New Zealand T34 Ghia project

MonT3 · Posted: Sun May 17, 2015 9:46 am Post subject:

That pad is awesome! You did an awesome job with all of your armrests and pads. Thanks again for the recommendation on using a 2-part versus the can of foam.
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racoguy · Posted: Sun May 17, 2015 7:16 pm Post subject:

Thanks fellas I'll look at extending the door seal a little, don't think there's any major problem grafting a piece on especially in a place where its not really even seen.
Clatter you're not wrong man, been in that situation too many times having a half a** job presented with the hand out for payment so after years of disappointments I just figure out how to do it myself........you sort of have to.

Anyway last night I machined up some new knobs, much happier with version 2

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

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racoguy · Posted: Sun May 17, 2015 7:27 pm Post subject:

t3kg · Posted: Sun May 17, 2015 8:42 pm Post subject:

racoguy · Posted: Tue May 19, 2015 1:08 pm Post subject:

Finished off the rear compartment carpet with some foil backed underlay from TMI, doubt it will do much to dampen the aircooled clatter in the back but that's all part of the charm with these old cars Laughing

I'm really glad I went with the more expensive carpet in the end as it does look really nice I think.
I'll have to start testing and finishing the electrics soon, just ordered the last couple of parts I needed for that mainly the interior light from Stoddard.

Is there any known sources for the smaller diameter foil hose / heater hose??
Most of mine is very brittle and damaged and it would be nice to be able to replace it all.

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racoguy · Posted: Wed May 20, 2015 2:19 am Post subject:

Never mind, found some.
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F.BOUTIER · Posted: Wed May 20, 2015 3:22 am Post subject:

Hello John ,

Is it the 28 mm inner diameter heater hose ?

Where did you find some , please ?

Franck.

racoguy · Posted: Wed May 20, 2015 3:26 am Post subject:

Not sure on the ID but the OD is 34 as per the original, i'll pm you.
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F.BOUTIER · Posted: Wed May 20, 2015 3:42 am Post subject:

Ok John , thank you !

I sent you an e-mail for the clamps.

Franck.

Brent · Posted: Wed May 20, 2015 5:13 am Post subject:

Wolfsburg West has a pretty good selection of these hoses.
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racoguy · Posted: Sun May 24, 2015 12:22 am Post subject:

Next on the list was to make a new strip of dash vinyl to hide the painted dash along the window edge, since I still had the original it was easy enough to copy it and make a new one from the same grained material as the door tops.
Had to heat it to be able to curve it in the corners and actually made it in two pieces since my roll of material wasn't wide enough to do the whole thing in one go, coat of black vinyl paint and glued it in place.
By the time i'm done I could probably write a book on restoring this car!

Bought another heater during the week which meant I had to make my box and vinyl frame longer again to be able to do the dash tops, that was yesterdays work along with getting everything ready and set up again for what hopefully will be the last round of vacuum forming.
Early this morning I decided to have a shot at doing the lower dash and to be honest was pretty nervous as you really do only get one shot at it.
Things didn't go all that well as it turns out and in hindsight I should have gone about it differently but what's done is done.
The vacuum has such force that if the item is not supported correctly it will distort under vacuum which is what happened here, not much I can do about it and after a few hours of corrective work I at least have it in the car.
I'm far from happy with the finished result but I'll live with it for now, all bolted down it looks ok enough.
Probably more because I know where all the problems are but when you consider what most of us T34 owners start off with its not all bad.
Decided against doing the dash top for now, I'll think more about how I'm going to tackle that as that really does have to be right.

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MonT3 · Posted: Sun May 24, 2015 8:55 am Post subject:

That lower piece looks amazing. I have to ask about the grain of vinyl you’re using. Is it the Madrid patter or another being used? I’ve been looking at grain here locally but haven’t seen anything close to what my dash has. I haven’t read in the grain threads of a matching grain. Is the grain you’re using the closest to what you had? If so, could you share the patterns name? I’m looking at this site and plan on contacting them on their vinyl products, specifically the Wallaby Black. http://foammart.com/index.php?nsc=automotive&pcat=vinyls#categories
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Engine rebuild
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gregson1 · Samba Member Joined: December 13, 2004 Posts: 464

Looks great! I'm also curious about the vinyl grain used.

The factory painted the metal dash vent area black, too.

t3kg · Posted: Sun May 24, 2015 10:27 am Post subject:

Looks fantastic. You're the only one that will see the imperfections because you know where they are -- to us it looks perfect.

I've done a little research on vinyl grain recently and I think what you have is closer to what's known as "levant" grain.

Levant was used for GM vinyl tops in the late '60s and early '70s, and reproduction material is available but it's fabric lined. It's also similar in grain to the Tolex that Fender amplifier cabinets are covered with. I'll bet SMS Auto Fabrics could source or even produce what we need. Group order, anyone?
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2011: 50 Years of the VW Type 3 / September 29–October 1 / California Central Coast

t3kg · Posted: Sun May 24, 2015 10:32 am Post subject:

racoguy · Posted: Sun May 24, 2015 1:13 pm Post subject:

Interesting question, the vinyl used for dashboards is not your ordinary upholstery type vinyl. I would describe it more as plastic rather then vinyl as its very rigid / stiff hence having to heat it to over 150c to make it pliable enough to vacuum form.

The roll of material I bought I just got lucky with, there was 1 company in all of NZ who had a 80cm wide roll in stock so I bought the whole roll, previous to that I'd not had much luck finding dash vinyl and I guess I got lucky with the grain as it does look very close to original.
The one company in the country doing dash re skinning wouldn't sell any material as another upholstery supplier imports the material only for them.
As you can see, grain on one side and smooth on the other almost like a sheet of plastic, most of these materials are never black either they come only in a couple of colours which have to be vinyl painted to match what you have. I'm sure it will be available in the US like everything is.......
NZ is another story.......

That reminds me, anyone reproducing glove boxes? would save me making that as well.

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racoguy · Posted: Sat Jun 13, 2015 3:26 am Post subject:

Been sourcing and waiting for a few of the little parts needed to finish off certain jobs on this, some parts are better than others as per the norm with aftermarket stuff and usually you have no choice so what's available is all there is.
I was pleasantly surprised with the interior light from Stoddard, looks really nice, on the flipside the interior finger guards from KGP&R are absolute shi#te but with modification they just work and were cheap so...........
After a few weeks break from vacuum forming I decided today was the day to get er done so to speak and put this process to bed, at one point I was close to ripping it all off and starting again but managed to save it through perseverance.
Ran out of vinyl paint so that wasted a good couple of hours finding some more as I was determined this was going to get done today!

From here there's a couple of hours finishing off wrapping the vinyl over and gluing down / trimming edges etc.
Not half bad after a coat of black! Paint was barely dry and the dash is in my hot little hand on it's way over to the car to mount this sucker.
Pad bolted down completed another step in the interior, also installed the glove box which amazingly was good enough to go right back in after 52 years of service.
Scott's awesome glovebox decals were next, man are those things fragile!
All went well though but a lot of care and patience needed...........patience is not my strong suit..........

Last thing for the day I had a go at installing the windscreen by myself as there was no one here to help, the rubber doesn't want to stay on the glass too well but once you install the trim it seems to tie it all together.
A trick I've always used to make sure the rubber seals is to spray a rust preventative like Tectyl on the outside edge of the glass and then install the seal, with the seal on I again spray the Tectyl on the rubber itself and on the window frame then install the glass.
The screen went in easy as, started seating the rubber at the bottom using the weight of the glass pushing down and once the whole lower lip was seated I gave it a good bash with the palm of my hand, then worked my way up each pillar with one hand pushing from the outside and the other pulling the rope.
Final stretch along the roof meeting in the center it was in, a good number of slaps seated the glass in place and hopefully it seals.
The only hassle with the rust preventative is it gets on everything and everywhere but once cleaned the result is awesome.
I always find that a project feels like its turned a corner once all glass is in and certainly today was one of those days, more parts off the floor / shelves and back on the old girl.
I'm quite amazed how good a shape this 50 year old glass is in, sure there's some de-lamination and a chip or 2 but still pretty damn nice. Pretty glad it's back in there instead of leaning against the wall looking to get broken.

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racoguy · Posted: Sat Jun 13, 2015 3:33 am Post subject:

I also bought a bunch of these funky metal ties but had to do a bulk buy to get some, result is I have a lot of spares to help others.
Let me know if you need some, they are cheap and I can post overseas.

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t3kg · Posted: Sat Jun 13, 2015 5:59 am Post subject:

Congrats on the great progress! The upper dash looks really good.

Are those metal ties sized for the heater boxes or are they the smaller ones as used on the rubber fan housing connectors? If they're the smaller ones I could use some.
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I WAS THERE! The 2017 Type 3 Rally / September 29–October 1 / Cayucos, CA
2014: The 2014 Type 3 Rally / October 3–5 / Cayucos, CA
2011: 50 Years of the VW Type 3 / September 29–October 1 / California Central Coast


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New Zealand T34 Ghia project
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