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Re: [T3] Lots of questions...


On 2 Apr 2003 at 22:09, Tad Heckaman wrote:

> Here's a lot of questions about the 69 fastback that I have.

Yes, you've certainly got a lot of questions. I'd like to encourage you to use 
paragraphs to separate out different thoughts so that it would be easier to 
answer each one. With this "stream of consciousness" format it takes a lot of 
extra work to get you the answers you need.  

> First, the engine turns! After taking out the spark plugs and putting
> some mystery oil in the cylinders, we cranked the engine by hand (the
> clutch seems to be slightly loose, when I put it in gear and tried to
> spin the wheels, the engine sorta moved, but dint turn. Any ideas?) 

It may not have been all the way into gear, or you might have had it in a high 
gear where it took more turns than you expected.  

> After we cranked the engine a few times (to make sure its not seized
> up) we hooked up the battery and ran the starter, so that works also.
> After that we tried the lights. The left turn signal blinked, but the
> right one dint, and when we turned it off, it kept clicking in the
> dash. Maybe its because the water which drips down the steering column
> when we hosed the car off. The headlights dint work (they have been
> sitting for 8 years...) but the right running lights worked, as did the
> turn signal and brake. The other side must have some burned out bulbs
> (I hope) because only the running light worked. The hazard lights don't
> work either, nor does the horn (every time we push the horn, it shorts
> out the lights in the dash, possibly the whole car too.) 

Don't worry too much about the electrical stuff. Some of that will sort itself 
out as you get other things working, but most of it will turn out to be 
corroded bulb contacts. You'll just have to deal with them one at a time.  

> The brakes don't work, mostly because the fluid container was empty.
> Hopefully we only need to bleed the brakes and test for leaks. The
> emergency brake also doesn't work, so I have to check into that too
> (that was fun getting towed to the house without any brakes, hit the
> van once, but it was neat seeing the bumper work with its shocks.) Any
> ideas about the E-brake? We don't see any leaks after pushing the
> brake pedal a few times after filling it, so the PO must have drained
> the whole system, along with the fuel tank. 

You'll have to rebuild all the brake calipers, cylinders, and master cylinder. 
If air has been in there they are surely all rusted inside. Some of them may 
not even be rebuildable The fluid leaked out; it wasn't drained. It is likely 
that your main brake line to the rear brakes is rusted out under the gas pedal. 
This is a bear to replace but it will probably have to be done.   

> The fuel tank is out a karmaan gia (sp?) or a bug, cant tell, but its
> not the original one, since its filling up the trunk, sitting on top of
> the old tank (have to open the trunk to fill it too). 

Don't know how 2 tanks would fit in there. They're a lot taller than most 
people realize. Kind of like an iceberg, there's a lot beneath the surfact that 
you never see.  

> The rear trunk area is a mess, we had to rip out all the soggy
> insulation, and there is quite allot of rust there too. The water must
> have come from the leaking rear windows (the caulked up ones) so I need
> to get rid of that. 

Water can also get in the trunk from around the fuel injection computer which 
is installed improperly on a panel on the left side.  

> What was fun is when we hooked the battery up for the first time, we
> hooked it up backwards. The PO had replaced the cables, and put the RED
> cable on the chassis, and the BLACK cable to the wires. Hopefully it
> dint fry anything too badly. 

It fried anything that was solid state: radio, turn signal relay, FI computer. 
The mechanical stuff won't care.  

> I am planning on redoing the whole electrical system, or at least the
> things that don't work, because it acted too funny. Also could somebody
> tell me what the lights mean on the dash, I cant figure out what the
> [G] light is, even though I am sure its simple. 

G is for Generator. It and the Oil light should come ON with the key and stay 
on until the engine starts.  

Here's the manual you want to buy right away:  

Volkswagen Official Service Manual Type 3 Fastback and Squareback 1968-1973 
published by Robert Bentley, Cambridge, Mass, 1974 ISBN 0-8376-0057-X / LPV 997 
383 / VSQU (excellent book, complete and well written)  

-- 
Jim Adney
jadney@vwtype3.org
Madison, WI 53711-3054
USA

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