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Tue Mar 23, 2010 11:13 am

I know it sounds like a lot of dough for a locked-up, non-running AE/AS engine, but the days of finding them running and complete for $50 are long gone. I don't think you got hurt on it at all. If it were me, I'd keep it and stash it away out of the weather. New tins aren't expensive (well, not THAT expensive), and you won't come across too many 1600 DP engines these days. I'd like to have a spare myself.

I've had to push back working on the Super for the time being. I'm removing/rebuilding/reinstalling a 2.2 four-banger in a '98 GMC Sonoma for a guy in town. He's giving me his '94 Dakota 4x4 for doing it, and I'm in desperate need of a daily-driver 4x4... or at the least, a TRUCK. So as soon as his P.O.S. is finished, I'll get back to mine. I got a billet dash gauge panel the other day, but no matter how I look at it, it's going to be a royal pain in the arse to get it to fit. Now I know why they quit making the things!

Tue Mar 23, 2010 11:44 am

Yeah I know that it isnt a bad price, considering it looks to be original to the car, and not cracked or anything. I was debating on keeping it and rebuilding it, and that still might happen, but my buddy has his '73 with a cracked block, and I would like to see him get his on the road aswell, so if he wants to buy it, it is his, if not, it is mine.
As for the gauge panel, I don't know how they go in, just cut and fit in there?

And finally on the beetle, no updates, was going to have the floors done yesterday, but the weather decided not to cooperate, so hopefully over the weekend, I will have updates.

Sat Mar 27, 2010 7:49 pm

Well, just a small update, I got the drivers side floor back half cut out, and the new piece in there. Found out that someone used regular sheet metal to repair the floors, so while it cut nice and easy, and the welds practically broke off, it was alot of trim, test fit, hammer, trim, repeat. I wanted to get both sides done today, but I didnt have any more good jigsaw blades. I got the panel riveted in in a few places, so I can fab up some rust hole patches, and I don't have a welding hood yet, but it holds my weight fine. Will put up some pics tomorrow.
-Patrick

Sat Apr 03, 2010 8:32 pm

Another little update, and will have pics from the other update up aswell in a few.
Anyway, got the passenger pan quarter in today, definitely came out alot better than the drivers side, guess I knew what I was doing a little more. It was the same story though, just sheetmetal that was bent and welded in, but this side wasn't as crappy looking as the drivers side. Just need to weld them both up and patch a few gaps and I should be ready to coat and carpet the floor.
I also took the apron off, actually I took the passenger fender off, and the apron basically fell off. I have another rear clip to put on, and will replace the apron on that to a new one. I just want to wait on that because I dont want to cut up the new bumper mounts ( the exhaust sits high and the bumper mounts were cut away to fit right) so I need to get a new header and muffler before I go ahead with the new rear clip. Will put pics up soon.
-Patrick

Sat Apr 03, 2010 11:09 pm

Here are some pics of what I have done so far.

What both rear floor quarters looked like, just sheet metal bent to fit.

New floor pan quarter

Drivers side floor ( Still need to fill in gaps and weld, just riveted in for now).

Passenger side floor, came out a lot better than the drivers side.

The bumper mounts on the car, you can see how they were cut up to fit the exhaust. And yes, they are rotted too.

The rear end how it is now, I just put 2 bolts in the fender to see how it looked.

The rear clip I got. Thanks 58lolight 8) .
Still a lot left to do, but it is getting there. Noticed I had a snapped valve spring in the engine that came with the car, so I robbed one from the junkyard head, but haven't worked on the engine much yet other than misc. things, and mocking up the engine tin that I can salvage from both engines.
-Patrick

Thu Apr 08, 2010 3:30 pm

It's taking shape, eh? I wish I could say the same for mine- it's still outside in the driveway, covered with a tarp. I finally modified the aluminum dash panel last night to accept my Sunpro Tach. I still have to get the Volt, Temp, and Clock gauges for it, but at least I've got it underway. I've been looking EVERYWHERE for an aluminum glove box door, but have had zero luck. I bought my new sunroof (and I don't care what the purists say about the glass ones, because I like 'em), and will hopefully get back to working on the car in a month or two. The biggest problem I'm having at the moment is deciding what brand/size of tires I'm going to run on it. I have a complete new set of Remington Z-rated P205/55ZR 15's, but I don't want to run them on two different widths of wheel, and I haven't been able to locate other sizes in that series. So, basically, I have a new set of tires that I can't use on anything. Plus, I have a complete set of new Nova 165R 15's on my original VW wheels that I can't use, either. I'd be more than happy to trade all eight, plus the five wheels from the car (spare included), two wide-five wheels with new tires, and a new BF Goodrich P195/65R 15 tire that I don't know where it came from for four new ones to fit my needs. That would eliminate all of the extra wheels and tires that I don't need, and get me what I DO need. But since the car is just sitting for the immediate future, I'm not in a fizz to get something done about it.

I have three hoods in various states of dentage, and wish I could find a steel or fiberglass one in good shape. There's a large VW junk yard about two hours to the west of me that I need to go check out, but the wife and I are pretty far behind on bills (I've been running the garage off of an extension cord for the last month), so we can't afford the fuel, let alone parts! I kinda blew every cent we had a few weeks back on two ('47 and '54) Dodge Power Wagons that are really, really rough. For $1000, I simply couldn't say no- I've wanted one my entire life, and they are really hard to find these days... but, then again, I don't really NEED any more projects.

Anyway, keep the updates coming- maybe they'll eventually get me motivated enough to get something done on mine!

The Super Dash

The '54 Dodge Power Wagon

The '47 Dodge Power Wagon[/img]

Thu Apr 08, 2010 10:46 pm

Nice dash and nice find on the power wagons, I had a '78 power wagon with plow, and you simply couldnt kill it. I took out trees with it and it kept on truckin.
As for my bug, it is slowly getting there, I cut back on the things I wanted to do, and am just trying to get it on the road and safely drivable, because we might be moving, and I dont want to pack up all my parts and get confused about where they go or lose anything in the move. I am hoping to go back to the scrapper tomorrow to pull out some more parts because I need a tranny cradle to mount the engine, as mine is bent and garbage, and I might try to find a set of seats too. Aside from that, I hope to get the floors welded and seam sealed, and maybe get the front halves cleaned and coated with rustoleum for now.
-patrick

Mon May 03, 2010 1:44 pm

almost got the pans welded in, went out to finish it today and then it started to rain, put it all away, and then it stopped raining.. Hoping to get them done over next weekend, and then coating them, and saving for some more parts.