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

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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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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

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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.

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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.