Brian's V-6 rail (re)build (pics added daily)

quadrazer · Posted: Wed May 19, 2010 5:38 pm Post subject: Tie rods

Got my new front tie rods installed. Holding off on the steering damper for the moment.
Also finished pulling the oil pan off the engine. Had to order the new Felpro oil pan gasket thru Autozone. Can you believe that??? They didn't have an oil pan gasket in stock for a 1976 Buick Skyhawk?!? Shocked

Hard to believe that parts for vintage 70's vehicles are no longer "normally stocked" items anymore. I'm only 36 years old, so I'll refrain from the "back in my day" speech! Laughing

Fed Ex dropped off my rear Max-Air shocks today. I'll try to get those on in the next few days. I actually have plenty of parts here now to keep me busy through the weekend. Still....I won't complain when UPS drops off my axles....since I got a full set of new Type 2 CV's on the shelf just waiting for them! Anxious

Also, I've been looking at some of the consoles/dashes available through various retailers. I was thinking of making my own, but I don't have enough sheet steel or aluminum left to build one (I have just enough left to build my skid plate and roof). I found a tall style console without holes (which is what I want), on eBay, but it was $120! Shocked

Any ideas on a less exspensive place to get one would be appreciated! If not, I'll break down and buy the metal and build mine.

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I DID wash my hands....the rest is 'built-in' dirt!

My build: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=409845

quadrazer · Posted: Thu May 20, 2010 4:26 pm Post subject:

Tore apart the electric fan assembly from my radiator. Talk about crusty! Confused

Aside from all the dirt and grime, both motors had a lot of surface rust on them, but ran great. And I found one of the fan blade retaining e-clips was rusted almost in half! So, once again.....scrub clean, scuff, prime, paint and clear! Smile

I'll reassemble it tomorrow when the paint is dry (with new e-clips and bolts) and install it on the radiator.

Here's what the assembly looked like when I pulled it apart...if you look close, you can see the rust on the motors:

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And here is a close up of one of the motors after I refinished it:

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And here is one of the fans after painting...I like the look of the satin clear coat on these Very Happy

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I DID wash my hands....the rest is 'built-in' dirt!

My build: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=409845

tanner_122 · Posted: Thu May 20, 2010 4:35 pm Post subject:

lookn good man
damn that last pic that paint looks good!! Very Happy

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quadrazer · Posted: Thu May 20, 2010 4:44 pm Post subject:

Russ Wolfe · Posted: Thu May 20, 2010 4:55 pm Post subject:

I like that Duplicolor Silver. Pretty much a perfect match for the silver that VW used on their air cooled wheels.

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Society is like stew. If you don't keep it stirred up, you end up with a lot of scum on the top!--Edward Abbey

Gary: OK. Ima poop.

quadrazer · Posted: Thu May 20, 2010 5:39 pm Post subject:

Those look great Russ! Dupli-color spray cans are a very nice quality paint, and the results can be exceptional when the prep work is done right (like with your wheels! Very Happy

). And it's less of a hassle than having to drag out the HVLP gun and all the chemicals and cleanup that goes with it. I shot all my Vermillion Red paint (chassis, valve covers, ect) with my HVLP. Even with the exhaust fan running full bore in my shop, I still have red dust in here! Sad

Thank God for respirators! Wink

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I DID wash my hands....the rest is 'built-in' dirt!

My build: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=409845

quadrazer · Posted: Fri May 21, 2010 7:24 pm Post subject: Busy day...just not on the rail!

So I work an hour later than normal at work today. No big deal, off at 4:30pm...plenty of time to go home, grab a shower and wait for my HVAC buddy to come over at 6pm to hook up my central air unit.

So I get home at about 4:50pm and find a message on the answering machine from Autozone telling me my oil pan gasket is in. Good news, but I wish they would call my cell phone instead of the home phone, since I was already IN town...but oh well.

Jump in the truck and into town I go (2 minutes up the road from where I work Confused

) and I pull into Autozone at about 5:15pm. Run inside thinking..."this should be quick....it's already paid for, I just grab it and go!" So much for wishful thinking....they don't know where it is! Evil or Very Mad

They're lookin here...lookin there...as I stare at the clock and time's a wastin! Finally, one guy asks me..."What was this for?"

"For a 3.8L odd-fire V6 in a 76 Buick Skyhawk" ....I say.

He gives me "the look"....like I asked him to get a tail light for a Ford Pinto. Neutral

"Here it is!"...shouts a voice from the back of the store.

Evil or Very Mad

GRRRRR!!!! It's now 5:45pm....jumped in the truck and hammer down back to the house (watching for Mr. Police since I was a wee bit over the speed limit Anxious

. Pulled in the driveway at 5:58pm as I see my HVAC buddy sitting on my picnic table with a smile and a 6 pack of cold Coors Light Very Happy

. The next 3 hours consisted of remedial venting, sippin' some cold brew, and installing my central air unit. Good times! Laughing

After he left just past 9pm, I came out to the shop. I opened up my new oil pan gasket (just to behold it's glory after what I went through to get it!) Wink

I even posted a picture of it below just so YOU could see it! LOOK AT IT!!! LOOOOOOKKK!!!!!! Laughing

Then I bolted up my driver side Max-Air air shock (picture below). I'll get the other side done tomorrow....but for now...I need a shower, something to snack on, and my pillow! Night all!

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_________________
I DID wash my hands....the rest is 'built-in' dirt!

My build: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=409845

quadrazer · Posted: Sat May 22, 2010 4:00 pm Post subject: Cooling fans done

So I reassembled the cooling fan assembly, then got the fans installed on the radiator and had to call it quits for today. Had to help a buddy of mine rebuild his 4 wheeler carb, install it, set his valve lash, etc, etc. I hope to hit it pretty hard tomorrow and get some stuff wrapped up!

Assembled after cleaning and paint...ready to install:

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Installed on radiator:

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_________________
I DID wash my hands....the rest is 'built-in' dirt!

My build: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=409845

ts39136 · Posted: Sat May 22, 2010 5:58 pm Post subject:

That paint looks sweet!

I read through again, forgive me if I missed it...

What kind of fan is that? Are those plastic or metal blades?
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olmer2 · Posted: Sat May 22, 2010 6:48 pm Post subject:

Lookin' great!!!!!! Keep up the good work!
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quadrazer · Posted: Sat May 22, 2010 7:18 pm Post subject:

Thanks olmer2, ts39136. It's coming along bit by bit!

ts39136, the blades are actually plastic. But the new paint gives them an almost brushed aluminum look. Very Happy

Believe it or not, the entire radiator and fan assembly came out of a 1996 Ford Windstar that had a 3.8L Ford V6. I figured if this setup could keep a V-6 cool in a heavy minivan, it should work great for my light-weight rail...even with the built motor! On top of that, it was a complete unit, so it all fit together perfectly. I even used the factory rubber mounts at all four corners to help isolate vibration. I just had to built my steel mounting points to accept the factory Ford rubber mounts.

I'm gonna try to get the cooling lines run tomorrow. I got a few tricks up my sleeve for those that actually worked great for me last year. We'll catch you tomorrow!
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I DID wash my hands....the rest is 'built-in' dirt!

My build: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=409845

TrackerCasey · Samba Member Joined: April 08, 2007 Posts: 41

Probably the best build thread I have ever seen!!!

quadrazer · Posted: Sun May 23, 2010 5:28 am Post subject:

quadrazer · Posted: Sun May 23, 2010 11:02 am Post subject: Cooling lines finished

I got my engine/radiator cooling lines finished today. Now, since I have NEW issues with my daily driver truck...I have to jump over to that and get it tore down and get some parts coming for it! Evil or Very Mad

Upper and lower ball joints on both sides, and a front axle u-joint on a 3/4 ton Ram with Dana 60 axles, yeah.....those ought to be cheap! Shocked

There goes the next few days of my rail progress! Crying or Very sad

But special thanks to the guys at Autozone, who I deal with several times a week between work and home projects. They let me go back and look thru all the radiator hoses so I could find the ones I needed with the correct bends to make this work without a fight! Or maybe it was because of all the trouble thay had finding my oil pan gasket! Laughing

Either way, they helped me out!

And in case anyone is wondering, ALL of the rubber sections of return hoses have the springs in them to help prevent collapse.

Here's an overall pic of the cooling lines (in the upper left is the feed from the engine to the radiator, and in the lower right is the return to the engine water pump):
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Here is the return coming out of the lower radiator, and following the rear hoop section as it bends:
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And here (an overhead view) as it drops down from the rear hoop and curves into the lower part of the water pump:
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This shot is of the cooling line coming from the thermostat housing on the intake as it comes out and curves to follow the run of the left side down tube of the cage:
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And the route it follows as it ties in to the radiator inlet:
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Another view from the driver side of the inlet side of the radiator line and the run it follows:
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Well, gotta start working on my truck. Crying or Very sad

Not what I had in mind, but oh well. We'll see what happens.
_________________
I DID wash my hands....the rest is 'built-in' dirt!

My build: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=409845

Russ Wolfe · Posted: Sun May 23, 2010 11:42 am Post subject:

You want to come do the cooling system on my Single Cab, when I put the WaterBoxer engine it it?? Very Happy

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Society is like stew. If you don't keep it stirred up, you end up with a lot of scum on the top!--Edward Abbey

Gary: OK. Ima poop.

quadrazer · Posted: Sun May 23, 2010 12:30 pm Post subject:

quadrazer · Posted: Sun May 23, 2010 2:12 pm Post subject: A couple outdoor pics

I had to play 'musical chairs' with my project vehicles in order to get my truck in the shop so I could work on it. So.....since the rail was outside for a few moments, I grabbed a few pics of it in the sun. While far from done, I think it's looking pretty good out there on this 78 degree, sunny day! Cool

The rear end is squating pretty good since I only got one air shock on it, and it isn't aired up. Rolling Eyes

"That there V6 is purty heavy!" I'll get to it eventually! Very Happy

Where da shocks at?!?! Laughing

_________________
I DID wash my hands....the rest is 'built-in' dirt!

My build: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=409845

ts39136 · Posted: Sun May 23, 2010 6:40 pm Post subject:

SHINEY!!

I like those tubular torsion arms, solidifies the whole tubular theme.
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quadrazer · Posted: Tue May 25, 2010 12:57 pm Post subject:

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Brian's V-6 rail (re)build (pics added daily)
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