The "What did you do to your B4 today" thread...

Are you using AC this time of year….?

-Todd

ToddA1 said:

Are you using AC this time of year….?

-Todd

Click to expand...

I noticed there was a problem when my windows got foggy and turning on the AC didn't help. lol

I guess I use the heat, to clear the windows.

It is good to run the compressor for about 10 minutes per month, during the winter months. It helps keep the shaft seal lubed, to eliminate a leak point.

-Todd

Well, it wasn't my B4, but Snoopy Smiles who came up from Tucson to have me fix some door handles and the window. I wound up doing a whole lot more than that.

We met up at a Coffee & Cars in Prescott. Bowie Kid's B4V is on the right, then Snoopy Smiles B4, then my B4V.



Starting to do the work in my garage.



The window was the first thing, which had a broken keeper on the end. I removed it and installed one she had, then adjusted the window regulator so it wouldn't bind at the top. It would get near to coming off part way up and I wasn't able to figure it out right away so I moved on to other more pressing issues. I'll revisit it later and think I have a solution: the regulator is aftermarket, I'll swap in an OEM one and check the fit.



Her interior lights didn't work with the door since her switch was broken. I didn't have a driver's spare switch so I disassembled a passengers spare and rebuilt the driver's, which has 2 contacts instead of 1.



The driver's seat wouldn't adjust so I had a look, the handle was busted so I grabbed one off my spare seat and swapped it.



And it still didn't work. I removed the seat and found the cable frozen that allows the seat to go up and down. I also work on bicycles so I used my cable lubricator and got it freed up and working again.



All the door handles needed work and the front ones didn't open. I rehabbed or replaced some from my stash but the passengers door handle was trashed and she had no key anyway. I swapped on a rear door handle for now since all my fronts are missing keys and the microswitch gets broken when you try and force the lockset out. I ordered a Mr. Lishi lockpick set for the B4 (I have one for the A4+ cars) and will not only be able to get into the locks, but also get the tumbler sequence to have keys cut. I can rekey the tumblers to match and will replace it later so it'll work with her key.



I also replaced all the missing or rotten door handle gaskets. Most were missing the white spacer as well, which properly locates the handle inside the door.



Some 'mechanic' told her the headlight switch didn't work so naturally they busted the clamshell off the column (the headlight switch isn't under it). I replaced the clamshell with parts from mine and checked out the headlight switch, which worked fine. I also checked out the other switches she bought and they worked fine also. One is from a '95 with the separate parking lights and fog feature, so I'll try and repair the outer skin and swap it later, possibly with some aftermarket fog lights. I also took the jumper off my B4 and put it on hers so the low beams will stay on with the high beams. The fusebox was out of the cradle and hanging down so I put it back up but will have to perform some wire manipulation to get it orientated correctly. At least it's not hanging anymore.



The 3rd break light assembly was a mess with some of the bulbs burned out. I replaced them all but it immediately popped the fuse. I then put new bulbs in individually until the fuse blew again, then went on to the next. Everything looks fine but there is obviously a short behind the assembly, which is plastic welded together. She needs a new one if anyone has one kicking around. I did buy a plastic welder and may try to repair this if we can't find another.



I retrieved my parts stash from Maine and was able to find a side marker light, which was missing from hers. I had to glue the lens back on but it worked and now adorns her car.



I replaced some missing screws here and there (like on the headlight), polished the passenger side, and checked out the engine bay. I replaced an air cleaner box latch that was missing, changed the air filter element, and tightened a batter clamp that was loose. I also moved the battery over and noticed it didn't have the correct hold down clamp. I saw the collet on the IP and removed it, sure enough, it was chafing through.



Next time I'll go over a little more in the engine bay, plastic weld the washer fluid reservoir since some knucklehead broke it so it leaks if too full, remove the HVAC controller and sort out why it doesn't have all the settings, install an airbox snorkel with anti-mouse proof screen, swap on a non-bent spring for the drivers seat, and a proper battery hold down clamp. I also need to disassemble the cluster since the time adjustment doesn't work. I picked a bunch up of stuff from the local junkyard from other VW's that she needed and I didn't have in my parts stash. It felt good to be working on a B4 again (even though mine needs a bunch of work) and especially one not completely rust riddled.

I gotta ask…. why is there what appears to be aluminum foil, covering the rear deck? You’re supposed to make hats with it…

When did you end up getting your wagen to the west coast?

-Todd

ToddA1 said:

I gotta ask…. why is there what appears to be aluminum foil, covering the rear deck? You’re supposed to make hats with it…

When did you end up getting your wagen to the west coast?

-Todd

Click to expand...

My guess was that it was for baked goods. The Arizona sun must be brutal on interiors

Abacus said:

Well, it wasn't my B4, but Snoopy Smiles who came up from Tucson to have me fix some door handles and the window. I wound up doing a whole lot more than that.

We met up at a Coffee & Cars in Prescott. Bowie Kid's B4V is on the right, then Snoopy Smiles B4, then my B4V.

Starting to do the work in my garage.

The window was the first thing, which had a broken keeper on the end. I removed it and installed one she had, then adjusted the window regulator so it wouldn't bind at the top. It would get near to coming off part way up and I wasn't able to figure it out right away so I moved on to other more pressing issues. I'll revisit it later and think I have a solution: the regulator is aftermarket, I'll swap in an OEM one and check the fit.



Her interior lights didn't work with the door since her switch was broken. I didn't have a driver's spare switch so I disassembled a passengers spare and rebuilt the driver's, which has 2 contacts instead of 1.



The driver's seat wouldn't adjust so I had a look, the handle was busted so I grabbed one off my spare seat and swapped it.



And it still didn't work. I removed the seat and found the cable frozen that allows the seat to go up and down. I also work on bicycles so I used my cable lubricator and got it freed up and working again.



All the door handles needed work and the front ones didn't open. I rehabbed or replaced some from my stash but the passengers door handle was trashed and she had no key anyway. I swapped on a rear door handle for now since all my fronts are missing keys and the microswitch gets broken when you try and force the lockset out. I ordered a Mr. Lishi lockpick set for the B4 (I have one for the A4+ cars) and will not only be able to get into the locks, but also get the tumbler sequence to have keys cut. I can rekey the tumblers to match and will replace it later so it'll work with her key.



I also replaced all the missing or rotten door handle gaskets. Most were missing the white spacer as well, which properly locates the handle inside the door.



Some 'mechanic' told her the headlight switch didn't work so naturally they busted the clamshell off the column (the headlight switch isn't under it). I replaced the clamshell with parts from mine and checked out the headlight switch, which worked fine. I also checked out the other switches she bought and they worked fine also. One is from a '95 with the separate parking lights and fog feature, so I'll try and repair the outer skin and swap it later, possibly with some aftermarket fog lights. I also took the jumper off my B4 and put it on hers so the low beams will stay on with the high beams. The fusebox was out of the cradle and hanging down so I put it back up but will have to perform some wire manipulation to get it orientated correctly. At least it's not hanging anymore.



The 3rd break light assembly was a mess with some of the bulbs burned out. I replaced them all but it immediately popped the fuse. I then put new bulbs in individually until the fuse blew again, then went on to the next. Everything looks fine but there is obviously a short behind the assembly, which is plastic welded together. She needs a new one if anyone has one kicking around. I did buy a plastic welder and may try to repair this if we can't find another.



I retrieved my parts stash from Maine and was able to find a side marker light, which was missing from hers. I had to glue the lens back on but it worked and now adorns her car.



I replaced some missing screws here and there (like on the headlight), polished the passenger side, and checked out the engine bay. I replaced an air cleaner box latch that was missing, changed the air filter element, and tightened a batter clamp that was loose. I also moved the battery over and noticed it didn't have the correct hold down clamp. I saw the collet on the IP and removed it, sure enough, it was chafing through.



Next time I'll go over a little more in the engine bay, plastic weld the washer fluid reservoir since some knucklehead broke it so it leaks if too full, remove the HVAC controller and sort out why it doesn't have all the settings, install an airbox snorkel with anti-mouse proof screen, swap on a non-bent spring for the drivers seat, and a proper battery hold down clamp. I also need to disassemble the cluster since the time adjustment doesn't work. I picked a bunch up of stuff from the local junkyard from other VW's that she needed and I didn't have in my parts stash. It felt good to be working on a B4 again (even though mine needs a bunch of work) and especially one not completely rust riddled.

Click to expand...

Did you happen to peek at her timing belt or ask her when she had it done last? It seems like with the previous attempt at mechanical work she's had done I'd be real leery if they did it....

I didn't but now that you mentioned it I will next time.

I have no idea about the tinfoil, I'm also guessing the sun, which destroys interiors in short order and is brutal most of the year.

I brought my wagon out west in August of 2021.

Replaced my ac compressor because it was wobbling like crazy.

Car only took 1 can of charge, my stupid gauges were leaking i think.

I have an AC machine , but Iet my buddys borrow it and it hasn't been returned yet.

Killed me to take it apart, ac still blew out at 38* when it was 100* out

Got my daytime running lights working in my ecode headlights. The wiring harness (from A2B4guy) had a plug to tie into the connector at the firewall, but on this Passat, the 12 volts was on the wrong gender of the plug to match my harness. I didn't want to change the connector so I checked my spare wiring harness and found that the other end had the same plug on both yellow wires. Swapped the 2 wires just above the fuse box and all is good. An easy fix with no re-pinning required.

It's been about 7 years since I last rolled some paint on my swapped body panels, so I wet sanded them a bit and painted them again. It's far from good, but fortunately it's also good from far.

Is that the thinned Rustoleum roll method?

-Todd

ToddA1 said:

Is that the thinned Rustoleum roll method?

-Todd

Click to expand...

Yep - thinned with just a bit of mineral spirits and it went on like a charm. It didn't dry very smooth, but I think I just tried to put on a second coat too quickly. I didn't really prep the surface very well either. Lol One day I'll have it painted by a professional!

thechoochlyman said:

Yep - thinned with just a bit of mineral spirits and it went on like a charm. It didn't dry very smooth, but I think I just tried to put on a second coat too quickly. I didn't really prep the surface very well either. Lol One day I'll have it painted by a professional!

Click to expand...

Was it really that long ago? I remember when you did it the least time..

Steve

Steve Addy said:

Was it really that long ago? I remember when you did it the least time..

Steve

Click to expand...

Yeah man - it was way back in June 2016 when I did it the first time. Hard to believe for me too, time sure has flown by.

Do you only do 2 coats? Not sure if it’d last longer if you did more coats, added hardener and shot it through a gun.

I did a lot of reading about the process and mentioned it to my body shop. He said people have been doing this forever…. he saw an old man’s backyard paint job where he cut the paint with gas. Paint was supposedly amazing and looked crazy deep. I’m sure he used a gun.

Is there a reason why you don’t paint the grill surround?

-Todd

Have a knocking injector (I hope) so added some arch oil to the tank. Bad hearing so I couldnt hear it but plenty of complaints from others. Otherwise everything works on this wagon so I just drive it.

ToddA1 said:

Do you only do 2 coats? Not sure if it’d last longer if you did more coats, added hardener and shot it through a gun.

I did a lot of reading about the process and mentioned it to my body shop. He said people have been doing this forever…. he saw an old man’s backyard paint job where he cut the paint with gas. Paint was supposedly amazing and looked crazy deep. I’m sure he used a gun.

Is there a reason why you don’t paint the grill surround?

-Todd

Click to expand...

Two coats on the hood just because I could still see white through it, one coat everywhere else that needed touching up. I had some rust starting on one of my fenders, and all the clearcoat was peeling off my truck lid.

Last time I used some kind of weird chalky-looking paint thinner instead of mineral spirits, and it didn't take super long for the shine to turn matte-looking. Not sure if it was the thinner or UV damage on the paint itself, but it does look much more shiny this time. I never used hardener or anything, but I do want to try shooting it with a spray gun eventually. Rustoleum black is a REALLY nice black - it's like staring into the void. I definitely wouldn't mind having my entire car painted with it.

I skipped the grill frame just because I'd need to spray it. I do have a few cans of Rustoleum aerosol but didn't really have the time. Plus I have a non-matching dark blue fender now too, I just figured I'd live with the variety for now. lol

For the last couple of years my fuel gauge hasn't moved below the red lines. And that's not because I have found an unlimited source of fuel - it just doesn't register that low for some reason. So I pulled the sender out and did some tests on it.



I put my multimeter on the leads and got about 40 ohms in the full position, and 285 in the empty position, with an even sweep at all points in between. To test my gauge I put a 220 ohm resistor in the plug contacts, and it showed down in the red close to empty.



Clearly this was a problem with the sending unit, so I unclipped the float arm in order to clean the contacts.

Before:



After:



I hooked it back up in the trunk and got perfect gauge readings all the way through the sweep. I'll have to wait until I'm almost empty to confirm whether or not it's fixed, but I also pulled out the contacts a little for extra contact so I'm hopeful about it.

Nice job…. grab the garden hose and verify your work….

-Todd

ToddA1 said:

Nice job…. grab the garden hose and verify your work….

-Todd

Click to expand...

That sounds a lot more involved than just driving...

A chunk of weatherstripping was missing around my trunk, and consequently I got about 4" of standing water in the bottom. I think I got the leak fixed, but the carpet padding stuff was completely soaked and gross. I used the opportunity to lay out the carpet on a piece of plywood and cut a new trunk cover.

I need to do that to Snoopy Smile's B4 when she drives up from Tucson again for more work. What thickness did you use?

Abacus said:

I need to do that to Snoopy Smile's B4 when she drives up from Tucson again for more work. What thickness did you use?

Click to expand...

1/2, pretty standard stuff.

Today my spare 96 1Z went away. I'm a little bummed, but I could use the cash more than the engine I suppose.



But I did keep the O2A in case I ever need it. From front to back, O2A, Mopar 440 HP, and whatever that 5 speed is from an 08 rabbit.

thechoochlyman said:

Today my spare 96 1Z went away. I'm a little bummed, but I could use the cash more than the engine I suppose.

View attachment 129770

But I did keep O2A in case I ever need it. From front to back, O2A, Mopar 440 HP, and whatever that 5 speed is from an 08 rabbit.

View attachment 129771

Click to expand...

That's tough getting rid of a spare engine....my inclination is they aren't making anymore of those now. I bought 5 engines last year, passed on another I probably should have gotten. Two ALH's, BEW, BRM and a lone AHU. And currently looking at another ALH that's shown up in the upull.

If I don't buy them no one will, and so far they look to be in pretty good shape. The problem is that I like to keep them...lol

This yard only keeps cars for 30 days, I know...it's ridiculous...and if you want a car reset in the yard you have to make a huge fuss over it. Add to that the amount of damage they do with the loaders etc and not much actually gets sold. Yes, people will pick at stuff quite a bit but usually it's more damage and breakage. I still regret a few years back not buying a BHW that showed up....that's a couple BHW's I've passed on when I shouldn't. And the ALH I'm after now has been in the yard almost the 30 days and no one has gotten anything....so I'll probably get it.

Steve

Steve Addy said:

That's tough getting rid of a spare engine....my inclination is they aren't making anymore of those now. I bought 5 engines last year, passed on another I probably should have gotten. Two ALH's, BEW, BRM and a lone AHU. And currently looking at another ALH that's shown up in the upull.

If I don't buy them no one will, and so far they look to be in pretty good shape. The problem is that I like to keep them...lol

This yard only keeps cars for 30 days, I know...it's ridiculous...and if you want a car reset in the yard you have to make a huge fuss over it. Add to that the amount of damage they do with the loaders etc and not much actually gets sold. Yes, people will pick at stuff quite a bit but usually it's more damage and breakage. I still regret a few years back not buying a BHW that showed up....that's a couple BHW's I've passed on when I shouldn't. And the ALH I'm after now has been in the yard almost the 30 days and no one has gotten anything....so I'll probably get it.

Steve

Click to expand...

Sounds to me like you're doing the Lord's work. I've never been to the Pull-A-Part in Louisville before, but it's less than an hour from the machine shop. I've even got an alert set up on my phone for when they receive certain year Volkswagens in stock, but sadly they don't say online whether they're gas or diesel. I feel like the diesels wouldn't last long around here, but it's hard to tell. If I don't buy the full engine I at least want to buy a couple of spare injection pumps.

I've also found this VR6 husk up in Louisville I intend to pick up at some point.

thechoochlyman said:

Sounds to me like you're doing the Lord's work. I've never been to the Pull-A-Part in Louisville before, but it's less than an hour from the machine shop. I've even got an alert set up on my phone for when they receive certain year Volkswagens in stock, but sadly they don't say online whether they're gas or diesel. I feel like the diesels wouldn't last long around here, but it's hard to tell. If I don't buy the full engine I at least want to buy a couple of spare injection pumps.

Click to expand...

For a while I had a self-imposed buying ban, but then I noticed TDI powered cars were coming in and really no one was pulling anything, not even injectors and pumps. I guess that speaks for the age of these too.

So a year ago when a 98 Jetta tdi showed up I said it was ok to buy that one, and then when the other three showed up I couldn't resist, a couple of them I heard run in parking lot. MK4 cars tend to show up there for bad AT much sooner than they do for engine issues.

When they're gone, they're gone...so I figure it's ok to hoard a couple or 3 (dozen).

Steve

Yeah a 1Z was at the local pick and pull so I grabbed injectors, IP, and the whole belt drive system.

Also grabbed the fans and shroud because it was mint. But im not sure if the B4 passat shroud will fit on my A3 jetta