Great suggestion. I can fill the line with acetone and let it sit for a week or two and see what comes out. Nice thing about the acetone is it will be easy to clear it out of the line after I’ve completed that flush. Thx for the tip.
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Getting the ‘57 beetle back on the road in 2024
- Thread starter bosco659
- Start date
Quick Google search tells me I should use silicone tubing. Says acetone will dissolve vinyl tube. I’m thinking Tygon may be ok. Before I do this I’ll test different materials in a jar of solvent. Simple tasks become small projects.
Yes! Start with acetone varnish dissolver before the evaporust.
No time for my experiment today. Do you think acetone will eat Tygon tube?
Me too... I probably have some early VW electrical stuff; fuse box, fuses, switches, other odds and ends. All yours for the asking, Bosco.
It may not eat Tygon immediately, but I don't think that's the critical element. That would be the volatility of the acetone, IMO. It evaporates really fast. My thought would be fill the fuel line with acetone to the best of your ability, cap both ends and let it sit for 24 hrs. blow clear, do it one more time. Run a clear petroleum distillate through the line, capture and examine the output and then maybe call it good? Install and in-line filter and plan on changing it a few times.
I go with naptha but I haven't studied it's effects on various polymers.
20 minutes suspended in Sunnyside brand acetone.
It swelled slightly remained elastic not gummy. This is pretty similar to what it does with gasoline exposure.
You sure cleaning and reuse of a "buried" fuel line is the best course here?
'Zactly!You sure cleaning and reuse of a "buried" fuel line is the best course here?
In a galaxy far, far....
In England with an old Bug... mid 60's maybe, started getting some whiffs of gas in the morning. Didn't see anything under the bonnet... so I ignored it.
A few weeks (months?) later I started it let it warm a few seconds and set off for work. About 100' from the driveway it died. Out of gas. Though I had 1/4 tank or slightly less. Walked back grabbed a 2 gal gas can, poured it and drove to work. Figured I'd gas it up on the way home. Started after work, headed home and just outside the sqdn parking lot it quit again.... long winded ain't I...
... to the chase... fuel line broke in the tunnel. Rusted in two actually. Remember, water sinks in gas. Fuel line is the lowest point 'tween the carb and the tank.
Just food for thought.
Thx. Yes I plan to use the OEM line. The lines are in good shape and a local vw resto guy advised to clear it out and go with it. Another buddy suggested capping it and making sure the line will hold a vacuum. The line is well protected in the Center tunnel and the ends of the lines are in great shape. The fuel line carried non pressurized fuel. The fuel pump is bolted to the engine. Hopefully it will be good.
I’ll pressure test too. Maybe stick a borescope down the tunnel.'Zactly!
In a galaxy far, far....
In England with an old Bug... mid 60's maybe, started getting some whiffs of gas in the morning. Didn't see anything under the bonnet... so I ignored it.
A few weeks (months?) later I started it let it warm a few seconds and set off for work. About 100' from the driveway it died. Out of gas. Though I had 1/4 tank or slightly less. Walked back grabbed a 2 gal gas can, poured it and drove to work. Figured I'd gas it up on the way home. Started after work, headed home and just outside the sqdn parking lot it quit again.... long winded ain't I...
... to the chase... fuel line broke in the tunnel. Rusted in two actually. Remember, water sinks in gas. Fuel line is the lowest point 'tween the carb and the tank.
Just food for thought.
It was +12C today so I pulled the beetle out of the garage and spun it around 180 degrees so I could work under the front hood.
Well at long last I replaced the last of the hard brake lines. The main line from front to rear was rusted at the pedal assembly so I’m glad I replaced it as per @Jim ’s recommendation.
What’s next? Testing a cleaning the fuel line. First I’ll test to see if it holds vacuum then I’ll pressure test it to 100 psi. If all appears to be good I’ll do an acetone soak and flush then the Evaporust treatment. Then test again.
I cleaned the fuel tank 25+ years ago and it still looks good inside as I coated it with oil for storage. To do my due diligence I’m going to do a low pressure test on it. Hopefully there won’t be a needed repairs.
I also need to power bleed the brake system. Apparently a convention bleeding doesn’t work with this primitive master cylinder.
If there aren’t any leaks in the braking system or fuel components I’ll install a new petcock and mount the tank.
There’s several simple wiring repairs needed that can be done this coming week. Then it’s engine assembly time!
I’ll wait until spring to paint the floor pan.
Well at long last I replaced the last of the hard brake lines. The main line from front to rear was rusted at the pedal assembly so I’m glad I replaced it as per @Jim ’s recommendation.
What’s next? Testing a cleaning the fuel line. First I’ll test to see if it holds vacuum then I’ll pressure test it to 100 psi. If all appears to be good I’ll do an acetone soak and flush then the Evaporust treatment. Then test again.
I cleaned the fuel tank 25+ years ago and it still looks good inside as I coated it with oil for storage. To do my due diligence I’m going to do a low pressure test on it. Hopefully there won’t be a needed repairs.
I also need to power bleed the brake system. Apparently a convention bleeding doesn’t work with this primitive master cylinder.
If there aren’t any leaks in the braking system or fuel components I’ll install a new petcock and mount the tank.
There’s several simple wiring repairs needed that can be done this coming week. Then it’s engine assembly time!
I’ll wait until spring to paint the floor pan.
Attachments
Open wide and say ahh!
I'm getting too much joy out of watching you do this revival!
I’m itching to hang the bumpers but know they’ll only get in the way. The wheel positioning jacks are wonderful. I can move the car in any direction with a light push. Great for working in confined spaces!
Open wide and say ahh!
I'm getting too much joy out of watching you do this revival!
So happy for you Vic to be on the way to completing this project you planned for so long ago! Excellent photos! BTW, you can't send us too many photos 
Very nice! Brings back fond memories of my Mom's baby blue '58 Beetle; she graduated to a seafoam green version in '65 that was so advanced it even had a gas gauge!
Me too! Reminds me of way back when, my buddy and I bought a '59 Beetle for $25 out of someone's backyard, installed 356 Porsche brakes and a 1641cc dual-port twin carb engine in it and then drove it to California from Montreal and back in some 30-odd days. What a hoot!
Open wide and say ahh!
I'm getting too much joy out of watching you do this revival!
Well I decided to wire up the brake light switch today. The new repro replacement had push on blade connectors where the OEM had screw terminals on the switch. I thought it would be an easy task of adding a few inches of wire and crimping on a couple of push on connectors but it wasn’t that simple. I wanted to solder and heat shrink the connections. I stripped back about 3/4” of insulation from the old wire and found the copper had oxidized, turning the wire black. No way solder was going to stick to this so I made up a weak acid solution of vinegar and salt to remove the oxidation. One wire cleaned up pretty quickly where the other didn’t. I fanned out the wire end an scuffed it up with a green Scotchbrite pad. That removed some of the oxidation then back into the vinegar. After I got it clean enough, I swished the wire ends through a solution of baking sods and water to neutralize the acid. Then a water rinse and I dried it off with hot air. The cleaned copper soldered up well and with some extra heat shrink tube I tied everything together. It’s all hooked up to the switch now.
While messing around with the wires I noticed a spot on the harness that looked like melted wire insulation. Further investigation revealed that one wire was in fact melted all the way down to the headlight bucket and up to the back of the dash (I think - I still need to remove the rest of the the wiring harness wrap. Fortunately it’s only one wire that’s damaged and I don’t see any damage to the adjacent wires. I’ll remove the rest of the wrap tomorrow and replace that length of wire. It appears the short occurred inside the headlight bucket. I’m surprised it didn’t blow a fuse. I did notice while poking around that many of the screws for the primitive wire connectors were loose. I tried to tin the wire ends but think it maybe better to gave the screws bear down on the wire strands.
The last photos are the fuse box for the headlights. 1957 design at its best.
Once I get this straightened out, the front end of the car should be good to go from an electrical perspective.
While messing around with the wires I noticed a spot on the harness that looked like melted wire insulation. Further investigation revealed that one wire was in fact melted all the way down to the headlight bucket and up to the back of the dash (I think - I still need to remove the rest of the the wiring harness wrap. Fortunately it’s only one wire that’s damaged and I don’t see any damage to the adjacent wires. I’ll remove the rest of the wrap tomorrow and replace that length of wire. It appears the short occurred inside the headlight bucket. I’m surprised it didn’t blow a fuse. I did notice while poking around that many of the screws for the primitive wire connectors were loose. I tried to tin the wire ends but think it maybe better to gave the screws bear down on the wire strands.
The last photos are the fuse box for the headlights. 1957 design at its best.
Once I get this straightened out, the front end of the car should be good to go from an electrical perspective.
I recognize those ceramic fuses from my '79 and '80 Dasher diesels. And soldering nasty, oxidized wires- try soldering a new bilge pump into the harness of a 50 year old boat who has lived in a lot of salt water. Lots of vinegar and sanding/Scotch-brite.
