|
Dave's 1971 1302 Not-So-Secret, Secret Project Build
I suppose it's time to start a project thread for my 1971 1302. The project has been called the "not so secret, secret project" for the past six months inside my circle of friends who have known about it. It's taken a while to get going, more then a couple of cars to find the right one, but I wanted to ensure I had a project thread which was moving forward at a rapid rate instead of sliding down the thread list for months at a time.
One of the biggest issues with my '69 project car (http://www.germanlook.net/forums/showthread.php?t=10319) was the fact that I essentially daily-drive the car, and thus could never set it aside for the time needed to really do it up properly. True, we had a tonne of fun with the car, but to get it to "the next stage" would have required taking it off the road for at least 6 months. Six months without driving an air-cooled? No way!! So, the hunt for a new model began. For reasons which will eventually become obvious, I needed to get a Super Beetle for the next step in my bug evolution. The 1303 had quite a number of positive elements which should have put it in the lead as "the car" to buy…and indeed I looked a number of them…but the truth is I cannot STAND that dashboard. I almost went for one of the fiberglass 911-style dashboards to make it passable, but in the end it just wouldn't work for me. It had to be flat dash, and thus a 1302…preferably a 1971 model! Since finding a solid example of a single year of beetle isn't the easiest of things to do, I naturally started by simply finding a floor pan. While re-doing the pan I figured I could look for a solid body. And hey, having a spare pan (if you can store it) is never a bad thing! http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5260/...2244cbf8_b.jpg One spare '73 pan, ready to go under the knife. -Dave |
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5103/...691e1074_b.jpg
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5183/...5298d9ea_b.jpg I truly hate spot welds…but everyone likes photos. So while I complain about the detail work…here's some photos :) http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5104/...67072388_z.jpg http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5146/...0d9c7683_z.jpg http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5103/...fcc889cb_z.jpg http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5227/...495321e0_z.jpg |
Hi
I agree the 1303 dash is a pain, but for any high speed work the curved windscreen model is much more slippery than a flat screen model. Steve |
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5269/...6746fa92_z.jpg
Well, that's a heck of lot easier! Sandblasting won't pull up the seam sealer unless you really work at it...thus, I simply took off the stuff I have to and left the seam sealer I don't _need_ to remove. http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5147/...3fdb2665_z.jpg Four hours of blasting, 200lbs of crushed glass, and it's not quite finished yet! Pretty funny sweeping up an inch-thick layer of sand off the shop floor at the end of the night though. http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5224/...4f62728e_z.jpg ...just in case, no I wasn't blasting it in the same garage as the '66 mini! -Dave |
Hey Dave, good to see you started a thread on it, coming along nicely.
|
Thanks Joel! Good to finally "get it out" somewhere ;-)
Grinding and Sandblasting on the spine are now complete. I've started welding up the various holes and spots that require attention, but in doing so discovered a more significant problem. I knew the tow-hook area was rough when I started on the pan, but blasting and grinding revealed that the problem is deeper then I first thought. http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4099/...c0b00435_z.jpg To the right of the tow hook you can see two nut inserts, with a channel between them. For non Super people, those nut inserts are for the sway-bar brace, the channel for the sway bar. Simply patching the holes isn't enough, not to mention the channel should look straight, like the other side: http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5306/...e03fb0d7_z.jpg …No photos, yet, but I managed to source out a complete frame head. I think I'm going to section in just the corner/parts I need. If I was going to swap the full frame head I would likely go with a reproduction unit, but would still have to Jig the whole assembly before cutting it apart. In the meantime though, I couldn't resist doing a test fit... http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5146/...2fcc386b_z.jpg Well, further progress on the pan. I gather this looks incredibly boring, but there is 4-8 hours of work between posts! haha. No photos of the various welded bits, but I did get around to cleaning the paint of the pans. http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5147/...8b3d492c_z.jpg http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5110/...87eee78c_z.jpg Started doing some fitting to get them to sit where they need to be. I'm actually quite happy, the front portion of each side is within 1/4" of where it needs to be, and the rear is within 1/2". A bit of trimming and tapping with the body hammers tomorrow and I should be welding them in. Once that's done, I have a few more tricks I need to worry about and then I will be able to paint the pan. http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5184/...880b1d9d_z.jpg -Dave |
well, back to the pan.
I love Cleco's...mind you, I should have bought 10 more and it would have been perfect. http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5264/...0b311a94_z.jpg Pans are now welded to the chassis...onto the next item! Only 64-billion more items to go :P http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5223/...a551ac34_z.jpg (Pan was flipped upside down for the final weld points) -Dave |
nice work :)
|
You got my attention! Nice work on the pan so far. Are the 1302 and 1303 pan halves the same other than the seat mount?
|
Yeah, this one is actually going to be quite a bit of fun. I decided I wasn't going to do another car that I was driving at the same time as building, and it definitely feels way better knowing I can take the time to do it right the first time. Kinda tough to stay motivated when you walk downstairs and see just a huge mountain of work and a list longer then my white boards can handle...but once you start cracking on an item the work tends to flow pretty easily.
Years ago while doing a rebuild on my Audi Rally car a friend of mine noticed I had stalled out and implemented what is now known around here as "the one hour rule". Every day you have to spend a minimum of one hour in the garage, and you can't 'bank hours' (ie two hours today, skip tomorrow). You don't even have to touch the car, but I can tell you that sweeping and just sitting there gets boring real quick. So you start on something small and then suddenly it's 1am and you've plugged away for 6 hours. 1302 and 1303 pan halves are exactly the same, except for the seat mounts. I'm not 100% sure what changed up front on the frame head with regards to the steering box vs. steering rack mounts, but the '73 pan I have is identical to the '72 and '71 pans I have with the exception of the seat mounts. -Dave |
I acquired this donor front end...
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5023/...4b62e952_z.jpg Well, turns out the donor frame head had one little problem, at some point one of the bolts must of snapped, and the fix was to simply weld the sway bar mount to the frame head. http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5221/...fbc6ce0e_z.jpg My original plan was to do a big section of the frame head, leaving me lots of mounting bolts and measuring points to work from. I assumed that I could just separate the halves at the spot welds, and weld in a nut from the back for the mount...but once I ground off the sway bar mount I discovered it was already hacked up pretty badly. Onto plan B! Well, truthfully I didn't really have a plan for how to get around it, and probably started cutting with the angle grinder far earlier then I should have. But sometimes you get lucky, or I'm just improving. It took me one big cut and two fine adjustments to get it to where I was happy. http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5070/...21cff330_z.jpg http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5110/...3cfcdfdb_z.jpg It's not perfect, but only because I had to leave a little bit of the crunched sheet metal on my pan in order to keep the mounting nut. As far as the front suspension should be concerned though, it's all lined up. Unfortunately, that's where the good news ends. Normally I use POR15 for projects like this, but a number of factors had me switch to Zero Rust for this pan. Brush marks with POR15 disappear and it dries with a hard glossy shine. Zero rust, it would seem, dries in a semi gloss, and with the worst brush marks I've ever seen. I only did the top of the frame head and rear suspension mounts, but I'm gutted. All that work for it to look like this: http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5228/...8a184b44_z.jpg Really, once the car is together no one is going to see this stuff...but it's going to be a long while before that happens. With the hours I have in so far, it sucks to have it finish like this. …a few hours pass… So…Up at 8am, off to the parts store, and I'm happy before noon. Getting some pinholes with the POR15, which tells me the garage is too cold. But I've cranked the heat and it should smooth out enough to make me satisfied. Let that be a lesson...stick with what you know! http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5269/...9ac28313_z.jpg -Dave |
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5048/...79a3dc39_z.jpg
...and then back to the pan. With the semi-gloss black paint dry, I was able to seam seal the bottom of the pan. http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5061/...42cd3c5a_z.jpg And then tonight I laid down a coat of POR15 Silver. It's brushed on, and silver never looks good when it's brushed. Lots of track marks, brush marks and uneven silvering...but that's okay. I originally wanted to have the Pan finished in Silver, everyone does black, but realized with the first strokes that it wasn't going to work out. The main reason for the silver, though, was to ensure I get a full coat on everything. I started with bare metal, painted black and then went over the pan with a trouble light the next night. Any silver showed where I had missed with the black and I could touch up. Now that the pan is silver again, it's the same process tomorrow night...but this time looking for black areas. Once I'm convinced I've got a full two coats on the pan, I'll finish up with a third. I think I'm going to go Gloss Black. Three coats of POR15 should be damned near bulletproof. http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5270/...c9d00902_b.jpg http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5264/...39863bc5_z.jpg -Dave |
Hi
That repair turned out well, not many of my supers still have their tow hooks, usually cleaned up some obstacle. Steve |
Nice work.
|
Sigh. After I decide that really, a 901 box isn't in the budget equation for this year, and paint the pan...a buddy lets me know he has everything (box, shafts, mounts, shift linkage) available for me???
Probably still not "in the budget". But budget is also time related, so maybe I just don't drive as early as I'd like and go for 5 speeds... -Dave |
Here's a fun one. Between my roomate and I we ran out of space in the garage for a couple of weeks. So, move the freshly painted pan into the living room!
Please excuse the mess, we were in the middle of organizing a 3-day classic car event… http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2332/...7315e100_z.jpg Oh hey, Look! A 1971 Super Beetle! http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6066/...4a46c5f9_z.jpg http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6078/...81325641_z.jpg http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6088/...1a1edce4_z.jpg Here's the beauty of it all...it's virtually rust free. In fact, it's as rust free as you can expect to buy for a steal. The one spot that I think it has should be super easy to fix and something I was going to need to cut-up anyhow. I think the guy I bought it off of almost cried when I told him I was going to paint it. You can still smell the current paint job curing on the car. -Dave |
The dry sump tank for my oil system arrived. Fairly impressed with it, though the finish on the outside is a little rough. Meh, I can live with it. I do think I'm going to upsize the feed fitting, still haven't quite sorted out the feed and return line sizing yet. My bigger problem is figuring out how I'm going to setup an oil-level on the tank. It's going to be remotely mounted, accessible for cleaning and oil changes, but pretty much inaccessible on a day-to-day basis. The Porsches all have an oil-level gauge, similar to a fuel level gauge...but with the internal baffles I'm not sure that idea is going to be easy to implement. The other option is to do catch-can style tubing on the outside, but that just screams leak potential to me. Thoughts? Ideas?
I've looked into Motorsport fluid level gauges, and while I can certainly get something I'm hoping to not spend $400 just on a sender! http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5226/...ed3bfddc_z.jpg http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5061/...ff835a85_z.jpg http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6208/...08da63f3_z.jpg http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6197/...db796b24_z.jpg Now this is a nice score. 5.5" width Sport rim! Rally car tires will fit on it, and the swap meet guy says he's got another four for me. Seriously big score, I've been looking for a set of the 5.5's close to home for a long while. The new project needs to run on Factory wheels, the reason for which I'll reveal later. And now I'm working on how I'm going to fit the oil-sump tank filler. I'd really like to go with a Newton Flush Fill Valve, but have you ever priced one out? Lets put it this way, for the cost of one Newton Flush Fill cap I could buy a bladder'd fuel cell. Don't need a bladder? Well then that will cost you only half as much as the valve. Geesh, I just want a locking flush mount :P Apparently the Newton valves will flex slightly for curves, but I'm not 100% sure that I've got a flat enough surface. http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6067/...0c9809a8_z.jpg http://archive.newton-equipment.com/...1new20T_f2.gif Anyways, back to the garage... -Dave |
Front suspension 1st cleaning stage...
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3474/...a8b73eca_z.jpg And the beginning of my rear suspension setup. I'm ditching the torsion bars and going with a rod-end for the pivot. Currently working with some steel to put them into double-shear, figuring it out as I go along. It has to all fit under the fender and clear the main body, but at the same time be easily removed for swapping out the Rod end. The Audi Rally car taught me that rod-ends are not necessarily a long-life solution to suspension applications! I haven't yet decided if the second plate will bolt on, or be welded to the first plate for the double-shear. Need to go back to the books and do some reading before I make a decision. The rear shock mounts will get braced with a Kafer-Bar to take the increased load of coil-overs, and that will give me a suspension setup which allows for easy rear-end ride height adjustment. Much easier then rotating torsion bars at least. The downside is losing a relatively simple suspension setup with naturally progressive action. http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3041/...2772e8ba_z.jpg http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3131/...b6b441f6_z.jpg http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5101/...3b47f2fe_z.jpg http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6076/...915d4776_z.jpg -Dave |
Quote:
|
Alrighty...back for a rather lengthy post.
First off, remember that rare sport wheel from the post above? Yeah...this one, not so valuable any more. http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6159/...da7dc2a45e.jpg Basically, I F***ed up on the tire machine. Rally car tires are super, super, super stiff. And while I have mounted hundreds on alloy wheels, I've only ever mounted one a onto a steel wheel four times before. If you don't get the bead down enough on an alloy wheel, the machine just stops. On a steel wheel, apparently, it bends the *&$#!!! out of the wheel. Took two of us to eventually get the second bead on, and then my buddy Gord got the rim as round as he could with the hammer. Guess I know which one will be my spare! (sigh) http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6178/...81235c73_z.jpg But you have to put these things behind you...I mean, yes I destroyed a rare wheel, but this is a race car project...quite frankly I'm more then likely to bend all four in the first 100km of an event anyways. Such is life, move on. And with that, I had an incredibly productive day today out in the garage. I finally managed to get the '69 out of the shop, which meant I could pull the new '71 into the shop. I started on the rear, pulling each fender, the running boards, glass and finally the front fenders. This particular car has a pretty heavy (for a Bug) application of undercoating, and I spent much of today scraping it away to see what surprises lay underneath. Let me tell you, this was a TREAT compared to doing the same thing to an Audi. May I never have to scrape one down again! http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6195/...958e7dd1_z.jpg Right-side rear quarter...rust FREE. Not a mark in the whole thing. http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6182/...44bf81bf_z.jpg Engine Bay, some light surface rust on the right 'shelf'. Nothing a wire-wheel won't remove. http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6063/...b33d2c95_z.jpg http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6082/...aea60bf6_z.jpg Right-side front quarter...rust FREE. Not a mark, except for some transfer from the rusting bumper mount. Now, I haven't scraped off the undercoat on the passenger side heater channel, but I did spot-check the usual rust locations and found nothing but solid German Steel. I can't actually be this lucky could I!?! http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6084/...ab183e2c_z.jpg Well, not quite. The Left front quarter shows some very minor damage on the front by the apron (there's minor bondo in there), but three of the fender bolt nuts pulled out, which me a little wary for the rest of this side. http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6073/...a9870805_z.jpg http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6207/...02ae0230_z.jpg There are a couple of odd holes behind the front strut. The lower hole looked like it was punched through and then seam-sealed over, and there's no rust. Very odd. Above this spot, but not visible in the photos, are two rust holes that are coming from the other side. They originate somewhere under the fuel tank (which I haven't pulled yet) so there is a surprise or two needing some attention. The photo on the right, however, shows the lower seam at the rear of the front fender. This is a well known rust spot, and I usually assume a beetle is rusty here. This car has some minor surface rust, which I believe is from me scraping the spot when I went to buy it a month ago! http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6075/...813890f0_z.jpg http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6180/...28d9599b_z.jpg Oh, here's the two rust spots coming through from the fuel tank area. http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6063/...b283f1f9_z.jpg http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6081/...b8566260_z.jpg Moving back, it starts to get worse. The bottom of the heater channel has some holes, and some surface rust. Rust here, though, doesn't start from the outside...it comes from within. One of the running board mounting holes has significant rot around it...but the worst is in the rear. Even if the mid section can be patched, the rear most 8" of the heater channel needs complete replacement. I've asked one of my buddies who builds show-winning and magazine bugs whether or not I should patch or replace the entire heater channel. Other then that, no surprises so far. A bit of bondo in the rear fender, and the underside shows the hammer marks where it was pounded out. Not quite sure what the damage was (it's very odd to damage a fender inboard of the tail lamp but nowhere else)...but no worries, it's fully reusable. http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6081/...f92c3498_z.jpg I've also started planning out the various items I need to cut the body for before paint. My buddy Gord, who builds the Subaru Canada rally cars, came over to discuss the roll bar options with me. Neither of us were fans of the rear-stays that came with my bolt-in roll bar, so we've agreed that he'll need to make some new ones for me. He also figured out a way to move it back another few inches to give me some more room. We'll add a cross bar and a harness bar into the main hoop. Fortunately, though, the main hoop in my kit is quite tight and will be useable. http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6156/...1c06dd29_z.jpg I've also started to mock up the Accusump, Dry-Sump Tank and Oil Cooler. I think I'm going to set the car up with a "summer mount" and a "winter mount" for the oil-cooler. The winter mount will actually double as a heater for the inside of the bug. Packaging space for everything, as always, is a problem. Originally the drysump tank was going to go on the passenger side, but it needs to be sunk into the luggage floor. You can't do that, as the starter is in the way...so now it goes on the left. Then, since it's on the left, there is no longer any room for the Oil Cooler under the car...which means moving it into the car. Now the space where the Accusump was going is taken, so the musical chairs continue. Hopefully I don't get kicked out of the car before everything finds a space! http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6198/...805a3f08_z.jpg -Dave |
Looks great! I wouldn´t put the oil cooler inside the car,though.I don´t think it would be very effective because it only has amibient air to cool it instead of a stream of fresh air passing acorss the core.You could use two smaller coolers or a mesa type under floor cooler.A friend of mine also used his oil cooler as a heater it wasn´t effective at all whether for heat nor for oil cooling,so he relocated the cooler to the front of the car and installed an electric 12 volt heater from an RV catalog.
|
Interesting thoughts. I think I have the airflow problem worked out, once I fab it in you'll see what I mean. I did figure it would work for heat, the beetleball guys have their oil coolers hooked up this way for winter events. Hmmm...will rethink that one, and probably install a gas heater.
-Dave |
i am REALLY enjoying this thread - keep the pictures coming! shame about the rim - i bet a few choice words were used! the shell looks insanely solid for a fat chick - good find!
|
Alright, so allow me to show you why it's a sub $2k car:
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6210/...1cde766f_z.jpg The luggage area is just a wee-bit rotten. Now, normally this might concern you as a buyer...but if you're like me, and realize you'd be cutting the luggage area for the Dry Sump tank, you just don't care. Now, I've always wished my white bug had just a little big of extra room in the engine bay. If it had, say an extra inch, my Breather tank wouldn't be rubbed by the carb, I could probably actually reach my arm in to bolt up the motor easier and I might even be able to adjust the carbs with greater ease. If one inch would be good...wouldn't more be better? Awww heck, lets just make some room... http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6192/...643ae0da_z.jpg http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6061/...7a6873b2_z.jpg I haven't quite finished cutting out all the bad metal, but when I'm done tomorrow I'll have a clean slate for the firewall and the luggage area. The plan is to move the firewall in by 3", and adjust the luggage area to suit. -Dave |
Quote:
Yeah, that rim really hurt. I've been looking for a good set over the last two years, finally find a perfect set of five...and do that. Could be worse though, could be the car! haha. -Dave |
Started getting my Arts and Crafts on tonight...
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6154/...015ca21f_z.jpg ...and when I could no longer handle it, started working on the removable apron, which will make pulling the engine so much easier. I'm pretty sure the apron was welded on by a guy who was told he'd lose his job if he didn't smarten up. There are TWENTY-ONE spot welds per SIDE!! Unreal. But now at least I can easily pop the apron on and off for pulling the motor. My friends who have done it say it's their number one favorite modification. http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6167/...b5240c75_z.jpg http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6178/...57dc584b_z.jpg http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6152/...61391e57_z.jpg The road-race guys just use the pinching force of the fender bolts to hold their apron's on, but I'm not entirely convinced thats going to do it for the way I use my car. So I'll likely work out a bolt-on solution in the next few days. -Dave |
On the removable apron, I've seen guys run an extra fender bolt between the existing two fender mounting points. They drilled a hole and welded a nut on the backside of the inner fender well, and added a corresponding thru-hole to the edge of the apron and fender (if that makes sense). In addition to the "pinch" of the existing fender bolts, the thru-bolt won't allow the apron to blow off. And the apron can still be removed without removing the fenders...
|
Hi
Bad luck with the wheel, can you get another rim fitted to the centre? Steve |
Regarding the Apron, I haven't welded it up yet but I'm going to go with 1/2" tabs and some M5 bolts or hinge-pins and posts (think hood pins) all from the face of the apron. The Huebbe brothers, who rally a '69 in the Rally America Series, said the one thing they wished they had done with their removable apron was have it removable without having to deal with fender bolts. In a stage-rally service, you only have 20min to fix whatever needs doing, so every second counts!
And Steve, regarding the wheel, I could indeed get another rim fitted to the center, and might still. But for now it will work fine as a spare...once the budget stabilizes in the new year I'll look to repair it and powder-coat all five. Back into the garage for yet another evening. Fire wall was cut out, then I ran it over to a friend's shop to put the two 90deg bends in it. Once tacked into place I instantly understood why Volkswagen ribbed the heck out of the factory firewall. Can anyone say "steel drum"? Not sure that dynomat alone will help it, but at the same time I only have it tacked in so we'll see how it is once welded in completely. http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6176/...c7d646e9_z.jpg http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6155/...f5570d2b_z.jpg From there I worked out the side rails, and did some problem solving on the Oil-cooler mount. The overall plan is to have as much of the luggage-area floor removable, as it gives great access to the starter, clutch adjustment and the one engine bolt that is a pain to get to normally. I also figure that it should make reaching the 6-miles of oil lines and fittings I plan to install a little easier. In addition to moving the firewall in by 3", and the removable floor panels, I've also decided to move the luggage floor up by about 3". Its going to cause me some problems as far as the dry sump is concerned, but will give me more space above the transmission and Kaefer bar that I'm going to be installing. This in turn will make the oil-cooler mount much easier to problem solve. It's a trade off, with the Dry Sump, but one that seemed like a good idea this evening! And, really, I can always sink it back down if I have to (even just a portion of it) which I figure is easier then trying to raise it up down the road. At the very least, it will look better ;-) http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6177/...9fc9fc91_z.jpg Overall it was a pretty long night in the garage, with what feels like so little to show for it. Ah well, on the plus side I think I'm "over the hump" in regards to the firewall modifications. Once again picking up some pace and motivation to keep moving forward. -Dave |
Hi
It probably too late now, but I had a hatch made to cover my motor and the sheet metal guy made 2 very shallow diagonal folds in it which made it much more rigid. Steve |
Tack some wire sheathing for plastered walls (the stuff that looks like a shallow top hat section) as a cross on the panel. The sheathing is ~20g and galvanized, so it will be light and durable. that should take some of the drumming out of it.
|
Looks great!! Very detailed for a race car. :goodjob:
|
Thank you! Yes, I'm definitely going a bit overboard on the detail, fit and finish considering its going to be a race car. But I really do believe it needs to be done "perfect", and then you go race it and worry about the gaps as they open up. The nice part is I'm not really putting this together blind. Most of the changes, ideas or modifications come from issues I found with my White car, or things I had on my Audi Rally car that I miss. Every once and a while I stand back in the garage and remember that I could very well wrap this thing around a tree come Feb. But then, if I just built it quickly to get it running I'd never be happy with it. We might bend it down the road, but it sure as heck is going to start off perfect!
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6157/...509c9d40_z.jpg http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6165/...a3362202_z.jpg ...so my days this week have been wake up, work for the day, walk downstairs to the garage and Cut/Grind/Weld/Grind...yawn. Not much to write about! I can say, however, that the firewall is finally "in" the car. I've got a gap to work out filling on the driver's side, but otherwise it's fully welded. Pretty sure my garage has been in a permanent haze of smoke for the past week. In the first photo above, it does look weird like I made it from two pieces, but the bottom piece is on an angle, joining the rear engine seal piece to the new firewall which is set in by 3". Just a strange photo angle. http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6178/...178bbd0d_z.jpg With that pretty much complete I started in on the luggage area again. It was a super productive session that solved a whole pile of problems. I started out in the back luggage area welding the last support piece for my luggage floor. I have a bad habit when welding of only wearing my left glove. I'm right handed, always work in those blue nitrile gloves, and just seem to prefer welding without the big heavy glove on my trigger hand. Well, that habit will be stopping as of tonight. After the support was welded in, I turned to get out of the bug and where did put my ungloved hand? Yeah, right on the piece I just welded. I have a nice 1"x2" blister on my palm to remind me about wearing welding gloves now :P After losing an hour and a half to first-aid and pain, I gauzed it up and headed into the garage. Kind of ironic that I spent the entire night having to work with a welding glove on that hand, as the padding helped! Welding up sheet metal, is starting to seem kinda boring...so I figured "Hey, lets cut more out!" http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6167/...d748bcba_z.jpg That hole was filled with a nice little 90deg shelf. http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6176/...df2eb1e7_z.jpg Which gives me just enough clearance that I can get the dry sump tank mounted. It's tucked away for daily use, but still accessible for cleaning...and I can use the filler system I've been planning. It just sort of hit me tonight on how to do it, and the result was this. With that sorted I was able to work out which side the oil-cooler will go on (passenger, behind the dry sump tank). I'm going to run a dual NACA duct in the passenger side window, which will be ducted down over the oil cooler. This will give me the fresh-air flow I need, most likely without the need for a fan. I've ordered an oil cooler and fan combo, however, but I can always leave the fan off. Should I decide in winter I want to use it for some cabin heating, it's as simple as having the fan push air into the cabin, through the oil cooler (obviously NACA duct will be removed in this case). But as I just sourced a working pump for my gas heater, I'm likely to install it in this car and not worry about the oil cooler for interior heat. http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6158/...de3c2241_z.jpg The final piece of the puzzle is the Accusump. I've got to buy a little bit of steel tomorrow, but I think I'm going to set the Accusump in where it's sitting now. I can run the valve to behind the e-brake, and remote the gauge in a spot where I can see it before engine shut down. Locating the whole oiling system has been giving me stress and headaches for days, so it's nice to suddenly have it all fall into place. The Dry Sump shelf *might* end up interfering with a modification I have planned for the new floorpan, but I took a gamble on this one. With it located where it is I should be able to squeeze in the factory heat ducts, and clear the pan modification...if I can't squeeze it in, I'll have to move the shelf 1" to the left and lose the factory heat. I do realize that it might seem odd that I'm worried so much about heat. I've talked about using the oil cooler, retaining the factory heat and installing a gas heater. Here in BC where I live, I have lots of options for ice racing in the winter and plenty of fantastic winter rallies. My fully caged Audi quattro, which had factory heat but no carpet/headliner/insulation was just borderline acceptable rallying through the early hours of a winter morning. A happy co-driver makes for a good finish...for whatever reason they seem to hate freezing cold drafts ;-) I have a few more welds needed to fully seal off the firewall, plus I have to make the floor for the luggage area. But the starter, hard-to-reach engine bolt and clutch adjustments are all easily accessible now. -Dave |
What I had planned on doing to hold my apron in was weld in sheet metal like a washer where the cut outs for the fender bolts are so it was locked in place by the fender bolts but I found the pinching effect worked so well I left it that way.
These days I have a fibreglass apron which has enough of a lip there the fender bolts pass through it. |
Quote:
Keep the pictures coming! |
...oh, I'm not stopping! I actually think I might be more stoked for this project then I ever was about my Audi Rally car. It's so nice starting on the car from scratch and doing it "all right" from the beginning. The next steps were started by capping off some sections of 1" square tubing...
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6158/...f46198bc_z.jpg Which was quickly massaged into the rear sheetmetal, welded in and voila! Accusump mounts :) http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6177/...1627255f_z.jpg I still need to finish a few welds in the back seat and seal off some gaps, but I'm starting to feel a little burned out on this part so I needed to move elsewhere to keep the stoked level going. I popped off the front hood, measured around a bit and started welding after what felt like a good hour of angle-grinding. So far I've burnt out a Princess Auto Angle Grinder (Harbor Freight, but in Canada) and now my Mastercraft unit is starting to sound like the bearings are going. But who cares, I'm making progress! http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6152/...7e58eeef_z.jpg http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6174/...751d0dbd_z.jpg http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6156/...c2a4fa3e_z.jpg http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6162/...92635735_z.jpg The bar does have the added benefit of really tying the front end together, but I'm not sure that I'm close enough to the factory suspension bracing to really make a "strut-bar" like difference. I can certainly make the front end move quite a bit just by grabbing onto the bar though. Moving the bar anywhere else would have meant the hood wouldn't close due to the tire, or using a bent bar instead of straight one. I also need to be concerned about the Drivers-side strut top as the Gas Heater mounts right in around that area. I haven't measured or mocked up the gas heater yet, so I could still have an issue. From memory it's the intake pipe that will be a problem, as well as the 180deg elbow...but I figure I can find my way around both of those if required. http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6151/...b4f0bfa1_z.jpg As you can see the front hood seal strip has clearly seen better days. No idea how this one got as bad as it is, or why someone would repaint a virtually rust-free car and not repair this first? http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6162/...6663bd5a_z.jpg A chisel makes quick work of the spot welds, then it's simply a matter of wire wheel and grinder to clean it up. As suggested on here, I'll run with a Mexican beetle front hood seal, which eliminates the side channels...but I'll need to replace the strip just below the windshield. http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6151/...4b94dccc_z.jpg I started in on those small rust spots I found in the front inner fender...and quickly decided I may have found this beetle's secret horror story. poking around in the rusty holes I couldn't figure out where under the fuel tank they could possibly be going...until it dawned on me, it's not the fuel tank. A very uncomfortable while later, and I had discovered the other side. Took a while to remove the seam sealer, wire wheel as much as I could and then finally sandblast...but here is: http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6171/...399f1198_z.jpg How it rusted out here, I don't think I'll ever understand. Unfortunately, though, the water has worked it's way down and I believe I might find some horrors in the heater-channel when I go to separate the body from the pan. For now I'm going to repair the large holes up top, and leave the bottom ones for when the pan is separated. http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6180/...ee8ddca1_z.jpg I spent maybe 60 seconds with the spot sand blaster under the dash. Needless to say, this is a messy job! ...and wait, what's this?? http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6020/...e3d08ccb_z.jpg That, my dear friends, looks like a Porsche 901 5-speed gear box, as found in a 911. Mmmmmm...Dogleg first gear :) And what's this? Oh, it came with shift rod (modified for VW already), mounts, shifter and axles? Why yes, yes it did. http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6175/...dab8bc7e_z.jpg S-C-O-R-E. Of course, it's not all cherries. I have to cut up and weld sections on my previously finished and perfect floorpan in order to make it fit. But sometimes sacrifices need to be made! -Dave |
Dave Love the car.. love that it's going to be one of my FAVORITE CARS..... A RALLY CAR :)
can't Wait to See more keep the pics coming and will keep ya Motivated. Chris. |
Thanks Chris. This is definitely going to be a fun car when I'm finished. I should probably start saving for paint every 12 months though :P Stone chips suck! I think I have a theme for when I'm getting bored or losing motivation. Cut more out!! :)
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6022/...be64c0e1_z.jpg Each engine bay side now has a gaping hole, for which I will make bolt-on panels. It's no secret here why these are important, as they will allow me to change #1 and #3 spark plugs without removing the carbs, and also allows me to access the backside of the carbs should I ever need to. More space for working is never a bad thing. http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6177/...f43f9517_z.jpg I finished welding up the firewall, can't see any gaps with the light on the other side, so I think I'm finally golden. I was also talking to Mark Huebbe, who runs a bug in the Rally-America Series. The one comment he had was that he wished they had made his removable apron work without having to touch the fender bolts. So I also weld these tabs on to mount the removable apron. I'm kind of torn on this one as I'm totally guessing on width, etc. I've seen other race cars with Dzus fasteners similar to my tabs, so I gotta be close...but I really don't know if I have 1/2" on each side, 1" on each side? I do know the fan shroud will pass through them no problem at all, but obviously the carbs won't. Thing is, the carbs wouldn't pass through unless I cut the entire back off baja style, so I don' think it really matters much in the long run. The way I see it, I can always cut the tabs down (or off) after paint. Will wait until the engine is installed, body work is all together and then I will drill the apron and tap the holes for bolts. This way my apron is definitely not coming off in an unplanned fashion! http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6165/...a430c517_b.jpg The last thing I want to do to the apron is trim along the blue line I've drawn. My theory is that it will be faster/easier to get on and off the car...perhaps not needing the fender bolts to be loosened, but unless I cut the entire lip off, the fender bolts would still be an issue? So do I cut right at the edge (potentially ugly), leave a bit of space like I've drawn or just accept that you've got to loosen three fender bolts plus the four bolts I plan for the front face? Hmmm...decisions. Thoughts? -Dave |
just put it in primer and Vinyl wrap it.. maybe cheaper, easier to patch the rough Spots yet saves the good spots
just like a Real rally car... ;) Chris. |
Even though I have a Vinyl Cutter (and thus a supplier for vinyl at wholesale rates), wrapping the car is actually more expensive then simply painting it.
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6148/...3528ea43_z.jpg Front suspension is removed, and the pan has been separated from the body. At this time I have chosen to leave the insulating foam VW sprays into the C-Pillars for sound insulation. My car shows no rust due to the foam, and I even found paint under some that I removed. Leaving the foam, however, does cause one problem...the wiring harness. I plan to pull and replace the harness, but it is held in TIGHT by the foam. So far no luck removing it...I don't even want to think about replacing it! 034Motorsport does have bulkhead connectors that I could use to pass some of the wires through my firewall, but not the heavier gauge Alternator wires. I've inquired whether they can get some high-amperage connectors, and that will solve my problem in a round-about way. -Dave |
| All times are GMT -4. The time now is 01:42. |
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
© www.GermanLook.net 2002-2017. All Rights Reserved