dubmeup wrote: I have 3 of them.......................you cheeky whipper snapper

Here,s how to start a beetle with a flat battery

Griswald wrote:
Invaluable. If only I knew about this when I had my blue beetle. I loved that car. Best car I ever had, when it wanted to start.

Griswald wrote:
Sorry gris
Where did you lose those all important cells then?
I speak from having one 1302s. The worst car I've ever had the pleasure to drive. Uneconomical, tardy and in need of an anchor to slow it down from the top speed of 32.4 mph Oh yeah then there's the aircooled thing which causes you to sit there sweating with the heater on in August whilst you panic that another 30 seconds at the traffic lights will cause the boxer to seize

dubmeup wrote:
You are displaying all the hall marks of a poor vdub mechanic
The 1600 boxer engine as fitted to your car was in serious need of either a good tune up , or overhaul, if thats the best performance of what you were getting. If it was in need of prayer at the traffic lights, in case it seized, then it was probably due to a lack of oil or maintainence or both. Our family has them since the 50,s, my dad drove old 6 volts from London- Fishguard-Rosslare- Cork in them every year, trouble free, and with blinding lights, because he solved the lighting issue, that others just whinged about.. I dont know why you,d want the heater on in August, the weather must be rough in Exmoor
I drive a 76 beetle as my daily driver, that has an engine rebuilt by myself, and gives me 38+ mpg at 60 average speed, and my brakes would stick you to the road. And the engine is in tip top mechanical trim and runs brilliantly, thats it in the pull start clip.

Here is a handy and cheap solution to draughty doors and windows, which may be letting 15-20% of your valuable c02 laden heat out of your house

feather wrote:
Wow, Feather! Respect to your mother.

If you have doubleglazed windows and doors that have gasket seals that have failed. rather than calling in a company to repair them, its a simple process too, to replace these bubble gaskets as they are know. A roll can be purchased on the internet, and is cheaper in the long run, than callout charges to a specialist. Its just a matter of removing the old one, cutting a new one about 5% oversize, as they do shrink considerably, and press them into the groove. In the case of a door frame that has one single length that runs all around the frame. Cut it to length, and at each corner, nip about 2 mm out of the rubber that presses into the groove, and run it around the corner to the next one. If your gaskets are over 5 year old, chances are, they have shrank and need replacing

griswald

Plastering? Please excuse my ignorance; Plastering must mean 'mudwork'? Or smoothing over drywall pieces? Drywall is also called gypsum board. 'Plaster' (literally) has not been used for decades.

I AM NOT intending to be a smarty-britches! Rather, at best, I am naive and am requesting information.

Well, the winds are picking up and there is a thunder and a bit of rain on my side of the monitor........I may sign off soon.

Or, I may be stubborn and stay on and exchange my router (after it gets zapped) tomorrow.

I'm so stubborn about the router being so delicate that I actually delude myself to believe that if I exchange it enough times, the unit will be improved. But who am I kidding.

Coco wrote:
Smoothing over drywall/sheetrock is known as skimming where I come from, and filling between the joints on drywall for a quick decorative finish, is known as part of the drylining process.
Plastering is an everyday practice here, and resto work on old buildings where cornices are repaired with a running rule and plaster, is where the skill of the tradesman come into his own. God forbid that this level of expertise would ever disappear.

griswald

It is possible to get 45 plus and more from a beetle.
dubmeup wrote:

It is. I am currently doing a top end rebuild on an early 65 beetle engine. It was giving over 40 to the gallon, prior to any work being done. Its the early 30bhp engine that was wel nown for its fuel efficiency, if correctly tuned. Most early beetle owners timed their engines statically for optimum running at low idle, where as its more important to have them timed corectly at 3000 revs with max advance at the dissy.

I,ve run a water cracking unit on a 1300 beetle, that gave about a 15% increase in fuel efficiency. And I,ve now fitted a nitrous hydroxy unit on one as well. Its running great, but no fuel numbers yet.

griswald

Thank you, Gris.

Once you get a unit doing 45 fit and split charging system and incorporate two batteries for a longer charge and DC supply to the coil and when the batteries are full remove the alternator belt and watch the MPG go up, as the power drops switch over to the spare battery, run on narrow tires and slightly harder than normal and freewheel everywhere possible, should be able to hit 50 mpg.
Griswald wrote:

Dear group, I want to convey what my ex-husband, the mechanic, said to me: His words, not mine.

He said it's Bleep! Bleep! stupid for people to run their heaters when the car's cooling system doesn't work in an attempt to draw a bit of heat off the engine compartment as the heater has nothing to do with the engine. He followed with some more Bleeps!

He is a very good mechanic, he really is. (sincere)

(Even though my clutch plate chatters because he forgot to turn it before installation, which wasn't needed after it was sorted out, because after all his hard work was all done, (complete clutch R&R) he discovered my clutch just fell out of adjustment and a complete R&R was not needed. I still drove that truck with the clutch all the way down to the floor for a couple of weeks afterward before he figured it out - bloody miracle.)

(I also didn't appreciate being called a liar just because my factory clutch was clean, which puzzled him in relation to my poor clutch pedal performance, and was informed that I owed him money for parts and labor (labour). After all, a pretty clutch could not possibly be 15 years old, so he rationalized that I snuck out and had someone else replace it years ago and didn't tell him, so the clutch pedal was in disorder because some other mechanic performed bad work on my truck. *Jesus Christ, seriously?*)

Don't get me started. Cocaine: It's a helluva drug.

But I am interested in your mechanical thoughts. Please be assured I am NOT arguing, but genuinely curious.

Thank you.

Coco wrote:
Depends on the car...most of them afaik simply have a small rad and fan for the heater that is taken off the same cooling system as the main rad. In that instance running the heater would draw a tiny bit of heat off the engine, although tbh if its overheating then theres something more serious going on.

Worse still is when the heater goes cold lol
Chances are the cyclinder head now resembles an aluminium banana

Andy, you're a cool guy. You have proven yourself to be a cool guy over time. But I don't know what afaik is because I'm not a mechanic. Or banana cylinder head thingys.

Are you sure you're not talking about the canooting system, or the elusive BR-549, which no car can operate without?

Don't forget the underslung chrome throttle cable and its laughing shaft
Coco wrote:

Oh come on!! No-one really thought I was being serious about the 32.4 mph top speed did they
Sorry gris but I am a massive VW fan, I just don't like Beetles. I don't have one single good word to say about them as cars. They're pretty yes, they sound nice yes, they feel nice to sit in yes but as a car to drive in the 21st century, they suck lol.
Disclaimer: That's just opinion of course

Coco wrote: What exactly is the cooling system in an aircooled engine?

Ah yes airflow, as in the car has to be moving. It's a very well known problem with aircooled engines that they overheat in traffic in summer and a very well known deterrent to that overheating is drawing off some heat by running the heater

And in pretty much any car, the heater works by taking heat away from the engine

Your man is misled No wonder he's your ex If he were to even look at my Mk2 after spouting such guff I would be forced to use his testicles as a substitute pair of fluffy dice