Energy Suspension brand bushings!
So as usual, there’s absolutely zero objective opinions on bushing materials from the various VW groups I am in. Every few months someone posts something similar about modern polyurethane bushing use versus the various OEM style rubber bushings that are available and quite often, a shit storm ensues of the usual “urethan sucks” comments followed…

Local ceramic powder coater found!!!
After receiving some emails from local powder coaters telling me they could not do ceramic high-temp powder coating, I finally got a response from Performance Powder Coating From the photo I supplied, the say they can media blast, prep, and then ceramic powder coat everything I want done on Murbella’s exhaust system for about…

Media blasting and Powder Coating Plans
So I decided for the first round of suspension and drivetrain parts I’m going to try out Soda Clean of Ohio located just north of Cowtown. I’ll probably throw in a set of thermostat flaps to have blasted so I can return them to Murbella upon top-end rebuild. I do need to get an FI…

Going with KBG products for Murbella’s rear end!
I’ve been back and forth over Eastwood products versus other products in terms of what I wanted to use on Murbella’s rear chassis/suspension parts and I’ve decided I’m going with KBS Coatings’ products. From a TCO perspective, I think the costs of their products are in the ballpark where I need to be, and Summit…

Trying a new vendor for carb parts.
So most of the VW-centric vendors don’t focus on the widest availability of carburetor parts for VWs. Sure, they have the basics, and often various kits, but when it comes down to the individual bits and pieces, especially a wide range of jetting options, no one vendor has a wide variety. I ended up opting…