Fuel System Overhaul - Part 4

I haven't posted up here in a few days because the Bug has been soaking up a lot of time. I missed my goal of having it ready for the local Fall Festival VW and Classic Car show this past Saturday. I should have listened to my instincts and used the laquer acrylic based paint from the beginning! I tried the Rustoleum enamel and had problems with the paint lifting especially when I applied the clear - YIKES. So I had to strip the top of the tank down to bare metal again. The bottom painted up nice, didn't spend as much time on making it as smooth and perfect since you won't see it anyways. So to recap the project, to this point here's what I've replaced and restored in the fuel system.

- Restored the fuel tank. Sims Radiator cleaned and coated the inside.

- Stripped the fuel tank exterior down to the metal, etch primed and painted gloss black.

- All the fuel hoses were replaced with the correct replacement braided fuel hose purchased from Wolfsburg West.

- Ran compressed air through the metal fuel fuel line in the chassis and cleaned the metal real fuel line behind the doghouse. Flow was perfect, no clogs or rust in the lines.

- Replaced the old clear fuel filter and upgraded to an inline metal filter.

- Relocated the new fuel filter near the transmission, for increased safety against possible fire hazzards.

- Replaced the fuel pump.

- Screen filter in the fuel tank was initially missing so I purchased and installed a screen and O-ring inside the tank.

- Bought all new stainless hose clamps. I installed these at the ends of each fuel hose. Overkill maybe, but again, increased safety.

I did finally get everything just about buttoned up yesterday. After blowing a little compressed air in the fuel tank at the filler neck, I was able to force the fuel up and into the fuel pump to get the Bug started. After about a minute the Bug smoothed out and was running better than ever! I will take the last few photos tonite showing what I did including some of the improvements I made relocating the filter and the fuel hose clamps.