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Re: Latest project, 1967 VW beetle restoration.

PostPosted: Sun Sep 22, 2013 10:11 am
by banjo
like a good nurse getting an ill patient back to good health.great to see.

Re: Latest project, 1967 VW beetle restoration.

PostPosted: Fri Jan 08, 2016 9:21 pm
by BTJustice
Dragging this thread from the deepest depths of the forum its time for an exciting update.

To review where we got to way back in September 2013, the Beetle had to be removed from the garage I was using and so it ended up in the one car garage at my parents with the good intention that I could push it out, work on it and push it back.

Sadly the space available simply wasnt big enough and as is the rule with most garages, the longer it sat the more got piled up around it and by summer 2015 this was what greeted me when I opened the garage door;

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I had promised Joanne a finished Beetle but I was really struggling to see how I would achieve this in the space available so that left one option. If I couldnt do it, maybe I should seek out somebody who could.

On my local club forum (West of Scotland VW club) I had seen a lot of good work coming from the workshops of Ed (Rodntod) so in July I decided to bite the bullet and sent a PM enquiring whether or not he would be willing to take on the job and to my relief, there was a space coming up nearer the end of the year where he could make a start.

Now, one thing I have not yet mentioned is Joannes reaction to her Beetle finally getting re-started......Thats because she didnt know, this was to be a Christmas surprise which is also the reason this thread hasnt been updated until now.

This also meant I had to sneak about and and get the car out of the garage without her knowing which explains why I spent the wettest Sunday in November dragging the bug and the parts needed out of storage;

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The 1967 only decklid and vallance had been living under a tree for 2 years;

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And then after dark the car was loaded onto the truck to make its journey to Ed's place;

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Once down at Ed's he could give it a good look over and see what he had let himself in for. Thankfully he didnt laugh at the work I had completed on the nearside heater channel.

This was the o/s sill, not surprisingly it was just as bad as the N/S;

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So he braced the body and separated the pan;

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And whacked straight into the work completing more in the first couple of weeks than I had in the last 5 years.

O/S heater channel cut out;

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The new (body cut) heater channel in place and filler work started;

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The start of the bare metaling of the body revealed a few layers under the top coat;

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So by Christmas we were at this point, o/s heater channel replaced, o/s top door hinge repaired, o/s rear inner arch bare metaled, glass out, pannels off, front bulkhead repaired and a start made on bare metaling the body work leaving the car looking like this;

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Which incidentally is the picture I had printed into a poster and wrapped for Joanne to open on Christmas morning to reveal the surprise.

How did the news go down?

Well, the car got a double thumbs up when we visited Ed's place this week;

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I think somebody is going to be very happy when its done;

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More updates as we go along and a big thank you to Ed for his work so far and to him and anybody else who saw Fester in his garage and kept the secret.

Dave.

Re: Latest project, 1967 VW beetle restoration.

PostPosted: Tue Jan 12, 2016 12:33 pm
by RDR
nice to get an update, Dave, I had wondered what had happened.

Re: Latest project, 1967 VW beetle restoration.

PostPosted: Fri Mar 11, 2016 10:37 pm
by BTJustice
Things are coming along nicely;

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Dave.

Re: Latest project, 1967 VW beetle restoration.

PostPosted: Sun Mar 27, 2016 5:58 pm
by BTJustice
This update is a week late so it may be even further on by now but it was looking great last week when we visited Ed;

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As its moving on I thought I better dig out the new engine to get it ready;

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This engine came with a car from California and ran so well I had to keep it when the person buying the car said he was planning to use his own.

Single port with dog house cooler so points towards it being a 1600. AS41 case and from the looks of things the heads have been ported and polished so when I take off the tin ware to paint it I think I may pull off a head to measure the bores.

Dave.

Re: Latest project, 1967 VW beetle restoration.

PostPosted: Tue Apr 19, 2016 8:00 pm
by BTJustice
Time for another update.

Ed has the body back off the chassis to finalise the welding on the floorpans (and show off his fancy new ramp :-) ) and the outside of the body is now fully primed in epoxy;

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Meanwhile I have stripped down the engine to paint up the tinware;

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Before stripping the engine down I noticed a strange outlet tapped into the intake manifold below the carb that seemed to have no use.

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I was going to leave it and blank it off then I saw what was inside the manifold;

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Thats going to do nothing for fuel vapor flow and if that metal plate ever dropped off it would make a hell of a mess of valves and pistons so it will have to go.

Dave.

Re: Latest project, 1967 VW beetle restoration.

PostPosted: Tue Apr 26, 2016 8:14 pm
by BTJustice
Cheers Rod.

I was down at Ed's yesterday to deliver this.

Imagebug resto 5 by Dave Campbell, on Flickr

That would be 5 litres of black primer, 5 litres of gloss black paint and the hardeners and thinners to match. Small box for £190 worth of gear.

While down at Ed's I got to see the progress on his garage and the progress on the bug and all is looking good.

Body looks great in the flesh;

Imagebug resto 7 by Dave Campbell, on Flickr

Imagebug resto 8 by Dave Campbell, on Flickr

And the chassis is now receiving a good clean up now the pans are mounted;

Imagebug resto 6 by Dave Campbell, on Flickr

Imagebug resto 11 by Dave Campbell, on Flickr

The clean up has uncovered some rot and grot around the front of the frame head that needs attending to and then Ed can start vaporizing some of that £190.

At this end the engine is now 90% painted up, assembly will start soon then it needs to go down to Ed's.

I need to get some bits and bobs ordered along with bumpers, over riders and the interior kit.

Speaking of interior parts, the Beetle had this good looking 60's Moto-lita steering wheel fitted that needs the leatherwork re-done;

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If anybody has a recommendation for somebody that can recover the wheel please pass me their details.

Cheers.

Re: Latest project, 1967 VW beetle restoration.

PostPosted: Tue Apr 26, 2016 10:59 pm
by Lucky Poet
I'm the first to admit that I know pretty much naff all about cars, but I'm enjoying this ongoing series.

However, have you any idea what that pipe thing attached to the intake manifold was ever intended to achieve? I'm kind of intrigued. (Presumably nobody would attach a pipe to a crucial piece of an engine just for a laugh...)

Re: Latest project, 1967 VW beetle restoration.

PostPosted: Sat Apr 30, 2016 10:04 pm
by BTJustice
Sorry it took so long to reply, Im not getting email notifications for some reason.

There could be a couple of reasons for the pipe going to the manifold. Within the manifold there is a vacuum. On cars with servo assisted brakes, the servo uses this vacuum to apply more braking force when you push the pedal. It may be that the car this engine came out of was running servo brakes and this was a bodge to supply the vacuum.

There could also have been a vacuum gauge to give the driver a rough idea of fuel economy.

The pipe that was attatched was only short so didnt give any clues to its purpose but it is now removed and the hole welded up.

Re: Latest project, 1967 VW beetle restoration.

PostPosted: Sun May 01, 2016 8:42 pm
by BTJustice
While Ed the welder has been getting to grips with more rotngrot (turns out the frame head bottom plate needs work) I have been busy in the garage as well.

The engine has gone from this;

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Via this;

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To end up at this;

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I still have some finishing off as it turns out when you buy an exhaust fitting kit you no longer get the big clips to attach the heat exchangers to the heater boxes on the exhaust.

I just need to wire it up, add some new fuel pipes, fit a new main seal behind the flywheel and add a clutch but cant do this until I can con persuade somebody to help me lift the engine off the stand.

All being well I will get it on the floor and give it a test run before getting it down to Ed's.

Dave.

Re: Latest project, 1967 VW beetle restoration.

PostPosted: Sun May 01, 2016 8:43 pm
by Lucky Poet
Mine aren't working either. Sharon!

Thanks for the possible explanations :)

Re: Latest project, 1967 VW beetle restoration.

PostPosted: Fri May 06, 2016 8:05 pm
by BTJustice
I had another update from Ed a few days ago.

Wee pile of repair panels from Hookeys;

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These will tidy up the engine bay;

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And excitingly, the interior metalwork now has its first coat of black primer;

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Dave

Re: Latest project, 1967 VW beetle restoration.

PostPosted: Thu May 12, 2016 8:09 pm
by BTJustice
Small updates. While the body is off the pan I went over on Tuesday to Ed's and fitted new rear shocks, new gearbox mounts and a new steering coupler. These jobs were 1000 times easier with the body off and full access from the top.

The heat exchanger clips arrived to finish off the exhaust install but when fitting a new problem was highlighted.

Possibly a problem with pattern parts but if you look at the picture below, the top of the connector piece in the exhaust is in the correct position but look how far off the bottom connection is.

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I was trying to think how to get this to line up then spent a bit of time "massaging" the shape but I think the only course of action is to delete the heater boxes from the exhaust and replace with foil hosing.

Dave.

Re: Latest project, 1967 VW beetle restoration.

PostPosted: Sun May 15, 2016 10:00 am
by Vinegar Tom
Dave, I thought I should add a wee post to let you know that a lot of folks are following your project and really enjoying your updates. Please don't be put off by the lack of replies, and keep up the good work.

Re: Latest project, 1967 VW beetle restoration.

PostPosted: Mon May 16, 2016 8:32 pm
by Lucky Poet
Seconded.