Low down Hillbilly

[OCD Garage]

Here's the first of the adjustable bump stops from concept to completion. Next up will be the right side for shock mount and bump stop. I'm confident the car would have failed safety inspection if it couldn't have shown lockable road clearence of a couple of inches. With the pads dialed back it still lays on the ground. Picked up a set of Allen bolts for the spring plate deletes to match the huge one in the centre of the heim joint.

[OCD Garage]

Adjustable bump stops for the front are in progress. There's an internal nyloc that should keep it in place without needing tools, just unscrew by hand to change the setting. Bracing to the beam will be added and once both sides are tacked together I'll pull the beam off and finish the rest. Next sub-project is to build a mini-rotisserie to finish off the work on the chassis. I'll have a much easier time grinding, welding and painting all over, not just the bottom. Finally, after much WD-40 & patience, I managed to get the rear trailing arm inner pivot bolts to free up and so will be redoing the arms and pressing in new bushings once the chassis has been elevated.

Soon, it'll be easy to dial in how much (if any) ground clearance I need, from zero to about 2"+.

[OCD Garage]

I dropped the body on to check the fit now that the rear bumper is mostly done and it looks like everything clears, no problems. The bumper lines up with the old cut outs, which could now be largely filled back in. The rear, lower section will receive a pair of cross bars and some further trimming of the body around the exhaust will be required.

[OCD Garage]

All welded and cleaned up. I cut the upper bumper from the original hoop, inserted a couple of locating rings to ease removal/installation. It'll soon be time for the rotisserie so I can clean up the surface rust underneath, make a few patches and add a couple of braces for the floor and cage mounts.

[OCD Garage]

I adjusted the height of both engine stands until their heads were level/square and widened their stance to match the width of the beetle pan. This set-up will make a lot of the remaining work much easier, wish I'd done it earlier in the build. So far the chassis seems well balanced and very stable while mounted in the rottiserie. Apart from a piece of 3/8" plate for the rear frame horns, the only additional adaptation I had to make was shortening the rotating mounts on one stand so the front beam mounting bolts fit.

[OCD Garage]

Today I finished the 3" motor raise. The inner cradle has an added layer of 16ga mild steel welded in for support, plus the old mount holes are now covered.

[Stetoppingphoto]

Absolutely love this!
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Fender Bug

[OCD Garage]

For certain the rottisserie is a great idea, so much easier to get the best angle to work at. I'm planning to add two cross members across the bottom and another pad at each underside corner to support the roll cage. Easier access means the rest of the welding and fab are more easily done, with the sandblaster waiting to clean up the rest.

[OCD Garage]

The floor perimeter is now welded on the bottom side as well, 3/16" plates were welded to the floor/outer frame rails to secure the corners of the roll cage and the first of two crossmembers is complete. The second crossmember has been angle-cut to width, with plans to notch it, weld it in and clean up the area this weekend. Most of the welds and general underside have also been freshened up with an angle grinder and are ready for paint after some sandblasting in the corners and crevices. The major fabrication is nearly done.

[Kafer_Mike]

[OCD Garage]

[Kafer_Mike]

In either case, you'll want shoot it first with epoxy primer for sealing and adhesion. Then you can topcoat it with bed liner, single stage or 2K. I like SPI's epoxy primer. Available in multiple colors, simple 1:1 mixing and lays nice. https://www.southernpolyurethanes.com/products/primers/epoxy-primer/
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Kafer_Mike
Build 'em fast...or let 'em sit.

[OCD Garage]

[OCD Garage]

That should be the last of the fabrication on the underside of the chassis for now. The framework for the air ride needs some cleaning up with the flapper wheel and the mounts for the air tank still need to be welded on. I'll pick up some brushable seam sealer and a spool of mig wire on Monday as I ran out this afternoon while finishing the latest crossmember.

[OCD Garage]

There was no way those bearing retainer bolts were coming out without heat, not even after being doused with penetrating oil for a week. Only one out of eight bolts came out without additional encouagement. Looks like someone replaced the bearings at some point as there were ball bearings both inner and outer when the factory uses roller bearings on the outside. At least now everything can be put right, cleaned up with the grinder and sandblasted without fear of fouling the bearings. Even the star adjusters and wheel cylinders needed heat and vice grips to remove them, this was in fairly rough shape to start.

[OCD Garage]

I've degreased, wire wheeled, sandblasted and painted the rear control arms gloss black, working on the backing plates/bearing retainers now. After finishing some minor fabrication up top, I'll be back on the angle grinder, smoothing out all the remaining chassis welds. I'm hoping to have the whole chassis in paint by the end of the year.

[OCD Garage]

Today's effort: I added some 3/16 x 1.5" bar stock along the full length of the chassis as skid plates to protect the frame. This way, when the metal is worn thin it can be cut off and replaced without damage to the actual frame rails. Left to do: There are a couple of rusty strips at the rear of the pan to repair, a pair of tubes to be capped under the gas tank area, the mounts for the air tank need to be welded on and a holder fabbed for the water trap/compressor relay. I'm trying to use my Christmas holidays to my best advantage. Hoping to have a coat of paint on it before New Year.

[OCD Garage]

I believe the fab work on the chassis may finally be complete. Today I was able to double up on the rear bump stop mounts, fab additional supports for the rear roll cage pads, add four 3/8" body mounting holes to the rear of the pan and fill in a missing piece of pan near the front axle. Additionally, I made a mount for the air line manifold and fuse block/wiring harness behind the dash/console on the passenger side. After another going over, a little more clean up and some sand blasting in the hard to reach areas, I'll be ready for paint.

[OCD Garage]

Nice to see it with some paint on after so many hours of cutting/welding/grinding. I'm sure my wife will welcome the extra hours of quiet that should begin soon. The surface rust was sand blasted from all the nooks and crannies that were too difficult to access otherwise, and are now sealed from the process of corroding again. The chassis has a good coat of Tremclad (Rustoleum) to protect it, once it dries for a couple of days I'll scuff it up with a Scotch Brite pad and give it another coat (maybe two).

[A E Numan]

What a fabulous job you are doing! Keep up the great work.