Exhaust & Muffler
Initially I planned on getting the exhaust system ceramic coated, but after much research I decided to go with POR-15 Hi Temp paint instead. Whilst the POR-15 is not cheap, it was about a quarter of the cost of ceramic coating. I understand that this stuff works really well if the surfaces are prepared well, so I had the exhaust system powdercoated and then I sprayed on the Hi Temp paint.
Assembly
I've been a bit tied up with work lately so not much progress has happened on the assembly, but heres a couple of shots of the rear so far.
Putting stuff together thats really clean on a car is great, but the downside is that you don't want to scratch anything while doing so. I'm glad this isn't a show car, as that would add another level of difficulty to the project :duh
That's more POR-15 Hi Temp paint on the drums. I was going to go with black, but I had heaps of the silver left from the exhaust, so I thought what the hell.
Next step will be to assemble the rear brakes...and take off the bearing on the left rear wheel as I forgot to put the spacer behind it didn't I. D'oh! D'oh! D'oh!
Looking good mate - very tidy work!
Nice to see the Bellamy's tins in use, you'll have heaps of em mate so don't be scared to chuck em out. LOL
Everything 36HP !
Change over king and link spindles
6-12volt semaphores
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BUGBOY wrote:Nice to see the Bellamy's tins in use, you'll have heaps of em mate so don't be scared to chuck em out. LOL
But they're so good for storing stuff in!
The pan is progressing, brakes are coming together, new heater cable, accelerator cable, clutch cable all now fitted. Clutch cable was a b!tch to install, and thats without the body fitted. Not looking forward to changing it on the side of a road one day. Makes me think I should have put an access hole in the tunnel before getting it painted...but then it would have been original would it! Next on the agenda is the front brakes and bending the brake lines - hopefully this weekend..... I plan on overtaking Craig's build in VWMA
🙂Dasdubber wrote:Looking good mate - very tidy work!
Thanks mate - your green beetle was awesome and the Type 3 is looking great too - it needs to be slammed with some earlies on it :thumb
A quick update - I've assembled the front brakes - new shoes, new wheel cylinders, new german master cylinder - and have just about completed installing the brake lines. Doing the brake lines is a real PITA - I can only imagine what it would be like to do while the body is on the car! Bending the lines was relatively straight forward - did it by hand (thumbs :thumb :thumb are killing me today though). Not sure about other brands but I used Wolfsburg West lines, really good quality lines, but it seemed that none of them were the correct length (yep I ordered the correct kit) which, combined with bending the lines in 4 dimensions (the fourth dimensiion did come in to play I am sure), added to my frustration.
Still looking for a piece of heater channel and green front seats - see my wanted ads 🙂. Am also looking for a master cylinder push rod (bit that attaches to the pedal cluster and pushed the brake master cylinder in. u2u me if you can help out with any of these things. Cheers, Cam.
Was the kit you got for RHD or was it a LHD kit you ended up with?
I'll have a brake cylinder plunger rod for you here.
Everything 36HP !
Change over king and link spindles
6-12volt semaphores
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BUGBOY wrote:Was the kit you got for RHD or was it a LHD kit you ended up with?
I'll have a brake cylinder plunger rod for you here.
You're the man Nathan - I'll fix you up for it when I get the semaphores.
Re the brake lines, it was from WW so one would assume LHD but everything should flip fine I would have thought.
Its been a long tine since the last post and, well, things are progressing veerrrry slowly. Here's some pics of the heater channel repair. Fortunately there was only one section at the right hand rear side that needed to be replaced. Here's a pic of the body on Nathan's rotisserie in the process...
Heater channel in the process of being clamped up ready for welding:
After welding - didn't get a bare metal shot but thanks to Bugboy's welding skills there ain't no filler involved in this repair at this point 👍
Next on the agenda was installing the engine, however I've run in to a problem whereby the small riser tube from the exhaust at the left hand side hits on the heater tin (where the screwdriver sits in the photo below. WTF is that about?? Its a 36hp exhaust and original tinware - Any suggestions would be appreciated!
Hopefully the car will be driving by Christmas - this has got to be the worlds longest rat build....
Slow progress is still better then no progress dude.
Will all be worth it in the long run.
Looks great so far 👍 (would still rather an early 356 though 😀)
Reub
Thanks Reub - I would have to agree on the 356 call - I want a Speedster next 👍
Speedsters are nice...but I'd have a coupe anyday instead...😀
One day...I wish...volksies are here to stay in my household I think...
Reub
A quick update - the body is back on the pan at long last, the engine is back from being overhauled and in the car - a few minor pieces to go before I can finally drive it. Firewall deadener material (what was left of it) was removed and the firewall polished - photos don't do it justice
The wonders of CLR. Check out the difference in these rear guards 👍 one on the left looked just like the one on the right before hitting it with some CLR and rubbing compound and polish.
Nice. What's the other oval tucked away in the shed?
That'd be Bugboys oval rag project - my shed's only built for one 🙂
Great work so far mate....👍
Reub
Its been a long time between posts, so a quick update is in order. After setting myself a deadline of getting the car on the road by the time we moved out of our place, I ended up puching that deadline to the limit and got it registered the morning the removalists came round to take our stuff to our new place.
The car needed some new rear tyres for the RW so had to mount these on the rear....
So itended up looking like this when going for the registration inspection:
The first order of business after registration was sorted was to lose the Baja height, this called for a 4.5" narrowed front beam (with shock towers) - thanks Nathan 👍.
If you ever wondered what a Michelin 155 on stock wheel looked like on a narrowed beam (well I never did, but I guess someone might!), this is it:
This set up scrubbed on the outside of the guard and the headlight bucket on one side running this set up. Due to lack of spare time I have had to drive the car around like this (ie ridiculous rake look) for the last month or so.
Yestderday, I finally got around to mounting the front wheels (with Continental 145-65-15's), and lowering the rear.
Check out the ride height!! Its now a little low for my liking, but the beam is set up on its highest adjuster, so my only option would be to mount the stock spindles and lower the beam. I guess I'd get a little bit more tuck to the fron wheels if I did that.
Looks the buisness 👍
Simon
Finally got around to some more posting some more pics
Looks very sweet mate....👍
...still loved your 356 though 👍
Reub
Wow :o You've put a hell of a lot of work into this one, mate. Sets the standard for all the patina'd cars out there 👍
Great to see a Rat done properly.
Very nice
Again, well done and thanks for the PM reply bout the rear tyres. Is it possible to get a photo of the narrowed beam and where the upper shock mounts sit in relation to the body. I have a 2" narrowed beam on mine and the uppers just miss the inner guard area. Do yours now sit inside the inner guards, like under the fuel tank area??? I have no idea.
Thanks, Kev.
I thought rebuilding a VW would be cheap - Shit I was wrong, just don't let the wife know !!!!
Click here for my (slowy) modded 1961 Beetle build.wooooooow Nevada you must be happy with that, it looks awesome! I love the roof rack! 😁
Wow such an awesome car.😀
Am loving this.
Well done.
Thanks for the replies. For the sake of completeness the tyre combo is 145-65-15 Continentals on the front and 205-65-15 Yokohama A Drives on the rear. Glad I didn't go any wider on the rear as I reckon I may have run into scrubbing issues and might have been borderline unroadworthy prior to the rear drop. No scrubbing at all at the front 🙂 Would have liked to have run Michelin 135's on the front, but was concerned about having the rim too exposed to curb rash so the 145s were the way to go. They would provide some much needed height at the front though.....
Kev, I'll take a pic of how the beam sits near the inner guard on the weekend. It was a tight fit, but no body mods are required. Despite it being so low, it handles a treat. The beam rides pretty stiff, but I have brand new oil filled shockers on the front which doesn't help. Apparently worn shockers are the way to go.
vwkg: You've got an awesome car there (I think it appears in the background of a few of my pics on this post 🙂)
Thanks Nevada.🙂
Yep, I did spot my car in the back of those photos, recognised the location from some I was sent before I bought it.
