TheSamba.com :: View topic - new to rails and VW, my street rail project

Mon Sep 20, 2010 10:16 pm

Whats up everyone?

i have been debating on starting a thread for a while but i need help so here it is...

A little about me, im 20years old and full time college student, 2 jobs, volunteer firefighter and officer in a student organization at school so i stay pretty busy. not to mention a girlfriend of three years......

anyway, dad had a rail when he was about my age and finally sold it when i was 5. when i found out what rails were and that dad had one and sold it i decided i was going to build one too. dads friend built his and did most of the work but im doing ALL the work on mine and dad isnt much help with that said here is what i have.

this is when i bought it for 1800 and it came with everything in the boxes and a '73 1600dp long block and tranny. nothing is attached i just sat everything in to get an idea of what it all might look like.

i stripped the yellow and then sprayed etching primer, then used body filler to smooth out all the welds for that super smooth look(not totally finished with that yet)

yesterday i finished installing the floor pans and installed the two seats.

now after rebuilding the brakes im trying to decide whether to paint the front beam black or use truck bed liner.... its going to have a professional paint job on the frame, and the entire underside is going to be bed liner. The rear axle will end up matching the front so they will match. whats yalls opinions?

I want it to look clean but i know the beam will take its fair share of rocks and what not so bed liner would hold up and wouldn't look bad if it chipped cause it would be an easy and painless fix.
more pictures coming....

Mon Sep 20, 2010 10:40 pm

pictures......

paint stripping

clean frame (and my dog & mustang 8) )

etching primer

example of my smoothed out welds, this was after using a grinder, but the welds were gorilla welds strong but ugly. even after grinding i still didnt like the way the looked. im pretty picky

I welded the horizontal pipe in at the top of the picture. this is for the seatbelt to mount to. i had to fab up some new floor pans because of that.

After making cardboard templets, the panels are in but need to be trimed up. Its easer to take off than to put back on :wink:

This is what was accomplished last night. i Mounted the driver seat with an adjustable sliding mount, well it didnt work like i hoped it would and turns out that i didnt really need it in the first place because if your much taller than me your screwed anyway. so i ended up just mounting it to the floor pan.

today i mounted the passenger seat and mounted all of the floor panels. i also soda blasted the front beam since it wont fit into my blasting cabinet, and checked to see if the PO rebuilt the brakes like he said.... and he did. that brings us back to my question of bed liner or black paint for the front beam?

I also have picked up a ton of parts that i will need later on. my plan for the motor is a 2110. crank, cam, and rockers are in the mail as right now. i tore down the long block and split the case a few nights back. im going to have my neighbor down the street take a look to see if its a good cause to build my 2110 out of. so i am working on different areas of the build being worked on as money allows...

any comments, rants, and advice welcome. i wanna know what yall think about it and please give me ideas.... i have a picture in my head of how everything is going to come together and look but im open to all ideas!

Tue Sep 21, 2010 12:04 am

Good work. getting that paint off must have been a pain!

Tue Sep 21, 2010 12:15 am

thanks, you wouldnt believe it. used paint stripper, then wire brushes on grinder, then some special grinding wheel made for paint removal. took about a week. i bought near the end of june so it has come a long way since then...

Tue Sep 21, 2010 9:35 pm

ok so i got a few things accomplished today, i cleaned and primered my transmission, found out that i need to rebuild the brakes, and painted a section of my beam.

i need to go back and sand the beam better but ill probably take the whole thing up to my uncles before i get all my brake parts i have to order in, and blast it cause it wont fit in my cabinet.

here is a quick picture i took with both seats and all the floor pans mounted. i have limited working space as you can tell, i only get half the garage and i have a ton of tools....

Wed Sep 22, 2010 12:20 am

great!!! you do a fantastic job! i agree with you to clean the "gorilla" welds!! it always looks better in the end!! until now, very good work!! what kinda motor do you plan?
for me in germany there is a great problem to get those cars legal on the street! will say: never!! i saw some, but they had ugly wheel covers, sheet metal all over (against the wheather) and so on!! not what i´m thinking about a naked sandrail!!!
here we have stricter street and pollution laws than in california!!
we even do have areas (bigger cities), where you must have a sticker (pollution control) on the windscreen (green, yellow or red) to be allowed to drive in the inner city!! (in this case the green or yellow ones). if you are stopped by the police without those in the city, you get a high fee!!

Wed Sep 22, 2010 12:24 am

you´d better throw out that old beam and give it to someone owning an old beetle (until 64; we call it "bundbolzenachse"), take an adjustable or one from a "thing" (type 181). with that, you have more ground clearence (additional 64 mm (2,5 inches) to the common beetle front axle).

Wed Sep 22, 2010 12:25 am

oh, i saw; you plan a 2110 ccm motor.

Wed Sep 22, 2010 12:01 pm

it should be too hard to get in on the road there are plenty in my are if you know where to look. im in north carolina and emission laws arent too bad, i have an offroad H pipe on my mustang and its really loud and no body bothers me when inspection time comes and the noise lever has never been a problem for me either. i wouldnt know what to do if it was as strict as ca mush less germany.

so your telling me that i need to give my beam up for an extra 2.5 inches? well im on a budget and the 2.5 inches ill gain wont be worth it for me because it will mainly be on paved roads.

i saw a guy who had a 72 and a 73 super beetle for sale as a pair for $1400 one ran the other does not. i would buy them right now if i had a place to put them then i would have 4 cars and only 2 running.

Thu Sep 23, 2010 11:10 am

Sweet rail build. Now would you like some neat washers that look like your Avatar for the floor decking ?

these are my washers

Thu Sep 23, 2010 1:04 pm

that would be awesome. so im guessing you have a water jet? i dont know if i would use them on my diamond plate but i could find somewhere to use them. would something like this be a little better though?

just the cross not all the detail inside. i dont know what would look better..

what would it cost me?

Thu Sep 23, 2010 3:07 pm

I work for a laser cut company. They would be cut out of .0625 stainless steel. This way you could polish them or paint them. That would be your choice.

Thu Sep 23, 2010 3:25 pm

what would the price be?

Thu Sep 23, 2010 3:58 pm

ave to design the parts first . Give me till Monday to get the price to you.

Thu Sep 23, 2010 4:28 pm

ok sounds good, see what each design would cost im thinking about getting some of each.

thanks!

Thu Sep 23, 2010 9:35 pm

here is some pictures of my transmission once i got it painted. I think im going to put one more coat of black on then 3 or 4 coats of clear.

you can kinda see the haze from the fumes haha

and....... my first engine part arrived drum roll please!

its a FK-89, :shock: , yes i know its huge..... :wink:

Fri Sep 24, 2010 2:43 am

Just make dern certain that the transmission works before all the work goes in it. What part of NC are you in ?

Fri Sep 24, 2010 5:54 am

Fire washers

tell me which one you like. I will get a pricing on them. I need to know how many you want too.

Fri Sep 24, 2010 8:22 am

^^ I have a bunch of friends that will also be interested in these.

Fri Sep 24, 2010 8:24 am

Sorry to partially hi-jack the thread above. But I just wanted to say good job on the rebuild. Just one comment. I know the 002 and 091 transmissions will not sit flat against the bellhousing like your pictures because the input shaft extends beyond the housing. Is it different on the 001 trans?