The resurrection of KSF404T - 1978 Sprint

[Howard81]

Sshhh, don't let KSF hear that

[Howard81]

New parts now sourced, thanks David!

Refurbished rear axle



Good gearbox



Gave the axle a lick of paint...



...along with the suspension arms and ARB. They'll all get Polybushed before being fitted to the car...



Also a big box from TD Fitchetts. I was very pleased to see that the clutch and brake shoes were Unipart parts. They are proper Asbestos parts too



I hope this does the trick... I'm starting to run out of kidneys

[Toledo Man]

Which bushes are you going to get for the axle? I'd recommend either Polybushes (Jigsaw sell these) or the SuperFlex ones (Chris Witor is your man) Glad to hear that Fitchett's are still on top form.

[Howard81]

I have a set of proper Polybush bushes to go on

[NickMorgan]

Good luck Howard. That's a great lot of goodies you bought there! I remember going through a period with my 1850 when one thing broke after the other. It is very disheartening, but worth sticking with it. I am sure that you will soon have it all sorted. If not scrap it in my direction!!!

[Howard81]

KSF has been fixed for a while now, but I only recently got the chance to go back down to Poole to pick it up.

My Beetle was running out of MoT so needed to return it to Poole for that. The tyres had advisories for the last 3 years due to perishing sidewalls (they were fitted in 1998), so I treated it to a set of lovely new 5.60x15 crossplies - only the third set of tyres the car has ever needed Once again, it flew through the 13th MoT in my ownership without any problems at all Why can't my Dolomites be like that?!?

So, what was wrong with KSF? As usual, with KSF being the pain in the arse that it is, the problem is never the problem that you expect from the symptoms...

The reason the gearbox was playing up wasn't actually due to the gearbox... the cradle that holds the rear gearbox mount had stripped all (!) of the threads in the mounting bolts holding it into the car and had been hanging down slightly, this putting strain on the bearings inside.. and with the 'box not being straight, it had messed up the clutch alignment and made the gears crunchy... I think it only let go in its entirety on my last journey, as a mile from home the car was vibrating horrendously!

The "new" gearbox is VA14000-ish, whereas the one that came out was around 20,000. No "VA" stamp in front of the number for some reason?! KSF is VA26576 so I doubt is the original 'box. The new rear axle is an early one; VA1900ish IIRC. I don't have any paperwork for a gearbox replacement, so if it was replaced was likely done in the early-to-mid '80s.

I decided to go ahead and fit the replacement gearbox and rear axle anyway - ever since I've owned the car, the gearbox has always been slightly crunchy in third, and the rear axle has always whined a bit too. At the same time the Sports exhaust was changed for a second-hand stainless steel standard system. Mainly for looks and originality, as I think the rear box of the Sports system ruins the lines of the car somewhat. At the same time, the clutch, oil pump and rear brakes were replaced, as well as a set of braided brake hoses all round.

The result? KSF now drives amazingly! I had a very enthusiastic drive back to London - the rear axle is silent, the gearbox is smooth and the exhaust sounds a hundred times nicer than the old Sports system! The exhaust note is still there, but it's a lot smoother.. hard to explain it really.. but it suits the elegance and subtleness of the car. I also feel that the car is actually faster than before, but that may be due to the gearbox! Anyway, I think the standard system has a MUCH nicer sound to it

Interestingly, with the new gearbox fitted, the speedo is a lot more accurate... before an actual 70mph showed up as 80mph on the speedo, whereas now an actual 70mph shows as about 74mph.

I also picked up 3 1978 wheels from autonet7 on the way back, so FINALLY I can send a set of "78's" off to be refurbished and fit the Dunlops that have been stacked up in my bathroom for the last year

I've also picked up the bumper quarter and rear chrome "feet" (from around the rear windscreen) from the re-chromers, so once they are fitted I may actually be able to say that the car is officially finished

No photos yet.. I'm enjoying driving too much

[Reg]

That's great news Howard..glad you like the standard exhaust. I'm a fan of them, always have been..sooo much nicer to look at too..a work of art I reckon.

[David6214]

Is it a nicely painted rear axle ?

[Howard81]

Is it a nicely painted rear axle ?

Yes it is!

Did you really think I would fit it painted silver?

[tonybsa]

Hi Howard,Ive bee reading about your horendous luck with this car for some time now,and I really hope that you finally get some payback for all the hard work,and money that youve spent.
R.e the exhaust,i totally agree with you they sound much more civilised,and look much better,than than the comedy sports exhuast!The sports exhaust always looks like a taked on afterthought to me,no matter how competant the fitter.They always remind me of the daft big bore back boxes on dodgy corsas,that are so popular at the moment!hope you enjoy many thousands of miles of trouble free motoring from now on!

[Howard81]

Thanks Tony, I agree totally about the exhaust, it looks like a complete afterthought with the baked bean can hanging off the back, and I honestly can't detect any decrease in performance after having put the standard system back on. If anything it has a better exhaust note and has actually improved acceleration!

Well the car is 90% finished now, and since nearly everything has been replaced, refurbished or repaired in my ownership, there's nothing left to go wrong

It just ticked over 90,000 on the clock, which means I've covered 10,000 miles in the car since purchase

[Howard81]

As usual, KSF has been living up to its reputation and in the last few weeks I've had a shredded fanbelt, headlights that turn off when you indicate left, blown indicator relay, two punctures, and vandals smashing my headlights..

Luckily when the fanbelt went I had a new one in the boot, so that was promptly changed at the side of the M25!

Something was strange in the steering column, it was very rattly and seemed a little vague. What with the indicator stalk being faulty (I tried 4 different stalks, and there were ALL faulty in some way!), I just swapped the whole thing with a complete secondhand column today and I am pleased to report that all the problems have gone! Amusingly, the date stamp on the new column was exactly the same as on the old one

The indicators also packed up, but that was down to the relay. It was a Halfords one that was new about 3 months ago.. I'll have to see how much longer the new Halfords one will last.

Problems aside, I have also ordered the trim clips from Bresco, so I'll be able to refit the chrome trim around the roof, and the rechromed trim "feet" I've been waiting so long for! Also I have two perfect rear bumper quarters to go on (one new old stock, one rechromed), I've just painted the backs in silver, so will hopefully get them fitted in the next day or two.

Then it'll be fingers crossed for the TDCIR

[Howard81]

That's the one, Mike! I painted the back of my Beetle's bumpers with it in 1999 and it's still holding strong

Here's the bumper quarters. The rear one is original new old stock, the front one was rechromed. Actually, that one was brand new too, but it look like it had been kept in a bucket of nails!

[Purplebargeken]

Lovely stuff Howard, shame to hear about the headlights. I hate people who just do such crappy things out of sheer malice. No need for that at all.

Hope it all goes well from now on though.

Ken

[Howard81]

Lovely stuff Howard, shame to hear about the headlights. I hate people who just do such crappy things out of sheer malice. No need for that at all.

Hope it all goes well from now on though.

Ken

Well, at least it was only the headlights and not various body panels!! Still very annoying though

On the plus side, once I've fitted the above parts, it'll only be the wheels left.. then I can officially call the project "finished"