Friday, August 19, 2011

8-19-11 - week in review - Fuel pump rebuild, Big Blue has a friend of the U.K. and it's finally brake time.

The above was found in the 1956 bug last weekend.




Brake time! Last weekend, I spent quite a bit of time getting the shop clean and ready to roll the 1956 bug back in. That's right, it's going back into the shop. Why? Because my rear axle, which is a super temporary from taking the bug home last fall, is finally ready to come off.


And then, it's time for brakes! Last weekend, I disconnected the old backing plates from the bug (note, if anyone is trying to do this, remember to loosen the emergency brake, or you will battle it a while before realizing why the damn cable won't come off) so now the bug is completely clean of everything in the back, just gas and brake lines waiting for a transaxle and engine.


Here's what I have to work with:









So I will be focusing on axle and brakes over the next 2 weeks.




Thanks to Jeremy C in the UK for showing Big Blue some love on his bus:






Another project I did this week was rebuild the fuel pump. A fun little job that I did at my desk in the evenings. Here are some pictures from the rebuild:






Above: pump coming off the car. It actually wasn't in bad shape...






Basically, this job is all about taking it apart, cleaning, replacing, and putting back together...








A rebuild kit from Wolfsburg West:



I have this cleaner called "Berryman's Chem-Dip" which is really good. It's a gallon paint can with a build in strainer with a handle. You can drop things in there, let them soak for a few days, then pull them back out. So far it seems like really good stuff.


After a good cleaning...





Old (right) and new (left)


Again, you basically replace what was there in the exact spot it was in...




Now, putting this back together is tricky. There is supposed to be pressue, in other words, the pump is supposed to be partially (15mm by accounts on The Samba) depressed when you put the halfs back together. It's pretty impossible to do. You can hold it and screw the screws at the same time. So find a friend or do what I did. I took a small clamp from EP's jewelry making supplies and used that to depress the bottom half of the pump.



That makes it easy to screw back together and... Done!





File these under "coming soon" projects...





The above is a box from TP Tools & Equipment. A kit to restore the inside of a gas tank. It had been intended to be used on the bug's existing gas tank. But after finding out what was inside of it last week, I am currently vetting replacements...


And, soon a quick swap of the ignition coil for this new one from Wolfsburg West...



Oddly, this post is brought to you by Blossom Chevrolet.

1 comments:

Unknown

So that's what the fuel pump looks like! That clamp idea was John Muir-esque. :)

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