Kick Azz 1975 LaGrande Super Rebuild

[Maddel]

[baxsie]

Got the parts back from the anodizing. The sump is rather purple because additives to the aluminium to make it better for injection molding make it a not as good candidate for dying, however it's still looks decent, and should provide a nice bit of protection and color. Instead of using the stud/socket caps sent with the sump, we decided to use some left over stainless steel screws from the engine tin.
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1975 LaGrande Super Beetle Build Log / Farm boy hinge pin puller / Farm Boy Chassis Rotisserie
"I'm not getting older, I'm getting bitter."

[cortexgunner92]

Hey all, first post in this thread actually, I've been stalking for awhile but now I decided to come from the shadows. Anyway, baxie's son here. So..yeah..

Earlier in the year we got some switches from a junked Passat, they don't look too modern and out of place and they are from a former VDub so I thought they'd be a good match(plus there was a full set!).

Space will be limited on the dash...I purchased a stereo+two seven band equalizers today, the total size of all these will be = to a double DIN. One EQ will control the front two speakers, and tweeters, and the other one will control the rear 6x9s and the sub. Being the audiophile I am I like to have complete control over many frequencies, plus I listen to music on very different ends of the spectrum(primarily classic rock and house). More on the audio setup I am planning once I acquire the rest of it

Anyway, to free-up some much needed dash space for other controls, I wanted to integrate the window controls into the armrest, as many modern cars have. I wasn't very careful this first time, so the result isn't very pretty, but I have new armrests and I'll get some practice in on the 50 old and cracked ones lying around before I touch those...

Apologies for the photo quality...my phone's getting old...

-NOT PICTURED-
Before I dremeled, I traced the switch, and scored the area with a box knife. It made a checkerboard pattern, this made removing the first layer of material very easy and controllable...it only went downhill from there though...

I used a dremel to cut out most of the foam, and the ridges on the collet ended up eating it away where it touched for too long, that's why it doesn't meet perfectly at the edges, I'll look for a collet without ridges or sand these ones off to try again...

The bottom, made clearance for the wires to tuck

The hole is a lot more rough than I would like, I was having a hard time keeping the dremel from catching and getting stuck, digging very deep in a certain direction. I think to do this for real I'll dremel most then burn the foam out around the critical edges

Here it is on the door! Doesn't look too bad from a distance

The wires tuck under nicely, wrapping some black tape around them will help them blend in as well I think

[baxsie]

While cortexgunner was working on the window switch (nice job, BTW) I assembled the front suspension yet again. It all went together right this time

He painted the calipers (very carefully, with a brush) and I sprayed the hub of the rotor. We used RustSeal Motor Coater which is supposed to be good for high temps. This red combined with Topline's bright red Sport + springs makes it look pretty fun:

We used the Topline front disc kit, but substituted AC Industries blank rotors. They almost work together. We had a brake shop turn a bit off the AC rotor, and ended up adding two thin shims under the inboard bearing's outer race. It is bang on now. The topline caliper brackets are clear anodized, we got them red anodized for protection and color. We added a bracket welded to the strut tube to hold Topline's brake clamp.

The right shot shows how the soaker hose rubber pad looks. It tucks in perfectly between the sping and the spring plate:

Here is how it will look from the curb. I love the semi-hidden red accents. Still need to come up with some kind of a finish hub cap:

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1975 LaGrande Super Beetle Build Log / Farm boy hinge pin puller / Farm Boy Chassis Rotisserie
"I'm not getting older, I'm getting bitter."

[cortexgunner92]

Our neighbor fellow up the road is a very skilled welder/machinist, so we took the whole engine with the exhaust mounted on it to his place tonight to get it welded up. It took a long time to get the system from A1 to fit right, but then it got tacked and welded. End result about three hours later...

[alexvw]

You will need to grind the weld away from the hole so a nut/bolt can sit flush on the flange, looks great!
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1995 Mitsubishi 3000GT SL
1974 Volkswagen Superbeetle( Mitsubishi 4G63T Swap in Progress )


http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=575769&highlight=

[baxsie]

[alexvw]

I enjoy seeing the progress on this thread, it is always great work!
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1995 Mitsubishi 3000GT SL
1974 Volkswagen Superbeetle( Mitsubishi 4G63T Swap in Progress )


http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=575769&highlight=

[baxsie]

Well, we made it to Anacortes, WA to meet with Nate (aka AirCooledTechGuy) at ProVolks for the engine build. Nate is a natural teacher and my son is soaking it up like a sponge. I'm left to clean the occasional part, and now that I have some internet access I can post some pictures.

Photostorm approaching !

Placing the rod bearings in the rods:

Torquing the rods:

Checking the friction of the rod bearings . . . fun:

Link


Pre-hearing the cam gear so it will slip on the crank:

The cam gear maby not look hot, but the IR image shows it is nice and toasty:

Laying the crank into the case:

Putting the cam into the case. Lots of cam lube;

Compressing the rings:

Torquing the heads:

Starting to look like an engine:

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1975 LaGrande Super Beetle Build Log / Farm boy hinge pin puller / Farm Boy Chassis Rotisserie
"I'm not getting older, I'm getting bitter."

[baxsie]

More engine build photostorm!

Dress-up MST Pushrod Tubes installed:

This is the CB thin-line sump, except we did some smoothing on it and had it anodized:

The trick Jay-Cee Mag-X sump plate:

CB oil pump with dress-up cover:

Enough fluff, back to the serious stuff. Setting up the end play with the shims:

Torquing the gland nut, using a torque multiplier. The final install used a conventional torque wrench with the 38mm socket for the monster CB gland nut:

Nate has been doing this a long time, so he had his own home-made seal installed made from a gland nut, the end of an axel and an old bearing. Very clever

Seal tool in use:

Main seal installed:

Setting up the side-to-side positioning of the rocker arms:

The shim stack under the rocker arms after setting the valve geometry:

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1975 LaGrande Super Beetle Build Log / Farm boy hinge pin puller / Farm Boy Chassis Rotisserie
"I'm not getting older, I'm getting bitter."

[baxsie]

Welcome to day 3 of the Father-Son engine build at ProVolks.

We rough cut the pushrods with a tubing cutter (tubing cutters can go through CroMoly?) and then squared them up on the sander:

A quick pass on the wire wheel to de-burr the outside, then a final de-burr of the end of the tube:

The top image is the "factory end" the bottom image is our "custom end":

Pushrods are installed and lifters adjusted in this shot:

We found some trick chrome plated socket head bolts and washers. These still have an unthreaded section just below the head that we think will seal splendidly with the seal in the valve cover:

Overall progress shot:

Did you know that there are washers under the distributor drive gear? I do now:

The distributor drive gear turns the Cam Sync, which the MS3Pro (MegaSquirt) will use to sequence the spark and injection on a per-cylinder basis:

The CB Big Beef manifolds have tons of material for agressive porting. We need them for the FI capability, but that extra material got in the way of the OG tin. So we needed to remove some material to allow the manifolds to fit without interference:

This is the last photo with the "modern" tin installed. The Fuel rails intersect with the tin, so we will have to modify that a bit to clear the rails:

Luckily, Nate had a "workable" "36 horse" doghouse tin. It will keep it cool through break-in. Here is a mock-up of where we think the A/C compressor can mount:

The stainess steel muffler from A1 is teh shiny:

We put it to bed on the test stand. Ready for some MegaSquirt magic in the morning:

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1975 LaGrande Super Beetle Build Log / Farm boy hinge pin puller / Farm Boy Chassis Rotisserie
"I'm not getting older, I'm getting bitter."

[mfergel]

Wow. Will you adopt me? How awesome for you to be able to pass those skills on to him.

[Roark_8]

I have to say, this is my favorite thread in this forum. I always look forward to the updates.

[baxsie]

[Geoffffreak]

Looks good!! Keep it up!!
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1974 Std. 2007cc Dual 44 Webbers. (German look in progress) Family owned from the factory!

[baxsie]

Test of the LS2 coil pack:

Link


Windmilling the engine (no spark plugs) until the oil pressure builds up:

Link


Starting it up:

Link


Playing with the timing:

Link


Full sequential spark and injection enabled. Basic tune is looking good. Mario is giving it the thumbs up:

Link

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1975 LaGrande Super Beetle Build Log / Farm boy hinge pin puller / Farm Boy Chassis Rotisserie
"I'm not getting older, I'm getting bitter."

[JayO]

WHOAH !
That sounds SO nice !!
Love the electric window actuators too !

I've been following this one too, thanks for the videos.

As far as the divots near the switches in the arm rest, you might want to try some black RTV around the inside of the hole and trim it with an xacto knife after it sets up.
Before the RTV sets up fully, you can dab it with a damp terry cloth towel.
This way you can make it "sorta/kinda" match the crinkle texture of the original vinyl, depending on how dark black the vinyl is you may not even see it.

I've fixed a previous owner's cigarette burn holes on a black vinyl dash before with the black RTV, if you get lucky on the color match, you may not even notice it.

Keep up the awesome work.

Thanks.

- Jay

[cortexgunner92]

[Mavelotta]

Had a good time Friday, thanks for having me be part of your build! The motor really sounds great. You guys put together a nice combo. Ethan should be proud of his little monster!
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[chicagovw]

Nice work! really looking good.