KNOW YOUR OIL PUMP

Know your Oil Pump 
 

As our VWs get older it will eventually begin to lose oil pressure. And we may notice that our oil light comes on earlier near idle, and takes longer to go off as we accelerate.Some might think that this is the oil pump is going bad. This is rarely the case. As the engine wears, all of the oil clearances grow larger, and the oil flows through the bearings (etc.) with much less resistance, and the result is less oil pressure. Of course the ultimate or eventual solution is to rebuild the motor.
Nonetheless our engine may be running fine, and still has some life left in it. Yet some are annoyed by that flickering oil light, so they decide to go with a larger oil pump for the present. Here is where we need a little education on oil pumps. While they may look about the same, and will fit into the case, there are differences that matter.

HEATER CHANNEL REPLACEMENT

The heater channel is the foundation of the VW Beetle body.

It runs from the front chassis support...

...to the rear chassis support.

CLUTCH CABLE REPLACEMENT

The symptoms of a broken clutch cable are usually sudden and obvious. We push our clutch pedal to change gears, there is a popping feeling in the pedal and now we have about 5 inches of free play.

OIL CHANGE AND STRAINER

Changing the oil in your air cooled VW is one of the most important things you can do to make it last. Dirty, contaminated oil can ruin a motor in a short time. A well tuned engine with minimal wear can run safely 6000 between oil changes. Short trips, big temperature changes, or dusty conditions call for more frequency. Always use good quality oil and try to stick with the same brand if possible. I prefer to use a straight weight oil in stable weather conditions. Multi wt is good in climates that change drastically. 

FLOOR PAN REPLACEMENT

In our last article we learned how easy it is to remove the body from the VW bug. With the body out of the way replacing the floor pans is pretty straight forward. But with just a little more effort they can be replaced with the body still in place. The first thing you need to do is remove the seats and floor carpet. 

BODY REMOVAL

When we hear the term "Body off" restoration we think of a restoration job that has gone to the max. We also think $$$$. On most cars this is a project best left to the pros with restoration shops with lots of equipment. Fortunately for us VW enthusiast a beetle body can be removed in an afternoon with pretty basic equipment. The standard beetle body is bolted to the floor pan along each side with 9 13mm (head) bolts and two 17mm at the front.

BEAR CLAW LATCH INSTALL

This is a kit that we got from Auto-Loc with the Hidden Hinges. we bought the latches, instalation kit and a dead bolt. not sure that we'd ever need the dead bolt but its there just in case.