Gambler 500 Baja Bug Rehab

bashr52 said:

Ok, I assumed your setup would be something similar to this. That is an aftermarket 36 horse style shroud, with no provisions for an oil cooler. If you look at the back of the shroud you will see an oil filter block off plate has ben installed with a set of hose barbs. The original oil line routing would be to the filter, then out to the roof mounted cooler, and back to the case. I am not a fan of this setup at all for a number of reasons. The design of the oil system lets some of the oil normally bypass the cooler during regular operation when it is hot, and when when the oil control valve(s) (depends on if you have single or dual relief case) are open when the oil is cold. Therefore not all the oil is passed through the filter which cuts down on its efficiency. The other issue is unless there is an inline oil thermostat installed after the filter, the oil is always passed through the cooler which increases the amount of time it take for it to get up to temp and the engine operating at temperature. 

20/50 oil is a bit thick to run in these engines, it will further hurt your issue as the heavier weight oil will hold the bypass spring(s) open longer and oil will bypass the filter and cooler.

I'd run at a minimum an oil light, and charging light for instruments. Thr charging light provides both and exciter patch for the alternator to signal it to start charging, and also is a good indication if you have thrown a fan belt.

I've had mixed results with the Pertronix systems. I've had one bad out of the box, and two of them fail while the car was in storage for the winter.  I know you are trying to keep this low budget, but I still use a points based system in my cars, and an external control box (MSD, Accel, etc). The points are just a simple on/off switch signal for the ignition, and do not wear out as there is no actual spark passing between them. 

I have recently been using the Magnaspark system from CB Performance. Rock solid signal and no ignition scatter. Plus all the parts are common with newer vehicles and readily available at your local auto parts store.

I looked over the oil system a bit after work. It is kinda dark, but from what I can tell there is a stock style oil cooler in the doghouse. The filter mounted to the firewall has hoses going to nowhere right now, just danglin'. I see there is a "full flow" setup that's popular and it doesn't require much in parts. I need to do a bit more research on it, but I think the stock cooler in the doghouse with a full flow filter setup looks best long term?

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I also popped off the trigger wheel, and there's no markings on the sensor. Any of the pics I've found of the Accu-Fire outside of the package looks exactly like mine, so that's what I have. I'll probably order up a set of points and a new condenser in case this ignition is borked. Been running points for years on motorcycles, so I'm pretty familiar with the setup.

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Interesting, that is an aftermarket 36 horse shroud with a provision for a doghouse oil cooler. Leaving that cooler is what you want to do.

If you want to do a full flow setup, you have a few options. The best way to do it is to plug the outlet on the oil pump, inlet side of the case, drill and tap the case for a return, and run an outlet cover on the oil pump.

An oil pump that has been specially modified with an inlet/output cover and different oil paths is also available.

Or you can plug the pump, run an outlet cover, and then run a special oil control spring plug that has an inlet fitting for the oil return. 

Or you can run a mexi-beetle style oil filter/pump combo.

Sweet. I'll look into the full flow stuff after it's roadworthy and see what option fits my budget and situation best.

captainawesome said:

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908 date code means that was made in August of 1969, so that should be a good German made 009.

vwfreek said:

captainawesome said:

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908 date code means that was made in August of 1969, so that should be a good German made 009.

Sweet! There were a couple junky ones in the parts bin, so I was hoping this one was worth using.

Alright, most of the parts I've been waiting on all rolled in today. Spark plugs show up Monday, but that's not going to stop me from trying to get this thing to cough to life sooner. First thing I wanted to tackle real quick was a couple o-rings for the carbs and the gasket. I'll be damned if the gasket kit I got was not meant for the carb body I have. I didn't know there were more than one pattern to choose from, so it's my mistake for not taking the time to compare. Instead of letting this stop me I decided to whip up a quick handmade gasket using the old one as a template. A razor blade, cutting board, some hole punches, and a hammer did the trick. It's not perfect, but for now will work. It's friggin rainy and cold as balls right now. The weather dude says it's supposed to stay that way until Saturday night. I may try to get a pop up tent thing from a friend to get some stuff done tomorrow, but not sure yet.

Plan for this weekend:

Pull exhaust away from pulley

Check valve lash

Check base timing

Rotor button

Plug wires

Drain oil and put some fresh stuff in there

Intake seals and mount carb

Quick wiring to start

If motor runs, adjust advance on distributor

Scream Yahtzee and dance around like a complete idiot

I'm excited to drive this thing.

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Untitled by hatchethairy, on Flickr

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Untitled by hatchethairy, on Flickr

Good luck trying to make smoke and noise! Verify if you still have stock aluminum push rods or if they have been upgraded to steel. It will change what the adjustment numbers are. Aluminum are .006, steel are adjusted to a "loose zero". They should be tight enough to not have noticeable lash, but loose enough you can still spin the pushrod.

Well not sure if this motor is borked or not, but the oil that came out was filled with water looking much like caramel. I knew that going in, so it's not a huge surprise. After getting the intake stuff and carb installed, I turned the crank bolt to begin setting valve lash. Unfortunately the wheels and whole car want to turn with the crank. I don't think that is a good sign as it definitely isn't in gear. I decided to fill it back up with oil and come back inside to regroup. I know we rolled it into it's place in neutral without much issue, so why would the crank turn in neutral now? I'm still pretty VW ignorant, so any suggestions? After getting a fresh cup of joe and warming up a bit I may go back out and pull the plugs. Maybe it's got some water in the cylinders and doesn't have anywhere to push it out?

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Untitled by hatchethairy, on Flickr

Even if the clutch was rusted to the throw out bearing or input shaft, the tires shouldn't turn if it is in neutral... Water in a cylinder would be a hydro lock scenario, so you'd get only a partial turn on the crank, or no turn at all if there was enough in there. May want to play around with the shifter and verify it didn't get bumpet or is misadjusted or something and is actually in gear.

I think something in the linkage is jacked up for sure. When we were loading and unloading the car, I recall getting the car in neutral to be quite a task. I think that's what is happening here, now I just need to figure out where and what to do. The shifter is an Empi short shifter thing, and I can't stand it. I believe I have a stock shifter in the box of parts, so maybe that will find it's way back on the car.

  Maybe move that breather vent filter to under the  body work, is that where the water came in from? 

Some of it came in that way, but he had the intakes manifolds off when I bought the car, so I can only assume the intake ports were poorly covered as well. That breather will be moved though, and is currently disconnected from the filler neck for the time being.

captainawesome said:

I think something in the linkage is jacked up for sure. When we were loading and unloading the car, I recall getting the car in neutral to be quite a task. I think that's what is happening here, now I just need to figure out where and what to do. The shifter is an Empi short shifter thing, and I can't stand it. I believe I have a stock shifter in the box of parts, so maybe that will find it's way back on the car.

That makes the most sense of why the wheels turn when you have it in neutral - That is is not actually in neutral. I haven't worked on a real Beetle for decades, so I can't offer any specific help, but my other thought is that this car has a history of Gamblin. Have you drained the transmission yet? After some deep water fords, some water may have got in there and made a mess.

I haven't drained it yet, but that's a good idea. I'll try to get my oldest daughter to hold the clutch in while I spin the crank tonight and see if that makes any difference. If there's enough time and daylight I'll pop off the inspection cover for the shifter bushing and see what it looks like as well. I spent time fiddling with the shifter and it acts like it's in neutral position. I can place it in reverse all the way from 1st through 4th as well. As soon as I put it in gear the rear wheels lock in place when trying to turn the crank instead of spinning. Seems weird. I'm really hoping it's a quick fix because I don't think I'll have time or funds to fix anything major before the Kansas Gambler in April.

So I had my 9 year old daughter press the clutch for me while I spun the crank in hopes the rear wheels didn't spin. Good news is that the crank spins freely (almost too freely if you ask me) when the clutch is engaged. About halfway on the pedal position it begins to grab and the wheels begin to turn again. Definitely something in the shifter linkage adjustment. I misspoke earlier when naming the type of shifter. This is actually a Scat quick shifter. I think there's quite a few people that love them, and when adjusted properly work well. Hopefully that is the case. It's cold and dark already, so it will all have to wait until I get some free time to dig into things. Tomorrow I've got a friend coming over, maybe he will hold in the clutch while I adjust valve lash? Either way I'm just glad the motor isn't locked up and I can make forward progress once the shifter linkage stuff is figured out.

Because a post without pics sucks, I realize now that the interior hasn't really been revealed yet. The front seats were pulled from a Ford Ranger and poorly scabbed in place. The sight line is terrible as my eyes meet the top of the windshield. I see some poly Summit style seats in my near future, but that seems like a silly thing to focus on when the car doesn't drive down the road yet. Once this beast is rolling and stopping properly I'll rip all the old carpet out and do some slight patchwork on the pans. The sunroof panel is missing, and was left open for however long it sat in the field. If only you could smell the pictures. Headliner is trimmed out in some amazing maroon carpet. It's just so friggin setzy. 3 spoke steering wheel I love. Actually there is so much I dig about this car even though it's a complete hunk of poopy. My oldest daughter said it was ugly cool. She's right. Before these pics were taken I filled a 33 gallon trash bag with Yoohoo cartons, Frappacino bottles, Coors light in bottles and cans, plus some good old fashioned trash.

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Guess who has tow thumbs AND two e30 sport seats in cardinal red? Me. I bought these years ago for my first e21 project that failed, and used them in my 318is while recovering a pair of e21 Recaros. Anyway, I found a guy that made some brackets and fit them in a Beetle. The look great in there, they fit will, and I don't have to buy anything to fix my seat problem. The mounts look to be pretty straight forward, so I don't think it will take much effort to accomplish. The best part about these seats is that they look like they belong in a ratty car. A match made in car heaven.

The first pic is of the ones going in my baja, and the others are obviously of the example I found. I love the internet.

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Seat Bracket 5 by hatchethairy, on Flickr

Seats 1 by hatchethairy, on Flickr

Seats 3 by hatchethairy, on Flickr

I got an early day off of work today and hoped to get some work done on both the e21 and the baja. I have been in a funk for the last few days, with a lack of energy and motivation. I figured while the weather wasn't completely terrible my time would be best spent at least looking at the shifter situation and linkage to try to get the crank to turn without using the clutch.

While pulling the Scat shifter it was obvious I needed to do more interior cleaning before I could really tackle anything else. The filth level was more than I could handle. I pulled out a large trash bag and started filling it with more skanky landfill plus the remnants of the soggy front carpet. I vacuumed the poopy out of the floor pans, eventually finding some wretched previous repair in the passenger rear pan near the battery area. I think my best bet is to rust treat and then cover it up with something equally janky to ignore the issue. Sweep that future problem under the rug. This thing isn't worth any form of restoration, and floor pan work just doesn't sound like a fun thing to jump into. It's a friggin Gambler bro. When I parked the car, I taped a chunk of cardboard over the sunroof hole, and then a large trash bag taped to the roof over that. It's keeping the new moisture out for now. I think. Things are still moist inside, but probably just lingering from a year or so of an open roof.

After attempting to not get flesh eating bacteria, I installed the stock shifter with high hopes my problems would magically be fixed. Again the crank turns the wheels unless the clutch is engaged. Waw wah wah. That was enough work for the day. Please note the random capped off brake line near the pedals. There's a larger line coming above the tunnel, but I don't think that's a brake line since it's considerably larger? I'll look into it later.

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Untitled by hatchethairy, on Flickr

Don't most transmissions have enough drag in them to turn the wheels of a car even in neutral without clutch pushed in?  (Assuming they are off the ground).

Are the wheels hard to turn?  

If so, I wonder if it is stuck in 2 gears at the same time.

Do you have the stock shift plate installed under the shifter? Some aftermarket shifters use them, others do not. I'm not 100% sure those T handle shifters with the reverse lockout lever need them or not. You definitely need one with the stock shifter. If you pull the inspection cover off the tunnel and disconnect the shift rod there, can you put it into neutral by hand?

Besides the rubber/poly bushing in the shift coupler, there is also a plastic bushing in the tunnel that supports the shift rod, just behind where the shifter is. These get old and broken and fall out, which let's the rod flop around some and leads to less than crisp shifts. You should be able to see if that is still there when you pull the shifter and shine a light in the tunnel toward the back of the car.

I have seen cars and bikes that will move wheels in neutral with the rear jacked up, but this is more than that. It's rolling the car when turning the crank.

Stock shift plate was installed once the Scat was removed. I meant to check on the inner shift rod bushing but got distracted by the filth. No doubt it will need to be replaced though. The shift rod can be moved into neutral with or without a shifter by hand and yet the wheel spin stays.

I spent some time moving the shifter mount to an optimal shift position in hopes that would clear it up for both the stock version and Scat. No change.

The rear coupler had some slop, but not anything that effects my ability to find neutral. I was surprised to see an early model coupler when peaking under the inspection plate. For some reason I had it in my head there would be the late model style in there. Anyway, I think the linkage journey is a dead end.

I know the trans is in neutral. It's impossible to not be positioned correctly as all of the shift pattern is noticeably there. Like any other shifter I have used, it's super obvious when engaged in gear or sitting in neutral. Once I select any gear, it's considerably harder to try to turn the wheels. The car doesn't roll forward or backward like neutral when turning the crank, just resistance. This one is a real head scratcher. Luckily I have time to just keep checking things instead of my usual parts pile attack of "while I'm in there". I think I would be dumping money on parts that won't really fix the problem, and that money would be better spent on whatever I eventually find out to be the issue. There's a pile of stuff I can't wait to buy because I feel like I need them. Patience isn't my strong suit.

Next step I think is to drain the trans fluid and see if there's any particles? Something is funky that's for sure.

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Doing a little more internet reading this morning, it sounds like my next place to check is the hockey stick in the nose cone. It could be bent, not allowing a full neutral selection. That requires pulling the motor and transaxle to check, and it's not going to happen anytime soon. I need my garage space for the e21, so until weather clears up and I can get a helper to position the car in my concrete driveway, I'm going to ignore the car. It's currently parked in my gravel pad beside the house. The bent driver spindle stuff makes it hard to turn or position the car, plus the engine not really being in neutral makes it that much harder to move. Maybe I can adjust the clutch to engage fully while I move the car around?

Edit: Screw waiting. I'm going to jack the rear up so I can easily set valve lash without the wheel resistance. Then rewire ignition circuit, and fire the thing up. Before I commit to pulling the trans I'll at least see if I can put it through the gears on jack stands. If everything looks okay, I'll set it back on the ground and try to start without the clutch engaged. If it still lurches forward I'll look into pulling the nose cone.

If the hockey stick was bent enough to not select neutral, I doubt you would be able to access the other gears. The design of the hockey stick is such that the flats have a little clearance between the gear shafts. Any bend would either jam it into gear and not allow the shifter to move, or possibly select two gears at once and completely jam up the trans.

bashr52 said:

If the hockey stick was bent enough to not select neutral, I doubt you would be able to access the other gears. The design of the hockey stick is such that the flats have a little clearance between the gear shafts. Any bend would either jam it into gear and not allow the shifter to move, or possibly select two gears at once and completely jam up the trans.

Yeah, after really looking at pics I can't see how that's the issue either, especially when I can feel the full shift pattern at the lever or even without it. Maybe it's a clutch issue? Pilot bearing seized? Cold trans fluid? 

Weather has been in full donkey wee wee mode, so it's just going to sit for now. The quicker I get my e21 done, the quicker I can actually roll the baja into the garage to do more in depth work. Working in the cold wet gravel sucks.

I'd say it could be a throwout bearing frozen to the clutch, or trans input shaft rusted solid, but the fact you can get it out of gear when you push in the clutch proves that theory wrong... It may be time to drop the engine and take a look at the clutch/throwout situation. It would be a good time to assess the clutch/disc situation as well. It's only 4 bolts, and without a rear end on it it's even easier to slide it right out the back. 

Any more work on this lately?