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MushyHeirloom
12:08 AM

In reply to And The Winner Is...
I'd always wondered why LeMons had been Beetle-free. Now it isn't, and I'm very, very pleased.
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LTDScott
12:49 AM

@MushyHeirloom: There's been at least 2 Beetles in LeMons as far as I'm aware.
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LTDScott
11/22/09

In reply to And The Winner Is...
Congrats to both teams!
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Six Flags Over Tomsk
12:18 AM

@LTDScott: Hear hear!
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Novaload
11/22/09

In reply to And The Winner Is...
OK, that's impressive! Way to go, PLRs!
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dislexicmofo
10/22/09

In reply to How To Change The VW Beetle's Generator Belt In Five Seconds

nothing to say really, except he should have used the official replacement kit #vwbeetle
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TimTim
10/22/09

@dislexicmofo: I laughed out loud... not the abbreviated, metaphorical, kind the kids are doing on the internet these days... but actual, spell it out, honest to goodness, out loud guffaws.

Well played. #vwbeetle
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evoCS-Hench-Minion to the stars
10/22/09

In reply to How To Change The VW Beetle's Generator Belt In Five Seconds
This somewhat reminds me of the time I was forced to change the fan belt in our old '69 911. I say forced because the car had a perfectly good belt before my idiocy got involved. I got the car out to give it a good washing. I placed a towel over the engine as the vent in the engine cover is a really open affair with nothing but a coarse mesh and nice chrome grille guarding against the elements. I didn't want to inadvertently bathe the distributor while rinsing the car down.

You all can see where this is going.

After finishing up with drying the car off, I hopped in and started it up. The engine fired and then died almost immediately. I would've tried it again, but the suddenness of the engine stopping was disconcerting. I got out and opened the engine bay, and there was the towel, all wrapped up in the innards of the fan belt assembly. And I mean it was really stuck. If you don't know old 911's, that fan belt is driven off of the crank. Since the fan must run all the time, the alternator sits inside the fan assembly. Porsche's efficiency of design spared me from an even larger mess. Still, I spent about 3 hours cutting the towel out of there. I had to cut the fan belt too, as it and the towel were practically as one.

And people ask why I'm not considering doing the rebuild on that motor myself... #vwbeetle
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coupeZ600
10/22/09

In reply to How To Change The VW Beetle's Generator Belt In Five Seconds
We had a International with a DT466 that would throw belts for no reason, but just as bizarrely, almost always in the same places. If you were driving and saw that truck pulled over at one of those places with the hood up, you knew why. The main driver of that truck got real good at changing the (6) belts this way (because when one went off it took all the rest with it), but he did it by bumping the starter solenoid with the engine and fuel off. It was still terrifying to watch, and while we tried everything to figure out the problem, eventually the truck would find a set of belts it could live with (we thought we fixed it!) until a year or so later it would start all over again. #vwbeetle
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Psiu! Puxa!: You're right, Mopar or no car!
10/22/09

@coupeZ600: Bent crank pulley? #vwbeetle
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coupeZ600
10/22/09

@Psiu! Puxa!: You're right, Mopar or no car!: We replaced every accessory pulley first, and changed the belt routing when that didn't work. Surprisingly, running the alternator solely off the water pump/camshaft worked for quite a while. Then it started happening again, so we pulled the radiator to get to the crank pulley/harmonic balancer, and even though we could find nothing wrong with either, we replaced both. This worked for about a year, and then it started all over again. The crazy part was that it was always in the same places, after pulling a real long grade under load, then getting back up to highway speed, and when you hit the next little grade and it went back under load, sproing! whapwhapwhapwhap, buzzers on! New motor mounts and tranny mounts, while long-shots, fixed it for about, you guessed it, a year, then it started all over again. Truck sits in the yard and mocks us all, because nobody will drive it except the guy who put's the belts on the easy way..... #vwbeetle
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Xelmon
10/22/09

@coupeZ600:
Is this something that happened only to the DT466, or is it also true for the DT350? #vwbeetle
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coupeZ600
10/23/09

@Xelmon: It was only this truck.... Which is what pissed all of us off. We got straight-edges out, checked the pulley alignment, got them as lined-up as we could, and then checked some of the other trucks that would run just fine with a full 1/2 to 3/4" jog in the belt on the long run. I once took one of the two alternator belts off of one truck and ran it all day with the one belt deliberately on the wrong pulley with no problem. The I-6 DT 466/530's are the one's I'm familiar with, the DT 360 I've heard was O.K. but a little underpowered, but I stay ALL the way away from the VT365 (the Ford PowerStroke v8)! #vwbeetle
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crinklesmith
10/23/09

@coupeZ600: Maybe it had a machining flaw internally, like a piece of the rotating assembly was slightly light/heavy. Could have been just enough to set up a harmonic at the crank nose, and flap the pulley around at the right load, but not be noticeable anytime else. Certainly interesting though. #vwbeetle
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coupeZ600
10/23/09

@crinklesmith: But what was so strange, and perplexed us all to no end, was that it never did it under full, pedal to the floor, almost lugging and working-as-hard-as-it-could power, or just after as it was taken off load, but a while later. I was the champion of the motor/tranny-mount theory (because by then I had nothing else), but like all the others that thought they fixed it, about a year later it would start all over again. #vwbeetle
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coupeZ600
10/23/09

@coupeZ600: How the hell motor/tranny mounts could help/stop a belt being thrown was something I was never real comfortable with, but it seemed to work (for a while). #vwbeetle
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Xelmon
10/28/09

@coupeZ600:
So, a vexed engine. Too bad.

From what I've read the DT360 (mistyped earlier) is the thing I might be looking at down the road, and it has Much more power and torque than a gas dodge from the 50's. #vwbeetle
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coupeZ600
10/28/09

@Xelmon: While hearing that the 360 was under-powered, that was completely in a work-truck application. In a big pick-up/RV/small bus I'm sure it would be great! They're super simple to work on and will burn almost anything without qualm- we ran our mechanical (not EFI) 466's on some hippie-brewed B100 diesel one whole summer with no problems whatsoever. The electronic engines would send weird fault-codes to the ECM though, so we only burn B20 in them.

I like the vexed engine idea. Just today I found out it had a in-frame over-haul at around 90,000 miles, way too early and long before I got there (it's a '84 and I started in '95, but the belt-throwing fits didn't start until 2000-2001). Clues..... #vwbeetle
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lazlohollyfeld
10/22/09

In reply to How To Change The VW Beetle's Generator Belt In Five Seconds
VW Ninja. #vwbeetle
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gla2yyz
10/22/09

In reply to How To Change The VW Beetle's Generator Belt In Five Seconds
Still have to bill you for an hour's labour though. #vwbeetle
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Van Sarockin, rogue trebuchet promoted this comment gla2yyz was starred gla2yyz was unstarred

che-che
10/22/09

In reply to How To Change The VW Beetle's Generator Belt In Five Seconds
The HVAC systems I work on generally are not as roomy a space, and have considerably more power for efficient finger removal, than an old VW.

Cool trick though #vwbeetle
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Alfisted
10/22/09

@che-che: I've heard this somewhere before... #vwbeetle
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MushyHeirloom
10/22/09

@Alfisted: Yeah... me too. #vwbeetle
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Alfisted
10/22/09

In reply to How To Change The VW Beetle's Generator Belt In Five Seconds
I'd love to see how this guy handles the every 5K mile valve adjustment that Beetles require. #vwbeetle
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ThreeLitre
10/22/09

In reply to How To Change The VW Beetle's Generator Belt In Five Seconds
Alright that's pretty good.

I recently swapped the entire alternator out of my Dad's 1974 BMW 2002 in under 20 mins. What do I get? #vwbeetle
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lilwillie
10/22/09

@ThreeLitre:

golf clap #vwbeetle
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mechimike
10/22/09

@ThreeLitre: I used to have a 2002. Those engine compartments aren't as roomy as you'd think. Good job. #vwbeetle
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AustinMiniMan
10/22/09

@lilwillie: How do you know the car was green? #vwbeetle
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WarShrike
10/22/09

@lilwillie: Golf clap? Does that require a tetanus shot on top of the multi-spectrum of antibiotics you have to take with contracting the normal clap? #vwbeetle
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ThreeLitre
10/22/09

@mechimike: Yeah but it's amazing how much pavement you can see through the bay compared to more modern cars!

Apparently I was lucky in that his car wasn't a tii model. In those models the mechanical fuel injection apparatus is in the place where the alternator sits in the normal model (ie, front and top center), and the alternator is only accessible from underneath the car.

Might even be one of those jobs where the description starts with: "Step 1: remove engine" #vwbeetle
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Novaload
10/22/09

@WarShrike: So help me, as many times as I have seen and typed "golf clap" that reference never crossed my mind. Brilliant. But also gross. #vwbeetle
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mechimike
10/22/09

@ThreeLitre: I've only seen one tii in person, at Eurofest this past weekend. And then I mistook the fuel injection unit for a smog pump. ooops. ;-) #vwbeetle
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Van Sarockin, rogue trebuchet
10/22/09

In reply to How To Change The VW Beetle's Generator Belt In Five Seconds
What a time saver. Besides, what's the worst that could happen? #vwbeetle
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VeeArrrSix
10/22/09

@Van Sarockin, rogue trebuchet: #vwbeetle
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Elhigh
10/22/09

In reply to How To Change The VW Beetle's Generator Belt In Five Seconds
The HVAC systems I work on generally are not as roomy a space, and have considerably more power for efficient finger removal, than an old VW.

Cool trick though. #vwbeetle
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mechimike
10/22/09

In reply to How To Change The VW Beetle's Generator Belt In Five Seconds
When I got my new Karmann Ghia home, I managed to change the oil and set the valve lash in 45 minutes, with the car sitting on the trailer, in the dark, using a flashlight, having never worked on a VW before. #vwbeetle
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VeeArrrSix
10/22/09

@mechimike: That's why your name is MechiMike #vwbeetle
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FrankGrimes
10/22/09

@mechimike: Based on the facts you bought a Karmann Ghia, and had the foresight to change the oil and adjust the valves by yourself will you be my friend? #vwbeetle
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mechimike
10/22/09

@VeeArrrSix: No, _this_ is why my name is mechimike:

[jalopnik.com]

and...

[jalopnik.com]

Well, actually my name is mechimike because, a long time ago,back in the mists of time when the internets were still young, I had to chose a username for my very first email account. And, while I consider myself a halfway decent wrench, I have a horrible, horrible memory. So I kept that handle. #vwbeetle
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mechimike
10/22/09

@FrankGrimes: Based on the facts that you too must appreciate both old iron and The Simpsons, yes.
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Edited by mechimike at 10/22/09 3:30 PM mechimike was starred mechimike was unstarred

FrankGrimes
10/22/09

@mechimike: Let's celebrate this new found friendship with the adding of chocolate to milk. #vwbeetle
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mechimike
10/22/09

@FrankGrimes: Nice. How about a trip down to the old Burlesque House? After all, we gotta keep the "Spring" in "Springfield"! #vwbeetle
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Scoutch
10/22/09

@mechimike: Did it run after that? And if it was so dark, how did you know it was a VW? You may have inadvertently done something rather upsetting to your neighbor's cow, you know.
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Novaload promoted this comment Edited by Scoutch at 10/22/09 4:29 PM Scoutch was starred Scoutch was unstarred

Novaload
10/22/09

@mechimike: Well, yeah, but you're like a super mechanic and all. That's the equivalent of me being able to, oh, let's say unlock my front door and get into my house after dark. #vwbeetle
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Novaload
10/22/09

@FrankGrimes: When are you going to tell him this is about a Lumina? #vwbeetle
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FrankGrimes
10/22/09

@Novaload: Not sure what you mean... #vwbeetle
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wkiernan
10/22/09

@mechimike: Yeah well you had a TRAILER and a FLASHLIGHT. Yer had it EASY, mate. Me Dad used to make me and my baby brother (God rest his soul) remove and replace the cylinder heads of our family Beetle knee deep in the mud in the PITCH DARK and the DRIVING RAIN with NO TOOLS WHATSOEVER but our BARE HANDS while he were drinking foul corn whiskey from a Mason Jar and BEATING US with a COATHANGER. And we were only mere lads of eight and ten years at the time. And we enjoyed it, we did! Get me another whisky, bartender. #vwbeetle
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mechimike
10/22/09

@wkiernan: You win. ;-) #vwbeetle
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Elhigh
10/22/09

In reply to How To Change The VW Beetle's Generator Belt In Five Seconds
The HVAC systems I work on generally are not as roomy a space, and have considerably more power for efficient finger removal, than an old VW.

Cool trick though. #vwbeetle
Reply

Elhigh was starred Elhigh was unstarred

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