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The front passenger wheel bearings (not the ball joint!) failed on the way to work, yesterday.
So now she gets to go in for both things.
And I'm potentially stuck bumming rides and/or riding the Junkerbolt, my $100 Craigslist Thunderbolt. It's very, very fast, and has the vertical stability of a three-week-old kitten. I am probably going to faceplant more than once.
Sigh.(Not) Having A Ball
Dec. 19th, 2017 05:07 pmTurns out the grinding/shuddering noise was, in fact, significant!
I took the Bug in for her rear wheel bearings, and got her back with the car equivalent of a note pinned to her lapel:
Her front ball joints are bad. They'll need to be done. Soon.
Thankfully, "soon" is not "now" -- I'm not in the danger zone, yet. We're going back in a month for a recheck, to see how much they've progressed toward unsafe levels of no. If they're still okay in a month, I'll put it off another month, and then lather, rinse, repeat.
This isn't me being a procrastinator. random and I are moving within the month, and our funds are pretty much exhausted. I'm still trying to find a second job-- at this point, I'm considering returning, if briefly, to food service just to make ends meet --and any work on the Bug's wheels is on the expensive side.
It cost around $600 to get the bearings done. My folks helped out, there. But they're also helping pay for part of the cost of moving, so asking more of them isn't something I can-- or would want to --do.
And it'll cost around $700 for the ball joints. Cheap for a car. Expensive for a Bug.
And expensive for a kiff.
Hopefully, the Bug holds out for a while. At least until I can get my financial feet back under me.
Hard to Port!
Dec. 5th, 2017 04:29 pmFor some reason, the Bug has been making what a fellow Dub owner described as "an old creaking ship" sound, whenever she turns hard at low speed.
I don't know what it is. It's deep and groaning and I can feel it as the sound comes up the steering column. It almost feels/sounds like it's involving the front wheels somehow.
But, so far, nothing is amiss with her drive quality.
She's gonna go in for her rear wheel bearings in a month or so. I might get her fronts inspected, at the same time, just to make sure everything is kosher in Bugland.
Well, That Was Disgusting
Nov. 13th, 2017 05:49 pmIt was only happening every other start, and it was running fine, otherwise, so I didn't think too much of it.
Today, it got worse. A lot worse. So, I took it over to the mechie, and let him listen.
"Bad starter," he said, got me the part, and sent me on my way.
I knew the starter was a fairly simple job to replace. Bug innards are crowded, but I'm small enough to comfortably crawl under the Bug without a jack, and worm my hands up inside without too much trouble. What I really didn't stop to consider is that Bugs are also absolutely filthy.
There's a running gag that VWs will keep on trucking, even if their bodies are literally nothing but rot and rust, because the engines leak oil so badly that they preserve themselves even in the harshest, wettest conditions.
Having spent an hour (or more) getting completely covered in oil, grime, rust flakes, and whatever weird sludge settles on wiring, I 100% believe this. My hands were black. The entire side of one arm was black. I got grease on my face, rust in my mouth, and gravel in my hair. I've showered, and still feel oily.
At least I won't rust.
Since Photobucket Went Kaput...
Oct. 4th, 2017 08:03 amI'm trying out ImageShack.
*pokes at it, for science*
Summer Means... Speedos?
Jun. 12th, 2017 03:34 pmSpeedometers, anyhow.
The Bug's speedo started making the dreaded death chatter, which means it's time to start looking for a replacement.
Unfortunately, rebuilt speedos are upwards of $200. I don't have that kind of money. Used are cheaper, but you really have no clue what you're getting when you go that route. And even the best used speedo is still a 50 year old bit of machinery.
Our old mechie, down in LA, has a used Ghia speedo listed for ~$70. That's not bad, but see above for why that might not be the best idea. Plus, Ghia speedos are slightly smaller than Bug speedos, so I'd have to make a bracket to get it to fit properly in my dash.
Ghia speedos also don't have an integrated fuel gauge. But I've had the Bug's sending unit disconnected pretty much since I bought it, so that's not really an issue.
I could also just buy a completely aftermarket VDO gauge and be done with it.
But I've never had a good experience with aftermarket anything. So I'm a little leery there.
v(._.)v
Gears-- ! ( ._.)9
Jun. 6th, 2017 09:41 pmSo, is the slamming feeling when shifting gears just a Type 1 thing?
I've never experienced it with either of the family Type 3s, but much like Voodoo, the Bug occasionally kicks like a mule when she shifts.
Volkswagens. v(._.)v
They Suspect Nothing
Jun. 1st, 2017 05:41 pm
So, a Clubman cover fits a VW Bug.
If it's windy, it also provides the perfect disguise to hide amongst MINIs.
Car Update(?)
May. 16th, 2017 01:21 amI will potentially be wandering down south this weekend so that I can ride back up with the Bug when it's towed.
I'm not 100% sure, because arranging tows with AAA is complicated and confusing and requires more luck than skill.
Further, since our original plan (which was for my folks to come up this weekend) changed, the upset has had an unintended domino effect on everything else, and it's making this entite month feel like an uncertain, wobbly table.
On the upside, the sooner the Bug is back up here, the sooner I can look for work, again. My current job is okay, but you really need more than just a part-time job to live here comfortably. And I'd like to not have to survive off ramen and macaronis at the end of every pay period.
