White Lady

One Sunday worship, I spotted this white volkswagen beetle from a bro in faith solemnly (LOL) parking near our church entrance. I snapped at it for a post in this blog. Everytime we go to church, we would regularly see this white volkswagen I called as "white lady." "Oh, here comes the white lady..." It was only last time that I took a shot of her.

Spare Tire and More Beetles

These past days, I changed my old spare tire with surplus tire that I purchased at Php900.00. Below, two old volkswagen beetles I saw parking in Juna Subdivision (Matina, Davao City).

Ignition Timing in Old Beetle

When it comes to basic troubleshooting, I still have to understand many things, say, how to check the ignition timing. Replacing contact points is more or less handy. But checking on the timing is another matter I still have to learn. The youtube provides many helpful videos on this topic and I got one posted as you have seen above. Check this out.

Last Old Beetle Production

I was surfing the youtube to get videos on the old volkswagen. Last night, I stumbled on this video posted on youtube. It covered the last production of the old beetle in Mexico.

Old Beetle Engine Blow

Uploaded by Gaudet, I posted the video on old volkswagen engine blow to test its reliability. I quoted the explanation of the video post:

How long can a Volkswagen engine run at top RPM with no oil? This is annual event at the Maritime Volkswagen Owners Club (MVOC) show. This video is from the 1998 show. UPDATE: From comments., I see that some folks don't understand the reason we did this. This is a common event at many Volkswagen shows. The purpose is to show how duriable an air-cooled VW engine is. Try doing the same with another type of engine!? Plus, the VW engine can be repaired quickly and cheaply with hours.

More or less, I had a similar incident two years ago when I ran my volks for about 9 kilometers unknowingly with loosened generator pulley. Which meant, I was running without a fan. Being in the rear, I could not see the smoke oozing from the hood. Thanks that a motorist overtook me half to call my attention on the sign of overheating. When I looked back, I saw the dark smoke at the rear side of the car. I immediately pulled over and called in my uncle who has a shop nearby to pull up my beetle to their shop. I thought the engine was ruined with that incident but thankfully it just ran perfectly when the fault was fixed. Anyway, enjoy the engine blow video.

Rough Ride

The road to our home is dirt and rough. We still have to get support from the local government for our road development. Meantime, we bear with it. See the video how I ran through it as I rode on my beetle. The video was taken 90 degrees to the left though. The noisy I suspected came from worn-out rear shock absorbers which I replaced later. I failed to post the whole replacement process but I will post the old shocks later.

Just My Beetle

As usual last Sunday, after church, we went to our favorite restaurant for our breakfast. The restaurant is about 2.5 kilometers from our home. For about Php250.00 to 300.00 (USD5.5 to 6.6), breakfast is already sumptuous. The place is just along the highway (downtown - Sasa route). A cozy place whose facilities are a combination of bamboo materials, bamboo mats and coco lumbers.

Brazil vs. German CP

When we bought our two rides, I faced a challenge to recall what I had learned as a helper mechanic so that I can troubleshoot when needed. Thankfully, I slowly learn again the basics of troubleshooting but it was only after a number of “misadventures” with the engine while on the road. Like what I posted earlier, I learned already to tinker with the simple workings of contact points which in old Volkswagen beetle is a problem. But this is worth-noting – learn to pay attention to the specifications when buying replacement spareparts. I had this funny experience buying a contact points for a Brazilian-made distributor instead of a German-type distributor. The former is smaller, I was told. Of course, the latter is bigger. My friend Elvis Not Presley told me that. Was it funny? I think it was. To make the matter worst, the wiring provision of that thing was way different from what I used to buy. I inspected it and I suspected it was a lemon. I bought a lemon instead of the CP. LOL. Did the guy from another store gave me that lemon product? The CP is sold at Php175.00 or at a discounted price at Php170.00 from my friend. The last time I bought a contact point, he gave me one that had no pivot post (left photo). Anyway, the wire connection to the condenser was to the right. But the hard-headedness in me told me to continue and see what would come out later. I twisted the wire connection to the left direction and installed it. It worked at first only to realize that the engine could not rev up normally. I suspected that the flow of current was disrupted because the part was smaller than needed or maybe the torn portion was at fault. Anyway, putting back my used German-type CP solved the problem. I experimented too by putting two Mitsubishi (right photo) condensers. While they worked, I could not say whether these parts are a good replacement. I suspected that they were harmed when my ignition coil retired. I opted to finally replace the two "extra-energy absorbers" with one for the beetle (I missed to take a photo).

Yahoo Answers

On the online question posted by a netizen "Is a Volkswagen Beetle a good car?," I replied with a link to this post. Admittedly, I was lazy to explain my experience with the old beetle. But days later, I received an email from Yahoo Answers telling me that my answer was voted as best answer. Wow! It really perked up my morning as I browsed my emails. I should thank all the visitors who came down here to read the answer burried in my posts. Voting for it as the best answer is not that easy because they had to go through the reviews I posted here first. So what can I say? Million thanks to you. Come again :-).

More Beetle Photos

When we see shiny volks strutting around like this red bug, what immediately comes to mind is the cost of body repainting. I already inquired sometime last year for our car's repainting need and it would cost us about Php15,000.00. Whoa! That's lotsa money. I asked for a much lower budget so my friend talked about another version of repainting called "hilam-os" for Cebuano or "hilamos" to Tagalog. That's washover to you and it would only cost me, in case, about Php3,500.00 to Php5,000.00.

Now I ask, do I really need this body repainting? My beetle (skyblue) which I parked in one of the gasoline stations in our place may need repainting but I can't afford to spend such amount as yet. I don't have that big amount of money to sate our eagerness to dress up our bug. Another friend suggested that it would be better to focus on reconditioning the car rather than spend on its body repainting. He has a point there. Well, talking about reconditioning, my car does not need it yet.

If you have lotsa of money, why not. Go and repent... er... repaint. But this Blue Bug at a closer scrutiny looks like our neighbor's Dalmitian with white polka-dots on its body. I agree that body paint is only next to the road worthiness of the bug as far as engine condition is concerned. I sited this UFO in Magallanes Street or Pichon Street as its new name.