Dad’s Super
This post was supposed to end with a photo of me driving my dad’s ’79 convertible Super Beetle.
It doesn’t.
My dad’s had this bug for as long as I can remember and it’s been up and down the Galveston seawall a thousand times. But, it hasn’t left his garage in at least 5 years.
While we were around, I figured I would try to get it going and take it for a spin. Unfortunately, the brakes have pretty much disintegrated – cracked hoses, leaking cylinders, peeling pads. Pretty much everything that can be replaced needed to be replaced. I managed to get it 75% done.
Everything rusts here – the salt air on the South Coast is a VW killer. Dad’s Super is rusted out from underneath and the axle nuts are pretty much fused to the axle at this point. With all the wrong tools and a giant cheater, I managed to loosen the nuts and repair the brakes on 3 wheels. The fourth – not so much.
We’re trying to get ourselves moving again, so that joyride in the convertible will have to wait until next time. Until then I’ll have to think of a clever way to defeat that big rusty nut.
Last time I did that I was able to borrow a big box wrench from the millwrights at work, with a pipe and me jumping up and down on the end got them loose. I think my next step would be oxy/acetylene torch & order a new nut.
Looking forward to back on the road.
All the Best
Jason I would recommend this tool to remove the rusted wheel nut http://www2.cip1.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=ACC-C10-7036
I have one if you would like to barrow it sometime just let me know
I assume you sprayed some wd-40 or something like it on there. (?) Our cars get salty here in Chicago, too, and penetrating oil helps a lot. If not, try the torch. Map gas is almost as hot as oxy and you can get it at he hardware store for $40.
Heat up the nut with Oxy Acetylene, don’t cut or melt it. Heat up one side then the other until the whole nut is glowing red and then take a rag or towel drenched in water and cool the nut. The rapid cooling will release the nut and it’ll spin off for you.