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GoMopar440
Samba Member
Joined: February 06, 2015
Posts: 491
Location: Montana
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 Posted: Thu Nov 05, 2015 8:47 pm Post subject: |
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| dustymojave wrote: |
| For the use and the buggy, using a T1 trans with a '68-'72 4.12 diff would be the best choice. Not the stoutest, but the best fit to the job. Earlier swingaxle 4.37 would accelerate and climb better, but run higher rpm on the highway. |
Would my '68 T3 swingaxle transaxle have this R/P? If I can make use of the parts in it to build a better gearbox suited for my rail I would probably want to hang onto it and go the Rhino case route. I'd have to buy the pieces (case, super diff, misc internals as needed, etc) one at a time to be able to afford it though.
| dustymojave wrote: |
| The only reason I can see for you to have to "slip" the clutch to start with a 69-72 4.12 trans is if it has the internals from a '73+ Bug with a 3.88 diff. But that ring and pinion doesn't fit in an early IRS trans like you have. Or maybe there's still something not right with the engine. |
All good points to look into. I'll need to get the transaxle codes off my case to see what year it is "supposed" to be. I could jack it up and spin the tires to confirm the R/P ratio, but I'm not sure exactly how to go about it on a vehicle with a transaxle setup. All my prior experience has been with vehicles that had a drive shaft between the trans and rear axle. The clutch slipping was partly due to massive wheel hop I was getting the few times I drove it before tearing into it for the rebuild. That may have been due to a broken upper shock bolt I found after I got back from the last time I took it out. I never took it out after fixing that bolt so I can't say for sure if that is all it was. Other times I had to slip it also may have been due to the pedal positioning. It's less than ideal for me and I will be making a slider plate for it over the winter to fix that. Once again, I won't be able to tell if that could be one of the issues until I have it running again. Lastly There may be some problems in the clutch system. When I didn't try to slip it, it felt pretty grabby like it might have some hot spots on the flywheel or PP. I'm not ruling out problems with the engine either until I get a chance to get deeper into it. So far I know the carb on there is leaking around the accelerator pump and the valves probably haven't been adjusted in a long time. I'll be addressing all of these issues, as well as any others I find, before it goes out on the road again.
| dustymojave wrote: |
| ...installing a bus IRS (002 or 091) would provide a stouter gearbox and drivetrain, but with 4.88 091, or 5.14 or 5.37 002 R&P ratios, your engine would be screaming at a slow speed on pavement. You would need to replace your motor mounts, axle shafts and CVs, and shift shaft to install the 002 or 091. |
That is my main concern with using any of the bus trans options (002, 091, 094). I'm not familiar enough with gearing to know what would work best with a 31" tire at normal highway speeds (70-80 MPH here). I realize there's no such thing as a free lunch and I'd have to sacrifice some low end grunt as a result of keeping the headroom on the top end. The shift shaft isn't really an issue to me. If I go that route (bus trans) I'll move the shifter up vertically to match the new trans shift shaft location. Those shift shaft adapter dohickeys aren't an option in my book. I'd rather deal with welding the shift box somewhere else once, than deal with compromised shifting feel every time I went to row the shifter through it's pattern. Mounts for the bus transaxles would be dealt with upon installation as required. However, after reviewing all the information you've brought to the table, it's looking like I'd be closer to meeting my overall goals by going with the Rhino case.
| dustymojave wrote: |
| Not unless you have some $$ stashed that you haven't discussed yet. |
 You actually got me really laughing out loud IRL when I read that. I WISH that were the case. As of right now me being retired/unemployed, and still recovering from back surgery, puts some major monetary constraints on this project. Like that old saying goes: "How do you eat an entire elephant? One bite at a time." 
BTW Richard: Thank very much for taking your time to answer my questions and add your insight. I try to take everything I read here and run it through my head to see if it seems reasonable or appropriate for my project. So far you've been pretty much on the mark with your suggestions and information as far as I can tell. Given my relative newb status when it comes to VWs, I know I've got a lot to learn and am grateful for any tips and tricks I can get on the subject.
Ok, I guess now I should get back on track and post up what I got done on the rail since my last update. Wait, wait, wait... First, I think I should post this pic I took yesterday morning. 
Looks like it's time to bundle up before heading out to work. 
Now that that's out of the way...
I shoveled the snow off the hood so I could open it to get to the pedal assembly. I tried to mount up the Varga MC but ran into an immediate fitment issue. The rear hydraulic switch was hitting the clutch MC when I tried to mount the brake MC. I had to remove the switch to gain the clearance needed to be able to bolt the brake MC to the pedal bracket. The clutch line was the next obstacle, but I was able to bend the line down ward a bit and gained the needed clearance.
To fix it I got a bolt (10mm-1.00 IIRC) and some O-rings from the hardware store. I'll be turning the bolt into a plug for the hole on the lathe. The reason for using the lathe instead of a hacksaw is that I want to put two O-ring grooves on it. One at the skinny end and the other under the bolt head. I'll also be turning the tip of the bolt to a rounded point to seal off the small hole in the MC. When the bolt is installed it will get thread sealant to help ensure it doesn't try to back out. With that there should be no problem holding back the pressure built up by the MC when the pedal is pushed in. The bolt will be fitted so the bolt head sits flush against the MC body when it is tight. If I run into any clearance issues between the two MC's, I will turn the head of the bolt to make it a bit thinner. However it looks like I have about 1/2" of room which should be enough without having to mod the bolt head.
The last item offering (very minor) resistance was the MC push rod I made. It is a little too long and will need to be shortened about 1/4" before it will hook up to the brake pedal and not preload the MC. At least it's easier to fix than needing to make a longer push rod.
As you may have guessed by the first pic, I didn't stay outside much longer than it took to test fit the MC. I need to get some more wood for the stove in the shop and the barn before I can work out there. The high temps have been in the low to mid 30's most of the week and the lows are down into the teens. 
_________________
Homemade rail for street & off road: BJ front beam (bent), IRS rear (boxed/maybe bent), stock T1 DP 1600, 009, 34PICT-3 (soon to be dual 40HPMXs), 4-1 glass pack exh, T3 brakes (F disk, R drum & Dual MC), Bug trans (002, 5 rib going in soon).
Link to my rail (re)build thread: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=629493 |
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dustymojave
Samba Member
Joined: January 07, 2007
Posts: 5802
Location: Lake LA, Mojave Desert, SoCal
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| Posted: Fri Nov 06, 2015 1:46 am Post subject: |
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| Would my '68 T3 swingaxle transaxle have this R/P? |
IIRC, a '68 T3 DOES have a 4.12:1 diff ratio. I used to have that info in a VW parts book. But I gave that book away some years ago.
According to Kennedy Engineered Products' chart, '68 T3 came with a 4.12 R&P.
http://www.ratwell.com/mirror/sandlizrd.baja.com/gears.htm
The jack the wheel up deal works fine on a car with a transaxle, but instead of counting just the ring and pinion ratio at the driveshaft, you take your readout at the crank pulley and have to include the transmission gear ratios. Use the chart linked above to determine each gear.
After nearly 50 years, the odds of having a gearbox which has had parts changed inside are high. It COULD BE a freeway flyer inside. Keep in mind that while we talk about gear ratios for a given year and model in this forum, that aftermarket suppliers have provided gears with other than stock ratios for decades. So the code on the outside of the trans case MAY NOT be representative of what is actually inside. It seems from your statement:
| Quote: |
| I'll need to get the transaxle codes off my case to see what year it is "supposed" to be. |
that you understand this already.
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Laughing You actually got me really laughing out loud IRL when I read that. I WISH that were the case. As of right now me being retired/unemployed, and still recovering from back surgery, puts some major monetary constraints on this project. Like that old saying goes: "How do you eat an entire elephant? One bite at a time." Wink
BTW Richard: Thank very much for taking your time to answer my questions and add your insight. I try to take everything I read here and run it through my head to see if it seems reasonable or appropriate for my project. So far you've been pretty much on the mark with your suggestions and information as far as I can tell. Given my relative newb status when it comes to VWs, I know I've got a lot to learn and am grateful for any tips and tricks I can get on the subject. |
I'm newly retired myself. No surgery or other substantial health problems like that, But I feel the tie-downs on your project budget. And while I'm retired, I'm trying to remember a time when I was so busy with so many things going on all at once. I enjoy helping others with offroad VW stuff. I like to share what I know while trying to not be a know-it-all a-hole. I learn from all this too. So you're very welcome for whatever I can do to help out.
The weather here went from highs in the upper 80s and lows in the mid 60s to highs in the 50s and lows in the low 30s in a couple of days this past week. It was weird to watch the temperature map of California on teh LA ABC station's web page the other day as a cold front moved across California. As the page refreshed, temps went from 88 to 78, to 68, to 58 to 53 as the front passed. Tonight as I write this post, I'm tending the fire for the 1st time this fall with frost settling on things outside. Nowhere near as cool as up in Montana, but cool for the SoCal desert. I can see snow from my house, but it's a mite higher upslope still.
_________________
Richard
Offroading VW based cars since 1965
Tech Inspection 1963 - 2012 SCCA/SCORE/HDRA/MORE/MDR +
Retired from building Bajas, Fiberglass Buggies and Rails in the Mojave Desert. Also Sprints & Midgets, Dry Lakes, Road Race cars. All types New and Vintage
SoCalBajas Member
Kicked Cancer's A$$...1st and 2nd round...Fight ain't over yet. |
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GoMopar440
Samba Member
Joined: February 06, 2015
Posts: 491
Location: Montana
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| Posted: Sun Nov 15, 2015 2:47 am Post subject: Re: Budget rail rebuild and dual carbs project |
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We had a decent day today temperature wise so I worked on refurbishing some parts. I disassembled, cleaned and painted all the T3 steering column parts a couple of days ago. So today I reassembled most of it to keep those parts together. I still need to replace the turn switch assembly as well as the horn and key switch wiring though. I want to eventually swap to a center mount Saco rack so I'll be shortening the column tube and making some bearing pockets to fit it.
One thing I found that I really didn't like was that the PO hacked up the factory aluminum steering wheel mount to fit an aftermarket steering wheel. Crooked holes, egg shaped holes, holes that didn't go all the way through, misaligned holes, OD contoured with a dull butter knife, etc. It had all that going on. Since I have a lathe and some aluminum, I'm going to fix it right so it won't be an issue anymore.
To start, I chucked the adapter up in the lathe and turned the OD edge smooth. Then I took a truing cut on the face so the part I will make to fix it will have a surface that is perfectly perpendicular to the steering shaft. To make the cap that will go over this piece I cut a corner off of a big slab of some T6 aluminum. It's about 3.5" square by .900" thick, so it'll take a bit of turning to get it down to size. I'll be working on that tomorrow.
For the poorly made holes, I'm making some threaded aluminum plugs to fill them back up. I'll lock the plugs in with JB weld and cut them of just above the surface. After that dries I'll drill a smaller hole in the edges of the threads and put a small aluminum pin in place to lock the plugs in place permanently. The small pins will be JB welded as well. After all that is dry, the adapter will go back in the lathe to get rid of the parts of the plugs and pins that are sticking above the surface. I'll give the details of what I'll be doing with the big aluminum chunk tomorrow.
Earlier in the day we were having a mini heatwave outside (50*F). I spent a little time trimming more metal and junk off of the T3. Everything ahead of the front cab firewall, except for the front axle and subframe arms, has now been chopped off. All the rest of the wood body panels got unscrewed or hammered off. The windshield and the front roll bar got lopped off with the sawzall as well. I was pretty sure the roll bars were made of pipe, and after getting the first one off I could finally see that it's made of 1/4" thick walled pipe. Not sure if that makes it schedule 40, 80 or whatever. It doesn't really matter since whatever I don't sell is all going to the scrapper when I'm done with it.
I'll try to get some pics uploaded tomorrow. For now I'm going to bed.
_________________
Homemade rail for street & off road: BJ front beam (bent), IRS rear (boxed/maybe bent), stock T1 DP 1600, 009, 34PICT-3 (soon to be dual 40HPMXs), 4-1 glass pack exh, T3 brakes (F disk, R drum & Dual MC), Bug trans (002, 5 rib going in soon).
Link to my rail (re)build thread: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=629493 |
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GoMopar440
Samba Member
Joined: February 06, 2015
Posts: 491
Location: Montana
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| Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2015 9:22 pm Post subject: Re: Budget rail rebuild and dual carbs project |
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First, the pics of the cleaned up adapter. I already turned the adapter on the lathe so you don't get to see how bad it was before I started on it.
This next pic will give you an idea of the quality of work that was done to it before I got it. And, No, that's NOT just an optical illusion. The PO really did manage to get the hole that crooked.
And this is how it sits right now. I thought I had some tubes of JB weld but it turned out to be quick set epoxy. For this purpose it will work just as well here. I filed a flat on the aluminum threaded rod I made before inserting it so the epoxy could have a big surface area to lock against.
Here's the square chunk of aluminum after I started turning it in the lathe. The center hole is already bored out to size and the face is now turned flat. I started turning off the square edges to make it round, but they were beating my little lathe to death. This is where I stopped and took a step back and looked for a better way to do this part of the process.
I cut the first corner off with a hack saw closer to the desired round profile, but that took way too much effort. I had the sawzall in the shop with me so I put it to work on the other corners. It was a struggle to hold the chuck steady, and hold the sawzall where it needed to be, but I was able to get the three other corners removed as well. Then I was able to continue turning the OD round with a little less complaining from the lathe.
However, when I tried to bore out the center pocket to fit over the adapter, it became apparent the damage to the lathe had already been done earlier. The bit wouldn't hold steady and just rolled off the aluminum when I tried to take even a tiny cut. I backed out the tool post and immediately noticed the problem. the entire tool post was loose. When I tried to tighten it down there was no resistance on the clamping screw. I removed the tool post and found the problem. The clamp screw was shorter than it should have been and the excessive vibration ripped the threads out of the cast mounting base. To fix it I'll need a longer screw and a time-sert, which is a solid and much stronger version of the more common wound wire type Helicoil. http://www.timesert.com/
Until I can repair the lathe, any projects needing to be turned down will just have to wait. 
_________________
Homemade rail for street & off road: BJ front beam (bent), IRS rear (boxed/maybe bent), stock T1 DP 1600, 009, 34PICT-3 (soon to be dual 40HPMXs), 4-1 glass pack exh, T3 brakes (F disk, R drum & Dual MC), Bug trans (002, 5 rib going in soon).
Link to my rail (re)build thread: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=629493 |
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GoMopar440
Samba Member
Joined: February 06, 2015
Posts: 491
Location: Montana
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| Posted: Fri Nov 20, 2015 10:35 pm Post subject: Re: Budget rail rebuild and dual carbs project |
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I took more parts and junk off of the T3 recently and got the engine ready to pull. The dual carb setup from the T3, Solex 32PDSIT-2 (left side) and -3 (right side) carbs, is in the middle of getting cleaned and rebuilt. I'm only working on one carb at a time so I can still use the other for a reference when reassembling the first one. I haven't decided if I want to use these 32 PDSIT's or the 34 PICT-3's. The mounting flanges on both are the same size, but the studs are oriented differently. If I want to use the PICT's on the PDSIT manifolds I'll have to get a little creative to make them work. Nothing unreasonable that a little machining can't cure.
My dad stopped by and brought a new water heater with him a couple days ago. We've been installing it and doing other maintenance type deals on the house, so I didn't too much done on the rail over the last few days. He's heading back home in the morning so I'll be getting back at it tomorrow.
While he was here I had my dad help me pull the engine out of the T3 today. It went pretty quick and easy with two people working on it. I had already stripped everything off of the top and rear of the engine before he got here. All it needed to remove it was to take off the bottom two nuts under the bell housing and then pull the ATV jack back to get the trans input shaft out of the end of the crank and then lower the jack. Another floor jack placed under the back corner of the body was able to lift the car enough to pull the jack with the engine on it out from under the car. It's a whole lot easier when you don't have to worry about the paint on the car.
All I have left to take off the T3 is the swing axle trans and a section of the tunnel for the E-brake mount. Everything else that isn't useful is getting cut up into manageable sized chunks and hauled off to the scrap recyclers. Any useful parts that I won't be using will be getting traded or sold off.
_________________
Homemade rail for street & off road: BJ front beam (bent), IRS rear (boxed/maybe bent), stock T1 DP 1600, 009, 34PICT-3 (soon to be dual 40HPMXs), 4-1 glass pack exh, T3 brakes (F disk, R drum & Dual MC), Bug trans (002, 5 rib going in soon).
Link to my rail (re)build thread: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=629493 |
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dustymojave
Samba Member
Joined: January 07, 2007
Posts: 5802
Location: Lake LA, Mojave Desert, SoCal
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| Posted: Fri Nov 20, 2015 11:15 pm Post subject: Re: Budget rail rebuild and dual carbs project |
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Type 3s have a bolt-on rear torsion housing assembly. Great for buggies. And the slightly stouter than Bug torsion bars are good for Bajas and buggies offroad. So I recommend you not discard that part of it.
_________________
Richard
Offroading VW based cars since 1965
Tech Inspection 1963 - 2012 SCCA/SCORE/HDRA/MORE/MDR +
Retired from building Bajas, Fiberglass Buggies and Rails in the Mojave Desert. Also Sprints & Midgets, Dry Lakes, Road Race cars. All types New and Vintage
SoCalBajas Member
Kicked Cancer's A$$...1st and 2nd round...Fight ain't over yet. |
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GoMopar440
Samba Member
Joined: February 06, 2015
Posts: 491
Location: Montana
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| Posted: Sat Nov 21, 2015 12:15 am Post subject: Re: Budget rail rebuild and dual carbs project |
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Sounds like I'll need to take a closer look at it before breaking out the sawzall. I won't put it on this existing rail frame, but may consider it for the new one I want to build next year. Thanks for the tip (again).
_________________
Homemade rail for street & off road: BJ front beam (bent), IRS rear (boxed/maybe bent), stock T1 DP 1600, 009, 34PICT-3 (soon to be dual 40HPMXs), 4-1 glass pack exh, T3 brakes (F disk, R drum & Dual MC), Bug trans (002, 5 rib going in soon).
Link to my rail (re)build thread: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=629493 |
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GoMopar440
Samba Member
Joined: February 06, 2015
Posts: 491
Location: Montana
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| Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2015 4:36 pm Post subject: Re: Budget rail rebuild and dual carbs project |
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We've had some unusually frigid temps for a while now, making doing anything outside foolish and downright miserable. Today wasn't too bad (high 20's and no wind) so I went outside and started removing more metal from the T3. Not much to say about it so I'll just let the pics do the talking.
BTW: I don't know if it was the outside temps or the steel VW uses, but I broke 6 brand new Dewalt and Milwaukee sawzall blades cutting the edges of the pan and tunnel today.
_________________
Homemade rail for street & off road: BJ front beam (bent), IRS rear (boxed/maybe bent), stock T1 DP 1600, 009, 34PICT-3 (soon to be dual 40HPMXs), 4-1 glass pack exh, T3 brakes (F disk, R drum & Dual MC), Bug trans (002, 5 rib going in soon).
Link to my rail (re)build thread: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=629493 |
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oldcrow
Samba Member
Joined: July 29, 2015
Posts: 156
Location: middle Georgia
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| Posted: Thu Dec 03, 2015 7:29 am Post subject: Re: Budget rail rebuild and dual carbs project |
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hey GoMopar440 what is all that weird looking white stuff on the ground?
all I have down here in the south is red clay.
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73 super/ Baja'd |
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GoMopar440
Samba Member
Joined: February 06, 2015
Posts: 491
Location: Montana
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| Posted: Thu Dec 03, 2015 7:15 pm Post subject: Re: Budget rail rebuild and dual carbs project |
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I think that's just bird shit. Did you notice the chickens running around in the other older pics?
I spent quite a bit of time stationed on the Gulf Coast (MS and TX mostly) so I'm very familiar with that red clay down there. It's a pain to clean off of dirt bikes and ATV's and usually stains the plastics. At least the snow melts away in the spring. Unfortunately the red stuff it usually leaves behind (rust) is just as problematic to get rid of.
_________________
Homemade rail for street & off road: BJ front beam (bent), IRS rear (boxed/maybe bent), stock T1 DP 1600, 009, 34PICT-3 (soon to be dual 40HPMXs), 4-1 glass pack exh, T3 brakes (F disk, R drum & Dual MC), Bug trans (002, 5 rib going in soon).
Link to my rail (re)build thread: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=629493 |
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dustymojave
Samba Member
Joined: January 07, 2007
Posts: 5802
Location: Lake LA, Mojave Desert, SoCal
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| Posted: Mon Dec 07, 2015 10:07 pm Post subject: Re: Budget rail rebuild and dual carbs project |
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And here I thought maybe you went and got your place powder coated!
_________________
Richard
Offroading VW based cars since 1965
Tech Inspection 1963 - 2012 SCCA/SCORE/HDRA/MORE/MDR +
Retired from building Bajas, Fiberglass Buggies and Rails in the Mojave Desert. Also Sprints & Midgets, Dry Lakes, Road Race cars. All types New and Vintage
SoCalBajas Member
Kicked Cancer's A$$...1st and 2nd round...Fight ain't over yet. |
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GoMopar440
Samba Member
Joined: February 06, 2015
Posts: 491
Location: Montana
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| Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2015 6:00 am Post subject: Re: Budget rail rebuild and dual carbs project |
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We've gotten about 5-6" of more snow over the last couple of days and the temps are about 30*F for the highs during the day. I haven't been able to do much with the rail recently as a result. I did add a couple more tarps to the rail to keep the snow off the engine and out of the cab area.
I hauled all the loose Type 3 parts I have down to Brax's place yesterday and swapped some of them for parts I could use on the T3 engine. I'm converting the T3 engine over from the flat layout to the more common T1 upright style to make it easier to get parts for. I picked up a doghouse shroud, left and right top cylinder tins and an alternator stand for it so far. These pieces are all used factory VW parts, so I shouldn't have too many fitment issues with them (compared to the chinese stuff).
I'm going to fire up the wood heater in the barn today and start cleaning up these used parts to get all the old gunk off. I'll be trimming the outer edges of the cylinder top tins for use on the open rail. Like these-> http://www.appletreeauto.com/OFF-ROAD-DP-CYL-TIN-BLACK/ The doghouse tin will get the left and right heater hose connections removed and capped off flush like I already did on the other engine. Last steps will be to work out any dents or dings and then sand blasting and painting.
_________________
Homemade rail for street & off road: BJ front beam (bent), IRS rear (boxed/maybe bent), stock T1 DP 1600, 009, 34PICT-3 (soon to be dual 40HPMXs), 4-1 glass pack exh, T3 brakes (F disk, R drum & Dual MC), Bug trans (002, 5 rib going in soon).
Link to my rail (re)build thread: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=629493 |
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GoMopar440
Samba Member
Joined: February 06, 2015
Posts: 491
Location: Montana
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| Posted: Wed Dec 16, 2015 6:12 pm Post subject: Re: Budget rail rebuild and dual carbs project |
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After getting the fire going in the wood heater I let it warm up the barn for a while before starting to do any work out there. The high temps today were a balmy 22*F and we're forecast to get down to 2* tonight with a couple more inches of snow to boot. Fun stuff.
Anyway, I started with the cylinder top tins first. I used the pics of the off road modified tins, in the link I posted earlier, as a reference to give me an idea where to cut. These tins both have a bunch of cracks around the holes to either side of the recess for the intake. I'm going to get the cracks TIG welded after I'm done with the trimming, straightening and sand blasting. There's not much material left holding the tabs on after I trimmed the metal back. It's going to require a delicate touch while working on them in order not to break those tabs off the tins. Worst case, I'll break them completely off and just have to make some new tabs and get those TIG'd on instead.
After trimming I used a ball peen hammer and the flat end of the vise to work out the few minor dents in the tins. There were only a couple of noticeable dings and a few crooked edges but they're all smoothed over and straightened out now.
Sand blasting was the last thing I did today. I had to polish both sides of the plexiglass to be able to see anything first though. I eventually want to replace the plastic window with a tempered glass one for a little better durability, but this is all I have to work with for now. I found some polish that was good for plastics at the hardware store. As an added bonus, it was on clearance ($4 instead of $16) and it also adds a static/fog shield to whatever you put it on. Very helpful on a sandblaster that creates tons of static electricity while you are using it. It worked ok on the fluorescent light cover inside the cabinet, but not as good as it did for the window.
Anyway, now I was ready to get back to working on the parts. Or so I thought. I have a huge compressor that puts out more volume than the blast cabinet requires to run. However the blasting has always been spotty in it. I finally figured out why I would sometimes get no grit coming out of the nozzle, while still getting plenty of air. There's plenty of blast media in the bottom of the hopper so that wasn't the problem. When I looked inside the cabinet I noticed the see thru pick up hose between the bottom solid pickup tube and the gun was kinked and pinched flat in a couple of places. I tried squeezing it back into shape but it just wanted to stay kinked no matter what I did or whichever way I turned it. I'm going to have to replace the hose with a non-collapsible hose with the same ID. A little longer hose would be helpful as well since I'm going to have to change it out anyway.
So that's where I'm at now, again. Having to work on my stuff before I can use it to work on rail stuff.
_________________
Homemade rail for street & off road: BJ front beam (bent), IRS rear (boxed/maybe bent), stock T1 DP 1600, 009, 34PICT-3 (soon to be dual 40HPMXs), 4-1 glass pack exh, T3 brakes (F disk, R drum & Dual MC), Bug trans (002, 5 rib going in soon).
Link to my rail (re)build thread: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=629493 |
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GoMopar440
Samba Member
Joined: February 06, 2015
Posts: 491
Location: Montana
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| Posted: Wed Dec 23, 2015 8:06 pm Post subject: Re: Budget rail rebuild and dual carbs project |
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A couple days ago I got the hose replaced on the sand blast cabinet and was able to finish the first cylinder top tin. After the metal was cleaned up I could see exactly how bad the tabs near the intake area were. They had cracks all over the tabs from the 90* bend in the metal and all through the bolt holes. I'll probably just trim them off and make some new tabs out of some of the solid metal I already trimmed off. First I'll test fit them to the T3 engine to see if I can get away with just riveting the tabs to the top tins. If not I'll have to get them TIG'd on later on. For now I just shot the entire piece with some metallic gunmetal paint to keep it from rusting until I'm ready to do something with it.
Yesterday I hauled the first load of scrap metal off to the dump. It wasn't worth taking to the recycling place since it would have cost me more in gas to get it there than I would have gotten from it. The recycling place was only offering $10 per ton for car scrap metal. I never got any PM's from any of the posts I put up in the T3 section offering the metal for free plus whatever actual shipping cost would be. I hate to just junk it, but I can't store this stuff as my barn and shop are both filled with too much stuff already. If I just piled it up in there, I wouldn't have anywhere left to be able to work in.
Getting back on track, today I went outside in the 25*F weather to start cutting up the T3 into more manageable sized pieces. I got everything from the dash forward chopped off in one large chunk. I'll have to at least cut that big piece in half, or smaller, before I can move it. I still wanted to try to save the heater channels mostly intact as they don't seem to be too rusty overall. I cut forward through the driver side wheel well, above the heater channel, and got about 1/2" from getting all the way through before the new sawzall blade snapped. The remaining piece of the blade wouldn't come out no matter how I tried. I ended up having to completely disassemble the blade chuck and front of the sawzall in order to finally be able to get that broken piece of the blade out. Since I had it all apart I went ahead and cleaned and polished the chuck parts. I added some grease to the parts as I reassembled it to keep it from binding up like it was before I had to disassemble it. Much better now. However by then I had about as much of the cold as I could stand so I called it a day.
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Homemade rail for street & off road: BJ front beam (bent), IRS rear (boxed/maybe bent), stock T1 DP 1600, 009, 34PICT-3 (soon to be dual 40HPMXs), 4-1 glass pack exh, T3 brakes (F disk, R drum & Dual MC), Bug trans (002, 5 rib going in soon).
Link to my rail (re)build thread: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=629493 |
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GoMopar440
Samba Member
Joined: February 06, 2015
Posts: 491
Location: Montana
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| Posted: Fri Dec 25, 2015 3:08 pm Post subject: Re: Budget rail rebuild and dual carbs project |
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Merry Christmas everyone! Hope everyone is doing well and having a good time with your families and friends.
We didn't have any guests over today so I had some free time to tinker with the T3. After bundling up in some insulated coveralls (it was about 14*-20*F outside today) I continued whittling down the T3 with the sawzall. A couple hours and five broken blades later I had to call it quits for today. The T3 is now looking more like a T0.125 after today's chop session. 
I kept the heater channels intact as best as I could since they seemed to be in fair condition. I may try to adapt them to the rail when I enclose the cockpit area. I'd eventually like to use one of those VW gasoline heaters for heat so I can drive this rail year round.
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Homemade rail for street & off road: BJ front beam (bent), IRS rear (boxed/maybe bent), stock T1 DP 1600, 009, 34PICT-3 (soon to be dual 40HPMXs), 4-1 glass pack exh, T3 brakes (F disk, R drum & Dual MC), Bug trans (002, 5 rib going in soon).
Link to my rail (re)build thread: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=629493 |
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daanbc
Samba Member
Joined: April 09, 2015
Posts: 403
Location: S.Fl
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| Posted: Sat Dec 26, 2015 12:09 pm Post subject: Re: Budget rail rebuild and dual carbs project |
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| Merry Xmass, did you make the lift in the truck too? That must come in real handy. I'm still waiting on the cold weather, so I can open up the house. A/C is still running mid 80's.!!!!!!! |
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GoMopar440
Samba Member
Joined: February 06, 2015
Posts: 491
Location: Montana
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| Posted: Sat Dec 26, 2015 4:03 pm Post subject: Re: Budget rail rebuild and dual carbs project |
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The lift in the truck bed is the short one they sell at HF. You can get them on sale for around $60-70 once in a while, or just use a 20-25% off coupon. http://www.harborfreight.com/automotive-motorcycle...60732.html
I don't do well in the heat so I'd rather live somewhere cold. That way I can just bundle up as needed to stay warm. When it get's hot out and you have to work outside, you can only take off so much clothing before someone calls the cops. 
Speaking of cold, it's about 17* out here and I just got back inside from working on hacking up the rest of the T3 (or is that T0.125?  ). I finally have all of the body and tunnel separated from the rear torsion assembly. All that is left now is to remove the transaxle from the torsion assembly. My back wouldn't let me keep working on it so I stopped there for today.
I also did a temporary fix to the mini lathe earlier today before I started on the T3. The threads that pulled out were only 1/3 of the way into the hole. I got a longer bolt and cut it so it was just barely missing the bottom of the hole as it tightened up the tool post. The bolt still has the threads in the bottom 2/3 of the hole to grab onto, so that should get me back up and working for a while. Just not today, I'm pretty well spent after working outside yesterday and today.
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Homemade rail for street & off road: BJ front beam (bent), IRS rear (boxed/maybe bent), stock T1 DP 1600, 009, 34PICT-3 (soon to be dual 40HPMXs), 4-1 glass pack exh, T3 brakes (F disk, R drum & Dual MC), Bug trans (002, 5 rib going in soon).
Link to my rail (re)build thread: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=629493 |
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dustymojave
Samba Member
Joined: January 07, 2007
Posts: 5802
Location: Lake LA, Mojave Desert, SoCal
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| Posted: Sat Dec 26, 2015 4:41 pm Post subject: Re: Budget rail rebuild and dual carbs project |
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Even if you throw away the rest of that, those 26mm IRS rear torsion bars are worth something.
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Richard
Offroading VW based cars since 1965
Tech Inspection 1963 - 2012 SCCA/SCORE/HDRA/MORE/MDR +
Retired from building Bajas, Fiberglass Buggies and Rails in the Mojave Desert. Also Sprints & Midgets, Dry Lakes, Road Race cars. All types New and Vintage
SoCalBajas Member
Kicked Cancer's A$$...1st and 2nd round...Fight ain't over yet. |
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GoMopar440
Samba Member
Joined: February 06, 2015
Posts: 491
Location: Montana
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| Posted: Sun Dec 27, 2015 2:55 am Post subject: Re: Budget rail rebuild and dual carbs project |
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I would think the torsion bars are the same for either swing or IRS right? If so, I'm definitely going to be saving the T3 rear torsion housing. The plan is to use it on the new frame I'm planing on building next year. I'll just have to get an IRS jig so I can add the mounts for the diagonal arms to it.
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Homemade rail for street & off road: BJ front beam (bent), IRS rear (boxed/maybe bent), stock T1 DP 1600, 009, 34PICT-3 (soon to be dual 40HPMXs), 4-1 glass pack exh, T3 brakes (F disk, R drum & Dual MC), Bug trans (002, 5 rib going in soon).
Link to my rail (re)build thread: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=629493 |
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VWCOOL
Samba Member
Joined: June 02, 2006
Posts: 1821
Location: Down under
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| Posted: Sun Dec 27, 2015 4:17 am Post subject: Re: Budget rail rebuild and dual carbs project |
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| GoMopar440 wrote: |
| I would think the torsion bars are the same for either swing or IRS right? If so, I'm definitely going to be saving the T3 rear torsion housing. The plan is to use it on the new frame I'm planing on building next year. I'll just have to get an IRS jig so I can add the mounts for the diagonal arms to it. |
Unless there are differences for the US/CN market ...no.
IRS torsion bars are longer.
That means softer/less harsh for the same diameter/rate 
FWIW, Type 3 wagons have 23.5mm bars, the sedans (you didn't get) and Fasties are 22mm
HTH |
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