Steve Walker wrote:

On 03/03/2020 18:47, Andrew wrote:
On 03/03/2020 15:51, Chris J Dixon wrote:

Anybody remember checking the spark plugs on a 1500 Beetle? ISTR
adapting the tubular spanner by drilling an extra hole so the
tommy-bar would fit in at 45 degrees to the axis.

VW Type 3 Fastback was even worse. Getting at the innermost
pair of plugs was so difficult, they were frequently
cross threaded.

My uncle had one of those. Just about the worst car he ever had. He used
to joke that he did more miles with it tied to the back of my father's
car than he ever did driving it. It was significantly improved when he
and my father drilled out and re-tapped the holes and replaced the
cylinder head studs with bigger, stronger ones made by the apprentices
where my father worked.

For an encore, it burst into flames on the drive one evening.

The Beetle was my first car. I picked it up at trade. It had been
imported from South Africa, and was a bit behind the European
model changes. IIRC the greasing interval was 1500 miles. It was
OK as a first car, but not after driving anything else. Motorway
trips in a cross wind were very interesting, as the steering,
even with new king pins, was incredibly soggy.

M62 eastbound was fun. If I didn't get a good run at it I had to
change down before the summit.

Then there was the heater designed so that, if it was going to
stick, it would do so fully on. As it was a waterless system, the
air could get pretty hot, and a passenger once had a pair of
shoes ruined. It was just some flaps and a lever, but once it had
seized you had to get underneath to free it off.

It had an interesting screenwash system. The water reservoir was
connected to, and pressurised by, the spare wheel. You simply
pushed the control and water squirted.

Only when it eventually stopped working did it become clear that
there was a pressure limiter to make sure that you didn't run the
tyre flat.

My only success was once getting an exhaust fitted free - almost
all the free fit exhaust firms wouldn't touch it without an extra
charge. They took all day and had to change a stud.

Chris
--
Chris J Dixon Nottingham UK
@ChrisJDixon1

Plant amazing Acers.