New project - 1954 VW Beetle Deluxe w/ VW Canada prodn plate

[kintail]

Garage door back on track.....

Semaphores looking old, dated June 1954

Being worked on by Josh Buchan

And goodbye blue paint....

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Scott

August 1954 Beetle Canadian Deluxe

[kintail]

Okay .... nominated for worst rusted bolt of the build is the rear passenger side lower shock absorber mounting bolt.

This beauty had 70 years to rust weld itself for eternity or so it hoped!

Soaked relentlessly with penetrating oil and heat I got it to rotate about 30 degrees and then would go no further.

Heating and shocking with water..... nothing. Now the bolt head is further mangled as the vice grips were used with enthusiasm.

Now going full attack ... the rubber bushing was melted off and shock absorber also cut off leaving the metal sleeve. Hoping to slide the sleeve off..... Nope.... it had rust-welded itself in pieces and this was ground off leaving the exposed bolt.

Wasted too much time putting a cut into the bolt and hoping to twist it out by using a chisel..... Really bad idea on my part. So now cut the bolt flush to the mounting point on the axle.

Next centre punched the bolt perfectly, (lifetime achievement noted here) to drill it out or at least partly. Drill bit goes in ..... but bolt still not moving!!
Short trip to walk-in clinic to get infected finger dealt with ... think this was related.

Have a friend who is an aircraft mechanic that provided me with a air rivet gun and different size punches to use. Also with some magic penetrating oil in an unmarked bottle and instructions to use only one drop on work area!!

Found the perfect punch .... too perfect... it got quickly and badly stuck in the drilled hole. Magic oil applied and finally got the punch out with no damage to the punch. Found a smaller sized punch and pulled the guns trigger....

Finally the bolt slowly was driven out with a good coat of defeated rust evident..... as per below.

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Scott

August 1954 Beetle Canadian Deluxe

[VW_Jimbo]

NICE! Love reading that adventure! Hope the finger is doing okay. You got to stop and scrub those open wounds out really good with soap and HOT water! The temperature kills the intruders! The soap just make their spiny bits not stick to you. I like killing them. Get that temperature up till you can barely stand it, that’s when you know it is working. Then open the wound up with your free hand and allow Mother Nature to take over!

But you have to stop working to do it! I know, it is really hard to STOP!

Keep on going. I enjoy reading your updates!
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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!

[kintail]

Hot water with salt solution..... salt helps to sterilize... and if your lucky can maybe get some of the pus out.

This whole bolt situation was over a week and a half taking lots of breaks to work on something else. In hindsight, I should not have put a slight cut into the bolt to try and spin it off.... total waste of time; I don't think you'll ever get enough leverage to make it happen.

Now tackling the rear trans axle bolts using the rivet gun alone. One bolt off and the other getting a oil soaking for round #2 late today.

Frustrating but fun......eventually!
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Scott

August 1954 Beetle Canadian Deluxe

[kintail]

Applied the gun to the transaxle nuts with the secret sauce mouse milk and they came off with a 1-2 applications. The fast action of the gun and the vibrations it creates seems to break the rust/mechanical bond very quickly for removal.

My new weapon of choice.....

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Scott

August 1954 Beetle Canadian Deluxe

[kintail]

Now preparing some parts for eventual reassembly. Cleaning steering column, removing rust and grease and the blue paint that is always present.

Rubber steering column grommet.

Removing grease and grime from passenger door latch mechanism.

Decided to reuse the OG rubber handbrake boot. I ordered the repro but it does not have the dimpled surface of the original. 0000 steel wool and paint remover took good care of the blue it was painted in. I like to reuse the original parts if they can be cleaned up!

On and off work continues on the steering wheel. Left to do is the removal of the wiring harness before body work starts.

Found front headlight glass Hella E1.0671.01as I had only one when I bought the car.

Found waterfall fuel pump..... wasn't really looking for one.... but why not?

Getting cam shaft sourced... and ordered gear from WW.
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Scott

August 1954 Beetle Canadian Deluxe

[kintail]

Didn't think I would find heater boxes for the '54!! Sure enough found on the Samba and just next door in Saskatchewan from fellow collector Trevor Pippin. Opened them up yesterday with help from rivet gun and penetrating oil plus minor straightening of tin work. Got them working again...... some tack welds and powder coat.... they will be ready to go.

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Scott

August 1954 Beetle Canadian Deluxe

[VW_Jimbo]

And…..a new pipe and flange installed with lots of love. Then get those assemblies ceramic coated for the life long treatment that is required!

Pages 90, 92 and 94 in my thread. If you need some help!
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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!

[kintail]

VW Jimbo... I did read your heater box battle earlier; looking thru your build log is becoming a regular occurrence!! I am fortunate I got mine working easily compared to all the issues you had getting the rod assemblies/flaps to work.

The WW Okrasa kit ...... got reading up on some of the difficulties with the kit as well as talking to one person recently who got his running properly. So headed over to the Vintage Speed forum for some wisdom......

[kintail]

Heater boxes operational and ready to go.....

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Scott

August 1954 Beetle Canadian Deluxe

[VW_Jimbo]

Those are beautiful! Nice job!
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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!

[kintail]

Removed the wiring harness yesterday with no drama. All the blue wire is finallly gone!!

Also wire wheeled the back parcel tray to further find out the damage caused by one leak in the rear window over time!

Still aiming for body work to start in September. Since I am not gifted with that skill like others here I will be contracting this out.
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Scott

August 1954 Beetle Canadian Deluxe

[kintail]

So my engine deck lid has seen some use and seeing what options there are locally to find one in better condition.

One hinge is fine although the other does not have full range of motion. Also evidence of previous welding repair of both hinges. Rust and older repair body work as well.

Also amusing myself on how to put the rear licence plate light assembly together. The factory workshop manual mentions wing nuts.....

Have access to better hinges. It is the original deck lid though and these are increasingly hard to find. It can be repaired as well.

The new 24 mm venturis for the 32 PBIC carbs also arrived from Custom and Speed Parts along with the 125 main jets from CIP!!

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Scott

August 1954 Beetle Canadian Deluxe

[kintail]

So why two licence plate light seals?

Plus the related link to where is the seal for the plastic lens to housing. I pulled the remains of this small circular seal out yesterday.

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=792527

Top West Coast Metric '53-'57; Bottom West Coast Metric '52-'57

Top one makes way more sense....
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Scott

August 1954 Beetle Canadian Deluxe

[Dan22]

The top seal goes on the inside between the inner clear lenz and the hood. US models had a clear lens inside so I think the licence light would shine on the engine bay in the dark with the deck lid open.

The lower one goes between the lamp housing and the hood.
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1-0900722 die langsame grüne Schildkröte
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=765074

[sunroof]

Yes, what Dan says is correct. I don't have an inner lens on mine so I just have the outer seal.

No inner lens

Don
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Better and better mistakes!

[kintail]

Thanks for the additional info Dan! Much appreciated!
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Scott

August 1954 Beetle Canadian Deluxe

[kintail]

Blue removal is underway. Like the turn signal switch there are a few electrical and other items requiring attention. On plastic surfaces it will flake off using a fingernail ......or may require a careful application of paint stripper if sprayed on a clean metal surface. Finicky work that takes time.

Before and after...... yet a couple of small hints of blue on the ignition switch and/or reflection.

The steering column which was covered in blue paint was stripped and painted Krylon gloss almond to match the original beige paint still present... as evident on the turn signal switch and column below. I took some pictures of the steering column tube to get some measurements on the spacing of the parts on reassembly.

I put the door mechanisms back in place with rubber door positioning stops for the move to the body shop.

Decided to do a quick mock up using the OG ultra maroon glove box door with the new rubber mats and a couple of the carpet pieces from the WCCI kit. I like it!

The blue emergency brake handle needs to be dealt with but will leave that to the last. Also note restored emergency brake boot looking good and mentioned previously.

Circling back to the engine lid Don had a pair of unmolested engine lid hinges that will be a big help with this repair.

Also dropped off at the chrome shop the vent wings and related pieces, speaker grill, ash tray. The whole ashtray will be chromed as not easy to peal the spot welds off of just the chrome trim.

The original vent wing latches were toast and got a pair of new WW ones. Mentioned that the new chrome should not be any thicker then the old chrome which is now peeling off the old and using that as a guide. Had the vent wing, old rubber and glass to demonstrate why!! Anyway ten items, $300 estimate and 8 weeks till pickup.
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Scott

August 1954 Beetle Canadian Deluxe

[kintail]

Expensive week.....

Light switch had an old melt down in evidence.Probably the blue paint job did not help.

Turn signal switch broke from lack of lubricant and being old.

Dimmer switch which is OG plastic (?) decided to bail as well
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Scott

August 1954 Beetle Canadian Deluxe

[VW_Jimbo]

Funny! I had the same dimmer switch in the 54. My old 55 was a metallic shelled unit. I have purchased a more appropriate style dimmer switch to install, at some point in the NEAR future, IF I can find it!
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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!