Neil's 52 Zwitter

[nshaddox]

Donor early style framehead arrived this week; my samba searching tells me the stamping changed somewhere in 57-58. Also nice set of early spring plates, torsion bars, and covers. Gonna have to think about how to splice in what I need. Want to try to save what I don’t need because it may help someone else out. Nice piece, thanks Ron!

[nshaddox]

Finally warm enough to be working on stuff in the garage. Got the donor frame head separated into the chunks I need. Have a few other little projects in the works for this car but nothing picture worthy yet. Been spending the winter working on fiat and Moped engine projects but happy to be getting back into this one.

[nshaddox]

did some forensics to figure out the VIN, and in the process discovered it was listed on the split registry already, so I've talked to the guy who originally found this thing in PA back in 2008 and have a bit more history. hoping the additional history and photos will help me get a title.

here is the original thread
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...highlight=

I used fry's reagent to try to recover the VIN. worked decently well.

Here is the stuff:

I made a test piece out of a piece of the donor frame head:

I tried different styles of grinding down pressed numbers, but in the end only tested the rough ground/polished and hand sanded/polished samples in the last 2 'rows.' First I left it outside for a winter season to also mimick some of the rust on the actual tunnel.

here it is after polishing:

and here it is after 2 or 3 applications of fry's reagent:

it certianly helps, but you still have to have a trained eye. anyways, between this process and the back of the body plate I was able to nail down all the mystery digits in the VIN and find more history on the car in the process, so thats exciting.

also finished removing the rest of the bottom plate and the rotted conduits in the tunnel yesterday.

was able to confirm that all the length measurements for the removed conduits were correct or slightly long by 5/10mm. I have an LLC now too, so I'm going to try to follow up with my local source for metric tubing this week to see about getting some new tubes. When I reached out last fall they wouldn't sell to individuals.

[nshaddox]

Just placed an order with my metric tubing supplier, got enough to do both this bug and my 59 panel project that has been in stasis for 4 years. I'll have an extra 6mmx.8mm gas line in case anyone needs it. UPS shipping max length is 94", so I'm going down to Toledo next week to pick them up in full 20' lengths.

also picked up some chunks of I-beam today off craigslist. with the bottom of the tunnel removed, the frame gets pretty wobbly. I'm planning on making a jig using a 64 pan I have access to in order to make sure the 52 pan goes together squarely once I run new conduits.

[nshaddox]

Couple more puzzle pieces made up this morning.

Tabs and clips for the conduit line replacement job.

One piece at a time...

[nshaddox]

So even though I didn’t post much or get anything of substance done during winter, it doesn’t mean I wasn’t working on projects.

Conversion link pins and bushings to run the barn door spindles on the front of the big was one such project. Finally got the first set in to play with. I made some extra sets to sell so PM if interested. I want to have materials verified by a 3rd party before selling so probably still a few weeks out. They sure do look good though!

I found some really great technical material from a bronze supplier online and was able to really engineer these things. Note internal grease groove on bushing.

Nice clearance fit before pressing bushing into spindle assembly.

And after.

Some comparison photos:

Bug adjustment groove spacing (no shims) is slightly off so I’ll probably adjust for next batch, but since it’s for adjusting I’m sure it’ll be fine.

New pins slightly further out:

Also had some early bug e brake adjuster screws made up while I was at it, mine got pretty mangled and was rotten to begin with like everything else on this car.

[D-train]

Nice work! They came up a treat!
_________________
shiny paint doesnt make it worth any more

[VWKDF]

Nice work. Looking forward to watching this project come along.

[nshaddox]

Despite localized flooding in the Detroit metro area yesterday I was still able to make it to Toledo and back before work to pick up my order of full length metric tubing. Came with a free 20’ 2x4!

Spent the afternoon today cutting things down to size.

This tube is all the stuff I need for my panel project that maybe I’ll get back into next summer?

And this is a shot of all the new conduits for the Zwitter pan laid out prior to bending. Looks nice and clean if you ignore the garage clutter. Box contains a chainsaw that a friend wants to weld a Moped pipe onto. Moped people are weird.

I do have enough 6mmx.8mm pipe for a spare gas line if anyone local needs to run a new one. Too long to ship.

That’s all I got done today, kind of lacking in motivation because I heard an old friend down in tx just got killed riding her bike by a distracted driver. Hit pretty close to home because I bicycle commute most of the time and cross country ride as my other hobby. Please be kind to and look out for cyclists.

[D-train]

That’s shit news. Hope the family and friends of her are coping alright.
_________________
shiny paint doesnt make it worth any more

[geneL3c]

Neil, Sorry to, hear of your friend's death, I know it is very hard to deal with a tragedy and maintain the motivation to keep moving forward. Gene

[geneL3c]

Neil. The view of the inside of the tunnel scares the hell out of me, I've been blowing acorns out of mine for months, who knows what else had taken up residence ? Gene

[sbpickup]

Looks Great Neil. Always wondered where the old girl ended up. Happy to see her coming back to life!

[nshaddox]

Really busy week at work. Also got sick. Forced myself to get some stuff done today though.

Used a 1/2” conduit bender and also some hand/foot bending to get the new cable conduits more or less bent into shape and tacked together.

I cut the rear brake lines long by about 150mm because I might have to use bus cables to get the ebrake hooked up right and thought it might be nice to have some extra tubing to work with.

Managed to reuse one piece of the original tubing bundle, the brake spring return clip.

Have to cut clutch tube off and try again, I think I got it too far back by about 10mm. Might be able to get them welded into the tunnel tomorrow morning.

[vw356]

Your work looks great! I think you may be interested in a body jig I made to hold my projects while I rebuild them. A rotisserie is the way to go! I have a jig for bug floor pans and a jig for split buses too.Also, I have a lot of early VWs and would be happy to get measurements for you when needed.

_________________
Current projects:
1950's Volkswagens!
51,52,54's,55,56's,57,58's,'60's And then a bunch of '60's, but the '50's are my favorites..

[nshaddox]

That is an impressive jig. I’ve never seen one that locates off the fender mounting points but that makes a lot of sense to me. Leaves plenty of room down low to replace rotten stuff and avoids the weak as shit bumper mounting locations. Not sure if you noticed but I’ve been collecting chunks of I beam to make a frame jig to ensure I weld the tunnel up squarely. Just a few more bits needed.

Meanwhile, I finished up the conduit replacements & new gas line and got all the internal welds done.

Decided I didn’t like the ‘big hole by tons of tiny holes for the previous conversion to juiced brakes and decided to make a new patch. Added advantage is brake line location will be closer to stock too. Also addresses thin/rusted corner of Napoleon hat. Just waiting on a part for my brake to make the final bends.

Old and nasty:

New and improved:

Master fits much better.

Then moved on to some body stuff for a change of pace

Trimmed lower drivers firewall being sure to save as much as possible of what is left of the original channel.

As bad as the metal on this car looks, most of what is left seems fairly solid and thick. Very strange rust. Didn’t have to use all the height in the KF replacement piece and was able to save the full dimmer switch pressing on the original. Got the replacement trimmed to fit, had to slit and narrow the width a bit to get it to align better but it’s ready to go in now.

[vw356]

That is some beautiful work you have done! Not many people ever go this deep! The car should bring a good price later on with this kind of quality invested.
This is my last picture post on here.. I'm just showing you how I solved the same procedures you are dealing with.
The bug jig I showed you lets me do any lower 10-12" repairs and front and rear clips..But I do need to lengthen the back so the rear apron area has more room.
Only problem so far is the doors can't open and close in this jig, but I could redo it and make this possible. I cheated instead and made a datum frame that lets me bolt on other jobs to fit any car.
I'm done posting and talking..I will be watching this build though! I know what it takes to go this deep! Excellent work Sir!

_________________
Current projects:
1950's Volkswagens!
51,52,54's,55,56's,57,58's,'60's And then a bunch of '60's, but the '50's are my favorites..

[nshaddox]

again, nice jigs. I am pretty jealous of your shop space. I just have a 2 car garage to work in and its pretty packed. creates its own challenges. everything must be done in order.

[vw356]

I completely understand.. I live in the country just for this reason..I got a loan to build a nice 2 car garage knowing I was going a different route.. I went out and bought old steel building frames and took them apart and turned them into one giant building..75x80.. Hired a couple young guys as laborers and went at it..Concrete and tin were my biggest expenses..But it has been worth it!! The building project was only 38,000.00 total and A LOT of hard work.. I've seen your works..Hard work is your thing too!! I would love a ride in the bubbletop! I have a 1952 Zwitter in almost identical condition as yours..And it is full of KF metal waiting for it's day, but I do not have time for it yet.
Best of luck with this! You definitely have it figured out!
I can get you just about any measurement you might need off of one of my cars and would be happy to help!
_________________
Current projects:
1950's Volkswagens!
51,52,54's,55,56's,57,58's,'60's And then a bunch of '60's, but the '50's are my favorites..

[geneL3c]

Neil, Does anyone distribute KF replacement panels in the USA ? I've been getting panels from different sources world wide with varying quality, but the KF panels seem to fit better ? Gene