Wow,
this whole time I had been neglecting to mention the prep work I have been doing
on the frame, getting it ready for repair.
I have been ripping off whats left of the floor pan where it meets the frame tunnel and cutting out
rusty SHIT.
Yet another side track; I have pulled all the wiring out from behind the dash,
in preparation for the rewire.
Also I have been salvaging the last of what I want off what is left of the body from the red beetle.
Sorry I'm not good enough at writing to do a good job "chronicling my exploits."
There are many things to do, and I like to jump around allot.(both figuratively and literally)
My entries likely reflect that.
I will try to keep track, and you will get the gist of it.
Sunday, March 15, 2020
More rear brake stuff
Today was busy yet relaxed.
I had started in on soaking one of the back plates in thinner last night,
at my friends work shop.
So part of today was spent trying to clean the backing plates.
After some cleaning I started looking at handbrake stuff I had taken out of the assemblies.
I was thinking I wouldn't fix up the handbrake system right away.
Partly due to cost, because the cables were cut and ripped out,
and partly because I don't find the need for one often.
The thing is, I figure I would like to do a nice job closing off the hole where the cables are supposed to go into the brakes.
Now that I'm a bit older, and maybe some bit wiser, AND I have a friend with equipment,
why not do an unnecessarily nice job and machine little aluminum plugs to take the place
of the end of the handbrake cable where it enters the brake.
So there you go, I spent the rest of the day smelting scrap aluminum, casting some dumpy looking bar stock, and finally machining a small test plug on the lathe.
All that work to yield something as big as the end of your pinky.
I will add another photo of the finished product later.
Thank you and good night! :)
I had started in on soaking one of the back plates in thinner last night,
at my friends work shop.
So part of today was spent trying to clean the backing plates.
After some cleaning I started looking at handbrake stuff I had taken out of the assemblies.
I was thinking I wouldn't fix up the handbrake system right away.
Partly due to cost, because the cables were cut and ripped out,
and partly because I don't find the need for one often.
The thing is, I figure I would like to do a nice job closing off the hole where the cables are supposed to go into the brakes.
Now that I'm a bit older, and maybe some bit wiser, AND I have a friend with equipment,
why not do an unnecessarily nice job and machine little aluminum plugs to take the place
of the end of the handbrake cable where it enters the brake.
So there you go, I spent the rest of the day smelting scrap aluminum, casting some dumpy looking bar stock, and finally machining a small test plug on the lathe.
I will add another photo of the finished product later.
Thank you and good night! :)
Thursday, February 27, 2020
Rear brake packs
Two days ago(I think),
I started removing the rear brake packs.
One of the first things I noticed is, they didn't have the same springs,
and one was missing its hand brake hardware.
Both hand brake lines had been cut and ripped out,
though one brake still had the appropriate lever and the cable end attached,
while the other one had neither.
The brake on the driver side with no hand brake stuff had a heaver spring,
and less worn brake shoes.
I suspect those two facts are related.
The one on the passenger side must of taken more of the hydraulic power,
due to less resistance from its weaker spring.
Upon removing the back plate to the brake assembly, I "BORE WITNESS"
to the amazingly beautiful "made in Germany" axle bearing.
Fifty years old, and still like new.
To digress, sometime between what I mention above,
and the last post I have been prepping the frame tunnel for welding.
I am half way done, and will do more on a sunny day.
I am looking forward to doing some welding with this AC stick welder
my grandpa gave me.
Though I am feeling cautious, because I want to do a good job.
:)
I started removing the rear brake packs.
One of the first things I noticed is, they didn't have the same springs,
and one was missing its hand brake hardware.
Both hand brake lines had been cut and ripped out,
though one brake still had the appropriate lever and the cable end attached,
while the other one had neither.
The brake on the driver side with no hand brake stuff had a heaver spring,
and less worn brake shoes.
I suspect those two facts are related.
The one on the passenger side must of taken more of the hydraulic power,
due to less resistance from its weaker spring.
Upon removing the back plate to the brake assembly, I "BORE WITNESS"
to the amazingly beautiful "made in Germany" axle bearing.
Fifty years old, and still like new.
To digress, sometime between what I mention above,
and the last post I have been prepping the frame tunnel for welding.
I am half way done, and will do more on a sunny day.
I am looking forward to doing some welding with this AC stick welder
my grandpa gave me.
Though I am feeling cautious, because I want to do a good job.
:)
Tuesday, February 11, 2020
Removing rear wheels
Today I took a look at removing the passenger side rear wheel.
I want to look at the brakes, pull the pack apart, and clean everything.
The first thing I noticed was the wheel flange adapters.
Mystery solved, as to why I have a modern 5 bolt pattern in the back. :D
I'm not sure if I'm going to keep these adapters, because they add about an inch of 'poke'.
Though I do want to retail the 5 bolt pattern so... :P
One of the bolts holding the adapter to the drum was a real fucker.
It stripped out on me. :(
In retrospect, I should have shown it some more love right from the beginning.
But I got too exited with my ratchet and cheater pipe,
and no amount of care and attention was able to help me after that.
So I took a different avenue, I can just take the drum off the axle all together,
and fuss with the fasteners later.
It was at this point I noticed there was no cotter pin in the crown nut. :O
I scurried over to the driver side, it was the same, and it was finger tight. XD
Good thing this car was not in driving condition when I got it.
Otherwise I likely would have 'just gone for it'.
And died.
Any hoo, I got the drum off and loosened the four bolts holding the brake package on.
and the rest I will look at another day :)
I want to look at the brakes, pull the pack apart, and clean everything.
The first thing I noticed was the wheel flange adapters.
Mystery solved, as to why I have a modern 5 bolt pattern in the back. :D
I'm not sure if I'm going to keep these adapters, because they add about an inch of 'poke'.
Though I do want to retail the 5 bolt pattern so... :P
One of the bolts holding the adapter to the drum was a real fucker.
It stripped out on me. :(
In retrospect, I should have shown it some more love right from the beginning.
But I got too exited with my ratchet and cheater pipe,
and no amount of care and attention was able to help me after that.
So I took a different avenue, I can just take the drum off the axle all together,
and fuss with the fasteners later.
It was at this point I noticed there was no cotter pin in the crown nut. :O
I scurried over to the driver side, it was the same, and it was finger tight. XD
Good thing this car was not in driving condition when I got it.
Otherwise I likely would have 'just gone for it'.
And died.
Any hoo, I got the drum off and loosened the four bolts holding the brake package on.
and the rest I will look at another day :)
Sunday, January 19, 2020
Catching Up.
Ok,
entrys few and far between may become a theme.
I will be putting forward small effort to change that.
Take that as you will.
So, yesterday my good friend PeanutButter helped me drag my parts car
into my back yard.
Initially we pulled the engine out, and pumped up the back tires,
but the rear brakes were seized.
Proper rolling was not an option of convenience.
<insert>
With half the body gone though, it was humanly possible to muscle this thing around a bit by hand. Let me say right here that PB is really strong and I could not have done it this way by myself.
Beyond the muscling we pulled the parts car around with his Suzuki Samurai, leaving streaks in the front lawn.
Thankfully there is not much of a lawn in the front to begin with.
By the time we arrived in the back yard, I remembered I have an engine trolley I built in the past for my Mustang project. (Stupid me)
So we put the trolley under the back axle, and with much effort,
"hand bombed" that bad boy(or girl) into place behind my workshop.
<insert>
entrys few and far between may become a theme.
I will be putting forward small effort to change that.
Take that as you will.
So, yesterday my good friend PeanutButter helped me drag my parts car
into my back yard.
Initially we pulled the engine out, and pumped up the back tires,
but the rear brakes were seized.
Proper rolling was not an option of convenience.
<insert>
With half the body gone though, it was humanly possible to muscle this thing around a bit by hand. Let me say right here that PB is really strong and I could not have done it this way by myself.
Beyond the muscling we pulled the parts car around with his Suzuki Samurai, leaving streaks in the front lawn.
Thankfully there is not much of a lawn in the front to begin with.
By the time we arrived in the back yard, I remembered I have an engine trolley I built in the past for my Mustang project. (Stupid me)
So we put the trolley under the back axle, and with much effort,
"hand bombed" that bad boy(or girl) into place behind my workshop.
<insert>
Thursday, December 19, 2019
Third entry thus far - Thu 19 Dec 2019
Well a WebLog doesn't work if you don't keep up the log right?
I received my parts beetle sometime last week, and have since started cutting it apart.
Yet another "broken down rusted out shit box" gracing my front yard.
I try to keep my mess to a minimum. It pleases my girlfriend, and after all
it is her yard in which I am doing this, so that is of high priority.
Man, I am not feeling much "flow" tonight so lets see if I can get any. :p
What Am I keeping from this car?
Why am I cutting it up?
The things I plan on keeping from this car are as follows:
-Glass
-Doors
-Frame/Suspension
-Lights
-Dash
-Wiring harness
-Steering columb
The things I will be selling are as follows:
-Fenders?
-Engine
-Transmission
-Maybe the dash mentioned above.(likely)
As for why I am cutting it up?
So I can easily dispose of the rest of it. :)
That's all for now.
Hopefully juicier stuff next time.
I received my parts beetle sometime last week, and have since started cutting it apart.
I try to keep my mess to a minimum. It pleases my girlfriend, and after all
it is her yard in which I am doing this, so that is of high priority.
Man, I am not feeling much "flow" tonight so lets see if I can get any. :p
What Am I keeping from this car?
Why am I cutting it up?
The things I plan on keeping from this car are as follows:
-Glass
-Doors
-Frame/Suspension
-Lights
-Dash
-Wiring harness
-Steering columb
The things I will be selling are as follows:
-Fenders?
-Engine
-Transmission
-Maybe the dash mentioned above.(likely)
As for why I am cutting it up?
So I can easily dispose of the rest of it. :)
That's all for now.
Hopefully juicier stuff next time.
Monday, December 9, 2019
Lets get started.
Seeing as I have started this project a few months before the start of this blog,
I will have to catch things up a bit here. So with my second post allow me to explain a bit;
A while ago, (though I'm not sure how long ago, but it was still warm and sunny)
I bought a VW Beetle almost right out of the bush. A guy I know who we will refer to as
Cool Car Dave, was quite the car guy in his youth. And this Beetle was among many
old projects of his, stored at a large property owned by his father.
I saw this beetle a few years ago when I was on my Mustang quest,
and the car stayed in the back of my mind ever since.
Now that I had sold my Mustang to a friend of mine,
and coming freshly back from college it didn't take long for me to yearn for
something to sink my teeth into.
Life up untill this point had only let me flirt with a Beetle project,
witch was something I always wanted to do. So I went ahead with it and bought the car.
$400 plus 60 to get the old girl/boy? towed to my place.
At this point I will try not to ramble, so here I go.
One of the first things I did was to clean it out. While I did that, I summed up the work to be done.
Slowly discovering things as I explored (one of the best joys in mechanics).
Next thing I did was to get the engine running in some capacity.
With some gentle babying that was achieved (preoiling and hand cranking before firing).
And the other major thing I have done between then and now, was removing the floor.
The floor was badly rotted away (witch is to be expected), and there had been some
fun loving farmer style repairs done with some square tube welded in here and there.
The chairs where welded right to the square tubing, though I was able to rip them out by hand. :P
The floor was obviously due for a well considered repair.
So far I have only removed the floor, and done some scribbling of plans for a new floor.
My floor will be done with Inch and a half square tube (inspired by quick job I cut out).
Did I mention this car was the victim of a Baja kit? I like it. :D
Last note; Today with luck and help from two good friends, I purchased another beetle for spares.
It's a realy cool one, though it is in REALLY rough shape.
I look forward to receiving it tomorrow.
I will have to catch things up a bit here. So with my second post allow me to explain a bit;
A while ago, (though I'm not sure how long ago, but it was still warm and sunny)
I bought a VW Beetle almost right out of the bush. A guy I know who we will refer to as
Cool Car Dave, was quite the car guy in his youth. And this Beetle was among many
old projects of his, stored at a large property owned by his father.
I saw this beetle a few years ago when I was on my Mustang quest,
and the car stayed in the back of my mind ever since.
Now that I had sold my Mustang to a friend of mine,
and coming freshly back from college it didn't take long for me to yearn for
something to sink my teeth into.
Life up untill this point had only let me flirt with a Beetle project,
witch was something I always wanted to do. So I went ahead with it and bought the car.
$400 plus 60 to get the old girl/boy? towed to my place.
At this point I will try not to ramble, so here I go.
One of the first things I did was to clean it out. While I did that, I summed up the work to be done.
Slowly discovering things as I explored (one of the best joys in mechanics).
Next thing I did was to get the engine running in some capacity.
With some gentle babying that was achieved (preoiling and hand cranking before firing).
And the other major thing I have done between then and now, was removing the floor.
fun loving farmer style repairs done with some square tube welded in here and there.
The chairs where welded right to the square tubing, though I was able to rip them out by hand. :P
The floor was obviously due for a well considered repair.
My floor will be done with Inch and a half square tube (inspired by quick job I cut out).
Did I mention this car was the victim of a Baja kit? I like it. :D
Last note; Today with luck and help from two good friends, I purchased another beetle for spares.
It's a realy cool one, though it is in REALLY rough shape.
I look forward to receiving it tomorrow.
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