Franz, Chapter 2

[CentralWAbaja]

That was fun-ny

[Sneaks]

Dolls.
Vibrators.

Lotrat, you know BBouty is only 18, go gentle on him.

I drove Franz last night around the yard, he actually runs decent. The starting issue is definitely the switch, should pull the puppy and go push-button. The clutch impresses me, one of the smoothest, most linear ones I've driven. Good car for him to get the hang of a stick with. He definitely could use some love but a lot can be done with him for little or no $. Methinks we need a VW-work party up here soon. I think there are enough project now for everyone...

...especially if I bring that Type 181 home this week.

[fusername]

electrical is one of those few things I am actually good at, so it shoulddn't be too big an issue to nail down the culprit if the guage still doesn't work after our last fix. And i think he should go push button as well, but i don't think the swith is the issue, I still blame the wires. my big reason for push button is so you can crank over and make oil pressure efore every startup. most folks think my bus is a POS cause it cranks for a few minutes before it starts, they just don't realize the key is off and im just getting the air out of the oil galleys.

fun fact on bus fuel guages, they are so big and lumpy you can re-wind em when they fail. also I have the correct windign wire in a drawer, so i can fix that. that link you showd me was great lotrat. I have the tube type in my rail and for some reason assuemd the same is used on a beetle, but it appears beetle uses the same rig as a bus, so we can get this sorted without any fancy new expensive parts.

[ajdenette]

what youshould havea spare stocker around there now i just gave you a whole column and wheel?

[fusername]

found pics of the incident in question

[Qurtys Lyn]

found pics of the incident in question

What have you guys done to Franz!?!

[Hedrock]

I bet that will cost lots-o-bucks to fix

[Sneaks]

bah, fuser can weld.

[namelesswonder]

BTW sender was replaced at one point, brandy new.

[fusername]

this roof rack look good?

[Sneaks]

You building'?
Sign me up.

Franz decided to be cranky today. I organized the backyard and he decided starting wasn't something he wanted to do. Laying in the grass in a thunderstorm with a screwdriver on the starter wasn't my idea of a smashing good time. All was good though, nothing a tow strap and the 'stang couldn't handle. I put gas in it so Saturday I'll fire it up for you before I pull the battery fir the winter. Speaking of that, do you want me to disconnect franz's battery? Is it in the stock location?

[BBoudy1215]

Hello everyone. It has been ages since I last spoke of Franz. I'm sure you will all be happy to hear an update.
As you all could probably gather, sneaks fostered Franz for the winter while i was at school. It turns out that i couldn't afford insuring Franz and in order to keep plates, you need insurance and in order to park, you need plate. So sneaks was kind enough to let Franz vacation up at his place with all the other VW friends and family up there while I was busy at school.
Since I have been out of school, I have been working almost every waking moment so that i can keep Franz insured. currently got a deal for just over 1 grand a year. so if i can work enough to get a grand, I can keep Franz at school with me and work on him and keep him happy. still don't have as much time as id like to work on him but I'm sure he'll understand i'm doing it for him.
I am up at my uncle's place in Maine right now. got some work staining his house. I drove down to sneaks last Sunday June 19th and picked up Franz. Was able to get him without any issues. I went over to Autozone and picked up some tow lights (figured it would be cheaper than chancing a ticket), went over to sneaks and attached the tow bar. Made enough noise to awake the attack dogs. Loaded up the car with parts. tried moving Franz by hand but of course the drums had rusted up. so I had to back up my uncle's car into a tiny spot in between ducky (Chrissy's westy) and franz. It took me a few tries but i finally got the hitch lined up perfectly and got Franzy boy moving.
Next I replaced a flat, wired up the towing lights, chained the cars together, and we were off. The drive took about an hour but we made it up there without mis-hap. I later found out that a nut had ridden on top of the heads the whole ways with out falling off. which was good because I ended up needing that nut (that sounds so wrong).
Yesterday the 20th I got to work on Franz (I had stained for only about four hours before my temptations gave in). I started at about 3:30. The first step was bolting the engine on the rest of the way. I only had on bolt and two nuts (again so wrong. not my fault for choosing these names. I apologize) so i bolted the top left and lower right onto the trans housing. next i hooked up the heat exchange to both sides, and then came the tricky part. I had remembered which wire went where about four or five months ago when I re-swapped the engines from Franz back into the rail but i didnt remember what went where yesterday. I had taken pictures back in August but of course I didn't keep them (I am glad that I had this minor incident to remind me to document everything. I now have a folder where I am taking notes on everything and I am keeping detailed pictures too). So because i forgot what went where I had to teach myself to finally read wiring diagrams... finally did it. Man those things are confusing. the '59 diagrams are straight forward but the later years had more and more connections and less details in the diagrams so it took me awhile. I am pretty sure the wiring I did yesterday was different from my memory of the past but im not sure. The "D+" connection on the generator had lost its connection terminal before I purchased the car. I remember that wire being held to something by a screw. Since I didn't had any terminals or a crimper, I just made contact.
Then there were the wires that went to the coil. The back-up lights had a light blue wire and from the firewall there was a light blue wire. But guess what? They weren't suppose to connect. So after spending an hour or two with the wiring diagram, I figured out which wire went to the switch on the transmission, and which wires went from the switch to the lights and the light blue was.... I forget now, Ill make an edit when i figure it out. So I am 90% sure everything is wired correctly. I wasn't able to target the issue with the starter yet but that can wait.
After i checked everything over, charged the battery, and put oil in the engine, I tried starting it up. The starter worked and I saw the pullies spinning but nothing else. I didnt check to see if there was a spark or anything (don't know how) and I didn't check anything else. I got it wired an spinning. the only thing i did check was the fuel. I got gas to come down most of the way down the fuel line (I woke up still tasting it...) but I dont think it was going anything further. Still dont know anything about engines (I am brand new to car basically) but I pretty sure the carb was dry (looked under the air filter and there was no gas). I didnt have any starter fluid, didn't know what else to do and on top the that, the sun went to bed. So i decided to as well. Not sure what I am going to do today since Im not sure what else to look for but maybe tonight ill give it another shot. If I can't get it started, then I'll probably move onto another project for now. I just wish I wasn't such a newb. I remember last time I tried getting this engine to start, fuser was there to help me out and he finally got it going but I had no idea what he was doing. I suppose Franz just needs a little more tending to before he wakes up. That one thing I have learned about Franz. When he wants to work, he will and he'll work great. But when he doesn't want to work, he just needs more attention. He's got an attitude that I have learned to adjust to. And rather than be defeated, I look at it as "he's not ready yet" rather than "f***! $4!t D@mm!t". I can't wait to drive him though...
Also, more on the engine. Initially, it seemed that he was only leaking from around cylinder 4 but last night i discovered a leak on cylinder 2 where the exhaust bolts on... I still needs to strip down the engine and ID the problem but I am kinda scared to do it. First of all I dont really have a place to do it (I MIGHT be able to see if i can clear a spot in my uncle's basement) and second, I have no idea what im doing so even if I take it apart, I might be worse of than I am now...
Im still pushing forward though. hopefully things will go well but you never know.
Goals for summer:
-ID problem with engine
-Fixed started wiring
-Finish up rear brake
-Take a look at rebuilding disc brakes
-build front bumper
-build roof rack (above)

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Sounds good. I am sorry to tell you but you will have to continue to use the word "nuts" as gonads have already been taken.

Lee

[Lotrat]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keB_Jf_EggU&t=1m39s

[fusername]

Just keep cranking. It will take a long while for the pump and carb to prime. Also disconnect the wire for the choke so it doesn't heat up. Look in the manual or online to see hoe the choke works, but iirc rotate the choke cam things (above the throttle arm, screw on throttle arm touches it) clockwise to turn the choke on (engine cold) but you need to hold the throttle part open as you do this.
you will probably kill the battery cranking before it actually starts due to the whole no fuel prime thing

Ps, you grab my FI stuff?