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Sat Nov 12, 2011 6:57 pm

Porschedave wrote: Notchboy - thanks. I do feel like I am making progress but it sure is slow. And, of course, when I look at the pics I see that I have different head light buckets and I'm sure other odd bits will become obvious...
Dave

That different bucket-headlight tang thing is common. Perfection is in the eye of the beholder I suppose. Like Bob said, just bringing one back from the dead is the best part. Everything else is gravy :wink:

Sat Nov 12, 2011 8:41 pm

Porschedave wrote: Hello everyone
I finished laying down some epoxy primer and figured that it was time to bolt everything back onto the shell. The goal now will be to look at alignment of the doors, fenders and hoods. Also, I am certain that I will discover things that ned to be fixed. For example, at the bottom back end of the front fender I noticed one of the tabs has broken off, so I will need to re-weld a tab on.

Overall, I think that it looks pretty good, although I will want to change the ride height.

Here is the first shot:

and from behind

and from the alley, in the rain ..

Looking real good Dave. Just need to raise the front and rear fenders a little to get them lined up with the door (at least on the right side), as we can't see what the left side looks like. As for the headlight bucket tabs, most of that might just be the difference between the years of the parts you used. If you have the headlight bulb brackets laying around, see if the screw holes line up on the right one, otherwise you'll be in there adjusting that part of it too. With your attention to detail, I'm surprised you missed that. But then with ALL of the work you've already done, that's minor. 8) Keep up the great work Dave, it's definitely looking good.

P.S. It does need a little adjustment of the ride height, but I'd wait until I'm done painting before I'd do that. That extra ground clearance will help when painting the lower part. :wink:

Sat Nov 12, 2011 8:56 pm

Now that I've been looking at this pic a little more...

It looks like it's just the rear fender that needs to be raised up a little. Judging by the trim holes, the front fender and the door are pretty good. A little trick I've found, is to leave the screws loose across the top of the fender, have the bottom 2 tight, and push the fender up until the body lines are good, then tighten the top screws while holding it in place. If you have a helper for a couple of minutes, this will go really easy, as they can tighten a couple of screws to hold everything for you.

Dave, how's the door gap around the top side of the door frame to roof area? It looks just a hair tight, but that just might be the angle of the pic. I'm wondering if the door is sitting just a hair high. If it is, you could take a little there, and get the body lines very close.

Sun Nov 13, 2011 10:26 am

Good morning Bob
Well, at least it is morning here on the west coast. Thanks for the supportive comments and advice. I have to admit that seeing the car as a whole car was a rush yesterday - I sat there for a while on my stool and looked at it.

I put all the parts on yesterday alone and I’m hoping my buddy Dave will drop over today and with another set of hands we can do a better job of aligning things. Yes, the door seems a little high but that should adjust easily and I need to work the rear fender a bit - your advice is good and will help. As for the other side, well, I use my jack to move the car around so I will slide it over and take a shot or two from there as well. I should be able to get some more shots up this afternoon.

Dave

Sun Nov 13, 2011 4:36 pm

The "correct" headlights for your notch are the euro ones. A PO had welded/riveted extra taps in my fenders for the normal late model type 1 style assembly. I have complete faith you will figure something out.

Holy crap you don't mess around :shock:

Sun Nov 13, 2011 6:17 pm

Hi Folks
It's Sunday evening and I wanted to provide a couple more shots. My buddy Dave came over and we worked on the fender/door/hood alignments and I am very pleased. Recall that the shell is actually made from 3 different cars and yet I have managed to get decent alignment. I just need to do a bit more work on the right front fender. Bob, we used your suggestion to get the right rear fender in place. Thanks.
Dave

The left side

alignment looks good

the right side revisited

and another view from the front

Gosh, it almost looks drivable.

Sun Nov 13, 2011 7:12 pm

Porschedave wrote: Gosh, it almost looks drivable.

Indeed! Excellent work! =D> =D>

Sat Nov 19, 2011 8:30 pm

Greetings
I did some work making sure the fenders and doors are aligned and then looked at the bumpers to make sure they will line up. Here's a shot or two of them

Front

and back

My next step is a little bondo work on that rear hood and then hi-build primer on the whole car.

Dave

Sat Nov 19, 2011 8:46 pm

Looking awesome Dave!

That's funny that your buddies name is Dave too :lol:

Sat Nov 19, 2011 9:15 pm

Nick
Indeed - Dave squared!
D.

Sun Nov 20, 2011 10:54 am

Porschedave wrote: Greetings
I did some work making sure the fenders and doors are aligned and then looked at the bumpers to make sure they will line up. Here's a shot or two of them

Front

and back

My next step is a little bondo work on that rear hood and then hi-build primer on the whole car.

Dave

Dave, the bumpers look good, and the front doesn't have that typical droop on the ends that you see so often. I don't know IF I would mess with them too much, unless you're trying to make it easier to install them.

The left body lines look good too, and now that you've readjusted the right side, it looks that much better. Good job. 8)

Thu Nov 24, 2011 9:49 pm

I know this is somewhat silly but I couldn't resist taking the picture and sharing this with you. Here are my tail lights, the hood handle and, wait for it, an original 1965 BC plate, thanks to my buddy Dave. This car's first home was here in Vancouver and having the plate from that era seemed so cool.

And now for a question, can someone tell me which of these reflectors is the correct vintage for 1965? I've looked at the parts book and they seem to have the same number and I didn't see any chassis range for implementation of either. Mind you, I've got 2 of the left sample but only 1 from the right sample so it may be a moot question.

Thanks
Dave

Thu Nov 24, 2011 9:52 pm

I think those are the later ones, the correct ones have a chrome ring around the reflector. My notch has one of each on it :oops:

Like these http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1219352

Thu Nov 24, 2011 10:06 pm

Dave, the longer chrome housing is what you're after. They are handed too, as is the seals for them. The shorter ones are for a 68 and later. Either will fit, but for it to be correct, you'll want the long ones.

Thu Nov 24, 2011 10:14 pm

bob's right, I was just talking about the actual reflector. I recently scored a good chrome undented passenger housing at a local swap meet. I just got to find a good drivers side one now.

Fri Nov 25, 2011 8:47 am

Bob and Nick
Thanks for the comments. I learned two things today - the correct reflectors for my '65 and the age of the rear fenders. These fenders do not have a hole in the side needed for the correct reflector so now i know they are from a '68 or newer. Now I need to find a couple of reflectors.
Dave

Fri Nov 25, 2011 8:50 am

Yeah, most of the reflectors I've seen do have an aluminum backer, with the attaching stud pressed thru. I think they are the same thru the years (up to mid 67 is 1 style, with the balance to the end of 69, the difference probably being stud length), except for Sweden, which used a different style of reflector. Like Nick mentioned above, yours do look different. The part number you're looking for is 311 945 131.

Fri Nov 25, 2011 8:52 am

Porschedave wrote: Bob and Nick
Thanks for the comments. I learned two things today - the correct reflectors for my '65 and the age of the rear fenders. These fenders do not have a hole in the side needed for the correct reflector so now i know they are from a '68 or newer. Now I need to find a couple of reflectors.
Dave

Yeah that's a slight difference, as is the holes for the trim being smaller (on the later fenders). You could always install the long housings, and drill a hole for the side screw.

Fri Dec 23, 2011 2:50 pm

It's getting close to Christmas and I wanted to wish all of you following this thread a very merry christmas and an awesome 2012. and I thought that I would let you know that I am continuing to work on the notch and have included a couple of photos below.

This first one shows how I fixed the trailing edge of the right-front fender. You can see where the patch I made blended into the fender leaving a rough edge. It was pretty rough so I tacked a piece of welding rod and blended with a touch of bondo onto the fender. I don't have a finished picture yet but soon. I am pleased with the result.

And as I am laying on the hi-build, I could not help notice the dent pattern on the rear hood. It seems that the PO used more force than necessary to close the darn thing and left his hand print.

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND ALL THE BEST FOR THE NEW YEAR
Dave

Fri Dec 23, 2011 4:57 pm

Enjoy your Christmas Dave and ALL you Type 3 nuts! :D