TheSamba.com :: View topic - Body Off

Sun Nov 15, 2009 1:17 pm

Looks great so far. I'm working on fitting up pans on my 71 SB vert as I type. My body needs tons of work compared to yours but you've given us all hope with pics of yours.
I have a wierd question though. In one of your pics (along with a pic of the Super from rlutterb) there's a tube with a wire running through it about a foot from the back of the pan. My super has the tube sticking out of either side of the tunnel but there wasn't anything attached to it at either end. What is this??

Sun Nov 15, 2009 2:08 pm

vwbud1973 wrote:
What kind of bike is that in the background? Not a MotoGuzzi is it?

Good eye! Yeah, It's an all original (except for some minor rechroming) '70 Moto Guzzi police spec Ambassador. I picked it up from the widow of the original owner about five years ago with 6,000 original miles. My borther and cousin dug it so much, they each bought one. The three of these together turn some heads at Bike Week in the sea of Harleys.

Sun Nov 15, 2009 2:12 pm

bayville ss wrote: Looks great so far. I'm working on fitting up pans on my 71 SB vert as I type. My body needs tons of work compared to yours but you've given us all hope with pics of yours.
I have a wierd question though. In one of your pics (along with a pic of the Super from rlutterb) there's a tube with a wire running through it about a foot from the back of the pan. My super has the tube sticking out of either side of the tunnel but there wasn't anything attached to it at either end. What is this??
They're the control cables for the rear footwell heater flaps. One on each side. There's also a curved tube on each side about a foot long that gets welded to the floor pan the cable runs through.

Sun Nov 15, 2009 6:34 pm

I could tell by the engine... nothing else like it! I knew a guy that had a type 2 motor and auto trans in a moto guzzi frame. said it was the nicest bike to ride. Me I'm an Indian, Triumph, Hodaka, Harley guy. My dad had a hodaka dealership years ago, and was big into old bike restoration for years.

Wed Nov 18, 2009 8:55 pm

Plug weld holes are done and the tunnel lips and top and bottom edges of the pans are cleaned and ready to weld.

Tue Nov 24, 2009 8:47 pm

Got the right side pan welded in tonight. After all the plug welds were done, I wound up going back and tack welding the edge of the pan to the tunnel for extra measure. I'll do the left pan next week then clean the welds up, seam seal top and bottom edges and paint the pans.

Sat Dec 05, 2009 11:32 am

Welded the left side pan in last night. I had a hard time getting the pan to sit flush with the tunnel lip. There was about a 1/16 to 1/8 gap from right behind the seat track to the rear support. The heavy gauge WW pans were too thick to simply push down to weld. To close up the gap in order to keep from blowing away the pan material while welding, I found the best solution was a few sheet metal screws. When done, I pulled out the screws and welded up the holes. As luck would have it, my argon bottle ran dry with before I got the last few welds done. Nowhere to get gas around here on a Saturday, so I'll finish it up Monday night. Next on the task list is paint and seam sealer.

Sat Dec 05, 2009 7:21 pm

Cheese us rice! :shock: That's friggin' nice.

Sun Dec 06, 2009 9:26 am

oxfordethan wrote: Cheese us rice! :shock: That's friggin' nice.
Thanks. This is my first VW resto so I'm moving slowly, but I'm happy with the results thus far.

Mon Dec 07, 2009 8:25 pm

Accomplished a major milestone this evening. The new floor pans are in and all the welding has been completed. Also welded the heater flap tubes back in place.

Sat Dec 12, 2009 2:17 pm

Painted the top side of the new pans today. I'll let them dry over night and seam seal the edges tomorrow then flip the chassis up and do the same on the bottom. Getting close to reuniting the body and chassis.

Sat Dec 12, 2009 3:27 pm

Looks great! nice job. I'm jealous, you are about a week ahead of me. I'm hoping my pans will be in and done by next saturday. Keep up the nice work.

Sat Dec 12, 2009 3:35 pm

Is that copper tubing for the gas line?

Sat Dec 12, 2009 9:21 pm

forkzilla wrote: Is that copper tubing for the gas line?
It is 1/4" copper. The original line that I removed was copper as well. I considered running a stainless line outside the tunnel, but my goal is to keep this resto as close to orginal as possible so I decided to stay with copper and run the new one through the tunnel. Running it the same route was a real pain in the ass, but I'm glad I did it.

Tue Dec 15, 2009 5:02 pm

Top sides of both pans are painted and seam sealed as well as the bottom of the left pan. I'll paint and seal the right side tomorrow night, officially bring the largest part of the resto to a close. It's all down hill from there.

Wed Dec 16, 2009 3:13 am

Have you measured or test fitted if body mounting holes match with the new pan halves? :)

I need also to change pan halves, i did bought a-quality pan halves and heaterchannels. To get them fit together well, i think i have to partially weld them before lifting body from the pan.

Wed Dec 16, 2009 6:02 am

I'm jealous. This is my '68(front end and pan)/'74(back end)/'70(karmann bits!) bastard.

Have you thought about just polishing the body up? I bet it would look awesome, and still original. :wink:

Wed Dec 16, 2009 4:49 pm

-Alex77- wrote: Have you measured or test fitted if body mounting holes match with the new pan halves? :)

I need also to change pan halves, i did bought a-quality pan halves and heaterchannels. To get them fit together well, i think i have to partially weld them before lifting body from the pan.
Before I cut out the original pans, I took measurements at six points and trimmed the new ones to match before welding them in. The measurements at all six points on the new pans are exact. I think buying the high quality Wolfsurg West pans made a huge difference. Very little trimming was needed.

Mon Jan 11, 2010 5:40 am

Nice work, now hurry up! Volksblast is around the corner. :lol:

Mon Jan 11, 2010 8:04 am

Thanks. I'm trying like hell to get done in time for Volksblast but it's gonna be close. If not, I'll be there as a spectator, like last year. May have to wait for Winterjam for the debut.

I made some progress over the holidays. Replaced the rear axle seals, o-rings and gaskets and installed new rear brakes, wheel cylinders and soft lines. Installed the body to pan seal on the chassis. I used some seam sealer to bond it in place to ensure that it doesn't move when I'm installing the body. I laid the original pan seal, which came off in one piece, in place and cut the new one to the exact dimensions and made the body bolt holes. Rebuilt the pedal cluster and rewelded the broken center clutch tube mount in the tunnel. I had to cut a small hole in the side of the tunnel to get the mig torch in, but I welded it back up, ground and painted it. Can barely tell.

I was going to have the drop spindles installed and the front end rebuilt, but I decided to take a stab at it myself. Everything came apart nicely and torsion arms and bushings are in great shape. Paul at JB Bugs pressed new ball joints into the torsion arms and I'll be picking those up today.

The goal for this week is to get the front end back together (drop spindles, new ball joints, tie rod ends, torsion arm seals, sway bar bushings) new front brakes, wheel cylinders, soft/hard lines, master cylinder, replace the clutch cable and bowden tube, install the pedal cluster, clean, paint and install the shifter and e-brake handle. I've decided to install the engine before the body, so that's on the list for this week as well.