Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Wild on Wheels 2007


Went to the Wild on Wheels car show which was organized by the AMC club.... a really good turn out of cars but not a good turn out of spectators. I got there in the afternoon and found out that many of the participating had left.... even while i was making my way towards all the cars ... a string of bettles and a combi left :(

AnywaY, click on the picture to have a look at more pictures of the show... some really cool cars...

Monday, October 08, 2007

APD Auto


My company was closed on the 25th of Sept... So I decided to service the Satria myself for half the price even thought i had to buy an oil filter wrench. The best part is i was able to buy the black oil with a better grade then what is used by the garages. Changing the black oil and oil filter was easy enough but i did have an issue of filling in too much of oil.... which was over the max line by about 5mm... got a little messy after that cos i had to go back under the car and drain it again ...slowly little by little ... but other then that it turned out ok... i even gave the car a wash.

Had to stop over at work that afternoon but then after lunch i made my way to a vw workshop in kayu ara (The shop i wrote about in one of my very first post in this blog) which is not too far from my office. To my shock the whole place has been flattened and there is going to be an apartment built there.... Alamak!!! not where am i going to get a 'radio delete plate' for my bug before its painted...... i had heard that if you continue driving through kayu ara you will land up in taman megah or the old lim kok wing building... so i though i will just give it a try since i had the time.......... i found myself near the Projet Petrol Station near Atria..... imagine my surprise and delight when i drove by another VW workshop called APD Auto which is run by an elderly chap named Francis Lai...... he is a pleasant guy who has run the shop for the past 15 years... and guess what? he has the radio delete plate that im looking for ........but he doesnt have the chrome trim that goes with it... no matter..... i will get it anyway.... but he has a few plates which are from beetles and ghias of a few model years.... unfortunately he and I cant seem to different shade which is from which year because the differences are so small... so i will be taking the whole bunch tomorrow to match it with my car in Klang and picking the one that looks best on it...... i cant wait lah...

The 5th of October came quickly enough... took half day off and made my way to APD after lunch at Devi's Corner TTDI... picked up the Radio Delete Plate then when over to Klang to check if it will fit... It did fit but unfortunately the former owners had made the Radio Void bigger by cutting it about 3 or 4 mm at the bottom lip... sign!!... to all vw beetle owners... if it does not fit... then look for one that will fit... dont just shove a radio in there by cutting it or bending it till it fit... im sure there are many radio players out there which are slim enough to fit the original gap..

Here is the radio gap unlawfully cut out of shape... also note the two switches (I took out one) in the middle drilled into the dash without a care..... not even place squarely in the middle... sign... will have to get that sorted out too...

Here's the radio delete plate... its in perfect condition... i think it belonged in a 66...

It fit perfectly too... but as you can see... the bottom lip and the left top corner has been cut...highlighted below in red..... why!! why!! why do you people do these things to your cars.... :(

Oh well... hopefully the metal beaters can fix that..... Anyway the three holes in the delete plate are for the chrome trimmings which i will need to find....

Well im sure you guys are wondering how come my car is still not painted.... the Indonesian workers who are working on my car had gone back to Indonesia to get their paper work sorted out and are also on Hari Raya Holidays... so they will only be back after Raya .... so there hasn't been any work done on my car in the past 5 weeks....sigh!!...

the saga continues...

btw:

APD Auto

1069 Jalan Jejarom
Kampung Sungai Kayu Ara
47400 Petaling Jaya
Tel/Fax 03-78052185
(Not opened on Weekends)

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Kumbang Riders Sept 07

From Kumbang Rider...
A bunch of us beetle lovers got together at Astaka Feild near Armada Hotel... 7 beetles altogether including my scale model of a vw beetle (My car is still in the shop remember)... last Friday nite... It was cool meeting up with these guys... chatting about our beetles... tech stuff and all...

We are hoping to meet up more regularly so look out for this site for more details... Unofficially i have called this meet 'Kumbang Riders Sept 07'... (Kumbang is Beetle in Malay)... here are some pics from that night...


I love those wheels man....

From Kumbang Rider...

The guys getting all technical...
From Kumbang Rider...

From Kumbang Rider...

Click on the Kumbang Rider link for more pictures.

END

Wednesday, August 01, 2007

Week 3 - Paint Shop

Visited my beetle last Saturday, …. work on it is pretty slow…. The old paint is still being removed and some interesting things are being uncovered (accident damage, bad repair jobs, Bondo magic!!!)…. Slow and easy I say… im still wondering if I shld have removed the engine earlier… if I remove it now then I need to find a way to transport it back to my place…but where am I going to keep it…. hmmm I think I will just leave it in and remove it once its back at my place…. Maybe I shld have removed it before sending it to the shop for paint…… but then again….like I said…where the hell am I going to keep it!!!… arrghhhh!! decisions decisions!!!...


Monday, July 23, 2007

Golf for Sale!

1985 Blue Volkswagen Golf
Only 15 km
Only first gear and reverse used
Never driven hard
Original tires
Original brakes
Original fuel and oil
Only 1 driver Owner
Wishing to sell due to employment lay-off
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..........


Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Week 1 - Paint Shop

So far its been a week at Ah Wah's Paint Shop they have stripped the fenders of its paint and removed as much of the trim and other big and little bits from the shell.


Looks kinda cool without the license plate light housing and Tail light setup doesnt it.
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As you can see its going to be a slow process... cant wait for it to be finished but then its still going to be alot of work to be done after that.......
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to be continued.....

Monday, July 16, 2007

Electrical Madness

Lets have a look at the Complete Wiring Harness i bought from CIP1.

The first thing you see when you open the box


Oh dear... what have i gotten myself into........


The kit comes with all the connectors and rubber gourmets that you need... but the connectors look a bit gimpy... i think i would reuse the car's original connectors if they are still in good condition or buy new ones... if i can....


All wires are colour coded to the original specs... heck even the insulation is colour coded...
and it already has the female connectors attached to it... no fuss just plug and play.... i hope.
The manual is pretty ok but not as detailed as i wld like it to be... or maybe i just dont understand it... like i said... do i know what i have gotten myself into?... will i be able to wire the bug myself?.....
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The last picture on the right is the wiring schematics of a 1961 bug... i suppose its about the same as a 65 but that ok... i do have the the 65 schematics .... in colour some more...
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Just one more thing... in no way am i encouraging anybody to rewire their bug on their own. Please be warned that badly done wiring can lead to short circuit or worse... fire.... You wouldnt want your pride and joy to go up in smoke would you........ So please be very careful and patient or request the aid of a professional.
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END

Friday, July 13, 2007

Finally sent for paint...


Meet my uncle Raveendran, he's had a passion for classic bikes and cars all his life..... and has owned many classics in his time. In his stable he has a Norton , a Triumph and a custom made copper bike as seen in the pictures. I dont have to say that he has been riding Norton and Triumph bikes before there were even called classics...keke sorry uncle... hope you dont take that the wrong way...

Anyhow all my life i have seen him restore classic cars and bikes for as a hobby and also for clients. He himself is a Morris Minor fan and has owned and refurbished a few Morris Minors before.. You can see a blue one in front of my beetle in the picture...... which has seen better days....

Its no wonder that he is currently the President of the Classic Bike Association of Malaysia....

You could say he is one of the people that influenced my love for classics too. I really appreciate his help in keeping my car in his place till i had the time and resources to send it for paint. And that day was last Saturday.... i finally got the car towed to the paint shop called Ah Wah in Teluk Pulai, Klang ....

Unfortunately the tow guy was a dud and did not secure the beetle properly.... so when taking a sharp turn into the shop area the rear driver side tyre came out of the clamp.... and the clamp ramped my new floor boards....WTF...%$%%&()...... it was hell trying the get the car or the tow clamps off.... and the rear apron got damaged in the process.... luckily the floor board seems to be ok and still look ok..... &^$##!!&*(^*(%$$...... im getting it flat bedded the next time..... in all that excitement i forgot to take my camera with me... will be going to the shop this weekend to pass a door lock lever cos i didnt realise the passenger door is locked..... pictures coming soon....

PS.... by the way my uncles custom bike is for sale ...... drop me a comment if youre interested.

END

Tuesday, June 05, 2007

Rewiring Tips!

Found some good articles about rewiring your beetle on the VWtrends website HERE and HERE
Will be really useful when i rewire my 65...

END

Thursday, May 31, 2007

Thunder!! bad for glass


Last January 07 the driver's side window shattered during an electrical storm at my uncles house. can tunder shatter glass ..hmmm..... As you can see the window is missing.

There was glass everywhere..... on the floor on the seats... in the door wells too. It took forever to get the glass out of the door innerds.

There was glass on the ground too which I tried to clean. Glass on the door sill and floor was easily cleared.

Removing the window winding mechanism looked easy. Just removed a few bolts and pull it out... ....but it took me about half an hour to get in out of the door... i must be doing it wrong....

finally its removed.......


All the glass cleaned up... check out the nice new floor... ok maybe not so new..


END

Tuesday, April 03, 2007

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Wiring Harness

Its here!! Its Here!!!... i ordered the Wiring Harness for my 65 beetle online at www.cip1.com on the 12th of March and it arrived last Monday. Picked it up at the FedEx HQ in Subang Hi-Tech Industrial Park. Had to pay quite a bit of tax for it too... but hey it was all good. Its the complete wiring loom which is colour coded with the original colour description as shown in the image below.... If you need more wiring diagrams for all models and makes of classic VWs, go to The Samba dot com.

END

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

How to keep your Volkswagen Alive!!

This book is essential for your guidance in vw beetle up keeping. The Author explains everything in layman terms so as to not confuse the average reader. Thats why the rest of the title reads 'A manual of step by step procedures for the compleat (spelt that way) idiot!'. This book is absolutely great.....

Thursday, March 01, 2007

2005 Body Shop

I struck the deal in January 05 but the shop could only start on the car after chinese new year in March 05. I only got the car back at the end of Jun 05. The work done on the car were; new floors, new heater channels, bottom part of the doors reworked and about 6 inches of the side lower part of the car replaced with new metal. Body rubber seals and Body to Chasis rubbers were replaced too. The following pictures were taken before completion.

(The car at the shop) (New metal all around the side lower part of the car)

(All four door hinges were worked on and bolts replaced),

(Checkout the new floor) (the battery area was not completed when i took this piture)

(You can see the new heater channels in black) (Some work done in the front headpan area)

(The spare wheel well done) (I had broken a few fender bolts and tread area which was replaced)

(The secret compartment still being worked on)(The front apron)

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I pretty much did not do anything after that because i had planned to get married in 2006. I had also moved out of the house and was renting a room. I also was saving to go for the U2 concert in Melbourne. This forced me to put the beetle project on hold... ...


by Jun of 2006 i moved into my own house (renting), got married in August 2006 and I went to Melbourne for the u2 concert in November 2006. To me 2006 went by really fast. Bam!! its 2007... the car has been resting under a shed in my uncle's place in Klang since i moved to my house last Jun06. I would like to get the car sand blasted next and then prep it for paint. fingers crossed....

to be continued........