Jimmy V's 54 Oval Project

[VW_Jimbo]

Little update. I have managed to squeak in a few minutes here and there. Business is straight through the roof and time is very limited.

Passenger side heater box tear down. I first attempted to drill the shaft out of the rusted sleeve. Figured, if this works, it will save me a shit ton of time!

Drilling the shaft was a NO-GO! So, I chucked up a 1/16th inch drill bit and seperated the tube and rod from the box.

Had to drill out 2 spot welds holding a pivot tab for the sleeve.

So, you can see what I see!

Flopped it forwards after chiseling the remaining weld remnants.

Then wiggled it back and forth, till it gave up the ghost.

And here it is!

Removed the tab.

And started measuring what I needed! Shaft outer tubing. 8mm

The shaft is 6mm

Looks like the tube is 43mm long and the shaft is 46 plus the attachment amount at the lever (maybe 2mm), so 48mm long.

And for those of you with a better grasp of inches, I give you....

I then removed the lever from the rod.

I promise another update much sooner than this last time. I have several days off in the next few weeks and several more in a month! Until the next time!
_________________
Jimbo

There is never enough time to do it right the first time, but all the time necessary the second time!

[esde]

It IS the details that separate an excellent restoration from all the rest, as you are showing..
the heater boxes are a black hole of time that nobody ever sees. But you have to do them the right way.
Nice work Jim!
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modok wrote:
Bent cranks are silent but gather no moss. I mean, ah, something like that.

[VW_Jimbo]

[VW_Jimbo]

Another 2 hours! Jumped right back into the passenger heater box.

I ordered a steel tube for the replacement of the linkage tube, but it was a hair too small at the interior. Thought about turning the shaft down, but why?

So, I did what I should have done to begin with, repair what was OG.

Took a screw and bent a small piece of copper pipe around it. This is a small section of a 3/4” scrap section of old pipe from a repipe! Everything has a use!

Here is the hole in the conduit.

I then took the copper sleeve and slide it up into the old tubing, so that the copper was directly under the hole.

Then I clamped the grounding clamp from the welder to the tubing.

I then hit it with the MIG welder. Followed by chucking it up into the lathe.

And pry the tubing off of the copper!

I then removed the copper screw assembly from the chuck and inserted the tubing. I set up a drill bit in the tailpiece and cleaned up the interior of the tubing.

All clear!

It was then time to reattach the cleaned up rod back onto the lever. All set up to weld!

Then cleaned it up!

Then slide the tubing retainer back into place and welded it in.

Ready to weld!

Zap!

Then set up the second plug and readied the tube for some molten fun!

Once the steel melted and secured the pieces, I slide the linkage into the tubing.

And I just need to weld on the cable arm onto the sub sitting shaft!

I also had to fab a new arm.

Set up the box again.

Set the new linkage into place and be sure the interior lever is oriented correctly.

Then, ZAP!

IT WORKED!

Ground that down and assembled the box. Then installed it onto the engine to see if it still fit! Guess what? IT DOES!

Until next time!
_________________
Jimbo

There is never enough time to do it right the first time, but all the time necessary the second time!

[scrivyscriv]

Very satisfying!!
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Robert in Memphis
Dünkelgrügen 1967 Java Green bug thread
Engine rebuild thread
If you're ever in the Memphis area, you are welcome to stop by for advice and help.

[esde]

The lengths we go to when saving these things is nuts. So satisfying to see someone that takes the time to get all the details right, even where nobody will ever see it

_________________
modok wrote:
Bent cranks are silent but gather no moss. I mean, ah, something like that.

[VW_Jimbo]

[matthew henricks]

Very nice Jimbo!
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1964 Original Owner build Thread. https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=702135&highlight=

Ambulance Fan's. https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=627707&highlight=

Parts i am looking for:
64 bug nice used front/rear Black LHD floor mat.

[VW_Jimbo]

[VW_Jimbo]

[scarabee]

[VW_Jimbo]

[matthew henricks]

[VW_Jimbo]

Update time! Been swamped with work. Big bathroom remodel is just about done. Another whole house remodel is just about done. And a full exterior wood trim and siding repair with a full exterior paint job is on the final coats. I have a small roof deck we have to tear off and reconstruct for the final before the Paid Time Off can go into effect! Man, it is so close but so far away!

Anyways, I have had just a few minutes, here, there and anywhere else I can sneak out into the garage to attempt to reach “Forward Progress”! With those moments, I have started to repair the engine tins that came on a few of the engines I have picked up!

Plucked out the rear tin from the pile of “repairable” and got to work!

Then, got to measure the thickness! .030, or 22 gauge steel.

Thankfully, I have a whole pile of remnant pieces. So, I pulled one out, that looked brand new.

Marked out what I need to do. Then clamped the front tin to my new metal, to get a good location on the hole.

It was then over to a work bench. Clamped it down and hogged out the hole.

Double checked it for location and size. Then scribed a line with an Awl to dictate the radiused curve.

Removed the outside extra area. Then drew the radius for the bend.

I then bent that edge over with a hammer, a small body dolly and time!

A quick double check of the curve and height of the bent edge.

Cut out the engine tin for the new metal.

Clamped up to weld.

Welded it into place.

Then ground it all level.

Then onto repeating that same process for the other side, but with a few bends more! It is missing a bit more steel!

Marked out the steel, cut, bend, hammer, and trial fit.

Seems to fit! So let’s make it fit the engine tin!

Then sand blasted it and shot some epoxy primer on it. Oh, I also punch out the screw holes!
_________________
Jimbo

There is never enough time to do it right the first time, but all the time necessary the second time!

[VW_Jimbo]

Additionally, I have blasted an intake manifold, which uncovered a rusty hole in one of the preheat tubes.

Guess I will get to fix that. It was then onto blasting and painting more engine tin. Got these 2 done!

But, unfortunately, the rear engine tin is worse than I anticipated.

I will need to weld in a patch when I locate some free time.
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Jimbo

There is never enough time to do it right the first time, but all the time necessary the second time!

[scrivyscriv]

That’s pretty good. 20/22 gauge is hard to weld.
I upgraded two years ago from my trusty Eastwood mig 135 to their multi-process entry level 240V welder. At the time, I wanted to have capacity to weld up to 3/8”, the thickness of some steel on a tractor implement I needed to fix. It was either buy another dedicated HD welder, or sell the little guy and buy a multi-process!
I was having problems with burn back when I ran my Blue Demon .023” mondo roll in that machine. Turns out, unlike the previous machine, I had to have the EXACT size tips to use .023” with that style of gun. It runs great now and welding is truly a pleasure! Still haven’t tried stick on it, and the tig works okay for steel, just need a separate argon.

Anyway, good stuff, guy. Personally speaking, the tedious bits that keep me up at night pondering what route to take are ALWAYS worth the extra time and research. I don’t mind spending money with Wolfsburg west. But rebuilding and reusing stock OG is simply much more satisfying!
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Robert in Memphis
Dünkelgrügen 1967 Java Green bug thread
Engine rebuild thread
If you're ever in the Memphis area, you are welcome to stop by for advice and help.

[Rome]

Nice work with the engine front tin. I also enjoy reviving original German engine tins. For the later fresh air system sleds, the metal tabs for the attachment screws are sometimes broken off, and the upper corners that meet up with the lower edges of the cylinder tins are rusted away. Without having a welder or knowing how to weld, I make simple patches and rivet them on, hammer the rivets flat, smear seam sealer along the joint, then paint them. Such areas are out of direct view so that this crude repair is all I need.

On your cylinder tins, did you use semi-gloss or satin black?

[esde]

People don't realize what it takes to make the old tin nice again.... and this is why nice early tins cost $$$ at the swap meets lately. People expect that because a 1600 rear tin can be had for $5 most everywhere, that a 36 rear tin is the same. But they're hard to find, and almost always beat up.. same with cylinder tins and early fan shrouds.. so good that you are able to save these.
_________________
modok wrote:
Bent cranks are silent but gather no moss. I mean, ah, something like that.

[VW_Jimbo]

[VW_Jimbo]