well been on the front end this weekend….
the brakes were buggered…. must of had water through them cus the pistons were seized inside the callipers with jelly where fluid should be…. dib and i struggled and get 2 out of the 4 pistons out but couldn't even move the others….. after ringing round… found out i could get new pistons and with a tip from the local brakes plus boys…. i got busy getting those suckers out….
they recon they have the same trouble with hilux's that have been on the beach most there life….
then sandblasted the bores and they are as good as new….
did a degreasing session and a paint session yesterday….
and today was beam time after doing abit of running round this morning…. getting the pistons and things…
few broken leaf/s amongst what i pulled out….. will tare down the spare beam and rob it for its good ones 8)
tell tonight sucked ball sack! laying in my back with a foot and a half clearance under the car spraying the underside of the bus in rustkill :roll: what a joke…. but its done now… and I'm never doing that again….
anyway from the beginning...
since welding on the adjusters….. I've rebuilt my brakes, got my disks machined, replaced all my ball joints…. painted all the front end bits…. rebuilt my centre steering pin, and started assembling the beam again…. with a spare bay beam i got from Al, (thanks bloke) i got enough spring packs to make 1 good beam as both had broken spring in them…. must be pretty common….
rebuilt/rebushed german centre pin…
rebuilt german ball joints….
rebuilt brake callipers….
beam assembly… new dust seals on trailing arms…. and i may have used 2 sets of the upper bump stops to give me a little more travell before the stop for rego…
then pressed out the old bearing runner and pressed in the new ones ready to go when i put the stub axle back on….
and this arvo i spent on my back wire brushing the underside of the bus from the front cab to the crossmember just in front of the engine bay…. you should of seen the shit i blew out of the chassis rails…. there is still some in there but gonna have to get crafty to get it out…. crazy….once it was cleaned and keys…. i spent most of tonight…. laying some satin rust kill on the under side of this bitch….. like i said…. what a cunt of a job…. next time ill have i hoist!
made the mistake of wearing a balaclava style head sock and a mask (no eye protection) and only gloves with short sleeve…. these are my arms….. my face is much the same only around the opening of my eyes! whoops…. I'm gonna look like a dildo for the next few days…..
there is a dick load of paint under there but i wanted it well sealed for when i put the belly pans on…. as i never plan on getting under there again…..
obrian finally got a screen to fit and it fits like balls… gaps in the corners which the just gooped up….. least its in there and hopefully water tight….
got my new booster and master cylinder
the new booster is like fitting up a commodore one…. it mounts different so i had to accommodate for that and make a little bracket for it to tighten up on….
once that was sorted beam went back in and front end assembly is all complete with new bearings machined disks, new rebuilt callipers, new brakes shoes, new brakes hoses and some hard lines, new shocks, new drag link, new tie rods… the whole shebang…
been doing a few other little jobs inside the cab and on the dash cluster etc but got a start on the belly pans….. have been putting this off for a fair while now cus i thought it was going to be a shit of a job….. but i must say these have been the best fitting repro panels i have ever worked with…. only trimming needed so far are for the bits i have added on to make the extension….. as i bought them months ago they turned to surface rust so i spent a while stripping these back and giving them a thick coat of rustkilll before install….
befor closing up the underside i thought i would run a new brake line that runs off the regullator to the rear even tho the old one was looking ok…. cus there is no real easy way of replacing it later…..
and just before lunch i got one pan blasted in most the welds are sitting pretty flat for welding them upside down….. might grind back the odd ugly one before i touch up the paint
couldn't fit the middle belly pan until i straightend the rear crossmember….
i just beat it all straight and welded it back in but look how much shit was in there :shock:
and smashed out the other belly pans tonight…. all day on my back welding with less then 2 feet of space…. and i really enjoyed it…. not often can you say that….
yeah bitches!!!! i should of done this months ago!!!!
Dib has been buggen the fuck out of me to get it off the jacks to see what the front looked like…. i got the adjusters about 3/8's down and i think its sitting pretty nice…. just a little attitude and still has abit of travel…. might have to get rid of the bump stops after rego for more travel…. cross that bridge later
got a crazy amount of rake atm… thinking one spline in the rear and once she is all loaded up (water tanks, fuel tank, gearbox, motor, and luggage) I'm hoping it should settle pretty nice….
Loving this project
As i haven't taken on any work since christmas, i have had a few phone calls with job offers and not all in my trade either which I'm very grateful for and may even follow them up once this car is done…. anyway the builder i used to work for has called a few times as well, Offering me work but only the other week was it something i thought would be worth my while so i have been back at work for the last week and a half and i feel like "i still got it" 8) i do love the building game but have been loving the break from it aswell…
shana spent anzac day cleaning out the inside and painting the pop rivets and puttying the nail holes in the cabinets etc and did a great job 8) she took all the covers off the windows to…. makes it feel nice an open & airy, which is what we wanted and plenty of natural light….
i have moved onto the rear-end which i finished tearing down tonight…. got it all soaking in the parts washer….
placed another full cip1 order last night and i still don't think i got everything… gonna visit me mate Al from DAS resto (keep ya pants on) on friday and have abit of a shopping list for that to 8)
feeling refreshed since going back to work…. looking forward to getting this thing outside and making a start on the engine….
Keep the joy going mate!!
I look forward to catching up with you at Valla or earlier
shana got the rivets painted, nail holes puttied and gave it a nice clean
put the bunk board on over the bed…
cleaned front seats…. and rubber matts…. chasing a passenger wheel arch matt if someone has a usable one….doesnt have to be perfect…. mines in threes pieces….
Started on the rear bar..
went back to work last week for a couple of days…. turned into a week an a halfs work which helped our bank a little…. but has slowed progress on the bus a little.
got the bars in paint….. wet sanding through the cold snap we just had sucked..
and spent the afternoon sandblasting and painting rear suspension parts
started off yesterday by painting up the last of the underside and around the engine bay
assembled bumpers and put on the front badge
it just so happened to work out that the bolt at the ends lined up with the floor structure to bolt through and with few bends in the bolt for the head to sit flush on the bumper and not pull the ends upwards. I'm stocked with how they turned out. Don't wanna fit the gas bottle to it now
finished off the afternoon fitting the taillight and reverse lights. Made a template before hacking into the snail. Been putting it off till the bumper was on for something to work off for height etc. Was happy to have a separate reverse light if it ment not using those fat f@#ker lights that should be on it
[/quote]
Nugget, YOU ARE A LEGEND. Top work. Bumpers, tail light treatment, interior .....all get top marks. 👍
Matt Berry Motorsports...air cooled advice, repairs and mods Ph 0408 704 662
OFF-ROAD,CIRCUIT,DRAG,STREET,ENDURANCE
after a horrible night sleep with a big day put in yesterday i woke up feeling abit under the weather….
thought i would take on a cruisey job of hand making some scoops…. made a test one first which showed some faults but got these 2 knocked out and fitted…. thinking of mounting the number plate off the lid by an inch and drilingl 2x100mm holes behind it for flow…. some say it will end up in a dirty engine bay and some say it will suck hot exhaust air, hmmmmm. So far this is where I'm at for air flow. Think it will be great while cruising and the external oil cooler should help also…
rolled front lip
i liked it better without them but couldn't find much else that would serve the same purpose and look ok. Guess it goes with the hand built theme.
Gr8 work Miles
So you do actually sleep !.......amazing amount/quality of work there, mister. 👍
I am going to Valla for the Raliegh Park thing [this time WITHOUT a broken inlet manifold], however, 'The Snail' is on the top of my 'Must See' list.
I'd rather wear a Beetle out by racing it than by polishing it!
This is so cool, love how you are keeping the VW bits in her, him, it! Are there girl and boy snails?
Looks completely brilliant.
Just as a matter of interest - are you changing the wheels to something more shiny or leaving the stockies?
Also I noted the UK rubber tramp had the spare wheel on the front.
Its not easy to find a spot for the #5 wheel - whats the plan for this one?
Cheers,
88 Caravelle Syncro Camper
89 Caravelle GL microbus - 5 speed
69 Microbus
05 Mk5 Golf 1.9 TDi DSG
Reckon you're gonna get it out the shed door??
Performance Upholstery
Cars, boat seats, furniture and more!
0439002870
performanceupholstery@live.com.au
Mt Gravatt east Qld.
nope it staying in the shed for it entire life…. didn't you know?
Should look ok supporting some grey caps until we return and regain some money for a nice set of mags.... Like gas burners or brims 8)
as for a spare…. i have a bullbar to paint up yet… still undecided if i want to run it or not…. pretty heavy
Just read through the whole thread. The amount of thought, hard work and excellent workmanship that has gone into this is a credit to you and your other half. Top work mate, keep it up. You're getting pretty close to the end result now!
6 Dubs in and counting..
1966 1300 Deluxe Beetle in polar white.
Ok, that obviously came across like I was being a smart arse... What I was getting at is the car looks bigger than the opening you have to drive it through to get it out of the shed...
Performance Upholstery
Cars, boat seats, furniture and more!
0439002870
performanceupholstery@live.com.au
Mt Gravatt east Qld.
thanks lunar 😎
PU - i have covered it before…. shed door is coming off and it will be fine…. on track to have it outside this weekend.
took the paint off the the wheel nut holes so i can sleep at night…
all new bearings through-out
new pads and machined drums….
stripped a clump of grease which turned out to have a gearbox in it…..replaced the main shaft seal…
brand new german cv's…. but got rooted by Micks motors once again (this is still from the time i went and bought those brake pistons that didn't fit and thought i should grab the cv boots while I was there….) they sold me 3 kombi cv boots and 1 beetle ... so only one axle on for now until Das rest haus come to the rescue.
fitted up the empi rear sway bar to help stabilise this thing abit…. feels nice and stiff just sitting there….
Nice one Nug, looking good mate, tried returning your call today - not sure if you got onto Steve this arvo or not?
Argh bugger! Forgot to call back... No issue... Was just gonna whack a 12v starter bush on last nights order 😉
Have you had any more thoughts on the specs of the motor? I'm curious. Also.. Props to you for staying air cooled when you could be forgiven for going to an ej22/25 in this instance. Clearly you're a man of principle.
6 Dubs in and counting..
1966 1300 Deluxe Beetle in polar white.
I have bought all my engine parts and will be getting onto that in the next week or 2. A quick run up on specs it's 74mmx85.5mm=1699cc with an engle 100 and drd l3 super stock heads and if anyone jumps on the bandwagon of why not bore it out for 90.5cc I will literally loose my shit Lol I wanted it really basic for ease of swapping out top end parts (top end is relatively stock) and something that should get good mileage. As for keeping it aircooled.... If I wanted to do the trip with SUby motor I would of fitted out a forester haha I love aircooled engines and I know my way around them fairly well which comforts me if anything was to go wrong on the trip.
was gonna go through and quote every single person that asked about getting it out of the shed and then post these pictures but I'm to excited to bother…. its out! 8)
Always knew we had to modify the shed. it was 5 minutes work but with a quick cut and slice…. she was out the door 8)
Got three people to sit in the back to see what it will look like with a motor, fuel tank, water tank and three batteries worth of weight in it down…. hopefully with our luggage and everything it should settle pretty level…. otherwise i might have to go 1 click in the rear...
The shed feels huge again now 😂
8)
Looks the Shizz 😎
Customer service is not dead in Australia.
Always after HAZET & MATRA & VW factory tools
Now that's retro ! 👍
I dream of a day when a chicken can cross a road without being asked for it's motive!
👍👍👍👍 Fabtastic
Matt Berry Motorsports...air cooled advice, repairs and mods Ph 0408 704 662
OFF-ROAD,CIRCUIT,DRAG,STREET,ENDURANCE
Epic build 👍👍
