FRAK!! The GTI Bites the Dust!

Today hasn't been the greatest day. On the way to work the GTI just died while driving down the road. Called my brother, Flash, to help me get it home (I owe you big time, bro!). Flash listened to me turn the car over and instantly descided that the timing belt had broke - and he was correct. About 30K miles ago I replaced the timing belt, tensioner and water pump - just trying to keep it well maintained. Anyway, I'm certain that it bent the valves when the belt let go. I'll probably find out more this weekend, but I'm fairly certain that it's dead for now. Now I've gotta get the Beetle up and running for a daily driver. Other than that - this day has really sucked!

The Beetle's resurrection continues...

I finally got around to sealing and priming the Beetle this weekend. It doesn't look great, but it's a lot better than bare metal and rust. Lots of rust repair still needs to be done but for now the surface rust is gone and it's much more weather proof than it was previously. And it's all the same color - mostly...

Over the weekend a few friends came over and we had a good time. Mike took me for a ride in his turbo-enhanced R32 - wowzers! That thing is crazy-fast! I was able to return the favor to a very small degree in the 911, but it just isn't the same without all wheel drive. I also gave Reggie a ride in the 911, and while I didn't really get on it, he seemed fairly happy with the ride.

A bit off topic...

Here are some pictures of my current project. It's not the 930 V8, but hey, it's all good. The top picture is how the Beetle looked about a week ago, since then all of the fenders and trim are completely removed and a lot more sanding has been done. The bottom picture shows the car when it arrived about two weeks and a couple of days ago. The middle picture was a test to see how the car looked in primer (which is the color I plan to paint it - semi-gloss black). It has some rust on the body (just behind the side glass on the passenger side) that goes all the way through, and the fenders are beat. On the plus side, the car runs good and drives great. If all goes well the body should be sanded and sealed/primed tomorrow, but a lot of work needs to happen tonight before that can be... That will leave the fenders, hood and engine lid to sand and seal. Once I have all of the surface rust under control (my main goal right now), the plan is to cut and replace the rusted sections of the body with some help from my friends (I trust thier welding ability much more than my own).

No signal?

I have been working on the car, trying to get the tach to work, but to no avail. After trying several different things I have discovered the the MSD ignition isn't producing a tach signal. Not sure what I'm going to do now. But, it's good to know what the problem is - or to think that I know.

I have a new project. It's a 1974 Super Beetle and I've been working on it for the last few weeks trying to get it ready for paint. There hasn't been much time to work on the Porsche, but this winter I hope that I can rewire the car and install a heating and cooling system, so that it will be ready for next summer and be very comfortable.