Dave's 1971 1302 Not-So-Secret, Secret Project Build

[owdlvr]

Originally Posted by al_kaholik

Dave - fresh air box joining bits - the factory replacement parts that I got are just with a kind of black backing on them that have two pop fastners.
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I'm informed that you can use silicone tubing. In black that would tidy up if you were that bothered, think I will be doing this at some point in the future...

I considered the silicone tubing. The 'issue' for any of the regular materials is the need to cut those notches into it in order for it to wrap around the back. Tough to do with the silicone tubing I have house, as it's all multi-layer for boost. Will return to this when I'm bored/frustrated elsewhere!

Originally Posted by cookvw

the rally lights are sweet! it will be like night and day..lol. what shifter is that you got in your car?

The lights will hopefully be closer to Day...and Day! :P (terrible joke, I know)

The shifter is simply a factory VW shifter with an Empi aluminum short-shift kit. I've modified a prototype Vibrant Performance carbon-fiber shift knob to fit the shaft, and then sleeved the spindly little factory shaft with a carbon fiber tube. I *think* the production Vibrant knob will thread right onto a factory shift rod, but its been 7+ years since I worked there. The carbon tube, in my case, is a cut-down paddle handle which I got from a friend who owns an outdoors shop.

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Tonight was a quick night, I was in Whistler all day for work and then down in Vancouver for the monthly club meeting. Put my minimum hour in and called it quits. I spent the first bit going around the car and touching up a number of tiny details I have been meaning to get to. Little things, that you'd probably never see but bother me! I think I'm in danger of becoming a perfectionist.

Example? The razor I used to put the cut-line in on the plasti-dip before lifting off the paint wasn't brand new, so in a few spots it didn't pull on a perfectly straight line. A little plasti-dip brushed on tonight, and I'll cut a new line and pull off the excess tomorrow. Yes, proof I've gone insane.


With various little jobs done, I figured I should tackle the rear bumper and apron. I knew this wasn't going to be a simple bolt on affair, you may remember I dropped the body off a trailer and the rear apron opening is 1+ inches too narrow now! With the right-side bumper bracket bolted on, you can see how far off the left-side holes are:


Using a rather dangerous combination of two pieces of wood and a damaged scissor jack, I managed to spread the bumper apart enough to get both sides bolted together...


...but it's not done yet. For starters, the bumper is slightly shifted to the left and covers more fender on the left side then the right. Normally one would simply loosen the bolts and shimmy the bumper over...but in my case it's currently acting as a stressed member of the rear bodywork. Loosening the bolts without something holding the body spread apart would be a dangerous affair! The second issue is the rear apron opening.

The rear apron WAY closer to fitting now, so much so that I'm confident I'll be able to make things work, but it does need adjustment. I'm about 1/4" off at the bottom now, so I think I need to shim the bumper mounts away from the body. This is going to mean removing the bumper, shimming the mounts, stretching the body, attaching the bumper and then testing the apron. Again and again until it fits! Once that's all done, I have to figure out how to center the bumper!

In the end, I don't know if I'm going to end up with a removable apron or not. Depends on how close I get it, and how easy it will be to remove. At the very least, even if I have a removable apron I'm not going to be able to remove the bumper. At first thought it seems like "well, whats the point"...but I suppose engine pulls will still be much easier.

Let this be a lesson kids: Don't drop the body off the trailer. (but you probably knew that already.)

-Dave