Test Fit

The rear fenders, hood, deck lid and doors have all been stripped and most of the metal work has been done. I repainted the front fenders right before the motor died so I'm not going to strip them. Everything has been bolted up and the lines are pretty good. They are all way better then the 56 ever was but could still use a little work.

It's in Primer

It's been 891 days, but it is finally in primer! The hood, decklid, fenders and doors are next. I'm still trying to decide if I want to replace my driver side door or put in the time required to fix the top hinge. I also need to finish the patch in the front passenger side fender well after replacing the hinge plate.

Stripped Bare

Now that the metal work is all but done, I decided to strip the body of all it's paint. Last time I did this, I used an air powered angle grinder and a few dull grinding disks... This time a used an Easy Strip Disk. WOW what a difference, it was faster and it had better results. I still need to go back and get the rust spot off with the grinder, but that shouldn't take too long. I also need to strip the inside and some of the nooks and crannies.

Firewall

After finally finishing all the nit picky little metal work crap that needed to be done, I got around to putting a newer style firewall in the bug. The 1600 style motor will not fit with the 36HP style firewall. So, as you can see, I cut the old one out and welded one in from a '64.

First Test Drive

Here is a short test drive on the street in front of my house! Seems fitting as today was the River City VW show at the fair grounds.

It's Alive!

I had to steal the battery from my truck to get it running, but here it is! The carburetor has been sitting for so long the gaskets are dried up. So I will have to rebuild it when I get back from vacation. But I was able to drive it up and down the driveway tonight. Once I get the carb rebuilt and get it running a little better, I'll shoot some video and post that as well.

Here is another shot of the engine. I have the muffler and air cleaner installed as well as all the ignition parts. To get the muffler installed I had to cut the flange off the header and weld it back on at the correct angle. I guess I could have just bought the right header, but what fun is that?

Engine

I can't come up with words to describe these images... All I can do is sit back and enjoy the view!

That is a factory 36HP shroud that I welded a dog house back onto.

With any luck I'll be able to start and drive it this weekend.

Engine

It's been a long time coming, but I finally have the motor finished and ready to be installed. I have all the tune-up parts on order and hope to have them here next week some time. There are still a few miscellaneous bits and pieces I need to pick up, but the engine can be installed before they have to go on. Things like a throttle tube and hard fuel line.

Transmission

This afternoon I was able to spend a little more time in the shop. I got the CV joints repacked and the new boots installed. I painted the axles yesterday so they were good and dry. I also got the bolts that hold everything together cleaned and painted. The throw out bearing is on order so the only thing left is to detail and install the engine.

Transmission

I got the call from Hook today letting me know my transmission was finished. I picked it up on my way home and installed it after work. Hook used all brand new German parts so I made sure to use a fully synthetic gear oil. This is not your typical $300 rebuild so I figured it was worth the extra $30 to get a good quality lube for it. I still need to clean and repack the CV joints so I can mount the axles.

Front Apron

Today it was time to finally get the front apron pounded back into shape. Because the bottom of the apron was creased it was going to take a fair amount of work which was going to be difficult at best with the apron on the car. So I decided to cut the damaged section out, do the metal work and weld the patch back in. It worked quite well.

The other thing I got done was to replace the section where the hood meets the car. This patch came from a 65 that I just put a new front and rear clip on. Luckily this section of the old clip on the 65 was not damaged.

Rear Brakes

Next up was to fabricate a bracket that can be used to hold the rear brake lines in place. Remember, the CB Performance rear disc brakes came with hard lines all the way to the caliper. I used a hard line to the top of the trailing arm then a soft line the rest of the way so I can do a brake job and not have to disconnect the caliper. After 6 or 7 revs of the stamp made out of cardboard, here is the real thing.

It has now been welded to the top of the trailing arm where the rubber stop attaches. It turned out quite well. The bracket is very solid and should not have any problem holding the brake line in place. The brake lines have now been bled and the brake system is complete.

Rust Repair

There is not very much rust on this car at all, but when I rolled it up on its side, you can see there is a hole in the bottom of the driver side heater channel. The soft metal is almost truly contained in the bottom plate only, but there are some small pin holes in the side panel and the part under the back seat where the body attaches to the pan. None of it should be hard to fix.

I started by cutting the soft metal from the bottom and the side panels and cleaning the back side of the top panel. Once that was done, I sprayed the inside of the heater channel with a weld through primer to protect it all so I don't have this problem again in the future. Not that this car will ever be driven in the rain.

Finally, I cut a new side panel and a new bottom pane and welded them in place. To attach the bottom panel, I drilled a series of small holes along each of the 2 long edges and spot welded the panel in place. I then butt welded the 2 short edges to the existing metal on the car. I did not bother to put the ridges in the bottom panel since this is not a show car.

Rear Apron

I was finally able to get back to work on the bug this weekend. I started by rolling the body up on its side and finishing the rear apron. I filled in the exhaust cutouts on the heat shield and cleaned all the rust off the back side of the apron. I then sprayed everything with weld through primer and attached the shield to the back side of the apron.

Decklid

After taking a few weeks off, I was able to get back to working on the bug today. I decided to do some work on the body just for a change of pace. As I noted in an earlier post, the KSR lid I bought did not have the correct curve so I fixed that today. With the hinge strip removed the lid has very little rigidity so I started by welding it to the car to ensure it had the right shape. I then welded some 3/4" square tubing in the shape of an A to the skin of the lid. This held it in the correct shape after cutting it free from the car. I was then able to set the lid on the work bench and weld the hinge strip back in place. Once it was complete I cut the A frame from the skin and set it back in place. It turned out quite well. It's probably 95% correct and I should be able to just "convince" it the rest of the way.

Front Suspension

My goal for this weekend was to get the front end totally reassembled. I got the beam painted yesterday and most of the assembly was done today. The only thing left now is to get the rotors turned so I can mount them and the calipers. I've done the alignment as close as I can get it and the height is adjusted as well.

Front Suspension

Between last weekend and this, I was able to get all the front-end parts cleaned, stripped and painted. The calipers have new pads, the steering box has fresh grease and a new top gasket. All the bolts have been cleaned and painted or clear coated and everything is ready to be installed. All that is left is to pick up the beam and trailing arms from Hooks and I hope to do that this week.