Bub: the Buggered Up Beetle

Nearly a year after Bub went up flames, nearly taking me with it, I'm back on the Beetle trail and very similar reasons .... I will be starting a new Blog as much for my own entertainment as for everyone to read while locked away but that can't start quite yet so here's a taster {insert name} The Jeans Edition Baja Beetle I have had almost a year of not thinking about it but some itches have to be scratched and my deep love for the funky wee 'Classic' Beetle has again resurfaced. So here we go again, but better, and slightly more sensible I hope. I built Bub for the sheer entertainment value but that engine was doomed from the start and doomed the whole car in the end. Lots of reasons, with 20/20 hindsight, it was a really poorly thought out supercharger kit, the base engine was probably flawed, the set up was too much ad I had neither the technical understanding nor bottomless pockets to do it properly but the rest of the car was spot on. So it was back to

I really don;t know how to process this news, so I'll do it by sharing my pain and upset .... Bub went on fire during his first road test with the fully rebuilt engine. I got the engine back on Monday and fitted it straight away. Today, I got busy getting work out the way and got the engine plumbed and wired in. All sorted and ship shape - nice.  Ignition on, pumped the loud pedal 5 times and turned the key ... fired up beautifully and after a minute or 2 ticked over really smoothly. Brilliant. Left it to warm up then out for a wee drive - exactly what I expected ... really quick off the mark, really smooth through the gears, instant pickup, almost no throttle hesitation (a problem before). For sure the handling was evil but with some weight in the front to hold the nose on the road and the gear loaded in the back it would be epic. So ... off for a longer run and after 25 miles it was just getting better (as I got used to it) and on the A77 heading home with the wind behind m

It's been a while, a long while since I Budated or even looked at the damn thing in earnest. Actually that's not quite true, Bub has been sat in my carport looking forlorn and unloved while my Veteran Car (1912 Alldays & Onions) sat on the ramp being sorted after a breakdown. Now, however, the engine is back from the builder and is only lacking a few parts before it can be fired up and test driven and run in. Here's the video (words below for the literate) So, what went wrong? Short answer - the engine blew up, long answer ... read on When developing an engine and making it run as best it can you need 20/20 hindsight as well as all the knowledge that all the 'experts' have. Clearly I have neither! What I had was a pile of parts, a bolt on Supercharger Kit that was nothing of the sort and about one third of an idea of how to put them all together. I'm going to cover the bits that led to the broken engine ... Parts 1300cc engine in very good co

Here is a sorry tale of the perils of buying from overseas .... headlines .... "Bolt on kit" fucking well is not "good quality carburettor" is a crappy chinese piece of shit copy "lifetime technical support" lasts about 3 days until the retailer gets bored All kits come missing parts,poorly set up with incomplete or misleading instructions Now read the details .... I bought a supercharger kit and ignition system from Joe Blow, I am not putting his website ro FB page here because I have no wish to advertise him, and I have been both very impressed, adn massively disappointed in both his attitude and his products. My dispute with him is over his misdescription of the ignition system. He didn't make it clear that I would have to adapt parts already received, his website totally failed to mention some parts that were needed and the kit arrived with parts missing that were listed as being included. His reaction to his errors was barely even a shr

I hate missing deadlines but sometimes it's better to sort things properly especially when you're talking about little things like engines. So it's been a month since the last Bubdate and I've not been sitting on my hands .... things wot have been done accessory wiring loom 8 blade fuse box) fitted using 16mm cross section cable to bring a permanent live to the dashboard a couple of accessory sockets wired in Intercom has been fitted and works very well, I can connect my phone, an iPod/iPad/tablet and CB CB antenna fitted Brakes adjusted Tyre pressure experimentation started - 10psi front, 20psi rear. Low pressures in a ttempt to gain front grip and some rear suspension New horn fitted: the original one is earth switched and all the wiring was cacked so I rewired it and converted the steering wheel button to positive switch seat pads made from mechanics crawler mats Roll cage padding to protect heads and legs new battery, terminals and tie downs fitted new

Opinion are like arseholes, everyone has one and they often stink. It's been a frustrating week with self proclaimed experts offering 'advice' which basically comes down to sucking their teeth and saying 'you've got that all wrong mate'. Oddly they all contradict each other but there are plenty of nuggets of gold in there - these guys have had lots of business and racing success so they know their stuff but they forget that they don't know it all .. anyway, back to Bub. Took a drive to a local specialist about 25 miles away. Ear plugs in and still, damn that is LOUD!!! Bu's running but not very well, stalling but going quite well on an open throttle. Smelling horribly rich but impossible to lean out. As I get to John's place the charging warning light start playing up - very odd. A good hour spent with John as he tells me what I should've done while admiring the oil cooler, showing me the right oil thermostat and giving me a few pointers

Well, Bub is a road test ready, but not a complete car. For sure, the suspension is all new, the brakes are in fine fettle (although not been used in a few years some polishing up will happen through use), all lights work so it's time to test. Old cars and MOT's it's the responsibility of every owner/driver to make sure their car is safe no matter the age MOTs are valid for the period of the test itself - drive round the block and you're on your own again Cars over 40 years old no longer require to be MOT'd but it is advised to get them checked by a 'professional' most old cars are owned by enthusiasts who maintain them professionally or to a very high standard themselves there are proportionately very few of them and they do a low mileage many modern mechanics don't know what they're looking at and the tests are not appropriate for old cars Bub doesn't need an MOT but once the engine has been tuned (emissions) he will be checked out