View Single Post
  #36  
Old October 1st 2011, 04:02
owdlvr's Avatar
owdlvr owdlvr is offline
Administrator
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Canada - West Coast
Posts: 851
...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...



Which was quickly massaged into the rear sheetmetal, welded in and voila! Accusump mounts



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!









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.




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?


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.


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:


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.


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??



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.



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
__________________
'71 Type 1 - Rally Project
'58 Type 1 - I bought an early!?!
'73 Type 1 - Proper Germanlook project
'68 Type 1 - Interm German 'look' project
'75 Type 1 - Family Heirloom
'93 Chevy 3500 pickup - Cummins Swap
Reply With Quote