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  #151  
Old January 2nd 2012, 15:55
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Thanks for the props. Regarding the fuel sender, I may be counting my eggs before they hatch...but it would seem Stewart Warner Performance is going to take care of providing all the gauges for the project. Thus, I won't be putting any VDO gauges in! :-)

-Dave
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  #152  
Old January 3rd 2012, 01:40
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Well, the bottom of the tank is coated...so in a day or two I'll be able to install that and move some bigger things forward. But for now, it feels like slow detail work. I am getting things done, but not the massive steps forward I was enjoying before! :P

First up is the new "radio panel". It will house various switches and the oil temperature gauge. (Fuel gauge installed just for sizing). The switches across the top will select stock high beams, rally light 1 and/or rally light two when you hit the factory high beam switch. I can run any combination of auxillary lighting, but they're all ultimately dipped just like your factory high-low system. The bottom three toggles are for fuel pump 1/2, Air/Fuel Ratio left back or right (sensor selector for the gauge) and rally computer power source. The long switch next to the gauge is a rotary switch, I just haven't trimmed down the post or installed the knob. This will serve to control which sensor is displaying on the oil temperature gauge. I plan on having multiple sensors so I can see oil temp just as it leaves the engine, as it goes into the engine and also in oil tank. The rotary knob allows me to have up to four different sensor locations, but only one gauge.



I've cut a spot for the speedometer, and four more smaller gauges (two beside the tach and two in the glove box door). Some paint finishes up the panels. The car will end up with a Speedo, Tach, Oil Temp, Oil Pressure, Air/Fuel Ratio, voltmeter and a Fuel Gauge. Where I'll mount each gauge specifically...hasn't yet been determined. Well, except for the oil pressure gauge. That will go where both co-driver and driver can see it.



The new gauges will all be the current Stewart Warner Performance style, which you can see new in the boxes on the left-side. Due to the factory dash setup, I've chosen to keep the Porsche Tach...but that black rim just wouldn't do, would it? Enter new silver bezel. When I first painted it, I instantly hated it. Almost taped it up to paint it black right away. Once I had it installed on the dash though, it was an instant success. Oh yeah, I got the dashboard mounted as well. Should be installed for the final time.



Doesn't seem like much accomplished, considering the time it took!

-Dave
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  #153  
Old January 3rd 2012, 22:31
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You are rollin' along with this build man! ...wish I had that kind of time to work on mine...would of been done five years ago
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  #154  
Old January 4th 2012, 04:22
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Build is going super slow the last three weeks...but house sitting, dog sitting, Christmas and having to drive over to the shop will do that! I should be back to my usual program, and low sleep hours, come friday. Tonight I could only get an hour in on the car. In that time I managed to install the switch and gauge panels, including putting the random gauges I have into various spots to check the fit. Had to make a couple of more adjustments to the metal dash, but otherwise everything is a good fit. Should have all my new-style Stewart Warner gauges by the end of the month...but visually, it's not looking too bad now. At the very least I can sort out the wiring for each of the panels and then swap out the gauges later.





-Dave
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  #155  
Old January 8th 2012, 04:43
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I'd like to start this post with a huge thank you to Chris, "chug_A_bug", as he's quite guy.

A few posts back, when I first bolted up the steering column, I mentioned how it was the first "used" looking piece I was using on the car...but budgets have to be adhered to (at least, once you've spent 4x as much as you planned!). Chris sent me a PM, and shortly after a package for the project:



Guess I won't be using a used ugly turn signal lever after all!

Thanks Chris.

------------------

Started on wiring up the dash today...it's incredible how long it takes to do it correctly. Managed to wire up the fuel gauge, air-fuel gauge, rally computer, speedometer and the radio panel of switches. Yes, that was almost a full-day's work.

Glove Box started:


Detail of the Anderson Power-Pole connectors I prefer for inside use. They can be assembled like Lego, and labelled with a micro-sharpie. I only need to label them for while I assembling each half (usually on different days). Once I key the connectors so they can't be assembled incorrectly, panels can be installed and removed without ever messing up the wiring.


Glove box gauge details:


From the normal view, all of the wires are tucked away neatly and hidden. Hard to see in the second photo, but the stock glovebox fits perfectly. I've lost a bit of interior space, of course, but can at least use it for holding the insurance papers and other vitals.


The underside looks odd in the photo, but actually looks clean and neat in person. The connectors under the dash are for the rally computer. It needs to be removable for use in other vehicles and/or if I park it somewhere that it could be an issue.


Under the hood remains clean as well. The black wiring harness is for the rally computer, the connectors peeking out are for the gauges. Again, everything is modular and removable should repairs or future modifications require it.


And here is the panel that sits in the radio slot. As you can see making it removable requires a bit of time ;-)


-Dave
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  #156  
Old January 8th 2012, 14:46
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Glad to Help...
CIP1.ca sent me 2 when I order 1 and i Still never ended up using it, just happy to See if go to a worthy causes...

Chris.
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Last edited by chug_A_bug; January 9th 2012 at 06:57.
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  #157  
Old January 8th 2012, 16:03
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Dave keep up the good work enjoying ur wiring work, very neat , functional and modular.
Alex
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  #158  
Old January 10th 2012, 03:46
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Thanks! Occasionally I just want to "get it done"...but I know taking my time will make it so much easier to diagnose down the road. Considering the fact that I'm doing all the wiring without the battery or any testing, I'm either really really good...or insane :P

No photos tonight, as it's just more wires and connections. I've got the switch panel in the radio slot wired up to the relays in the trunk, speedo and tach 100% wired in at the dash (just the speed sensor to mount) and most of the modular panels powered and grounded. After that I started going through and labeling wires to make tomorrow night faster. With the techflex having to go over each wire, it wasn't realistic to label them as I built the harness. What I did do, though, was to bundle the wires by end location. Now when I'm trying to figure out "where does that wire go", as soon as I find that one wire in a cluster goes to the regulator (for instance) all five in that cluster go to the regulator. This cuts down the hunt-and-find factor, but considering there were 15 wires going to the relay panel...it doesn't necessarily make it quick!

I hope to get the rest of "my" wiring finished tomorrow, so that I can start installing the factory switches and their associated wires. There is going to be a LOT to stuff in behind there, and I'm not 100% sure it will all easily fit.

-Dave
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  #159  
Old January 11th 2012, 04:09
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Holy crap I'm reaching the end!!

All of my switches and gauges are wired and hooked up. Started installing the factory equipment tonight, which is a nice milestone to reach. A little confused by some of it, as the wiring connections I have in the car don't match the '71 wiring diagram...will be a bit of a puzzle I think! Warwick was in the garage working on the Mini tonight...apparently I talk to myself with a running monologue of wiring diagrams and connections as I work. Never noticed it before, but definitely do it when I'm wiring. Odd.

Photos tomorrow, added my LED Gen and Oil lights, but screwed up the location. You RHD guys would be fine with them where they are, but for us LHD folks a switch blocks the warning lights. Hmmm...might have to install a couple more just to be safe.

-Dave
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  #160  
Old January 12th 2012, 04:42
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Now, keeping in mind that this is still a work in progress, I have wires not yet trimmed or hooked up in this photo...but still I think if you've owned enough beetles, you just accept that there is no way the behind-the-dash wiring won't look like a rats nest :P Add a bazillion other wires and I think I'm going to have a very hard time making this look "neat". Even with zipties and/or wiring loom, I will definitely need to work out a wiring cover of some sort.


Got the headlight switch, emergency flasher switch and gas heater switch all in. Gas heater will need a few more connections, in the '69 I just ran my own wiring...for this car I'm going to want to figure out how the factory did it. I must have spent 45min going through boxes and baggies searching for the "good" dash switches with their perfect labels and diagrams. 45min, that was, until I remembered that those pieces are still installed on the '69, and it was sold!

I have discovered a few issues with the factory wiring. Each of the cars I've torn apart to build this one were all '71's. At some point in the last five years I must have dismantled a '72. Bits from that car must have been in my wiring box, because they've found their way into this car. The fuse box, for instance, is a '72. Took me forever to realize this, and thus instantly solve why one circuit had no "feed" power. A '71 box bridges the first three terminals, in '72 they bridge just the first two. Doh. Wiring, it would seem, is also a mix of '71 and '72...which is bound to create a headache down the road. Especially since I've hooked up everything as though it were '71, until I discovered a few things were '72 and "wouldn't work". They are small changes, like wires that join together at the fuse box instead of a junction in the harness...but just different enough to drive me bat-****-crazy when I have an issue down the road!

Does anyone know what the Brown/Blue wire coming out of the steering column is for? It's on neither the '71 or '72 wiring diagram, and I can't for the life of me figure out what it might be for.

The last issue is one I mentioned the other night. With the 914 Tach and an aftermarket speedo, I've lost my factory warning lights. I wanted them somewhere visible, preferably not behind the steering wheel. I got the bright idea to get bright LED's and tuck them in with the brake-light warning switch. If done right it would be kind of factory-esque, with all the warning lights in the same spot. Initially I was going to remove the brake-light warning lamp all together (pretty sure I can tell when I have lost half my brakes!!) but didn't end up removing it for some reason. I drilled out the car and popped two high-intensity LED's into the panel. Tough to take a photo of them and show the intensity, but here is the location:



Now, I did this entire install from the passenger side of the car. Silly me, I never thought to check if they'd be visible from the Driver's seat. :P I will have to wait until I have a seat in the car again, maybe I get lucky, but I somehow doubt it. Pretty sure the lower LED is blocked by the fan switch!

To finish the dash wiring I need my wiper install kit (grommets, etc) and a windshield squirter. I'm off coaching for the weekend, so likely won't update the thread until Monday night.

-Dave
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  #161  
Old January 12th 2012, 04:55
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Quote:
Does anyone know what the Brown/Blue wire coming out of the steering column is for? It's on neither the '71 or '72 wiring diagram, and I can't for the life of me figure out what it might be for.
Surf First. Post after. This would be unused on a T1...mental note, bring iPad down to garage when wiring.

-Dave
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  #162  
Old January 17th 2012, 03:29
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Back to the bug tonight, after a weekend away. The new headliner is spread out across my living and dining room, so hopefully it will start smoothing out a little. In the meantime, it was down to the very cold garage for a little bit of work. Much of what I accomplished is the sort of thing you don't really see, but there's a few bits...

First off, the windshield washer jet, wiper motor/linkage and wiper switch are all installed and hooked up.


Next up was the fuel tank. Too bad you can't see all the work that went on before the tank went in! The gas heater fuel hoses needed to be run, as well as the gas heater pump electrics. Since I was running the wires for the pump, I took the time to finish up all the connections on the fusebox side for the heater. Once that was done, I laid some foam-tape around the edges of the fuel tank mount, and dropped it in. Tomorrow I will secure the pump, as I decided both the tank and gas heater mounts needed a fresh coat of paint. Also visible in this photo is the passenger side defrost and heat ducting. I remember the duct being a complete PIA to pull out of the car, and I've read more then a few posts on The Samba saying how difficult they are to get in. Honestly, I don't know what all the fuss was about. It was dirt simple! Pull the dash vent out, slide the duct into place, put the dash vent back in which secures both. Took me 30 seconds, and I was expecting 30min! I will need to figure out where I hid the driver's side piece though...as it's apparently not in my garage.


I haven't decided if the trunk will get carpeting or not...so I had to make sure the fuel gauge wires looked good...just in case ;-)


And the last thing I got to was the fuel door release handle. The one on the car was broken (and painted silver) but taking them apart isn't a simple job! They don't like to separate from the cable without something breaking. I broke one cable, one handle and one retaining clip...so it took 3 assemblies in total to create one good part. But its installed, so I'm happy.


Time to move onto some different jobs, I think I'll need to wait until the rest of my Gauges arrive in order to finish the dashboard. No sense in mounting stuff I'll just need to remove to swap a gauge in.

-Dave
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  #163  
Old January 17th 2012, 10:50
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Looking good.
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  #164  
Old January 19th 2012, 05:05
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Thanks!

The last couple of days haven't been as productive as I had hoped they would be. A combination of really cold temperatures and other jobs meant less time in the garage then I had hoped. I did manage to finish all the stock dash switches, which turned out to be more challenging then I expected. Note to self, next time I stuff a bazillion wires in behind the dash...put the fresh-air knobs in FIRST


Then, following that I figured I better test to see if the gas-heater would actually fit the car. This is the first time I've had a chance to see it was even remotely close! Thank goodness it appears that everything is going to work just fine.


...and I started on the fuel pump plumbing. Unfortunately one of the T-fittings didn't come in, and I mucked one of the straight hose ends. No worries, the shop will have replacements in tomorrow and I can finish this up. You wouldn't believe how hard it is to make those tiny short fuel lines! I thought -8 lines were fun to make, but the smaller -4 lines are a real chore. I'm not 100% the configuration I've chosen will work (since only one pump will be powered at a time)...worst case I'll need to put a one-way valve in-line.



On the bad news front, I'm having a really tough time sorting out how I'm going to deal with running the wiring harness beside/under/around the driver's seat. When I got frustrated with that I moved on to the rear portion, and quickly determined that I'm either a) going to need to buy a harness or b) build one from scratch. The engine & taillight portion of my harness is just brutal. I've got a few days off the bug planned due to work commitments, so hopefully I can come back on Saturday with a fresh perspective and attitude!

-Dave
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  #165  
Old January 22nd 2012, 03:44
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Well the fuel pumps ended up being an interesting challenge. Turns out when I ran the fuel line for the gas heater, I pinched it under the fuel tank. Had to remove the tank and everything in the way to fix the problem. I'm fairly glad I found it now though, otherwise I'd have been really confused as to why the gas heater wasn't working! Once the problem was fixed, I went on to finish the pump and line mounting...

Pumps for the engine are in...


And so is the gas heater pump. Apparently camouflaged after I painted it black :P


With that done, I figured I better mount the gas heater for real, and see if I was going to have any other issues. Pretty glad that I did. Needless to say, the exhaust pipe wasn't going to work out in it's current configuration.


After a bit of fettling with the mounts, the exhaust pipe and ducting, I managed to get it in with everything looking "factory".


The heat shield, though, required some trimming. I may have trimmed off a bit too much, but I have 3 or 4 of them and was wanting to ensure I had left space for straps, etc. I'll leave it for a day or two to make sure I'm happy with it, and then refinish it so it looks new again. On the exhaust pipe, I will need to make the "foot" piece that goes into the end. Unlike my last car, though, I'm going to make this one when the car is on the ground with a tire on it. Maybe it won't rub on attempt number two


With much of the trunk finished I started to think about the wiring harness again. Must be the new heater I bought for the garage, but suddenly things started to make sense and fall together. First up, I determined a routing for the main harness that would keep it off the floor (out of the wet), and away from the seat track rubbing it. I still have to run the seat ontop to make sure it's going to be perfect, but I'll do that before going to sleep.


While I was moving stuff around to come up with the routing, it hit me that I should just get the rear engine-bay & taillight portion of the harness finished. I sat down with the three sections I had, slowly pulled them apart and made the best harness I could. Then, using some of the leftover I extended the wires near the regulator so that my engine-bay section can be joined to the main section out of sight. With the routing sorted I was able to start finalizing the rear section. The techflex section is for the speed sensors and oxygen sensors, and I'll start running the rest tomorrow.


The engine bay section is on stand-by until I can buy the correct heatshrink for it. Everything I have left in house has hot-glue inside, so I've got to find some that will remain flexible once it's shrunk. None of the tail-light segments I have are really worth saving, so I'm going to have to come up with something from scratch. About all they are good for is making sure I have the wire lengths correct.


Probably the best part, though, is feeling like I'm out of the slump I've felt for the last couple of weeks. Bring on Sunday!!!

-Dave
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