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GoMopar440
Samba Member
Joined: February 06, 2015
Posts: 491
Location: Montana
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 Posted: Fri Jul 08, 2016 1:47 pm Post subject: Re: Budget rail rebuild and dual carbs project |
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The WW kit just arrived in the mail today. The pump on the one I received matches the picture on the Ebay ad I got mine from exactly. It's not like the pumps in the other two ads mentioned, which was something I was wondering about after seeing them. There were no instructions in the box with it, but there was a caution printed on the outside of the box. It explained the confusion with the chinglish notes on the various Ebay ads mentioned above. It reads: "CAUTION, ALWAYS USE CLEAR WASHER SOLVENT WITH PURE WATER, DO NOT USE SOAP WATER". It sounds to me like if you use regular bottled WW fluid you'll be fine. If you use concentrated WW fluid that you have to add water to, I'd guess that caution means you're only supposed to use distilled water.
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Homemade rail for street & off road: BJ front beam (bent), IRS rear (boxed/maybe bent), stock T1 DP 1600, 009, 34PICT-3 (soon to be dual 40HPMXs), 4-1 glass pack exh, T3 brakes (F disk, R drum & Dual MC), Bug trans (002, 5 rib going in soon).
Link to my rail (re)build thread: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=629493 |
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GoMopar440
Samba Member
Joined: February 06, 2015
Posts: 491
Location: Montana
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| Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2016 2:01 am Post subject: Re: Budget rail rebuild and dual carbs project |
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I had some questions over on the STF thread about the cardboard dash template I made. I just went ahead and started to make the aluminum version of the dash to show what I was thinking a little bit easier and more clearly. I still need to make the framework behind it to support it, as well as the gauge and glove box cutouts, but the basic shape is pretty much there now. I drew 1" wide flaps on the lower edges and then made the bends by clamping the aluminum between some pieces of steel angle iron. I clamped the angle pieces in the bench vise to hold it along the bend lines. I added some vise grips as well for the long bends. A big rubber mallet knocked the flaps over most of the way and I used a smooth faced hammer to tighten up the bends a little bit more. I had to get creative with the clamping in order to get the small diagonal bends in the middle. However, it turned out fine with a little thinking to figure it out.
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Homemade rail for street & off road: BJ front beam (bent), IRS rear (boxed/maybe bent), stock T1 DP 1600, 009, 34PICT-3 (soon to be dual 40HPMXs), 4-1 glass pack exh, T3 brakes (F disk, R drum & Dual MC), Bug trans (002, 5 rib going in soon).
Link to my rail (re)build thread: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=629493 |
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GoMopar440
Samba Member
Joined: February 06, 2015
Posts: 491
Location: Montana
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| Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2016 2:36 pm Post subject: Re: Budget rail rebuild and dual carbs project |
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Today I cut the holes in the dash for the two gauges using a carbide hole cutter and my mill. I set them up so the top edges of both gauges are level with each other and the same distance from the top of the dash. That required figuring out the OD of the bezel as well as the OD of the gauge body where it passes through the aluminum. Then I used those figures to find the centers of each hole. I had to support the dash with step blocks to keep the chatter to a minimum during the cutting process. After a little tuning with a half round file, the gauges fit snug in the holes, but not too tight. I also used an angle grinder to carefully trim back the raised diamonds that interfered with the bezels being able to sit flat on the front of the dash. I'll make the gauge retainers as part of the steel dash frame when I build it.
The glove box will be very small, but I don't plan on keeping anything other than registration and insurance paperwork in there, so that's fine with me.
_________________
Homemade rail for street & off road: BJ front beam (bent), IRS rear (boxed/maybe bent), stock T1 DP 1600, 009, 34PICT-3 (soon to be dual 40HPMXs), 4-1 glass pack exh, T3 brakes (F disk, R drum & Dual MC), Bug trans (002, 5 rib going in soon).
Link to my rail (re)build thread: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=629493 |
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GoMopar440
Samba Member
Joined: February 06, 2015
Posts: 491
Location: Montana
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| Posted: Sun Jul 10, 2016 6:08 pm Post subject: Re: Budget rail rebuild and dual carbs project |
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It was raining pretty much all day here so I just stayed in the barn working on making the dash frame for a while. I used the same 3/4" x 3/4" steel angle iron I used to make the tunnel frame. It's 1/8" thick and is fairly easy to work with and weld using .035 flux core wire. I got the majority of it done, but my back had me calling it quits before I could finish the rear support bracing.
This is where I stopped at for today.
_________________
Homemade rail for street & off road: BJ front beam (bent), IRS rear (boxed/maybe bent), stock T1 DP 1600, 009, 34PICT-3 (soon to be dual 40HPMXs), 4-1 glass pack exh, T3 brakes (F disk, R drum & Dual MC), Bug trans (002, 5 rib going in soon).
Link to my rail (re)build thread: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=629493 |
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dustymojave
Samba Member
Joined: January 07, 2007
Posts: 5802
Location: Lake LA, Mojave Desert, SoCal
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| Posted: Sun Jul 10, 2016 6:55 pm Post subject: Re: Budget rail rebuild and dual carbs project |
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Re the fiberglass seats...
"Mark V" is the fiberglass company that makes the seats you linked to. They are also the primary manufacturer of Baja fiberglass Baja Bug body kits. "Mark V" is not a reference to the development level of the seats or their design. Mark V is in Nevada these days. They used to be located in the San Fernando Valley, about 3/4 of a mile from my home at the time. My Baja has rear fenders from them and probably the front 1-piece as well, although I didn't buy that new, so I'm not sure of who made it.
I think I still have my old seats and can take pictures later of them and maybe I can find the old mounts in the scrap pile too.
Re the dash...
That dash looks good. It seems like a lot of support for a dash, but well done. I find the bottom edge of the dash needs to not be sharp edged. When my Hi Jumper got quadruple-endoed when flat-out, the only injury to the occupants was a cut on the knee of the co-driver from the bottom of the dash.
Re the windshield washer...
Having spent 11 years in plastics R&D, including having been the Supervisor of a Lab, the plastic WW jug may have shown some trouble with chemical resistance to some soaps. Polyethylene IS affected by detergents. In fact, after UV light, soap is one of the most severe problems for polyethylene. YES, I know that many soaps are packaged in polyethylene. But I've had to deal with the results of 140,000 5-gallon polyethylene jugs failing in a warehouse. And I spent years testing polyethylene containers with soaps.
But normal WW fluid should be OK in the jug and in the pump. If NOT, then the product fails to serve for the purpose for which it is being sold.
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Richard
Offroading VW based cars since 1965
Tech Inspection 1963 - 2012 SCCA/SCORE/HDRA/MORE/MDR +
Retired from building Bajas, Fiberglass Buggies and Rails in the Mojave Desert. Also Sprints & Midgets, Dry Lakes, Road Race cars. All types New and Vintage
SoCalBajas Member
Kicked Cancer's A$$...1st and 2nd round...Fight ain't over yet. |
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GoMopar440
Samba Member
Joined: February 06, 2015
Posts: 491
Location: Montana
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| Posted: Sun Jul 10, 2016 11:22 pm Post subject: Re: Budget rail rebuild and dual carbs project |
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| dustymojave wrote: |
Re the fiberglass seats...
"Mark V" is the fiberglass company that makes the seats you linked to. They are also the primary manufacturer of Baja fiberglass Baja Bug body kits. "Mark V" is not a reference to the development level of the seats or their design. Mark V is in Nevada these days. They used to be located in the San Fernando Valley, about 3/4 of a mile from my home at the time. My Baja has rear fenders from them and probably the front 1-piece as well, although I didn't buy that new, so I'm not sure of who made it. |
I didn't know that about the Mark V name. I thought the company name was called Fiberglass Specialties. That was because I saw that name (FS) in red and yellow letters right under the huge phone number at the top of the webpage. Now that you mentioned it, I noticed the first part of the weblink I posted says "markvfiberglass.com". I double checked the page and they have their real name, Mark V Fiberglass, up on the top of the other side of the page. However it's shown in more plain light blue background with white lettering and it blends in with the other text around it to my eyes. I think they could have done that area of the page just a little bit better to avoid confusion like this. It could also be my fault for not reading the webpage a little more thoroughly though.
Honestly I was just happy to see that these seats were still being sold, and therefore info should still be available from them about seat covers for these seats. I emailed them about the seat covers this weekend so I hope to hear back from them soon. I can't afford to upgrade them right now, so I'll have to make due with what I already have for a while longer.
| dustymojave wrote: |
| I think I still have my old seats and can take pictures later of them and maybe I can find the old mounts in the scrap pile too. |
That would be a great help and very much appreciated if you could get those pics. I'm almost at the point of having to figure out the mounts for the seats.
| dustymojave wrote: |
Re the dash...
...It seems like a lot of support for a dash, but well done. I find the bottom edge of the dash needs to not be sharp edged... |
I agree completely with this. Even the part about it being overbuilt. I realize that I have a tendency to do that when I build stuff from scratch, but I still do it that way anyway for some reason. The aluminum dash piece is pretty flimsy due to the cuts made for the 1" flaps and the cut out for the steering column. The steel frame is built to compensate for that flexibility. I still need to weld some mounting tabs to the lower windshield bar to attach the dash frame to, but that will have to wait until it stops raining around here (maybe Tuesday?).
The plan is for those 1" flaps I bent up to be sitting on top of larger flat pieces that will run front to back approx 12", and across the entire width of the dash bottom cutout. The area the drivers and passengers legs go through will look like the inside of a big squareish tube. Once I get that part finished the pics will show it better than I can explain it with words. No sharp edges will be presented to the occupants legs anywhere under the dash when I'm done.
| dustymojave wrote: |
| But normal WW fluid should be OK in the jug and in the pump. If NOT, then the product fails to serve for the purpose for which it is being sold. |
That is my thinking as well, which is why I'll be running regular ready made WW fluid for the foreseeable future. If the pump fails, the bottle looks like it will accept a universal "push in through grommet" type of pump. If not... well I guess I'll just get creative and cross that bridge when I get to it.
_________________
Homemade rail for street & off road: BJ front beam (bent), IRS rear (boxed/maybe bent), stock T1 DP 1600, 009, 34PICT-3 (soon to be dual 40HPMXs), 4-1 glass pack exh, T3 brakes (F disk, R drum & Dual MC), Bug trans (002, 5 rib going in soon).
Link to my rail (re)build thread: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=629493 |
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GoMopar440
Samba Member
Joined: February 06, 2015
Posts: 491
Location: Montana
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| Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2016 11:26 am Post subject: Re: Budget rail rebuild and dual carbs project |
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FYI: Mark V Fiberglass emailed me back and said to check out chircoestore.com for the seat covers. I looked around their website and found a seat cover which looks like an exact match for the old seat covers that I have now. The only down side is they are pretty expensive at $57 each. If I got two at the same time I'd qualify for the free shipping (orders over $99) so that would help a little. Here's the link in case anyone else is looking for covers for this type of seat.
http://chircoestore.com/high-back-fiberglass-seat-cover-black-vinyl-dune-buggy-sand-rail.html
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Homemade rail for street & off road: BJ front beam (bent), IRS rear (boxed/maybe bent), stock T1 DP 1600, 009, 34PICT-3 (soon to be dual 40HPMXs), 4-1 glass pack exh, T3 brakes (F disk, R drum & Dual MC), Bug trans (002, 5 rib going in soon).
Link to my rail (re)build thread: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=629493 |
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GoMopar440
Samba Member
Joined: February 06, 2015
Posts: 491
Location: Montana
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| Posted: Sat Jul 16, 2016 9:44 pm Post subject: Re: Budget rail rebuild and dual carbs project |
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Got a little more done of the dash frame today, but nothing worthy of a pic yet. I hope to get that frame built up far enough that I can start to make the glove box soon. I don't have any plans drawn up for it anywhere, so I'm just shooting from the hip with this one.
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Homemade rail for street & off road: BJ front beam (bent), IRS rear (boxed/maybe bent), stock T1 DP 1600, 009, 34PICT-3 (soon to be dual 40HPMXs), 4-1 glass pack exh, T3 brakes (F disk, R drum & Dual MC), Bug trans (002, 5 rib going in soon).
Link to my rail (re)build thread: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=629493 |
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GoMopar440
Samba Member
Joined: February 06, 2015
Posts: 491
Location: Montana
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| Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2016 8:07 pm Post subject: Re: Budget rail rebuild and dual carbs project |
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I've only been getting out to the shop for a short while each time I head out there, so I haven't been making as much progress as I would like to lately. The dash is pretty much complete with the exception of the glove box and upper mounts that get welded to the bottom windshield bar. I've got the glove box started, but I still need the tunnel and dash bolted in place and together before I can get the final measurements I need to finish it.
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Homemade rail for street & off road: BJ front beam (bent), IRS rear (boxed/maybe bent), stock T1 DP 1600, 009, 34PICT-3 (soon to be dual 40HPMXs), 4-1 glass pack exh, T3 brakes (F disk, R drum & Dual MC), Bug trans (002, 5 rib going in soon).
Link to my rail (re)build thread: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=629493 |
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GoMopar440
Samba Member
Joined: February 06, 2015
Posts: 491
Location: Montana
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| Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2016 11:24 pm Post subject: Re: Budget rail rebuild and dual carbs project |
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I recently picked up a worn out turbo at the JY (needs a rebuild and a new compressor wheel) to put on the rail after I get it up and running again. It's a IHI RHB5 (VF58) from some kind of Subaru from what I've read about it online so far. It was just laying on the front seat of a small pickup truck out in the boonies in the JY with no matching engine to it in any of the vehicles around where I found it. The guy at the JY let me have it for free since the shaft had so much play in it. When I pulled it apart the compressor wheel was messed up (bent tips and edges), but the compressor housing had no corresponding damage on it at all. I don't know how that's possible, but it means I can get away with replacing the bearings, seals and compressor wheel and have a working turbo. I'll be sending the parts off to get balanced properly so it doesn't self destruct when I spool it up for the first time. I already ordered a rebuild kit and a compressor wheel for it and a small boost gauge so I can keep tabs on it.
Before I had bought the parts to repair that free turbo, I put a really low bid on another IHI RHB5 turbo (a VJ11 this time) on Ebay, but I wasn't really expecting to get it. Someone else tried to outbid me on it at the last minute, but gave up before they passed my max bid. So now I have a second turbo coming soon. It needs a rebuild kit installed as well, but both the turbine and compressor wheels are supposed to be in good shape. I'll know for sure when it gets here and I get a chance to tear it down. I'll rebuild it and then send it in to get balanced at the same time with the other one to save on shipping.
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Homemade rail for street & off road: BJ front beam (bent), IRS rear (boxed/maybe bent), stock T1 DP 1600, 009, 34PICT-3 (soon to be dual 40HPMXs), 4-1 glass pack exh, T3 brakes (F disk, R drum & Dual MC), Bug trans (002, 5 rib going in soon).
Link to my rail (re)build thread: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=629493 |
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