TX-73 Bug Rebuild

[TX-73]

Home safe and sound.

Next phases will be suspension and wiring.
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My 1973 Standard Beetle Build SOLD
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[TX-73]

couple more pics, the shop that painted it also took pics along the way, I'll get them on a thumb drive. Thought that was pretty nice of them

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My 1973 Standard Beetle Build SOLD
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[TX-73]

Time for suspension work. Front beam will get a disc brake setup with new spindles along with all new balljoints, tie rods, etc. I'm also thinking I may get a larger swaybar if there is a true improvement in handling.

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My 1973 Standard Beetle Build SOLD
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[CWAVE]

That is truly a beautiful colour! Great job!
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My 1973 Sports Bug Body off Restoration:
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=666556

[TX-73]

Thanks CWave

OK, here's some more stuff.
I removed the ball joints from the arms - it really wasn't that big of a deal to tell the truth but then I don't think they were the original ball joints. At least I hope not lol. I've got a Harbor Freight ball joint tool that has worked fine over several vehicles. I fitzed around a bit with some spacers and sockets to allow room to press out the BJ's, got them started out and couple wacks with a hammer they were out. I did give them a soak with PB Blaster and I think that helped a lot. I cut the lower BJs to allow space for the socket I was using since they were going in the trash anyway. I scraped the heavy gunk off, next they go into the blast cabinet. I'll then primer them only before installing the new BJ's, then paint with caliper paint. I've got a press that I may use to do the install rather than the C-clamp.

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My 1973 Standard Beetle Build SOLD
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[TX-73]

I went ahead and installed the hood/engine lid weatherstripping so that when I set the lids in place they will rest on the weatherstripping instead of the paint.
Nice to compare now and then.....

One question that I have is how does the engine lid weatherstrip terminate at the top? For you eagle-eye guys the overspray area is planned to be painted black

The rest of the trunk strip fit nice.

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My 1973 Standard Beetle Build SOLD
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[TX-73]

I also sprayed the engine compartment and underside of the rear seat area with textured mat-finish paint, Summit brand. The engine compartment will get the 3-piece firewall cover set as well.
I've used this paint before and like it, it gives a nice texture finish that dries well and is easy to touch up if needed. The body underside and under-hood/below gas tank areas will also get this finish. Plus it's easy - just clean up the area and apply. This will be a driver, so I'm not interested in painted undersides, been there done that and I don't want to fuss with keeping up paint finishes on undersides.
The undersides of the fenders and inside fender wells on the body will be painted with a bedliner type material just to provide a bit more durability. Suspension parts will be painted with gloss black paint.

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My 1973 Standard Beetle Build SOLD
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[TX-73]

Sandblasted/primered arms ready for new ball joints.

I also pinged the ends as a reminder of which way the ball joints are installed. In this one, the shaft of the ball joint goes to the left, same side as the ping marks.

New Febi ball joints - I found out the plastic cap is provided for shipping protection. Each ball joint also gets a washer under the nut and will be sure that the orientation is correct when they are installed.

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My 1973 Standard Beetle Build SOLD
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[TX-73]

Ball joints done. Those little plastic protectors work good as paint protectors too I re-installed the ball joints with the same HF ball joint tool, just used a couple different sockets.

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My 1973 Standard Beetle Build SOLD
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[TX-73]

Also installed the engine seals in the back. I'm lucky to have a car with no rust issues, so the channels were fine. I spent a few minutes to open them up slighly, then greased the rubber with some silicone. After the rubber was in I pinged the channels in a few spots and on the ends to grip the seals. I assume that the firewall seal is supplied longer than needed as it hangs down beyond the channel at each end. Entire install took about an hour.

I started to install the 3 firewall tar covers but looks like there is wiring that goes behind them?
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My 1973 Standard Beetle Build SOLD
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[TX-73]

Cleaned up and painted the front beam. As expected lots of grime around the leaky end seals but overall not too bad.

New spindles painted up as well.

Couple of trays of new parts plus the new front disc brake setup to be installed.

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My 1973 Standard Beetle Build SOLD
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[aprophet]

[TX-73]

Thanks for the tip on the alternator. Now I've been thinking about upgrading to a larger displacement engine/twin carbs for a bit more hp always something....

I cleaned up around the front hat area and sprayed some textured mat finish paint in that area, below the front end and in the wheel well areas. Ready to get the front beam back in.

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My 1973 Standard Beetle Build SOLD
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[TX-73]

Started getting the front end back into the car.
I had bought a urethane steering coupler but decided against using it as some research showed that if the material breaks there can be loss of connection. Plus the one that was in there was in great shape. A little clean-up and paint and good to go. I always use new jam nuts where I have removed old ones, such as for the coupler. BTW thread size is M8x1.25

I had planned to re-use the original steering box but upon inspection it was dry as a bone and felt a bit crusty when turning it, so I bought a new TRW box instead. I kept the old one for a rainy day rebuild project.

I had already installed the new master cylinder and hard lines before getting the beam back in. I used new pads at the body mounts/top beam bolts. Had to muscle it a bit to get it installed, could be that the body shifted a bit while it was up on stands, but I'm not sure. Anyway it all went back together. New steering box was installed on the beam before it went into the car.

Trailing arms went on ok, plus of course new end seals on the beam. Everything inside of the beam looked ok so no work was done other than fresh grease. The shipping covers are still on the ball joints, they will come off before the spindles go on.

That sandblast cabinet makes all the difference in saving time. I can get small-medium parts and bolts cleaned up in just minutes, ready for paint
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My 1973 Standard Beetle Build SOLD
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[TX-73]

I forgot to mention something about the stuff I'm going to use inside the fenders and below the pan, might save someone a few bucks. Some years ago I was doing some truck fenders and wanted to use bedliner type spray for the undersides. I came across this stuff from HF and decided to give it a shot. I found it to be just as good as the higher priced stuff, it has lasted so far 3 years with no issues at all. Curious to see who actually makes it as they also sell Rustoleum product side by side with this.

http://www.harborfreight.com/16-12-oz-iron-armor-black-truck-bed-coating-60783.html

Anyway, this is what will go on the bug, I just picked up some of it at $5.69/can in-store.
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My 1973 Standard Beetle Build SOLD
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[TX-73]

More progress, I hope somebody out there is looking at this

Got the tie rods and steering dampner in.

Installed the bearings into the front rotors, quick work with the press to get the races in. Then got the seals in, they were nice quality. I painted the rotor hats with black caliper paint.

Disc brake kit installed with braided lines. I really liked the overall quality of the CBP kit. I got new spindles with it as I wanted the caliper brackets to be cast with the spindle, not add-on brackets.

Big difference in swaybar diameters. I'm wondering if I may need to add a rear swaybar to offset the front one a bit. As you know just a small diameter change yields a lot more rate stiffness.

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My 1973 Standard Beetle Build SOLD
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[TX-73]

All done on the front end, new parts are fun to install lol.

I used KYB oil-filled shocks, I prefer more to the OEM ride. I used a C-clamp to compress the swaybar clamps a bit, they went on fine.

Down to deciding final interior color, I may do a poll just to see what the Samba has to say. I lean to the tan/brown mix. Interior will be the TMI deluxe version with 2 tone colors, seat and door inserts.

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My 1973 Standard Beetle Build SOLD
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[Chochobeef]

Nice work on the front end. Will be one of my next challenges (already have the front discs). With that blue you have, I like the carcoal color with black. Black carpet, and black seats with a charcoal insert. Ya, i know we live in texas, but the brown looks meh.

Keep up the updates, its a pleasure to see and read.

[TX-73]

LOL, yup I know what you mean about living here

Not much today, did some minor stuff here and there, then took the time to re-organize and clean my work area. I did finish getting the under-hood area painted, turned out nice.

Next up is to get the rear brakes/suspension done, then on to wiring.

I did (finally) pick the gray tweed/charcoal mix for the interior
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My 1973 Standard Beetle Build SOLD
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[TX-73]

Started on the rear suspension, I needed somewhere to "store" the front fenders. When I pulled the rear fenders off they went inside the car. I temp mounted the fronts on the car, looks good so far:)

No real drama in the back. Wheel wells will be painted like the fronts of course, plus all of the suspension to be painted black.

My trusty torque tool made removing the nut a 3 min job.

Brakes don't look too bad. I've already got all new brake parts and will be removing the backing plates to clean and paint them.

But here's where I've got a bit of a dilemna - do I go ahead and replace the bearings and seals while I've got it apart? I didn't feel any roughness when turning the axle stubs but my thought is while I'm here why not start with all new parts? It's not about the cost - it's more thinking that if I've gone this far why not get that done as well. But then I'm wondering about those rear torsion bars? Maybe I will leave those alone and just stick to the bearing replacement?? What does Samba think?
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My 1973 Standard Beetle Build SOLD
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