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Post by Volktales on Apr 22, 2018 21:39:08 GMT -8
 Sooo, here is the filler neck from the parts car blasted and painted. No rust through, so that is good.  The original main body grommet was like new, so was reused. The rotted clamp was replaced with an exact original matching one from the stash. The main rubber hose is new, and a tight fit on the neck. Just visible is one of those "giant rubber bands" installed on the neck, and another waiting to go on the tank. In reality these were left off, as the new rubber hose was a very tight fit.  Hose and neck installed, everything under the hood cleaned up...  One of the original hose clamps had gone AWOL, but again the big box-O-clamps revealed a matching one. Original VW, of course...  And that hardboard thingy that I didn't know what it was for? TheSamba had the answer, and its purpose is to protect the filler/breather pipes.  The support bracket for the filler neck needed some help. The household repair cabinet revealed a curtain rod support that worked just dandy. And yes I know a welded repair would be better, but ain't going to happen in my tiny workshop.  And some more plumbing cabinet pieces made their way onto the car as well. The original retainer bracket had rotted away and this repair, although cheezy, is nice and strong. And no I did not have a suitable original clamp for the new breather hose... Also note that I had to remove my homemade "plugs" for the fuel filler and breather holes. Good thing they were not welded in place...  Time to remove some more of that "patina"   Fifty years of grub removed. The original liner was in amazing shape. Funny they didn't use black like every Beetle instead. This is much brighter and maybe looks bigger??? Anyway another part of the project completed. Now to figure out what to do with the replacement fenders... |
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Post by Volktales on May 5, 2018 21:20:38 GMT -8
Due to a bunch of necessary but boring stuff (doing taxes and other crapola), nothing much got accomplished on Reagh's Notchback during the last couple of weeks. Tomorrow we will get back at it and get something done. Really.
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Post by Volktales on Jul 4, 2018 21:31:03 GMT -8
I hate to say, but nothing has been accomplished on this lately, as I have to get my Beetle ready for the road. Rest assured, things will be continuing on this as soon as possible...
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Post by Volktales on Jul 15, 2018 21:47:27 GMT -8
Well, something did happen with this yesterday. I had to move the car in order to get my fully assembled Beetle engine off the bench, and out of the garage. So this is the result...  It started up, shifted into reverse, and backed out of the steep basement driveway. Then it drove into the back yard. Just as though it had been driven yesterday, not 18 years ago! Hopefully it will be ok on the road as well. Won't know this until that fender is ready for installation... One thing I did notice however. Earlier when getting the car running, I topped up the ATF (transmission fluid). Yesterday I checked the level of gear oil in the differential. Note that these transaxles use ATF in the transmission portion (and torque converter), and 80w90 gear oil in the differential portion. The two fluids are kept apart from mixing by something called a double seal buried deep in the transaxle. If this seal stops doing its job, the result is a dropping of the ATF level and an increasing of the differential oil level. This is exactly what has happened here. This was a common problem with many earlier VW automatic transmissions. Anyway it may have taken years for the seal to have allowed this transfer, so I will drain the contaminated differential oil and refill, then monitor the situation. We will see... |
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Post by magikbus on Jul 17, 2018 16:46:21 GMT -8
If the automatic transmission is going to be a problem you could always convert it to a standard. ;-)
Stan
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Post by Brenticon on Jul 17, 2018 20:08:51 GMT -8
And from what Stan tells me, it's pretty straight forward
Should be ready to go in 4-5 years
😉😀👍
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Post by Volktales on Jul 17, 2018 22:15:01 GMT -8
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Post by magikbus on Jul 18, 2018 6:44:11 GMT -8
Good, fast, cheap. Pick any two Brent!
Stan
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Post by magikbus on Jul 18, 2018 15:29:22 GMT -8
OK Brent, here's a hint, I didn't choose fast.
Stan
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Post by tony on Jul 18, 2018 15:46:14 GMT -8
.……..or GOOD...….lol  |
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Post by magikbus on Jul 18, 2018 19:40:00 GMT -8
Well that's not very kind Tony. I think the stuff I've done has been good, at least for me. I know I don't have the skills or the experience of someone like Russ, but I try. The mechanics so far have gone well, I won't know about my skills at bodywork until I get right into it, but it's never been touted as a budding trailer queen, as it's designation will be used on backroads around the island so it'll be kind of silly to aim for perfection and then get it pinstriped on it's very first trip into the unknown. Our last bus took us on two trips to Newfoundland and back successfully so I think I did something right restoring it.
Stan
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Post by Volktales on Jul 28, 2018 16:57:03 GMT -8
 So today it was finally back to doing something on this project. I needed to make up some reinforcing plates to remount the front bumper. But first the "U-tube" needed to be reinstalled. This in theory just pushes in through the apron holes, but car must be taken to not damage the plastic "boot"s that seal around the tube arms.  These are the reinforcement plates I made up. There purpose is to sandwich the mounting points for the front bumper irons to add some strength to this area. The original mounts are a common Type 3 rust spot due to their very poor design, and these plates will help to reinforce this area.  This is what they look like installed. Seemed to work out OK.  Then the bumper was refit, although this will have to be removed when the missing fender is replaced. I also spent a lot of time on cleaning connections in the wiring to get the horn working again...  Also took the new wiper assemblies apart to repaint them to a more era correct silver. This is not hard to do, but I wish the truly "correct" parts were available.  Although other things worked out well, I was not happy about the paint. I had previously polished the hood up nice, and it looked good. When I parked the car outside for two days in the sun, somehow the blotchy paint on the hood rejuvenated itself, and not in a good way. Hard to see in this picture, but looks crappy again. Don't really have a good explanation for it either... Anyway, I just need that fender back, then it is time for a proper test drive! |
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Post by Volktales on Aug 11, 2018 19:27:08 GMT -8
 It was a big day for the Notchback last weekend. Reagh is going to continue to work on the fenders and decide what to do about the paintwork, and how far to go with body repairs. Once he has the fenders ready, I will reinstall them and take the car out for final testing...  Reagh himself is happy, as he no longer has to make "vroom vroom" noises himself, as the car is now capable of doing that! Lets hope it will drive down the road nicely too.  The Notch is back to Reagh's garage for now. I am happy that he later took it out for a quick drive, and the transmission shifted well. He can have a fiddle with it for now and hopefully it will be fully roadworthy soon. Now I have a new quicky project in the garage to deal with...  |
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