Before I put on the new exhaust, I decided to replace the intake seals to the heads that I didn’t replace year before last when I installed the new intake. Just loosing the intake does not give me enough room to install the seals, so I start by removing the fuel pump, distributor cap, generator and generator stand. If you loosen the dog house, lift it up and towards the rear, you can get the generator and fan out fairly easy. Helps to have an extra set of hands. Just be mindful of the oil cooler. Oddly enough, after I got the intake away from the heads, I discovered that there were no seals at all. Not only did I forget to install new seals, the person who installed the last intake forgot as well. I double checked to make sure they weren’t stuck to the intake and looked at the one I replaced. No seals. I can’t believe this car ran so well without a vacuum leak of any kind or maybe there was one, I just didn’t notice it. Anyhow, I’m going to take this opportunity to clean up some other parts, particularly the generator stand and breather tube. This will slow me down a bit, but it’ll be worth it. I’m in no rush. Hope to get everything wrapped up tomorrow or the next day. Enjoy the video!

New Exhaust Installation Part I
New Exhaust Installation Part II
New Exhaust Installation Part III
New Exhaust Installation Part V

Continued to prep for the new exhaust installation. Not a whole lot more we can do until the new exhaust arrives. Today, I decided to clean up the rear engine tins to make them look a bit better. I started by stripping the paint off the tins by using Dupli-Color paint stripper. I let them soak in the heat for about ten minutes, then sprayed them off with the water hose. I repeated this process 3 times to get as much paint off as I could. I then dried them and used a wire wheel to remove any paint that was left and then sanded them with 400 grit sandpaper. For a final prep, I used Dupli-Color Paint Prep to remove any grease, oil or other contaminates that might keep the paint from sticking. I then painted the tins with Dupli-Color Matte Black engine paint. I gave all of the tins 3 coats, waiting about 15 minutes in between coats. A little elbow grease, 15 dollars in supplies and the tins look 100% better. I also picked up some anti-seize to use when I install the new exhaust. That’s about all I can do until the new exhaust arrives. Hopefully it’ll be here later this week.

New Exhaust Installation Part I
New Exhaust Installation Part II
New Exhaust Installation Part IV
New Exhaust Installation Part V

Not a big update for part 2 of the new exhaust installation. I’m still awaiting word from CIP1.com that the new exhaust has shipped. I decided to go ahead and remove the existing exhaust. Since I had already broken loose the nuts that secure the muffler to the head, all that I had left to do was remove the 4 bolts that secure the heat riser to the muffler and the 2 clamps that secure the muffler to the J pipes or heat exchangers. I don’t (and wouldn’t) plan to re-use the clamps that secure the muffler to the J pipes or heat changers. Most installation kits will come with new clamps and O ring seals. I’m also going to take this opportunity to clean up the head studs before installing the new exhaust. I’ll also use anti-seize when installing the new brass nuts. I’m also going to clean up the engine tin a bit and I’ll probably strip and paint the tins that had to be removed in order to take out the muffler. As far as the Abarth exhaust, I was planning on selling it. Some parts of it still have factory paint on them. It does look like there’s an exhaust leak around one set of pipes. It appears that the weld has broken loose. If somebody wanted it and had a welder, I’m sure they could fix it in just a couple of minutes.

New Exhaust Installation Part I
New Exhaust Installation Part III
New Exhaust Installation Part IV
New Exhaust Installation Part V

I still have a few days before the new OEM exhaust arrives, but since I was catching up on a couple other projects in the garage, I decided to get a head start on removing the existing exhaust. I wanted to video this process, but the battery in my GoPro is dead and I didn’t want to wait for it to charge. So for now, pictures will have to do. The first concern any time you do this is the condition of the head studs and nuts that secure the muffler. I had already taken a peek at mine when I replaced the intake year before last and was happy to discover the the previous owner had used brass nuts to secure the muffler to the heads. Brass won’t rust and less likely to seize to the studs. Usually, the first step would be to raise the rear of the Beetle for easy access, but since I’m only removing the tin to take a better look, I skipped raising the rear for now. I removed all of the piping for heat first, this differs a bit from year to year, but it’s pretty much self explanatory. Remove them gently so you can re-use them. I’m running J pipes, but I still keep everything plumbed just in case I want to put heat exchangers back on. The outlet on the dog house shroud is capped to keep the air flowing over the engine. If I ever do put heat exchangers back on, I’ll just remove the caps. Next step is to remove the rear tin. For me, this was a total of twelve 6x12mm 6mm shroud screws and washers. If you’re missing these screws or want to replace them to dress up your engine bay, most VW vendors sell them for about 5 dollars for a set of 12. This is a good time to put your Titan Magnetic Parts Tray to use. Helps to keep your nuts and bolts from being lost or kicked across the garage. Once all of the screws are removed, all you need to do is to remove the rear tin. If your engine bay seal is in really good condition, it will take some maneuvering to get the tin out, but it’s a fairly easy process. Once the tin is removed, you’ll have easy access to the nuts that secure the muffler to the head (the bottom nuts are easier to remove from beneath the car) and the heat riser screws. [Read more…]

The Beetle has had a Abarth exhaust on it ever since I bought it. They’re a great exhaust and they look good, but I’ve never been a fan of the sound. I’m also pretty sure that the tubes to the heat risers are clogged with carbon. One of things that make Beetles unique is the bubbly exhaust. So, I’ve decided the next project will be to remove the Abarth exhaust and replace it with a stock exhaust. I put in the order to CIP1.com today. After a quick inspection of the current exhaust, I noticed that the person who installed it did it right. Looks like the heads have new studs and they also used brass nuts to secure the exhaust to the heads. This area can be a real problem if steel nuts had been used, you can easily snap the studs a part if the nut is rusted to the stud. I’ll still give each nut a good soaking with PB Blaster and take my time when it comes to removing the nuts from the studs. This is one step that you don’t want to get into a rush. So hopefully, the new exhaust will be delivered in the next week or so and I’ll put together a “how to” on replacing the exhaust.