Well nearly 11 months ago, I started a 67 restoration which at the time, I optimistically thought would take three months.. Finally I'm about to start the re-build phase..
Rather than add to the old thread, I thought I'd start a fresh one.. Here is the old thread..

http://forums.aussieveedubbers.com/viewtopic.php?tid=56492 

The floor pan... has been ready for months.. (the delay has been in the body restoration).. The pan has been blasted and powder coated in black.. Looks great.. Cost $1200

The body.... The more you chop into a 40 year old car, the more you find needs doing.. I have not cut any corners and the body will be substantially better than factory condition.. Chris, (the fabricator) is an absolute genius.. He has smoothed seams, replaced sections, fitted and re-fitted countless times the doors and other parts to get all the gaps correct..
Chris has spent 100's of hours on the body.. He wants to show the car when its finished.. I have to believe him as I've seen some of the hotrod work he does and there are not enough superlatives for his metal creativity.. I have a dvd video of the work.. I can't work out how to post the stills but I'll find a way later on..Anycase enough of the body.. Cost to date $8,000..

The front K&L beam is being fitted with wide 5 disc's by Boris at VVD.. All new or refurbished bits on the beam.. Cost $2200

The rear is a created around a re-built gearbox using a 3.88 Ring and Pinion and a .82 4th drive gear..
The gear box will be married to Type 1 axle shafts and type 3 brakes.. I finished stripping these parts today and they are off for media blasting and powder coating.. The gearbox builder is reknown on this forum.. Cost $2,000

I'm hoping for 17" ESCRA's for wheels. If that doesn't happen, 15" Raders.. Cost (with tyres) $1900

The engine is a 1916 re-built about 18 months ago by another reknown AVD guru.. Built around a sweet counterweighted crank with an engle110 cam.. It will run either EFI or twin carbs.. Not sure yet.. Finished with a ceramic coated semi merged extractor and exhaust.. Should be good for 80 - 90 hp which is plenty.. I'm curious to dyno it when ready.. Total setup $6,500

The body will be set off with a blue that I've been told will be like "looking at the blue sky but just blue-er and a bit metallic.. Cost $2,000

The interior will be all new with leather connolly hide in light tan.. Say $5,000

Total Cost Say $30,000 once all the bits are on the car.. About 16 months should do it.. Not for the faint hearted but you get back a car that is rebuilt and re-fitted, down to the smallest nut and bolt.. Better then when it came off the factory floor

Anycase.. For the moment.. Here are the axle shafts and brakes ready to go to the coater.. I'll post the assembly here as we get into it





[ Edited on 10-9-07 by StenGuns ]

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[ Edited on 7-8-07 by StenGuns ]

:o

oh
my
god


the pan alone makes me drool, cant wait to see the body !!!

looking good Rob

Shit Rob that's a good start.

Thanks.. It's been a bloody pain, stripping, collecting and organising the tear down and refurbishment of all the components etc.. A bit like a project manager as I have minimal time, skills or accessibilty to take on too much myself.. I have therefore tried to find people who are recognised specialists in their fields to do the hard stuff.. The body re-fabrication being (I believe) the most important part.. The re-assembly of the running gear and floor pan will be fun.. Then marry the body and face a nightmare getting the wiring, upholstery and shiny bits all located, refurbished or renewed and installed..

The end result I want is an old skool "rod" look with as many safety refinements (eg Brakes) and modern touches to make it that much safer, go faster, stop quicker.. Also beautiful from every aspect..

You can't beat a good looking pan. Nice work. Is the cost just for the powder coating or for any repairs aswell? Either way it seems a good price.

love the idea of a budget - i did one - then multiplied everything by 2.

pan looks great!

nick

Rob

Let me know when your ready to refit the body

Collected the Rear Drums and Tubes from the powder coater today.. Unfortunately the backing plates had been missed and won't be ready till next week..
I need to get the drum internal circumference polished to get rid of some pitting and shit that has collected over the years.. Not sure where to get this done but will look into next week

Rob has asked me to re-do his tranny.
Since transaxles are all that i think about, day and night, (and sometimes girls),
I jumped at the chance to do this one since it is my hobby.

He had two early swingaxle cores, and considering that ther were at least 40 years old,
we were able to use quite a few of the original parts from inside.

Because of Rob's proposed lower than stock profile tyres,
and his need to cruise on the highway at a respectable speed and RPM,
we have chosen to use the 3.875 diff ratio, and a 0.82 fourth ratio.
(3rd is 1.26, second is 2.06, and first is 3.80).

The crownwheel and pinion came from a late AT tranny core(L Bug),
and the 0.82 fourth ratio is originally from a 1968 bus tranny.

Here is the difference between the original 4.375 diff and the replacement 3.875.
This is believed to be the strongest pinion that VW made for the beetle tranny.



With some swapping and adjusting of the various diff shims
I was able to fit it into a late swingaxle case(from a 1300 twin port car),
and get the pattern to where I wanted it.



This late case has the larger pinion bearing, a 12 volt bellhousing, and a nice long clutch arm.



Here is a shot of the .82 fourth gear whilst the gearbox was in the jig
for one of the trial assembly and checking routines.



Because of the additional strength that VW added to the later cases near reverse gear,
this case requires a different reverse idler gear than the ones from early sixties bugs,
so here is a shot of the new gear.
It is very common for the genuine gear to 'lean' the teeth over
and consequently pop out of reverse.
This gear is a special extra strong one I got from the USA
and it is from my secret stash of spiffy stuff I have been hoarding.



I used a new German seal and some Curil T, before fitting the clutch slide tube.



I also welded the clutch fork for additional strength.



Here is the finished tranny with my helper for the day.
Rob can get it looking all spiffy with paint and polish detail if he so wishes.



Your car should be a pretty sweet ride Rob!

Awesome Dave!.. I'm totally in your debt for this.. Thanks for the quick turn around!~

Well with the box finished I thought I'd go and collect the front beam from Boris at VVD/Campsie and stop for a talk with Con at VW Village/Kensington about the next stages.. Con will be looking after the rebuild of the floor pan/ running gear etc.. His son (George) will do the EFI modification to the 1916..

Next stop is Coventry Fasteners in Alexandria to replace every nut, bolt and screw required for the assembly..

Here is the refurbished adjustable front beam..




Con.. A top bloke!

nice beam rob! very fortunate to have a box built for you by dave!

will have to keep us up to date with the efi mods!

nick

Thanks Nick.. Yes, I'm happy the tranny will stand up to the rest of the car..

Rear Type 3 brakes re-build started today.. I stripped the brakes and have had all the components soaking in undiluted de-greaser for 2 weeks.. The shit comes off no problem with a wire wheel on a drill clamped to my work bench.. Revealing a nicely polished finish for the re-assembly.. I was going to paint these bits grey but can't see the need really..

Before cleaning


After cleaning


Comparison


FOOTNOTE:
[After all of this cleaning and screwing around, we discovered that the type 3 brakes had been retro fitted with 1500 brake shoes and slave cylinders.. Also the drums had next to no tolerance left and needed replacing..
Luckily Con had a set of early type 3 shoes and cylinders. We also located a new set up drums from Micks.. Oh the joy of it all]

[ Edited on 10-9-07 by StenGuns ]

I've located a late bug (74 I think) steering column.. The original reason was to do with safety as the later rods had a collapsible section.. Another advantage is that the late bugs have a much more comprehensive array of switches on the steering column stalks.. So I can wire all my accessories, Horns, Lights, Blinkers, Dip, Washer through the column..

The steering rods are both the same length however the diameters are different (late one is wider).. The late one fits the foot that attaches to the steering box so all good there..

The bracket on the column of the late bug is different however this is only a matter of setting new holes and making sure everything lines up correctly..

I'm well pleased to move on.. The next step is locating all the brightware bits.. Side strips, good quarter windows.. I want all OG stainless in near perfect condition so this may take a while..

Here's the column pix

Nice detail Rob - I saw your tranny in the midst of rebuild at Dave's....he is very meticulous as you are with the rest of the car so it will fit in well!

Pep the wonder-dog can only lift spanners up to a 13mm though, any bigger and she gets too front heavy and topples over!

good work rob good to see con is still around hes a top bloke helped me out many a time when i was living over there

do you still need that switch ive got in the shed mate

Woops.. No mate.. Wouldn't mind a 12V wiper assembly though..

ill have a look later in the week to see if he has one. ill return the switch back to him then

The gearbox arrived yesterday from Dangerous.. Well packed mate!

I hit it with wire wheels etc and then cleaned it thoroughly with acetone.. Polished up nice..

Then three coats of "Aluminium Color" engine enamel. It looks fantastic!

Tomorrow, down to the shop with the new drums for assembly..

nice work! should be quite the car when it's finished

Column cleaned, stripped and re-painted..
[IMG]

You will have to check the PARK position of the wiper motor before you fit the wipper arms otherwsie you may have to rotate the drive arm 180 degrees to get the arms to park in the correct position etc etc etc

Coming together nicely..

All the time cataloging, cleaning, replacing or refurbishing the parts as they were stripped down, is certainly paying off now. All clean and shiny!

do the dust caps on the vvds kit not fit???

nick

Lines all plumbed in this afternoon.. Brakes bled.. Sachs shocks bolted on.. Sway bar on.. Rear Bump stops arrive tomorrow.. Forgot camera.. Pix tomorrow..

[ Edited on 20-9-07 by StenGuns ]

do the dust caps on the vvds kit not fit???


they take the standard origional cap and fit perfectly
the pic is not right

Still waiting on the body to be completed.. A bit frustrating but we had issues with the alignment on the front passenger guard. Also we are recessing the seatbelt inertia reels into the B pillars (don't want to give too much away).. Whats else?.. Oh, custom running boards, repositioned battery etc.. All this takes time and patience..

While waiting, I'm slowly collecting all the bits I'll need for the assembly.. I purchased hyperbright LED indicator lights and have finished making up indicator pods to fit inside the 356 headlight housing.. Here is the unit.



Rear view Installed


Front view Installed.



Another