1960 Bugeye

[BruceK]

This car is like a multifaceted puzzle.   

Or, more like a rock you turn over.

[MiniDave]

Yes, it has been a voyage of discovery..... ::)

Today's surprise, I discovered why the rear drum has two grooves in it, apparently this is a very common issue on Bugs, one of the shoes is supposed to have a notch in it that the adjuster locates to, in this case - no notches. I'm in the process of pulling all the other shoes off to see if ANY have the notch - it's possible they just mixed them all up and some will have notches on both shoes - but I think what happened is they bought the later style shoes which are not groovy at all.

I did get the u-bolts installed, so now I don't have to worry about losing the rear end on a bad bump!

Edit: no notches on the left, two notches on the right, just as I suspected. I'll reassemble them but he decided to replace all the drums, so I'll take the fronts apart too and see if they lucked into doing them right or not. New drums are supposed to be here Friday.

In the meantime I'll try and chase down the poor running issues......I bought a new Lucas Sport coil just in case.

[MiniDave]

Once I got the rears sorted I decided to pull the front wheels and have a look at them.....found one new brake drum!

He said he had notes that indicated that one of the drums wouldn't turn true, so apparently they replaced one.

He has 4 new drums heading my way so we'll just keep this one as a spare I guess.

I wonder if a different guy did the front end, cause unlike the rear everything in the front looks done properly, tight and lots of new hardware. The back looks like it was put together in a junkyard with leftover bits.

[MiniDave]

Today's Bug report:

Got the brakes all sorted, the right rear had the springs on the outside of the shoes, so I had to disassemble them and move them back to the inside. I went ahead and pulled the front drums off just to check but everything seems fine there, so I put them all together, adjusted everything including the handbrake - instead of a clevis pin they'd used a 1/4 bolt, but the nut's threads didn't match the bolt, so it was just jammed on a couple of threads! jeeze louise......

Next thing I found was the differential fill plug was only finger tight, no worries there as there was no fluid in it to leak out!


So the back end is pretty much done, the front end is pretty much done....guess I better check the transmission next, although it's towards the front of the car so it will probably be OK.

I also got the rubber rebound buffers installed up front.

I need to go drive it some more and bed the brakes in and readjust them, but with all 4 now contacting their respective drums correctly, I'm hoping for a substantial improvement in the braking - I think the handling will be leagues better too now that the back end is tied down and all the shocks are working the same.

Next up, find out why it was dropping a cylinder or two as I drove it on Sat.

[BruceK]

Interesting stuff.  I'm kinda surprised it hasn't had a disc brake conversion completed.

[MiniDave]

Haven't found a vendor for that yet - at least for the front - I did find one for the rear - $1500 for the kit!

We did talk about it briefly, but if I get the brakes working as designed they'll be fine for what he does with his cars - he's rarely driven more than 20-30 miles at a time and he's not keen to drive them on major highways, only on small backroads or in town.

Edit: Mania has the front kits for $1600 plus shipping!

One thing I am suggesting he do is convert the bonnet to front opening, first of all it's amazingly heavy to lift it from the front, 2nd, I have hit my head so many times I don't know what day it is anymore! The kit says it's all bolt on stuff and easily reversible if needed.

[BruceK]

I woulda thought somebody was harvesting parts, such as front discs and 1275s, from junked old Midgets.

[MiniDave]

Well, pretty much done with the Bug for now....at least till I get it out for a drive tomorrow (it rained today) and see how it goes.

Replaced the coil with a good ol Lucas Sports coil, which meant I had to make up a new coil wire as this cap and coil have the screw in terminals and the Sport coil doesn't. Checked the points and they were good - I'll recommend he changes that out to a Pertronix or equivalent and gets rid of the points once and for all. The Sport coil is compatible with those too....the old coil I think was the original and it got really hot when I ran the car, hence the replacement.

I also installed a fuel pressure regulator as he's running an electric fuel pump and my pressure gauge only goes down to 10 (it's for fuel injection systems) so I don't know how much pressure the pump is making. At least this way it won't be flooding the carbs.

I installed one of those cute little breather filters as I could not find a fitting that will fit the hole in the air filter, instead I plugged those holes so it won't be sucking in dirt.

I did find one thing wrong, the vacuum line was off the carb fitting, I don't know if that could have caused the cylinder to drop out like it did - I doubt it - but it could account for some of the poor performance when it was running on all 4. Tomorrow's test drive will answer those questions too.....but I think it was down to a bad coil.

I still need to tidy up a few loose bits, and check the transmission oil, since the diff was basically dry I want to be sure the trans is OK too.

[MiniDave]

Bug report:

Took it for a long drive around the 'hood this morning - it's already 90* here so I didn't plan to stay out in it too long. The ride and drive are significantly improved, the car sits level now where it was drooping to the left before, it handles great and rides smoothly, no clunks or sudden jumping around like when I took it to the show last Saturday.

the brakes are significantly improved, the car doesn't stop on a dime like a modern car with power discs, but it doesn't pull funny and it stops OK now


The transmission also had virtually no oil in it, so I topped it off before I hit the road and now it shifts much better, much easier to get into gear (imagine that  ::) )


The car ran very smoothly although it just feels like the timing is really retarded - it runs right up to redline easily enough but the exhaust coming off idle sounds wrong.....it's very hard to check the timing on one of these as the marks are on the bottom of the timing cover, and there's a nice crossmember right in the way - it really takes two people - one to hold the timing light and watch the marks and another to rev the motor.

That is it ran fine right up till I pulled into my driveway, then it started running like shit again....the way it drops a cylinder suddenly makes me thing electrical, not fuel. right up until then it's running perfectly smooth, then it just goes to hell. I barely got it back onto the lift in my garage.

The new brake drums arrived a bit ago so while I'm letting it cool off I'll go ahead and install those, then take another look. The distributor and everything in it look new, wires, cap, rotor all new. It's as if something gets hot and it drops a cylinder or two out....very frustrating.

[MiniDave]

New brake drums look really nice quality....he got these from Moss. Victoria British had them on sale for $20 each, but they said not only that they didn't have any, they had no idea when they'd get them or for that matter, they had no vendor listed to order them from.

Moss charged $14 ea for theirs and about $20 shipping, so 4 new drums delivered for less than VB wanted just for the drums plus they seem to be well made. Deal.

I'm going to throw a set of new firing pins in and see what it does, these don't look used up but considering how little the engine has run they don't look new either. I'm wondering if they might have been out of another engine or used ones he had lying about. It's odd because when you start it cold it runs very smoothly, it seems like it's only when it gets hot that it starts acting up.

These seat belts seem pretty comfortable to wear, they also give a tiny bit of security so you don't feel like you're going to be thrown out of the car if you get hit.....but like our tin can Minis, that's not a lot of protection either.

[MiniDave]

The car didn't want to start at all this morning......I'm starting to wonder if I might have a leaking headgasket - the only signs it's giving me are the cylinder drop out and the compression is a little low on the two middle cylinders. the ends were both 135lbs and the middle were 115-120. not horribly different, but enough?

The plugs all look the same and they look a lot better than the other day when I pulled them. I would love to take it for a blast down the highway so I could get a good read on the plugs but with it dropping a cylinder or two there's no way I'd trust it to get me home again.

I would hate to pull the head off with this bonnet in place, I've hit my head so many times on the damn thing and it would kill my back to be bent over that much, even on the lift.

[BruceK]

Good luck with the starting problem.

The brake drums look nice, but I keep thinking they would look so much better painted.

[MiniDave]

Got the last little jobs done this morning, I finally fixed the little turn signal indictor light on the dash.....I knew it had a bad ground as I could clip a ground wire to the bulb holder and it would work. The dash itself has no ground wire per se, but many of the instrument holders do and the dash ground is made thru the instrument brackets. So I spent some time cleaning the rust off those contact points - to no avail. Next I took the bulb and holder out and cleaned as best I could the socket for the bulb holder. No joy. today I went all in and removed the socket and went after the rust on  the dash where it screws in and cleaned the bulb socket too. Voila! It works!


I also used some trim adhesive to attach the piece of door trim that keeps coming loose at the top rear of the left door opening. I'm not sure this will hold tho as you rub against it pretty hard levering yourself up and out of the car. I may have to drill it and use a tiny screw or rivet.....we'll see.

That pretty much completes the list, other than the poor running  thing and I still can't point to any particular thing as being the problem here. It's quite a bit cooler today so I'm going to go drive it after lunch.....I'm going to see if I can take the dash cam and record what it's doing. I don't know how long the internal battery will record and there's no power socket so we'll see if that works or not.

[MiniDave]

Bug Report:

Took the Bug out for a spin around the hood, about a 5 mile run, same as I did the other day when it started running like crap just as I pulled into my driveway.

Today it ran sweet as can be, about the only difference is the new set of spark plugs and I advanced the timing a little bit. It's still slow as molasses but I think that's down to a lack of HP, as it easily goes to redline in each gear (well, I didn't try in 4th) and runs smoothly enough on the way up.

So, I tried it again, same run. Still no issues!

Still has a clunk in the right rear over the right kind of bump, going to take another look at that before it goes, but.....I think I'm ready to send it home to it's owner - at last! It will be back for the original gas gauge to be installed once it's back from Nisonger's but hopefully he'll get to start driving it a bit and having fun with it.

[MiniDave]

I think I found the clunk, the front mounting bolt for the right rear shock was finger tight. I thought I'd tightened every bolt in the back of the car but somehow I missed this one. While I had it out I topped off the shock oil, it didn't feel like it was low as the left one did but it took quite a bit of oil. Gonna take it out for another test run, if it does OK I'm calling it good.

One last job, fit the trim ring around the left headlight, so far this thing has stymied me but I'm determined to figure out why it won't go on and fix it!

Edit: yep, that fixed the clunk in the back end, now it drives about as well as a new one ever did.

[Willie_B]

Another job well done.  77.gif

[MiniDave]

Here's the longer video - sorry about the wind noise - this was before I fixed the clunk in the right rear, at one point you can see I'm looking in the trunk to see if I left something loose back there. Where I mounted the camera on the back deck must be some fairly flimsy metal as the camera was bobbing around pretty good at times.

[BruceK]

Nice videos Dave!

[MiniDave]

The car went home this evening and the owner had a big smile on his face. Of course he hasn't seen my bill yet.....

;D

I ran into the fellow who "put it together" today at Vicky Brits and I asked him what he got - he said it was a bare shell when he got it, so that means all the good and bad work was probably done by him. He's a friend so I didn't say anything......

Edit: I heard back from the owner last night, his shop is about 30 miles from me and he took the car across town as he does not want to drive it on the highway. He said it ran perfectly and drove like a new car, he's very happy with it now. Of course, when he drove it over here he never heard or felt the loose back end like I did......but no matter, if he's happy so am I. He said the top windshield frame is exactly in the center of his line of sight - like I said, he's so tall it looks like he's in a Shriner's car when he drives this thing, but he loves it cause it's so much fun, and the reactions you get from others is amazing - everyone smiles and waves.

[MiniDave]

The Bug is back.

It has a substantial oil leak that has splattered all over the right side of the engine compartment, the horn tends to beep whenever it feels like it, and I still need to get the left headlight ring installed. Other than that he says it runs great and he's having a blast driving it around.

I'll have more info tomorrow once I get a chance to look and see what's going on....

[MPlayle]

Distributor side?  If it has an oil pressure gauge, I would look at its line first.

Manifold side? There are no any pressurized oil lines there, only the possible tappet chest covers and breather/gulp valve.

If it turns out to be the gulp valve, I have a "leftover" from the Moke project.

[MiniDave]

Thanks Michael. I haven't looked at it yet, but it's def on the right side, so I'm betting oil pressure gauge line.

[MiniDave]

Starting with the oil leak, I wiped off all the engine parts that were dripping wet, and started the engine - nothing dripping, nothing squirting........hmmmm. You can see in the first pic all the oil splatters that are all over the underside of the bonnet, there were pools of oil on some of the nooks and crannies. I imagine the fine mist is being thrown back by the fan, but the little pools of oil are interesting.

Next, I also noticed that it still has a substantial exhaust leak at the engine. The head pipe flange was cut and rewelded and I used some Walker exhaust sealer which seems to have worked, in the photo you can see the head pipe where it clamps to the manifold and there is no black soot where there was before, but the sound and the shadow on the underside of the hood show me that it's leaking at the manifold someplace. Today I bought a new manifold just in case the old one has a hairline crack - I got a mirror up there and it looks like it's all black with soot on the back side of the manifold  toward the head. If it's not that, I'll have to cut and reweld the head pipe flange to match the manifold better.

The horn is also puzzling, it beeps when you are just sitting or moving the car, it's not the contacts or the wheel, so I'm guessing a grounded wire somewhere - as simple as this harness is I should be able to spot it, but so far it has eluded me. Worst case I can run a new ground wire from the horn to the dash connection and see if that eliminates it.

I got the refurbished fuel gauge installed, and the connector for the fresh air hose at the radiator, so all that's done - I did have to grind about 3/8" off the end of the nozzle to clear the bonnet. Still a few bits and bobs to do but the main ones are to find that oil leak and fix the exhaust leak.  I did notice once before that the front crank seal was dripping slightly, I can't believe that's where all the oil is coming from as it's all down the right side, and little or none on the left.

[MiniDave]

So, I pulled the carbs off so I could get a better look at the flange between the manifold and the head pipe.....as the first pic shows it looks completely tidy....... but then look at the blow by that's all over the head, carb shield, intake manifold and so on - yet here's none of that on the exhaust manifold itself - it's completely clean!


Next I found that the exhaust manifold is actually for a Morris Minor, and the headpipe had the flange end cut off and the smaller MM end welded on.


So, we have ordered a proper 948 exhaust manifold and head pipe - which is a bit of a misnomer as it goes all the way to the back of the car where it hooks onto the muffler - from Moss Motors as the exhaust manifold I bought from Vicky Brits is listed as correct for the 948 and 1100, but the part number says it's for a 1275 and it's clearly different in both size and shape.....so it will go back.

That leaves the oil leak, I think it must be coming from the front crank seal, so I'll drain and remove the radiator and see about replacing the seal and then see what happens when I get the exhaust all buttoned up again when I get back from North Carolina.

First pic, headpipe to manifold. Next pics show the exhaust manifold, and the blowby on the side of the engine.

[MiniDave]

So this afternoon I pulled the radiator with the idea of removing the crank pulley and replacing the seal but once I had the rad out I could get my fingers behind the pulley and found it was dry - no oil at all. So, back to square one on the oil leak.

I did get a ton of mud out of the radiator, and when I get it running again I'm going to flush the block and heater core too, this thing turns fresh coolant brown as soon as you start it. I don't understand why as this is supposed to be a freshly rebuilt engine. I don't understand why it's full of rust and mud......

We ordered the new exhaust manifold and head pipe from Moss Motors, but I doubt it will get here in time as I'm leaving for West Carolina Tues morning.

One thing I'm not sure about, I can't see any indication that there is a gasket between the motor mount plate and the block. If somehow that got forgotten that could be the source of the oil leak......