EJ20G into 67 Bug

[GS guy]

Hey Surf,
Ditto on the fuel tank heating issues. My cooling fan will be blowing directly onto the underside of the tank, literally inches away - so figuring out how to insulate it has always been on my mind. At a minimum, I'll probably cover the exposed tank bottom with DEI Floor and Tunnel Shield:
http://designengineering.com/floor-tunn ... at-shield/
I put this stuff on my rear firewall too.
One step further would be to fabricate an aluminum heat shield between fan exit and tank, and probably put the floor and tunnel shield on it for an extra layer of insulation. Not sure if I've got room for an extra shield, plus the complexity of shaping something that would fit the area while sealing off the lower half of the tank, plus clearing fuel lines, etc. Adhering the F&T shield directly to the tank should be all the insulation it should need?

That stuff is somewhat stiff, so it would take lots of fiddling with it to fit the contours of the bottom of the tank. Probably some type of partially overlapping strips? Plus you need to seal the edges with their matching tape (after installation) to prevent the fiberglass layer at the edges from fraying.
Jeff

[surfbeetle]

Thanks Jeff, I'll definitely check it out. I was thinking some sort of shield or duct to make sure the hot air doesn't just go to the tank or maybe there's some sort of spray on insulation for the tank.

[surfbeetle]

Last night I changed out the brake light senders on the master cylinder and remembered just how much space there is not under the tank. I'm going to take another look at it tonight and hope to make a cardboard template for some sort of shield. Also, since the install of the beam and new steering wheel, the horn is not working. It's been way too many years for me to remember how it's wired. Please help me on this one. I have a wire that connects from one side of the steering box coupler to the steering shaft and another wire that is on the same bolt as the first wire that goes up the center of the column. Then then that wire connects to the button. Connect me if I'm wrong, this should make up the ground circuit for the horn with the positive side of the wiring going to the fuse block?
Thanks in advance.

[GS guy]

A separate shield would probably be the best bet for keeping heat off the tank, even if it has to be an origami project! I was reminded that anything directly on the tank would probably hold moisture - with all the potential problems that brings!

I believe the horn grounds through the center wire running down through the steering shaft (eventually through the steering box and into the chassis). The hot connection should be coming through the copper springy tabs in the column/hub, then through the brass ring attached to the back of the steering wheel hub. Should have a wire off that connecting to the button. Now I'm wondering how the Super Beetle does this with the U-joints in the column.

[surfbeetle]

Last night I got the radio working... had to do something to drown out the fuel pump, ha ha ha. I thought I would mess with the horn. I looked up the schematic on the samba. Currently, I obviously have something miswired and I believe that my horn has died. When checking the power at the horn, with the key on and no one pushing the horn button, I had 12 volts at the horn. I think that I should only have 12 volts when the horn button is pushed, correct? The bad thing about the schematic is that it shows what connects to what but doesn't show me how it connects at the steering box and steering column. It was late last night, I needed to air up the front suspension if I was going to get anywhere with it, but didn't want to run the air compressor (and upset the neighbors). This weekend, I'll pull the fuel tank and get the horn wiring resolved when I try to make a heat shield for the tank. I'm pretty sure I'll have to buy another horn.

[GS guy]

I believe in a stock bug +12V goes directly to the horn, and the ground side is where the switch is wired. So you should have 12V (to chassis/body/ground) at the horn, and all the way up to the horn button. The other side of the button should be common to chassis ground. At least that's how I remember it's wired.

Speaking of fuel pump noise - I noticed the Walbro pump mounting kits come with a foam sleeve for outside of the pump, I presume to cut down on the noise? Could something similar be made from foam pipe insulation? Also I've read the pump must be "rubber" mounted (between pump and whatever it's mounted to) to help cut down on noise. Mods to maybe consider.

[bad62bug]

These work well.

https://www.mcmaster.com/#vibration-dam ... s/=1d9tt8m

[surfbeetle]

Well I think for starters, I have a few leftover pieces of that black plumbing insulation that looks kinda like a pool noodle. I'm going to simply cover the pump and zip tie it on. Maybe that will quiet it enough, but I have low expectations that it will work. I'm only going to try this because I'll be up in there to fix the horn wiring.

[dlamyle]

I don't know how your fuel pump is set up but you might want to read through this thread. The gist of it is you may need a feeder pump for the Walbro...but there are other possible fixes in the posts as well. Worth the read.
http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/75129-w ... isy-fixed/
My pump is very quiet 99% of the time and only gets loud after a long drive on a very hot day. I'm guessing my fuel tank gets hot but I've never checked it since it has only happened twice.

[GS guy]

I think one area to look very closely at is the actual fitting ID on the fuel line connections. I noted the AN6 Aeroquip fittings I'm using "downstream" of the FI pump have a pretty tiny ID where the hose slips onto the fitting, as well as the general hose ID of the braided lines is smaller (closer to 5/16" vs 6/16 as the AN # implies). That fitting is slightly smaller than 1/4" ID! I'd call that a restriction.
For the low-pressure tank to FI pump plumbing, I went with the Aeroquip AN6 push-lock fittings, which use a true 3/8" ID hose and much larger ID hose-end fittings. I fitted a large 100 micron pre-filter and FI pump directly under the tank, with a Canton fuel injection filter back by the engine. I'm hoping I can get away with this without having to fit low pressure feed pump - as there"s "no room at the Inn" for another pump in my set-up!

[surfbeetle]

Several pages back, I posted how I copied another thread here where they used a Rabbit fuel reservoir. My pump is a $90 cheapy from Summit. LIke I said, I'll start with the insulation and see what happens. I drove the car to work today, it's a 15 minute drive and I noticed that I'm only getting 4 psi of boost and I have a whoosh sound. While we were dyno'ing the car, the plastic hose at the exit of the pressure side of the turbo had come off. I reconnected it and tightened it with a screwdriver but really needed to use a socket to get it tighter. Maybe the clamp is just bad. I'll need to address this when I get back home. I don't have any tools to remove the engine cover and put it back on here at work and it's only 9 miles to get home. My church is doing a father's day car show tomorrow and I'd like to get it fixed enough to drive there.

[surfbeetle]

Didn’t make the church show but the pics I saw make me bummed I missed it. The 67 special retarded turn signal box died on me yesterday. Wolfsburg West has them for $64. I’m going to check Veeparts and see if they have it since they’re local. Also I had to chase down some boost leaks. I’m getting 7 psi. Also the steering shaft was rubbing the bottom of the column so I slid the box up but think I messed something up since now I have a noise I have not heard before. The horn wires still have a completed circuit when tested. It’s like the ground does not need the button to be pressed to turn it on. I thought the shaft hitting the outter column under the fuel tank was doing it. Maybe I need to just rebuild the entire thing and add a collapsible shaft.

[surfbeetle]

Also, happy Fathers Day.

[surfbeetle]

Tonight I decided to drive 30 miles each way to the San Diego Aircooled Tuesday Gathering it’s the farthest I’ve driven the car since the conversion. I had some electrical gremlins to work out before I left. One headlight and the turn signals were giving me grief. Turn out I need to clean and or replace some fuses. I really hate the old style fuses. It drove great and I really surprised a newer Dodge Charger on the highway. On the way back I noticed a squeak in the back that went away if I applied the brakes. Hopefully it’s something simple like re-aligning the brake caliper. Also temps were warmer than I thought they should be for a cool night like tonight. It was running about 190 degrees. Come to find out, my radiator scoop was almost closed, it had gotten bumped when coming off the trailer last week and I forgot to readjust it. It’s open now so we’ll see what happens next time.

[GS guy]

Nice shakedown run Surf! Sounds like she's running pretty good! I guess your Beetle was a bit of an outlaw at an "aircooled" gathering.
Jeff