TheSamba.com :: View topic

Thu Mar 07, 2024 12:46 am

Move it to the house
Getting ready to finish front end

Wed Apr 24, 2024 2:00 pm

Steering wheel swap.

Sat Apr 27, 2024 7:41 am

Cleaned bumpers up, window tracks and regulators were cleaned and greased/oiled. Mufflers were cleaned, painted, and polished. Put on the missing clamps. Got the fuel sending unit in and got the gauge working. Adjusted vacuum modulator. Drained and changed ATF, installed correct window cranks arms. Next are door panel clips and vapor barrier behind door panels and repray wheels silver.

Thu May 23, 2024 11:32 am

finished my rear brakes.
bled the brakes.
Made a new accelerator cable.
pulled the starter to bench test it.
my list to fire up dwindles...

Mon Jul 08, 2024 1:54 pm

After fault diag. for a spark issue, I chased the problem to the o.g. big cap distributor. I believe its worn so I bought a 009 locally and installed a 6 volt electronic ignition and it fired right up.
Was then able to adjust and tune the new dual carbs and got it running fairly good.
Still having rear brake locking up issues after a good drive that I believe to be the flex lines, new on the way.
All in all it took two and a half months to get driving again for the first time in 7 years...but made the local show last Sunday and that was the goal.
Now I can really start working on it...

Tue Apr 29, 2025 4:38 pm

I sanded and painted the wiper arms. Oh and reinstall them

Sat Jun 07, 2025 9:56 pm

Two weeks ago I pulled the engine out, today I pulled the gearbox out. Shifting from 3rd to 2nd has sounded crunchy, so it's off to the shop to be rebuilt.

Wed Jul 02, 2025 3:30 pm

Today I got close to finishing the install of my Bluetooth stereo head unit. I don't want it to show when I'm parked, so I fabbed up a way to cover it. The four small holes in the metal frame attached to the ashtray door will get rare earth magnets, so all I have to do is pop it on and off as needed and throw it in the glovebox while on the road. The ashtray sleeve is just sitting in there wight now. Not bolted to the support band. A little more finish work and paint, then I can install for real and finish the rest of the stereo setup.

Sat Jul 05, 2025 11:04 pm

Replaced the upper and lower ball joints. The old ones were crusty.

The tools I'd recommend are;

17mm & 30mm sockets for the ball joint nuts and pinch bolts
Spring compressor to pull the lower joint out of its socket
Large screwdriver, and/ or cold chisel and hammer, the pry the lower joints apart
Ball joint separator (like a very large fork)

Sun Jul 13, 2025 2:25 am

The front end refresh continues. New tie rod ends and wheel bearings. I'm glad I did, the grease inside looked like a spoiled salted caramel milkshake.

Mon Jul 14, 2025 9:57 am

KIRK! wrote: Today I got close to finishing the install of my Bluetooth stereo head unit. I don't want it to show when I'm parked, so I dabbed up a way to cover it. The four small holes in the metal frame attached to the ashtray door will get rare earth magnets, so all I have to do is pop it on and off as needed and throw it in the glovebox while on the road. The ashtray sleeve is just sitting in there wight now. Not bolted to the support band. A little more finish work and paint, then I can install for real and finish the rest of the stereo setup.

Really digging this idea! 8)

Sat Jul 19, 2025 2:11 pm

Scotty D wrote: Really digging this idea! 8)

Thanks. A few chips and several cuss words later I'm calling it done. It will all get touched up when/if the dash gets repainted. I wish there was more room for bigger magnets. It holds just fine while stationary, but may come loose on big jolts/bumps. No worries because, if I'm driving, I'm listening to music and this cover will be in the glovebox.

Forgot to post what the modified ashtray insert looks like.

Sat Jul 19, 2025 2:32 pm

highwheelerboy22 wrote: Cleaned bumpers up, window tracks and regulators were cleaned and greased/oiled. Mufflers were cleaned, painted, and polished. Put on the missing clamps. Next are door panel clips and vapor barrier behind door panels and respray wheels silver.

The muffler looks very good; I'm sure it sounds great also.

Do you have a before & after photo of your wheels?

Thu Jul 31, 2025 5:41 pm

New carpet installed. Arrived yesterday from Sewfine. Fit and quality are excellent! Just a little trimming, officially installing the sill plates and reconnecting the amp and sub tomorrow and the seats can go back in.

Sun Aug 03, 2025 12:33 pm

Cargo area finished. Custom console, shift boot, e-brake cover and all speakers installed too. Build threads on the console and rear speaker boxes are posted if you're interested. None of it is perfect, but I'm super stoked on how it all came together. Almost got it all done in time for today's Treffpunkt show, but oh well. I spent 35+ years stressing to get hot rods and customs finished for events and decided 10 years ago that I was done with that. Happy to be working on a project at MY own pace this time.

Sun Aug 03, 2025 3:55 pm

KIRK!, you have a beautiful steering wheel. Is it a '60's vintage generic afternarket accessory with a more modern hub cover and horn button?

Sun Aug 03, 2025 5:09 pm

Thanks! It's actually a Momo knockoff. I don't remember where I got it, but it was online. I had low expectations, but it is definitely the same quality as Momo.

Rome wrote: KIRK!, you have a beautiful steering wheel. Is it a '60's vintage generic afternarket accessory with a more modern hub cover and horn button?

Sun Aug 03, 2025 9:26 pm

It looks really clean to me, nice work!

Mon Aug 04, 2025 8:58 am

EverettB wrote: It looks really clean to me, nice work!

That was my thought as well. Looks like you're taking your time to get it to fit in your vision of how you want it to turn out. 8)

Wed Aug 06, 2025 5:18 pm

EverettB wrote: It looks really clean to me, nice work!

Thank you!