Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Beetle Camper!?

An air cooled VW Beetle towing a camper? This video has been around for awhile. I believe the camper/trailer was called “The Shadow” though this is unconfirmed. This 1974 video shows the VW Beetle being hooked up to this camper going in circles. Even a Beetle enthusiast like myself has a hard time imagining the VW’s meager power plant hauling this extra weight. I’ve never seen one myself but I’d be interested to hear if some had or knew someone that did. It certainly is unique.

Sources: SuperBeetles, Jalopnik

 

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

New Year resolutions at the garage

I don’t usually do resolutions around new year’s day because it’s so cliché. Though with a break from school for awhile, the holidays are wrapping up and I’m on vacation this week it’s a good time to do some reflection and planning for the coming year. In the past year or two I’ve gotten off track not only posting hear regularly but also in maintaining our family vehicles along with our project 71 Super Beetle.

2000 Chevrolet Impala LS

In the past I was quite punctual with my oil changes and other maintenance items on both my own car and my wife’s car. Even just keeping them clean has been neglected. Now I can sit around and cite family, work, school and time issues but I’ve got no one to blame but myself. Even my state car inspection is late(Appointment on Thursday for that one).My goal is to get back on a regular schedule on maintenance for both my wife’s car and mine.Here’s a short list for my Impala:

  • Oil and Filter change
  • Antifreeze flush and refill
  • Change spark plugs and wires
  • Transmission service including fluid & filter change
  • Clean & re-oil K&N air filter
  • Wash & wax, vacuum interior

For my wife’s Windstar:

  • Oil & filter change
  • Fix passenger side door
  • Wash & wax and vacuum
  • Check air filter

1971 Super Beetle

Now onto the Super Beetle which has been neglected for months. I had started doing the brakes but soon realized I needed a plan to go forth and get this road worthy. The heater channels are but a joke and need replacement on both sides of the car. The engine is tired and I believe could use a rebuild. I have begun gutting out the interior at least. That’s as far as I’ve gotten so far. Plan of attack of the VW:

  • Remove engine
  • Rebuild engine
  • Replace heater channels( which will probably require separating the chassis & body)
  • And much, much more…..

This is going to be both fun and a challenge. Much of the work I’ll be doing will be new to me and will also mean an influx of cash and tools. My goal is to have the engine out and start rebuilding in the next month. When the warm weather appears in the spring I’ll start on the heater channels which will require extensive body work and some welding(one of those new things I was talking about). By summer time I’d like to have the heater channels in and at least have the body back together. Of course I’m being optimistic and things may come up that slow things down (of course) but that is my plan at the moment. At some point I’d like to at least register and insure it.

Well that’s the plan at the moment. I wish you a Happy New Year and good luck on your winter projects!

Monday, December 20, 2010

The end of the road in 2010

1969 Pontiac GTO "The Judge"

The year 2010 was a rough road for the automobile industry especially the big 3 from Detroit. I can’t recall a year that we have lost more established brand names in such a short time period. Some had been around for decades and others only a short time. Through this it seems that the big three have turned the corner (at least for the moment). Here are the brands we lost this past year.

  • Hummer – Though these behemoths of the road were a hit when they first came out. Even the Governator Ahnold had one. When gas reached the four dollar mark a few years ago sales tanked and never recovered since. They became a symbol of wastefulness. General Motors tried to find a buyer but it wasn’t meant to be. 
  • Mercury – Even though Ford has turned a profit lately this brand will not be apart of it’s future. The writing had been on the wall for awhile with no new models in the pipeline. It had just become a place to market upscale Fords anyway.
  • Pontiac – This was brand that jumpstarted the muscle car wars in the 1960’s with the GTO. We also enjoyed watching Burt Reynolds run bootleg Coors beer from Texas to Georgia in his black & gold Trans-Am in the late 70’s. It seemed they were trying to make it into performance brand with the sharp G6’s and G8’s but it was too late.
  • Saturn – This quirky brand was a relative newcomer. It started of as a brand meant to fight the imports. It seems as if they started out with a great idea and then designing and building a car became an after thought. They turned into a brand with no identity and were slow to redesign.

I hope that the domestic brands have seen the light. They took a huge hit because for a long time the focus was on the highly profitable SUV market. More economical sedans cars were but a mere after thought. Import brands though improved there cars and were slow to join in the SUV race. They never forgot though that their bread and butter was with cars. When the gas prices spiked they were in a better position to change with the market. Domestic brands were caught with their pants down and had to figure out how to get gas guzzling SUV’s off their lots. Let’s hope 2011 is a better year for the big three.

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Famous Beetle Funeral Commercial

Thursday, November 11, 2010

99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall!

IMG_0332I remember singing this song on long car trips as a kid. Obviously it’s an inspiration for this blog. Even though I’ve drank beer for many years as an adult I’ve come to realize how little I know about this wonderful beverage. As a younger adult it was just a means of getting a drunk. Yes it still does that but it’s gone beyond that. After quitting smoking the past year one of the things I noticed is that beer tasted a lot better without that nasty nicotine addiction. That’s amazing considering that the two almost go hand in hand, at least it used to with myself. In the last few months I’ve grown to appreciate beer more and more.

My first experience with beer came as a kid with an older adult(probably inebriated) by taking a sip of beer that was offered. I remember as a kid that it had an awful taste  and wondered why so many adults had this affection for it. I tried some as a teenager but it really wasn’t until I was in the Army that I grew in my usage of this beverage. Of course like many young adults joining the service I became an avid consumer of alcohol. Of course at this age what type of beverage was unimportant as long as it contained alcohol. Many times it was just limited to what your budget was or what was your fancy at the time.

I was lucky enough to be stationed in the holy land of beer lovers,Germany(then West Germany).  The most common type of beer I drank there was what they call Export Beer. Binding Bier was the local favorite where I was living(in Hanau, near Frankfurt). Little did I know that this told me that there was better beer out there somewhere.

My goal with this blog is taste and test at least 99 beers of as many types as possible. I’ll post as many reviews, thoughts, ramblings, rants, and beer related articles as possible. I’m not a professional beer taster or snob so I’ll try and keep it real as possible. Cheers!

My Army Jeep


My Army Jeep
Originally uploaded by Bob Cutlass
Thank a Veteran today!

Friday, September 17, 2010

More videos from Classic VW Bugs

Here are the latest installments from Classic VW Bugs video tips. These are done by VW guru Chris Vallone who restores classic Bugs. The first video shows us how to bench start your air-cooled engine. The other two show us  how to gut a VW Bug to get ready for paint. I hope yu enjoyed them as much as I did. Thanks.

 

 

Friday, September 10, 2010

Auto repair help on YouTube

Some may think of YouTube as just a silly video site to watch people make fools of themselves or watch babies' and cat’s dance to music. It’s also a valuable place to find help fixing stuff. I’ve found I learn quicker having a visual instruction rather than just out of a manual. Recently I’ve had to figure out how to change the wheel bearing hub's in my 2000 Chevrolet Impala. When I was given the four digit estimate by the garage I almost choked. Not being Bill Gates I thought of seeing if I could do this myself(or at least part of it) to save some cash so my family could eat. The one manual I had wasn’t very helpful though it explained it well enough it lacked pictures. I was kind of resigned to have to feel my way through the project. Then one night I thought why not see if someone’s done a video of it on the web. Sure enough I even found one with my exact car and with clear and easy to understand instructions. Why didn’t I think of this before? Not to mention The Bug Me Videos I have mentioned in previous posts. These are to two best videos I found on repairing my Impala by Rich Pin.

 

Now this project doesn’t seem as intimidating as they first seemed. Not only do I see it done I have an idea of what tools I need and what to expect at each step. I will certainly have these videos handy when I start this project.

Monday, August 23, 2010

Vintage VW commercial of the week: Torturing a Beetle!

I love these vintage Volkswagen Beetle commercials. They certainly had a charm about them. In this one they torture a poor Beetle. It hurts to watch them do this.

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Bug Me Video update

I have just finished watching my Bug Me Videos I got today and I was very impressed. I learned more in the few hours watching the two videos than reading all the books I’ve got on the subject. They demystify the process of repairing a Beetle and now it doesn’t seem as intimidating as it did before. I know now I must have the rest of the series. The material is put forth in an easy to understand way without a lot of fluff. If you have a VW Beetle these are a must have. These two clips are the volumes I received on replacing floor pans and heater channels.

 

 

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Bug Me Videos

I just ordered volume 6 & 7 of the Bug Me Video series. As you may guess these cover floor pan replacement and heater channel. I’ve heard of this series of videos for awhile. I’ve finally taken the plunge to purchase two of them with the plans to buy more of them in the future. I was on fence but then after watching the above video I realized I these would be an essential tool in restoring our bug. I can’t wait for them to arrive. I will give you my thoughts of them after I watch them to see if they live up to there hype. You can visit the Bug Me Video site here.

VW + Heater Channel = Rust

Recently I’ve finally found some time to spend with our 1971 VW Super Beetle. The more dig into this the more work I find for myself. I am now in a battle against rust. In this bug it has disintegrated what was once the heater channels. On a good note so far my floor pans don’t look quite as bad I though they might be, though the night is still young. Here's a glimpse of what used to be my heater channels.

IMG_4867

Rusty Bug 6

These in itself are going to quite the challenge the fix. It’s going to require money, parts, tools, labor and commitment.I’m certainly going to be learning some new skills such as body work and welding. I was mentioning some of this stuff to my wife and she suggested we might sell it. I think she thought maybe we bit off more than we could do. I plainly made it clear that I was just going over the challenges we have ahead of us. As Randy Pausch(of The Last Lecture) said:

The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough."

This merely a challenge thrown up to see how badly I want this to be done. I’m just getting clearer picture of what’s ahead.

In doing some research on how to repair heater channels on Beetles I came across this interesting series on doing this repair. It has certainly gave me an idea of what I’m up against. Surprisingly found it hard to find videos going through the whole job of installing a heater channel. This one is worth checking out if your looking to replace these.

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Volks-Vair Fair XI This Saturday!

1970 VW Beetle Convertible

Chevrolet Corvair

If your an air-cooled VW or Corvair fan in New England free  up your Saturday afternoon for this show.  This to be held in Shrewsbury, MA 10-2  August 7, 2010. It is open to all air-cooled Volkswagens and Chevrolet Corvairs. This brought to you by The Bug Club and Colonial Corvair. There will be food, music ,vendors and a swap meet area. I hope to see you there.

Here is a link to the show flyer.

Monday, August 2, 2010

Herbie Bed


HPIM0282
Originally uploaded by jackandpauls_world
At first glimpse this my just look like another "Herbie" the love bug clone. Look closer and you realize that it's actually a bed. I don't know all the details of it but it looks to be an actual VW beetle shell made into a bed. Click on the picture to see more of it on Flickr as part of "jackandpauls_world" collection. I thought I was VW crazy.

Sunday, July 25, 2010

2011 Chevrolet Caprice Police Cruiser

 

Coming soon to rear view mirrors across the USA!

 

Chevrolet is introducing a Caprice Police Cruiser for 2011. It’s based on GM’s Australian Holden brand with rear wheel drive and a 6.0 liter V8 rated at 335hp. At present time GM has no plans to sell a civilian version.  I personally feel they would be foolish not too.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

The Shape of Quality – Volkswagen Beetle Documentary

Here is a look at VW Beetles being manufactured in Australia.

 

 

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Happy 4th of July Everyone!

Friday, July 2, 2010

Build-A-Bug by Classic VW Bugs

Classic VW Bugs is now introducing a Build-A_Bug program where they build a vintage VW bug to your specifications. You provide the Beetle and they do the rest. I’ve mentioned Chris Vallone’s work at Classic VW Bugs on my blog before and from the work I’ve seen he does a awesome job. He does stay within the restore to original or period spec Bugs that I do prefer myself. Watch the video for more information. You can also check out his website here too for more information about his service.

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Blues Brothers at the Dixie Square Mall: Then and Now

Jake: Disco pants and haircuts... 
Elwood: Yeah, lots of space in this mall.

-The Blues Brothers (1980)

The Dixie Square Mall in Harvey, Illinois was made famous by the classic comedy(and one of my personal all-time favorite movies) the 1980 film The Blues Brothers starring the late Jim Belushi and Dan Ackroyd. This mall was used for the now classic car chase which can be seen here:

Unfortunately this was the last hurrah for the short lived shopping mall(It officially opened in 1965 and the last stores left in 1979). It was used as a temporary school and of course a movie set for The Blues Brothers movie. Many attempts at resurrecting the mall have been unsuccessful and what is left is a slowly rotting structure. Here is an eerie video of what the mall looks like today:

Here are some more interesting links I found about this mall:

Monday, June 28, 2010

2000 Chevrolet Impala Road Test

 

It was cool to find an old 2000 Chevy Impala Road test video. The silver LS model they show looks just like my daily driver. Soon my Impala will be marking it’s 150,000th mile on the road. I’m still very happy with it and be shooting for 200,000 miles. Here’s my my ride:

2000 Chevrolet Impala LS

Friday, June 25, 2010

Choosing a VW paint color by Classic VW Bugs

This is quick video from Chris Vallone at Classic VW Bugs. Chris shares a quick tip on picking out a color for your classic VW.

 

He also shares a video he made of a show he attended in  Litchfield, Connecticut which show off some beautiful air-cooled VW’s. His own ‘55 VW won best in his class.

Of course this just serves as a reminder of how much I need to get off my backside get moving on our ‘71 Super Beetle. No excuses, I know it’s my fault that I haven’t made the time. Have a great day.

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

A Mercury Tribute 1939-2010

1957 Mercury Turnpike Cruiser

Another automotive brand bites the dust as Mercury will soon cease to exist. In retrospect it would seem as if Mercury was the automotive equivalent of Rodney Dangerfield as it never quite got the respect it was looking for. They were meant to be between Ford and Lincoln in the hierarchy of automobiles. In reality though they became an optioned out badge engineered Ford product with a waterfall grill on it. The closest I ever came to owning one was an early nineties Sable wagon my wife had. Here’s a photo tribute of Mercury’s I’ve encountered over last few years.

My Merc

1965 Mercury Monterey

1971 Mercury Comet

IMG_0609-1

Mercury Cougar

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Humor: VW Engine Rebuild Kit

vw_rebuild_kit

If only it were really that simple.

I did get to work on the bug for a few hours this past weekend. I’m going to revamp my plans on it though. I seem to be going in bits and pieces. I was starting with the brakes at first reasoning that stopping is always a good thing. Now I’m wondering if I should just start disassembling it and start doing the body work. I’ll probably just finish up the brakes and go from there. Thanks for coming by.

Friday, May 28, 2010

The Last Bug

Here is some footage of the last VW Beetles being assembled in Pueblo, Mexico. I’m assuming this is on or around July 9, 2003 which is when the last production model was supposed to be made. I’m not fluent in Spanish so I haven’t a clue as to what was being said most of the time. Sad to see them go.

Monday, May 24, 2010

Hitler’s car – The Volkswagen - Germany

I found this interesting documentary on the early beginnings of the beloved Volkswagen Beetle. It has a lot of early footage of early prototypes. Also the vintage assembly line footage is interesting.

On a side note I think the connection to Hitler is overplayed. It was Dr. Ferdinand Porsche’s design and concept of a “People’s Car”. Hitler went along with it for his own selfish reasons. Ferdinand gathered support where he could at the time. Hitler and the Nazis were in power so where else was going to go? Calling it “Hitler’s Car” I believe is misleading and takes away from Dr. Ferdinand Porsche’s involvement.

I’m done with the rant. Please enjoy the film. It runs about 30 minutes long. Annoying though is that the video and audio are out of sync.

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Herbie spotted

 

Super "Herbie" Beetle

I spotted this “Herbie” Super Beetle at the Riverside, Rhode Island cruise night last night. Looks like a 71 VW Super Beetle dressed as the famous Love Bug. I didn’t get to talk to the owner to confirm the year. It was a good example and target to shoot for in our Super Beetle restoration. This was kind of like the Herbie that appeared in the last installment Herbie: Fully Loaded starring Lindsay Lohan before she went anorexic.

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Buying a VW Bug Part 2

Here are more tips from my VW Guru Chris Vallone of Classic VW Bugs  whom I spoke of earlier. This is a continuation of the video series I mention in my first post. It has a lot of helpful tips for those considering buying one of the classic cars.

Friday, May 21, 2010

Cimarron responds… at Hemmings Blog – Classic and collectible cars and parts



Cimarron responds… at Hemmings Blog – Classic and collectible cars and parts

If there was ever a poorly conceived automobile this is it. This was an embarrassment for a once proud car maker. You could almost sense that they hit bottom with this.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Yellow Bug Fever

1974 Volkswagen Beetle

Ok so I’m going a little buggy lately. I spotted this yellow Beetle at the Riverside Carousel Cruise Night this last Saturday. It’s a 1974 VW with about 12000 miles since restoration. It’s in pretty decent shape . The owner is selling it if anyone interested as I did copy his number down. He’s asking for $5000 I believe. I’ve got more pictures too. I just wanted to share this one. I hope it goes to a good home. It also provides a little motivation to work on ours.

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Limo Love Bug

5632317-400-0

It is a 1964 Volkswagen Beetle stretched out to a limo. This includes a bar and TV. It is all decked out in red velour interior. It’s certainly an eye catcher. The asking price is at $20,000 and can be found here. Thanks Hemmings for sharing this.

Newman’s Own VW Bug

pnIMG_0803 (156)

This 1963 Volkswagen Beetle was originally owned the late actor Paul Newman. He purchased it after doing an ad for Volkswagen. Soon after he had it custom made to his own taste. Stuffed inside is 351 Ford Windsor V8 cranking out around 300 HP. Of course the suspension had to be upgraded also. Mr. Newman donated it to a college at the time. Since that time it was recently restored and is now being offered up for sale for a hefty price. You can read more and see more pictures here at OldBug.com’s  website. Thanks to Bring a Trailer for sharing this with us.

Monday, May 10, 2010

Start me up – Replacing a 2000 Chevy Impala Starter

I finally replaced my starter on my 2000 Chevrolet Impala LS(3.8 Liter V6). Over the last couple of weeks it had randomly picked times not to start. It would “click” and nothing else when the key was turned despite having a fairly new battery. It was apparent the starter was the culprit. For awhile it would start usually after several tries of turning the key until it hit a good spot. Finally though it finally wouldn’t start at all and it was time to break down and replace it.

IMG_4676

I was originally was going to purchase one online but, I ended going to AutoZone because I waited too long to order one and needed one immediately. This is a new starter part #DLG9998S and was actually cheaper than a remanufactured one.

First you must jack up your Impala and place jack stands underneath. Set your emergency brakes and chock your wheels. You’ll also want to disconnect your battery before working on your starter.

IMG_4680

The starter is located on the driver’s side just to front of the oil pan. The “engine cradle” structure makes it tough to get your hands there.If you read the Hayne’s repair manual(#24048) it first tells you to disconnect the wires from the terminal. This is impossible unless your contortionist since the wires are on top and are near impossible to reach by hand, never mind see what your doing.

IMG_4685

Next you’ll be removing the plastic torque converter cover. There are two small pieces to remove. This requires a 10mm wrench to remove a total of 3 screws. The last one is a pain and is awkward to get to. Be patient.

Next you must remove the two bolts holding the starter in place. The first one you see is fairly easy to get to. They require a 15mm socket to remove. The second one located up a little higher may require the use of an extension to reach. As you reach the end of the second one you should try and have one hand holding the starter to prevent it falling on you and to prevent it yanking on the wires still connected to the solenoid.

IMG_4692

I let mine hang down after getting the last bolt out. Now is time to disconnect the wires.

IMG_4698

Out with old and in with the new.I connected the new wires and was ready to reinstall. It was mainly a reverse of what I just went over. The hardest part was lining up the starter bolts but, once the first bolt caught I was OK.

IMG_4705

This is the new starter installed. After replacing everything it worked like a charm. It wasn’t too bad to do all together. It took me about two hours to do and I’m a novice at starters.

I posted this also because I found very little on replacing a starter in a front-wheel drive Impala. I thought this would be helpful to those looking for information. I welcome any questions or comments you might have. Feel free to leave a comment below. Thank you for coming by and I hope you’ll come back.

Reference: Chevrolet Lumina, Monte Carlo & Impala (FWD) 1995 thru 2001 Haynes Repair Manual #24048 (2001)

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Car Shows around Rhode Island

Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme

If your looking around for classic car shows around the Ocean State, Cruisin’ Bruce Palmer’s website has a car show calendar. It does cover shows in Rhode Island and nearby Massachusetts. Many shows and cruise nights are gearing up to start this month. Check out Bruce’s calendar here.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Rude Awakening

Upon listening to the NUMMI podcast from NPR’s This American Life inspired me to look into this subject more deeply. I found a book on Amazon called “Rude Awakening” by Maryann Keller. This book though dated from 1989 gives a detailed history of GM’s involvement in the NUMMI plant in Fremont, California which recently shut it’s doors.1971 Oldsmobile Cutlass

The book itself is an interesting look at General Motors up to the 1980’s. It does tend to concentrate in that era but, Keller does give a background of the company so as to give you an idea on how General Motor grew into the behemoth it was at the time.  It is amazing how a company that was once the worlds largest automaker(recently Toyota took over that title) and had lost there edge.

Even though the book sort of has a hopeful tone for GM one has to wonder what happened in the twenty years since the book was publish seeing that they declared bankruptcy just last year. Apparently they didn’t learn there lessons fast enough.

Also the creation of Saturn is covered in depth here and how GM tried to re-create the lessons they learned from NUMMI. Sad to say the hype about Saturn was more remarkable than the automobiles they produced(except for the Saturn Sky roadster which I like very much.).

It would seem like there’s not much left of the company compared to the 1980’s. They had acquired EDS from Ross Perot, Hughes Aircraft,  created Nummi was starting Saturn. EDS was spun off in 1996 and is now known as HP Enterprise service. Hughes companies were divided and eventually split off from GM. NUMMI as you know recently shut’s doors after GM pulled out after filing bankruptcy. Production of Saturn’s has halted and will cease to function as of October 2010.

If your interested in automotive history this book is a good read. It will give you insight in how General Motors ended up in bankruptcy just last year.

Monday, April 5, 2010

The end of NUMMI

What is NUMMI? It stands New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. located in Fremont, California. NUMMI was a joint venture by Toyota and General Motors Corporation. It started in 1984 and just recently on April 1, 2010 closed it’s doors for good ending something that was quite unique in the automotive industry which was two rival car companies  making cars in the same plant.GM wanted to learn how Toyota made cars and Toyota wanted to learn how to run a plant in America.

Chicago Public Radio’s This American Life recently highlighted NUMMI in a recent program. It can be located here in a podcast. It highlights what went right and what went wrong with this idea. Did each learn what they wanted? Before too long Toyota was building other plants in the U.S. but yet GM declared bankruptcy recently and had to be bailed out. Though they were learning from NUMMI it was too little too late. It’s an interesting story of the the rise and fall of NUMMI.

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Classic VW Bugs

If I were to choose VW Bug Guru it would be Chris Vallone of Classic VW Bugs. I first came upon Chris’s work on YouTube looking VW type of stuff. He rebuilds classic VW bugs and sells them. He advertises his bugs on Youtube which is how I came upon his work. Here is an example:

From the work he presents they look very well built with a high attention to detail. Also he does post how-to tips on restoring your VW Bug like this:

I think I’ve watched the majority of his videos. His finished product provide inspiration and motivation for working my own VW. His video’s are very well produced and professionally made. He’s very knowledgeable about VW bugs and presents his information in a friendly and easily understandable manner. If you are restoring, looking to buy, or just love VW Bugs it’s worth it to check out his video’s and his website at Classic VW Bugs. Thanks Chris and keep up the great work.

Monday, March 29, 2010

Making the Bug stop

The first goal with our 71 Super Beetle is making it stop. It has absolutely no brakes at this point. I’ve started rebuilding the brake system. I’ll go over the highlights as I through this process.

The previous owner had bought a new master cylinder  so that was at least a start. So the first logical step was to remove the old. The cylinder is located just behind the driver side wheel underneath the car.

IMG_4635

Here is the cylinder located in the middle to left of the picture.

Removing the lines and other stuff was pretty straightforward. Though I found an interesting fact when I pulled off the brake line to the rear brakes…

IMG_4647

No wonder this had no brakes. Obviously I’ll be reinstalling new brake line.

IMG_4636

After disconnecting the cylinder from the pedals the next step is removing the two bolts holding the cylinder in place.

IMG_4649

Old versus new cylinder. My plan is to keep the old cylinder, rebuild it and keep for a spare. At this point I had started building my shopping list of parts I needed. So far my list includes:

In my next installment I’ll cover taking off the drums and rebuilding the brakes. Thanks for coming by.