TheSamba.com :: View topic - 1961 Bug Rescue and Patina Build

Sun Oct 13, 2019 7:20 am

This is car 4 we've published on Samba and VW 11 in the last few years. We wrapped up a buggy build and sent it down the road, so there was a space in the garage and as temps cooled in the Midwest, we needed a new winter build. The hunt was on and we found this one 3+ hours away. Best part was the story behind it. This 61 was a father and son project in 1973 (and now again in 2019). Stashed in an airplane hanger since purchase the car was amazingly well preserved.

Hard to say no to a solid car with a great story.

We dragged it home and started to get an understanding of what we were getting into!

Engine looks to be earlier than 61, but is in exceptional shape for its age.

Interior isn't bad. Looks to be original door panels, seats, dash, etc. Didn't notice at first, but no fuel gauge!

Typical rust belt car, channels are bad, bumper mounts are rough (and patched) but the pan is amazingly intact, the electrical is mostly untouched and the interior is amazingly original.

It didn't take long and we had a plan. After building a couple of "pretty" show cars we definitely wanted to to do a Patina style build. For now, we're thinking dropped, cleaned up and clear coated to preserve the look that only time can create.

Sun Oct 13, 2019 7:26 am

It didn't take long and we had it pulled apart. Typical of barn finds it would need carb rebuild, tank flush and likely most of the brake system replaced.

Engine appears to be 57 or 58 and largely stock (I think). First time we've touched a 36Hp powerplant. Cute and simple! Had carb rebuilt, fuel lines replaced and most of it cleaned up pretty quickly.

Tank had a few gallons of now orange fuel and brakes were inoperable. A fresh master and wheel cylinders as well as a few brake lines should sort that out pretty easily.

Really excited about this build, but we know nothing about the early cars. Lot to learn!

Mon Oct 21, 2019 6:03 pm

Rebuilt carb and fuel pump. We've done endless carb rebuilds (secret sauce is a soak in Pine Sol to dissolve the fuel resin), but this was our first fuel pump.

Usual deal is to replace these things, but the 36Hp unit is pretty spendy, even the rebuild kit was expensive by comparison to later model stuff. Added bonus is it required a tool be fabricated to preload the pump before assembly. Ton of info here on Samba, so it went pretty well.

Hope this works.

Tue Oct 22, 2019 10:47 am

I cant wait to see this one :D did this one come with a late 36hp or a 40?

Tue Oct 22, 2019 11:12 am

following along :popcorn:

Tue Oct 22, 2019 12:50 pm

Watching along :)

Tue Oct 22, 2019 4:57 pm

Chickensoup wrote: I cant wait to see this one :D did this one come with a late 36hp or a 40?

Engine looks to be a 58 36Hp. Plan is to get it running just to be able to say we drove a 1100cc VW.

The voices want a big cc Turbo in it later.

Sun Nov 03, 2019 8:10 pm

Back at it. Looks like we have a solid plan now. Channels are toast, so it's body off for sure. Wrapping up the brakes this weekend and we'll take it for a final drive in this configuration before it gets blown apart.

Wacky squeal when we took it for first drive was apparently the tires rubbing on spring plate (see clean spot). Easy enough fix. Both wheel cylinders and rear brake lines were toast as well.

This was a new one for us. Apparently a grease drain in the likely event the wheel bearing gave up the ghost.

crunchy brake lines and stuck wheel cylinders are the devils work.

Work definitely cut out for us.

Wed Nov 06, 2019 12:41 pm

"Aero-Kroil by Kano laboratories" is the best rust penetrating fluid around, you should try it!

Wed Nov 06, 2019 12:55 pm

Have not found around here, but used to use a ton of it SoCal. Good stuff.

Wed Nov 06, 2019 9:35 pm

AirKooledGarage wrote:

Engine looks to be a 58 36Hp. Plan is to get it running just to be able to say we drove a 1100cc VW.

a 36hp is still a 1200cc :)

Sun Nov 17, 2019 5:00 pm

Wrapped brakes and quick tune up. Mostly just to see if we could drive a car that had sat since the 70's. Car fired instantly and was a pretty solid driver!

Pretty stoked on that!

Sun Nov 17, 2019 5:05 pm

Now that we proved it was driveable, it's time for it to come down to the pan. Hope to have the channels in and pan blasted by Feb. We'll see!

Car fought every step of the way. 30% of the fender and body bolts sheared off.

Motor popped right out and will go to a good buddy that is building an old splitty bus. We have a 1600cc DP, dual relief case coming that will serve as a our motor build foundation.

Mon Nov 18, 2019 5:43 am

AirKooledGarage wrote: Now that we proved it was driveable, it's time for it to come down to the pan. Hope to have the channels in and pan blasted by Feb. We'll see!

Car fought every step of the way. 30% of the fender and body bolts sheared off.

Motor popped right out and will go to a good buddy that is building an old splitty bus. We have a 1600cc DP, dual relief case coming that will serve as a our motor build foundation.

Been there, done that. The body to pan ones are especially terrible

Sun Dec 01, 2019 4:41 pm

Four day weekends are awesome. Probably got 5 weeks of work done.

Hood and front fender are not original, suspect this bent tie rod is and they are somehow connected.

Nearly 6 decades of goo came out of the beam. Oddly enough no corrosion.

Really hate pulling the tar paper out. It messes with you, some pieces pop right off, some are bonded to the steel for life.

Pan completely blown apart and ready for blast.

Considering how bad the channels are the pan is really solid.

Also built a quick body trolley. Needs a few braces before we drop the body on it, but managed to build it entirely out of scrap steel

and finally, sketched up a quick plan for the car. Big static drop and a turbo motor. Should be a fun build.

Tue Dec 24, 2019 8:28 am

Slow progress on the 61. Swapped the incorrect 36Hp for a bus engine. Spins nicely and is all there, so it should be a solid start.

I hate these things.

Scored a bunch of turbos from a buddy, plan is to build my own header. Could be sketchy.

And the kid dragged home a semi retired race car with sketchy electrical and a blown trans.

Sigh.

Thu Dec 26, 2019 6:31 pm

Had a few hours free, so blew the 1600 apart. Motor is in surprisingly decent shape.

Everything came apart really nicely (no broken bolts) and motor seems pretty tight.

Oil was dark, but no indication of chunkiness. Oil plate definitely has some aluminum in it, but I've seen way worse. No indication of water or corrosion inside bottom of motor (we've seen some ugly stuff down there).

Plugs were a tad chalky, but all the same and zero indication of oil.

No idea what this is.

Heat and tin are probably not salvageable, but almost all of the balance of the engine is solid. The 7/16" hardware on the manifold was one of only a few indications of PO hackery.

Going to think about it a bit, but I may not even blow the heads and cylinders off.

Sat Mar 28, 2020 5:12 pm

Bike builds got in the way of car builds, but now we're back at it.

While pan was at blast we put together a quick dolly.

Pan back from blast and kid layed on an etching primer to keep it from getting orange.

Projects stacking up.

Beam build was a new one for us. Did a ton of research and drew it on a computer before diving in. Plan is for a 5" narrowed, no shocks and bagged in the center.

Here's where we're at so far. Need to do some math on the pivot arm for the bag and then it should come together. Welding is better than it looks in pics (at least a little)

Next up is link pin rebuilt, dropped spindles and disc brakes. King pins were pretty rough, so they'll need to be replaced. First time blowing apart a front end to this level, so we're learning a lot.

Beam and pan pie cut should wrap in April, next up is trans clean up. nearly 60 years of goo may take a while. Hope to have it back on its wheels in May.

Sun Mar 29, 2020 7:40 pm

This cylinder head tin is for a '75 thru '79 Beetle fuel injected engine. They won't fit into your '61's engine bay because the FI tins bend outwards along the sides. The '75 and later Beetles had different engine compartment side trays (which hold the engine bay seals) to mate up with those wider tins. Tins were wider so that the fully assembled engine with its fuel injectors would clear the body during vehicle assembly.

My recommendation is to save the FI tins, degrease and maybe even blast them, prime and either keep or use to trade/sell. Then find some '71 thru '74 original German cylinder tin, prep the same, and use them for your '61 engine bay.

Sat Apr 04, 2020 5:12 pm

Pan and beam work this weekend. All the body mount bolts broke off at disassembly, so need to get them out of pan (beam doesn't matter as pie cut means they will not line up and I'll have to fab something anyway). For a 60 year old pan, it's in fairly decent shape. The rear of both halves will need to be replaced, but balance is decent.

Welded bolts to each and they unscrewed nicely.

Think I have the arm sorted for the air beam (testing with paper mockup of CAD design before I have it laser cut). IF all goes well, beam will wrap in April.

Rebuilding link pins next. Pivots have seen better days (original compared to new).

Car is making progress. May try the pie cut tomorrow. Need to order some steel for the pan repair as well.