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Tue Dec 07, 2010 6:11 pm

I still would not recommend using that old front trans mount. I've got a 54 that I stored for 30 years before I finally went through the mechanicals and got it drivable. I had never driven the car before and the mount looked fine so I reused it. I did replace the 2 rear mounts because they were oil soaked and spongy. Upon driving the car I found a harshness upon acceleration or under load that felt like my new engine had a bad thrust bearing condition. I thought perhaps the trans was mounted under some tension so I loosened the front and rear mounts-to-chassis hardware and made sure that was not the case. I rechecked my crankshaft thrust (.0035 ins). After much procrastination I pulled the engine and replaced the front mount with a good quality German mount and that eliminated the harshness. It was a long way to go back for such and inexpensive part. I would never claim to be an expert, only relating my own unfortunate personal experience with an old, unknown condition oval trans front mount.

Tue Dec 07, 2010 9:20 pm

Last Triumph wrote:

Nice tax disc in the screen - last used 1981 which means it was locked away for 12 years before it even came to the UK!

I was looking at the beginning pictures again after following this thread since almost day 1, and I was wondering......Are you leaving that tax sticker in the window?

Tue Dec 07, 2010 9:27 pm

hell yeah. i definately would. i say keep it 8) . it just adds to the history of this car

Wed Dec 08, 2010 2:23 am

3foldfolly wrote: I still would not recommend using that old front trans mount. I've got a 54 that I stored for 30 years before I finally went through the mechanicals and got it drivable. I had never driven the car before and the mount looked fine so I reused it. I did replace the 2 rear mounts because they were oil soaked and spongy. Upon driving the car I found a harshness upon acceleration or under load that felt like my new engine had a bad thrust bearing condition. I thought perhaps the trans was mounted under some tension so I loosened the front and rear mounts-to-chassis hardware and made sure that was not the case. I rechecked my crankshaft thrust (.0035 ins). After much procrastination I pulled the engine and replaced the front mount with a good quality German mount and that eliminated the harshness. It was a long way to go back for such and inexpensive part. I would never claim to be an expert, only relating my own unfortunate personal experience with an old, unknown condition oval trans front mount.

I came to the same conclusion after some more thought and ordered a Wolfsburg West one yesterday via our local quality parts distributor in the UK Karmann Konnection who don't supply rubbish.

Just frustrated as the quality of what was supposed to be an OEM part.

Wed Dec 08, 2010 2:25 am

Mr_Miles wrote: Last Triumph wrote:

Nice tax disc in the screen - last used 1981 which means it was locked away for 12 years before it even came to the UK!

I was looking at the beginning pictures again after following this thread since almost day 1, and I was wondering......Are you leaving that tax sticker in the window?

Oh absolutely yes - what a fantastic piece of history to show where and when the car was last used. I'll even be leaving the old Portuguese insurance documents and road maps in the door pocket.

Am I missing something? Why would anybody remove it?

Wed Dec 08, 2010 5:00 am

Definitely keep it, good call.
Great progress LT and thanks again for the front clip pointers. I've developed a decent strategy when the day finally comes.

Wed Dec 08, 2010 6:30 am

Last Triumph wrote:

Oh absolutely yes - what a fantastic piece of history to show where and when the car was last used. I'll even be leaving the old Portuguese insurance documents and road maps in the door pocket.

Am I missing something? Why would anybody remove it?

no no, I was just re-reading the thread and got curious. I knew you were leaving the maps and everything, but i know some people who get really goofy about having things on their windshield, so i got curious :D

Wed Dec 08, 2010 6:35 am

Mr_Miles wrote: Last Triumph wrote:

Oh absolutely yes - what a fantastic piece of history to show where and when the car was last used. I'll even be leaving the old Portuguese insurance documents and road maps in the door pocket.

Am I missing something? Why would anybody remove it?

no no, I was just re-reading the thread and got curious. I knew you were leaving the maps and everything, but i know some people who get really goofy about having things on their windshield, so i got curious :D

There's none more goofy than me! :lol:

I think it's one of the cooler bits of memorabilia. I've even left the coins on the glove box 8)

Wed Dec 08, 2010 10:33 am

Last Triumph wrote: Mr_Miles wrote: Last Triumph wrote:

Oh absolutely yes - what a fantastic piece of history to show where and when the car was last used. I'll even be leaving the old Portuguese insurance documents and road maps in the door pocket.

Am I missing something? Why would anybody remove it?

no no, I was just re-reading the thread and got curious. I knew you were leaving the maps and everything, but i know some people who get really goofy about having things on their windshield, so i got curious :D

There's none more goofy than me! :lol:

I think it's one of the cooler bits of memorabilia. I've even left the coins on the glove box 8)

I have owned bought and sold over well 2000 classic cars over the last 30+yrs (yes im a dealer/collector) and have collected quite a bit of interesting things in old cars, old match books from places all over the usa, S&H green stamps, old packs of cig's, old money, old maps, cool decals still on the car, service records, neat little trinkets and assy found in the clove box or trunks of all these gems, and i absolutly leave them with and in the car!! its tells the story of the cars history which is so cool. Unfortunately over the last 10 yrs or so with classic cars changing hands so often and the constantly shrinking shortage of one owner untouched originals out there, that kind of stuff is not to prevelent anymore in cars as often as before, alot of car flippers when they get and orig car to flip just clean it up, detail it and only keep the orig owners books and such if they have it, and toss the old little trinkets as i like to call it from the cars past life, sad sometimes, but thats the way it is

Wed Dec 08, 2010 4:05 pm

I had a rare day off today so decided to make the most of it....

Before I bore you to tears with my efforts, I'd like you all to stop and think for a minute about your poor old transmission. It suffers endless abuse and torture whilst it's next door neighbour the engine gets all the glory.

Why am I feeling so sympathetic to it's plight I hear you yawn? Well, because today I spent just 7 hours living in it's environment which was enough to send me insane. The poor transmission has to spend decades under there and it's not a nice place to spend a day, let alone your entire life!

Despite the consistency of the minus 5 degrees C thermometer which I was sure had frozen stuck, I wrapped myself up like a mummy and armed with all my equipment, I crawled, shimmied, head scraped, knocked and bashed my way under the back of the car shortly after breakfast in order to do the final clean and prep for the transmission.

Last time we left it cleaned of most of the major dust, dirt, oil and grime thanks to the jet fuel, but with the frame horns, nooks and crannies still in a bit of a state.

As the final 'seal and protect' process with the wax sealer is so important, I wanted to make sure all the surfaces were surgically clean to enable the sealant to properly adhere.

To do this, I brought out the latest in my growing arsenal of cleaning agents - 100% pure medical grade IPA - Isopropyl alcohol - the stuff they put on your skin just before you get an injection.

I decanted this into a 'squirty' spray bottle so I could direct it where required, then scrub away with my various brushes, spray again, then wipe clean with a fresh cloth leaving the surface absolutely clean and dry.

My magnetic LED lamp was very helpful allowing me to see what I was doing.

Note to self "Keep IPA away from your eyes - it stings..... lots and lots and lots!"

Once I'd got it all clean, I took a few shots to show how unbelievably rot free this car is. If anyone has every imagined what they'd do if they could go back in time and buy a 'new' VW Beetle to look after for the future and protect before the rust set in - well I know now, because it's like be under a 3 year old car - all virginal, ready to protect.

It's an amazing feeling to see it all so original and rust free. The few darker areas in the corners and seems in some of the pics are just areas where the IPA had yet to evaporate.

Cleaning the frame horns thoroughly was a real bitch of a job, as the crud was almost baked on like an oven baking tray, but slowly and surely I kept at it, scrubbing layer upon layer off to reveal the bare frame underneath.

I'm glad I've got the NOS ATE flexi-hoses, as the originals are past their best!

The mess this created that I had to sit in all day was a whole new kind of unpleasant!

Once it was all perfectly clean and dry, I donned a breathing mask, climbed back underneath and literally drenched the underside in sealing wax until it was dripping all over me and the floor. I emptied two full cans of the stuff in all the nooks, crannies and crevices - above, behind, underneath - everywhere until it looked like this...

I'll buy a few more cans for the rest of the floor pan and inner wings etc, and give the area another lighter coat once this one has hardened in a few days.

I'm pretty tired now, I can tell you!

Night all!

Wed Dec 08, 2010 5:36 pm

Last Triumph wrote: Mr_Miles wrote: Last Triumph wrote:

Nice tax disc in the screen - last used 1981 which means it was locked away for 12 years before it even came to the UK!

I was looking at the beginning pictures again after following this thread since almost day 1, and I was wondering......Are you leaving that tax sticker in the window?

Oh absolutely yes - what a fantastic piece of history to show where and when the car was last used. I'll even be leaving the old Portuguese insurance documents and road maps in the door pocket.

Am I missing something? Why would anybody remove it?

Portugal :)
não sei se percebe português mas eu depois traduzo
Antes de mais parabéns pela excelente aquisição, o carro está a ficar brilhante, quase todos dias visito o fórum para ver como vai o restauro
uma questão as peças vinham com o carro?
mais uma vez parabéns pelo excelente restauro, já está quase pronto

Portugal:)
I do not know Portuguese but I realize that after I translate
First of all congratulations on an excellent purchase, the car is getting bright, almost every day I visit the forum to see how the restoration will
a question the parts came with the car?
once again congratulations for the excellent restoration, is almost ready

Wed Dec 08, 2010 6:46 pm

Last Triumph wrote:

There's none more goofy than me! :lol:

I think it's one of the cooler bits of memorabilia. I've even left the coins on the glove box 8)
what kind of coins were they?

Wed Dec 08, 2010 8:37 pm

Last Triumph wrote: Right then..... normal service is resumed!

Even though it was -5 degrees and looked like this in the garden....

I wrapped up warm and headed on outside for some Oval loving!

Snow in Greasby.... for the ten years I lived there we had it just once and it lasted about a day!

Wed Dec 08, 2010 8:48 pm

I dont know what youre using to clean up your messes you leave behind after the 'deep cleanses' you do to the bug (OG Dirt! lol), but instead of rolling around in the much all day you could sprinkle some kitty litter on it, and it will help absorb the crud and make cleaning a lot easier. I personally use a product called Ultrasorb (its a fancy purpose-made oil absorbing kitty litter. I like the fine-granule stuff better, as it absorbs faster and better).

Heres the website: http://www.uclean.com/catalog/productInfo/brooms_b...rbant.html

I would rather roll around in kitty litter than the oil/dirt/filth/grease that comes off the bottom of these cars. I have ruined many articles of clothing on these cars

Wed Dec 08, 2010 9:31 pm

Last Triumph wrote:

i hope its just the pic, or maybe just dirt, but that top brake line looks pretty badly pitted, especially closer to the body. but it may just be the pic.

Thu Dec 09, 2010 12:21 am

They all looked the same until they were scrubbed, which brought them up nice and bright again. The upper one hadn't been scrubbed at that point, plus, the camera flash and wetness from the cleaning products always darkens corrosion and makes it look worse.

If you look at the picture showing the gearbox mount area, you can see the other side of the pipe where is comes over the top of the frame horn. The access allowed the brushes to reach and as you can see, clean as a whistle.

Thu Dec 09, 2010 12:22 am

microbus wrote: Last Triumph wrote: Right then..... normal service is resumed!

Even though it was -5 degrees and looked like this in the garden....

I wrapped up warm and headed on outside for some Oval loving!

Snow in Greasby.... for the ten years I lived there we had it just once and it lasted about a day!

Haven't forgotten about the picture.... :wink:

Thu Dec 09, 2010 2:27 am

Last Triumph wrote:
...literally drenched the underside in sealing wax until it was dripping...

Looking good!! What kind of sealing wax do you use?

Thu Dec 09, 2010 3:31 am

1955oval wrote: Last Triumph wrote:
...literally drenched the underside in sealing wax until it was dripping...

Looking good!! What kind of sealing wax do you use?

The wax sealant is a special anti corrosive sealer made by Valvoline which is used to coat industrial machinery when in transit or long term storage. It is very thin and highly penetrating when first sprayed, but sets and hardens to form a heavy waxy barrier.

It has a melting point in excess of 300 deg F and can be removed with strong solvents.

I sprayed a bit on my wing to test it's resistance and strenght and was very impressed indeed. With Waxoyl, you can pretty much scratch it off with your nail, where this stuff is much , much tougher and whilst will scrape off if you go at it hard enough, doesn't chip or flake.

It doesn't go completely hard, more like a candle to the touch, not too stickly, although I'm sure dirt will stick to it.

It dries in a rich golden amber colour like on the transmission.

It's not great for a show car, but in terms of a transparent and removeable barrier, I don't believe there is much bettrer. They do it in black as well, but I deliberately opted for the transparent stuff so I can see what;s underneath at any point, plus it won't just look like I've daubed everything in underseal.

Thu Dec 09, 2010 6:16 pm

Last Triumph wrote: 1955oval wrote: Last Triumph wrote:
...literally drenched the underside in sealing wax until it was dripping...

Looking good!! What kind of sealing wax do you use?

The wax sealant is a special anti corrosive sealer made by Valvoline which is used to coat industrial machinery when in transit or long term storage. It is very thin and highly penetrating when first sprayed, but sets and hardens to form a heavy waxy barrier.

It has a melting point in excess of 300 deg F and can be removed with strong solvents.

I sprayed a bit on my wing to test it's resistance and strenght and was very impressed indeed. With Waxoyl, you can pretty much scratch it off with your nail, where this stuff is much , much tougher and whilst will scrape off if you go at it hard enough, doesn't chip or flake.

It doesn't go completely hard, more like a candle to the touch, not too stickly, although I'm sure dirt will stick to it.

It dries in a rich golden amber colour like on the transmission.

It's not great for a show car, but in terms of a transparent and removeable barrier, I don't believe there is much bettrer. They do it in black as well, but I deliberately opted for the transparent stuff so I can see what;s underneath at any point, plus it won't just look like I've daubed everything in underseal.

I totally agree, I use the Wurth Cavity Protection Spray (dries pretty much the same from your description).... preserve not restore, and it lasts a long time!
Richard