The Innards of a Pump: VW 1300

Last spring, as mentioned in previous posts, I took a photography class While taking, it there was an assignment on light painting. I took this opportunity to show my classmates and teacher the innards of an engine, a Volkswagen engine, in a creative way, such as the assignment required.

This, fine folks is looking up, or out, as it would be in a Boxer engine, like the volks has, through the cylinders and at the head of the engine, those two round things are the bottom of exhaust and intake valves which do all the breathing for the engine.

 That little whole above each set of valves is the spark plug whole which houses the neat little device that ignites all the gas fumes that come thru the intake valve. (Keep in mind I was messing with the white balance on some of these long exposures and had a jovial time of trying to correct it without taking all color out of the photo).

 This here is a shot of the top of the head. I really liked how the valve springs caught the light from my iPhone flash and the yellow light of a vintage flashlight as seen in the upper portion of this photo.

 Here's a fun picture of the one camshaft that goes in the VW Pumps. The other disco looking things on either side of the camshaft are the lifters which ride the lobes of the camshaft (the egg shaped things) and basically open and close the valves.

Whilst doing my first engine rebuild on this engine I learned a ton.. and I personally think some of this stuff inside an engine looks pretty stinking neat, and almost none get to see it. So presenting it in a medium such as this would be a kind of way to kill two birds with one stone.

This last photo of the shoot is by far my favorite. The night was cold and I was shooting outside. So after clicking the shutter open on the camera, I realized that it was cold enough to see my breath. So I strategically breathed in front of the flashlight. This made it so the light from the flashlight would bleed into the frame of the photo which I thought was pretty wild and actually got me a compliment from my photography teacher about, which made it even sweeter.

Joshua Sewell

Instagram: josh_sewell_photo

Shakedown: The Origional Pump (Hank)

Hey there folks, this is a section of the site where I will go over a car in a little more detail than just a few photos and neat verbiage. This will now be known as an Air Pump "Shakedown."This first Shakedown will be on my personal Pump, and daily driver a 1966 Volkswagen Beetle.

 I found this feller down in the Sun Valley Idaho area and was looking for a pre-67 at the time. With no further qualms I bought it for $500.00 and started the only real relationship I've had with a car. The first thing I did with him is dropped the engine and started a rebuild.

Making the emblem on the back of the car only a lie was a must, so with the help of a local Volkswagen guru in my hometown, I more updated the engine than heavily modified it during the rebuild. I slipped in four 1641cc cylinders, updated the rocker assembly and put in the works for bearings.

 I've spent hundreds of hours gazing into the abyss if this Pump, and the one thing that I have to say I love most is the personality that oozes from its pores.

 Early sometime in 2012 I backed The Beast up into a light-pole. As I got out and took a look, my heart broke. This was by baby that I had crushed into an unsuspecting light pole. But this is really just one example of the way the personality of  the car has evolved over time.

All I did to mend my broken heart and the messed up Pump was bang out the fender with a ball peen and replace the taillight assembly, and if I didn't tell you there would be no knowledge of the fact that that drivers side rear was once mangled beyond recognition. This goes to show that this little blemish is masked out from the body by all the personality it has grown on it over the years.

For instance last summer I was in dire need of a new exsauhst, the engine was running hot and deafened poor bystanders as I drove by. After being awarded worst car at my high school, along with a close friend and her banged up Subaru Loyal (Louie) I knew It was time for an upgrade. Now you might say.. hmmm I still see a rusty old muffler under that skirt pal...well this is were I pull the personality card again. What place would a shiny chromed out muffler have under a paint job like that or a set of dirty steeles like those. None. Simple. Absolutely zero place. So after I bought an EMPI quiet pack, and painted the header so it wouldn't get cancer I decided to leave the exhaust in the burnable black color you now see. And I can't say anything would work better.

Some other examples of the Pumps personality surge through the interior. Due to high theft rates in the global economy I put dummy labels on some of the switches in my car. This way a car thief who can't read (robbers can't read in this post) won't be able to tell which one does what, will have a panic attack and die, thus preventing any future attempts of robbery. Also I installed a Phantom deck, this really ads to the true soundtrack of the air cooled flat four in the back. I've never had a better sound system. Oh and every fire breather like this needs a shiny red extinguisher. "Check"

Further pushing the uniqueness and personality of the pump. We come to the seat. I installed this old school Scat racing seat along with the old-ish five point harness this summer, one... because last summer I went auto-crossing (More on that in a future post) and kept having the stock bucket seat flop back after a hard brake into and hard acceleration out of a corner. Therefore I invested in this bucket and the accompanying RCI racing harness, and two... because I got both of them super cheap on Craigslist and couldn't pass them up. Oh hey, and there's that gorgeous blue polish rag on the dash! Can't beat a deep blue polish rag..

Now you may ask. Whats the story behind the rack? Well, not much, I found it in our shop, it worked on the bug, so it stayed, and it works great for hockey sticks. As far as I'm concerned this car is very close to being "done". I want to still get some chamber compensators for my swing axles to reduce body roll in hard cornering, get some door panels and install a second bucket seat so I can share the Joy of Air with a buddy. and one thing I can say about this car is that everything I've done to it has had a purpose. this feller is all function, no form, and if that is what has sculpted the personality behind this Pump, I have no problem with that.

So now ends the first shake down on AirPumps. Let me know how I did, and what your first car was! I'd love to hear it! Thanks for sticking around.

Joshua Sewell

Instagram: josh_sewell_photo