Danny- Steve

Our Barth is over at Meadowlark being used by some dear friends. They will be there until the end of April. We will be at the house until the end of February when we plan on taking the Trawler cruising for a couple of months.

Call us when you get in and will have a GTG.

Ed

Excellent! I wasn't sure when your cruise was planned. We'll be there late Feb, a week at Meadowlark and 3 nights at Ortona south. We are looking forward to BEING THERE and seeing everyone.

That cruise should be awesome! We will get the details when we see you.
3 inches snow today. Just had to do it. Ran the blower one more time and left it at the neighbor's.

Supposed to be clear a few days, we are leaving in the morning. Coach is warmed up inside and 90% packed, will be ready tonight. Calling for low teens again tonight, I'll leave the engine heat plugged in for sure.

So I guess Steve got off this morning, I envy your trip, have a great winter!!!

Finally got a chance to test tow the VW and tow bar. Pulled out Mon at 8 AM, drove 675 miles to northern Tennesee and the VW was still attached! Covered with salt and nasty but hanging in there. 580 more miles on Tues, same result. I guess it is "broken in" now!



Nothing moved at all on the tow bar. All bolts still tight in spite of two panic stops. Locked up brakes twice when traffic got tight. Left myself enough following distance to stop safely as usual until 2 IDIOTS pulled in front of me, cut me off as I was braking! ABS is not working due to damaged connector on left front cable due to snow from Dec trip.

Locked up front brakes with a really healthy squeal. First time, the guy who pulled in front heard it. Gave him something to think about... (Do you REALLY want to pull out in front of a 37 ft coach with a toad?..)

VW stayed right with me. Now to actually drive the new engine...

Steve, did you hook up any brake connection to the toad for assisted braking?

I towed my Amigo to Alaska and back with and older brake controller in but not connected. tried it a few times but never got it dialed in correctly.

Looking at newer brake systems now but first I have to solve the lubrication system with the Dana 300 transfer case so I don't burn out the rear drive bearing. GRRRRR, haha.

quote:

Originally posted by MWrench:
Steve, did you hook up any brake connection to the toad for assisted braking?

I towed my Amigo to Alaska and back with and older brake controller in but not connected. tried it a few times but never got it dialed in correctly.

Unfortunately not. Good news the VW has front discs, good brakes. Bad news also vacuum power brake assist. No controller in coach either. Future project as well. No simple cheap way I'm afraid.

Steve, just talked to Meadowlark and they have us next to you Friday and Saturday nights, 23 and 24. Welcome back to Florida!

Well Steve you will be happy to know the snow has started up in the Upper Popsicle. Its about 2:30 ET.

I dragged the VW to Florida and it was still there when I arrived. Nothing loose on the tow bar mounts. I have driven it a few times, so far very good.

The brakes were weak to begin with but are getting better. The steering is still quite stiff. The ball joints and tie rod ends do not have grease fittings and are quite tight from lack of use. They are getting better as I drive it.

Engine is running almost perfectly. Starts instantly, a slight flat spot off idle due to the cobbled carb. I will replace the carb when I get home.

Trans is shifting well, clutch is great. There is more differential howl than I like but it has over 100K so not surprising.

The tailgate door seals are gone and I'm getting more exhaust smell than I like, been running with windows open to be safe. I have new seals for all 4 doors ready to install when I get home, should take care of that.

Longest run so far about 15 miles, oil temp is running between 180-200 degrees, just right. Oil pressure is around 40 psi running and about 15 at hot idle, about normal. The oil cooler fans have yet to come on, it must be getting enough air cooling.

Engine revs and noise level are pretty high due to high final ratio, could use an overdrive! Engine is still breaking in, so far max speed was 60 mph probably do 65 tops.

I get lots of smiles and comments from the retired folks. Lots of old hippy memories. One woman said, "I'll bet it smells like weed on a hot day!" (I told her they came from the factory that way)

quote:

The tailgate door seals are gone and I'm getting more exhaust smell than I like, been running with windows open to be safe. I have new seals for all 4 doors ready to install when I get home, should take care of that.

Did you block of your heater ducts.

Steve the first one I had was a cobbled mix from a VW dealer's shop foreman. The body was a '60 as I remember, the engine and transmission a '61 and the transaxles were '58 so they had the reduction gears at the wheels. I could make the advertised 72 mph occasionally especially downhill with the wind. Once on a long downhill in Colorado I even maxed the speedo! Probably would have gone faster then if I used GA overdrive. Lot of flat land time steering over to the shoulder to let trucks go by hoping to draft as they passed.
Youthful memories fade into the terror of maturity, hold my beer and watch this!

I did block the now useless heater ducts. Back door seal is the main culprit but not bad. We've been shopping a few times, good to have a car for local trips.

One of these days I'll go for a "high speed" top end run.

Back home from Florida. About 3600 miles of towing with no problems. Still only a couple hundred on the VW but more to come.

The carb was stalling and did not respond to treatment so I replaced it as soon as I got home. Brand new complete carb for $68 on Ebay! Runs great now.

The tow bar deserves some comment. While fully loaded (ie two people in front seats) the front suspension made extra noise when bottomed out. Inspection revealed that when fully loaded the antisway bar can rotate down far enough to contact the top of the tow bar just in front of the torsion tube attachment point. Fortunately not a problem when towing empty, but worth adjusting.

Since the U bolts were long enough, I loosened them and put 1/2 inch of shims between the tow bar and the tube, allowing more clearance for the antisway bar.





If someone copies this rig I would recommend this "engineering upgrade"

The tow bar and VW worked out really well, SO much easier than a tow dolly. None of the bolts loosened up, light system worked great. Now for some brakes...

Steve, could you mod the tow frame to use a surge brake like with a boat trailer? Not sure how to achieve a safe disconnect, hydraulic coupler probably don't come that small but maybe?
Pretty sweet