Black Betty

[TDCTDI]

Well... it’s time for me to descend upon the Oval forums with a 1957 Euro that posted in the “as found” threads a few years ago.

I’ll be bastardizing it by putting it on a 1970 pan from another project...
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=625659&highlight=

That donated quite a few parts to The Ghiapet...
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=691306&highlight=

Black Betty will be a Class II/Kommandeurwagen style build.

Here’s the inspiration for the name...

Link


Black Betty had a child, the damn thing gone wild...

Black Betty’s child was just too long.
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Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.


GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!


An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.


Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it.

[TDCTDI]

So, since I always seem to start my builds with the front suspension, I grabbed a beam that I had laying around & proceeded to hack it & tack it.

I used a pipe cutter to score a line around the upper tube.

Then I used a die grinder to cut the center spring clamp out.

Then I welded an adjuster in.

I took the trailing arms & pressed new ball joints in.

I had set of hook & rod limiters... without the rods, so I snagged an old driveshaft & made some new rods...

Then I determined where to locate the rods...

Then I drilled some 3/4" holes in the shock towers & welded the rods in place. (Apparently I forgot to take pics of this step.)
_________________
Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.


GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!


An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.


Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it.

[finster]

that's going to look cool - but watch out for the originality police!
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"we're here on Earth to fart around" kurt vonnegut

nothing lasts, nothing is finished, and nothing is perfect...

[TDCTDI]

[TDCTDI]

Anywho, here is more of the modifications to the beam...

Here, I used my die grinder to carve a swath through the seam on the shock towers so I can seam weld them. I do this to clean all of the rust & grime out of the seam to get a better weld.

After the first pass with the welder...

Then I knock it down with a grinder.

And I lay down another bead.

With a final clean up with the grinder.

_________________
Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.


GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!


An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.


Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it.

[TDCTDI]

While the spring packs were out, I could set the limits with the hooks to prevent ball joint breakage.

Full droop...

Full compression...

_________________
Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.


GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!


An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.


Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it.

[TDCTDI]

Today, I flipped the beam and continued seam welding the towers.

Then, in anticipation of some Thing Y-braces, I grabbed a section of 2” steel stock & trimmed off a couple of pieces.

And then glued them to the beam.

The tow hook on the passenger side got in the way, so I carefully cut the rear part section off.

Then bent it out of the way so I could weld the other Y-brace tab on.

Here’s what it looks like now...

That concludes today’s “Ch..ch...ch...changes, turn & face the strange, changes...”
_________________
Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.


GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!


An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.


Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it.

[TDCTDI]

Today, I spent waaay too much time trying to clean the undercoating, grime, & old paint off the beam. Then I decided to break the monotony & grab one of the spindles & start making gussets.

First, I dug up another section of steel stock & cut a piece of cardboard the same width.

Then I trimmed the cardboard to a close proximity of the shape to fill the gap between the steering arm & the upper balljoint.

Once satisfied, I transferred that to the steel stock.

Then I cut it to shape...

After whittling it down a bit more, I got it to fit.

And I tacked it into place.

And fused them together.

Once it cooled for a bit, I brushed it off & decided to share it with y'all.

_________________
Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.


GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!


An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.


Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it.

[TDCTDI]

This afternoon, I used the same template & carved out another gusset & married it to the spindle.

And then, after brushing off the chunky stuff, so as to not contaminate the blast media, I introduced one of the spindles to the wind tunnel.

_________________
Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.


GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!


An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.


Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it.

[TDCTDI]

Nothing exciting today, I just got one of the spindles painted.

_________________
Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.


GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!


An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.


Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it.

[TDCTDI]

Today, I made the second one look like the first one.

Then I turned my attention to trying to clean up the brake backing plates.

_________________
Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.


GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!


An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.


Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it.

[metz]

Another TDCTDI thread – sweet!
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68 panel
64 ghia coupe

[TDCTDI]

[Chickensoup]

nice lookin car
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-'85 c10 5.3 LS, 222 cam, long tubes, x pipe, 3 inch spin tech's
-'05 B5.5 TDI Wagon 17in sport rims ;EGR + BSM + ASV Delete, Stage-2 Tune, straight pipe
'65 Tourist Delivery Build
'66 RIP
'69 RIP
Hosea 4:6 "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge"

[Rome]