HOLY ***** big metal wrench in trunk shorted battery!

dimeified · 01-19-2008, 05:36 PM

Is what i would be saying if i didnt take out the giant heavy lug nut wrench that folds up so its easy to store (and roll around when hard cornering).

So now i want to buy a trunk carpet kit, does it snap in place? Do i glue it in? How much extra weight is it?

WPOZZZ · 01-19-2008, 05:38 PM

Trunk carpet should snap in place.

Rot 911 · 01-19-2008, 05:39 PM

There should be a rubber strap in the nose of the trunk that holds the jack and handle in place.

billybek · billybek's Garage

I had VW Thing when I was in High School..
One of the funniest things that happened in it was when a friend of mine kicked my aluminum tennis racket across the battery terminals under the back seat. The strings ignited and so did the padding under the rear seat. Then the poor guy couldn't figure out how those funny door latches worked on that car and was locked in the back...
Man did it stink in there for a while after.... Oh ya, he did eventually get out with a little help..

Danny_Ocean · 01-19-2008, 06:55 PM

You should always have the "+" battery terminal shielded. Always.

Tsunamiboy · Tsunamiboy's Garage

This trunk carpet kit is a amazing fit and the material has kind of velcro properties. Velcro straps stick like crazy or put velcro on the bottom side of your tool kit. I couldn't find the sellers email address? togx is his tag. Great value as well. (Thanks for providing the link Dennis)

DGW · 01-19-2008, 08:58 PM

his name is Terry O'Guin, email is togx@austin.rr.com
I like his trunk kit as well.

gungadin · 01-20-2008, 05:56 AM

1970 Me and two (all 18yrs old) friends are traveling in a VW bug cross country. It's the middle of the night and we are at the top of a mountain pass 9000 ft. elev. west of Denver. It's a blizzard and we can't see the ditches and the road is pretty much untraveled. Just occasional Navajo freight trucks. I'm co-pilot and Tim is driving. Mark is sleeping in the back seat. First the radio quits playing then the dash lights go out and then the engine and headlights are gone. Mark's weight had made the seat frame and/or springs drop enough to short the battery out and set the seat on fire. The flames reflection flickered in the windshield. Mark had trouble with waking up and I had to grab him by the front of his shirt and drag him out into a snow bank before his balls were cooked.
We nearly froze to death that night. The trucks wouldn't stop but one of them called a tow truck for us and the Native American driver carried us to his cab and towed us 20mi back to his gas station and gave us coffee and a new battery and got us going for $50.
The green VW ("The Turtle") lived on to NY and back to Oregon and many years thereafter,but the black burnt hole in the back seat never got fixed.
Thanks again Chief!
RIP Mark.

dimeified · 01-20-2008, 08:07 AM

Haha, awesome story!

dimeified · 01-20-2008, 07:16 PM

That carpet kit looks great. I emailed him. No matter how much i spend on my car, there is always a new project for me to embark on. Thanks guys!

Joe Bob · Joe Bob's Garage

63 VW bug back in the day (70s)....the battery cover was off and the fatso lineman from my HS football team was in the back seat.....the metal springs shorted the battery and set the seat insulation on fire. We were SO BAKED it took about ten minutes for us to figure out what up.....

berettafan · 01-20-2008, 09:01 PM

you know how many cars have the metal bar across the top of the battery? well i actually cut it in half when i was loosening the pos. terminal and touched it with my wrench. scared the shizzle outta me.

lesson is you can WELD with a 12v battery!

gungadin · 01-21-2008, 05:29 AM

I'd like to look at the carpet kit.
What is the website?

When I bought a battery last it had a plastic shield that snapped down over the pos clamp and post..

dimeified · 01-21-2008, 05:31 AM

I have spoken with Terry. He doesn't have a website unfortunately. You must email him or wait for an ebay auction. He has taken a break for 2 months to finish a restoration he is working on, and in about 2-3 weeks he will begin selling these trunk carpet kits again.

DCinVA · 01-21-2008, 07:35 AM

Many years ago I borrowed a friends Master-craft Ski boat for the day. We skied all day, and all day long we kept hearing what sounded like a tin can bouncing around somewhere every time we spun the boat around. At the end of the day, after we loaded the boat on the trailer, we looked under the seat where the battery was located, and discovered a can of ether had been bouncing around in there. My jaw nearly hit the ground. That would have been one big Kaboom on the water if it had shorted across the cables.

gungadin · 01-21-2008, 09:29 AM

Ahhh....Viking funerals are so lovely.
not.