Black Fastback Build Thread

[notchboy]

[Tram]

Clatter- tell you what- get all your cables brazed and I'll buy a pair and cover the cost. Probably better than solder!
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Немає виправдання для війни! Я з Україною.

[Clatter]

If anyone can weld/braze the cables to live it would be Darren.
He used to work at the big secret military space wars lab hey have up in the hills here.
Thinking some preventative filling-in to reinforce the cracked ones before they break is key.
The one that's broken clear off, I'm not so sure..
Big challenge is going to be getting them clean inside.
Started by soaking them all day in race gas.
Scrub with toothbrush, flip over, repeat.
Race gas evaporates away after just a couple of hours, so you have to keep topping it up.

There's a big old heavy-duty ultrasonic here that Damon gave me.
Never used it.
Seems worth a try on these cables, no?
Otherwise, It's going to be nigh impossible to get all of the grease out of those wound-up cables inside the little crimp.



This was folly.
Even with a 'pressure bleeder'
I'm getting nice clear bubble-free fluid at all eight bleeders,
But not the tiniest bit of pedal.
Time to start removing the calipers from their mounts and hanging them high and low,
Plus also cracking loose fittings and getting fluid all over everything.
Unless anyone out there has any brake bleeding magic for me.
Tried my vacuum bleeder, as well as the old two-man up/down routine with the hose in a jar.
*sigh*

Old moldy/dirty arm rest parts got Simple Greened then rinsed and rinsed again.

Dried out good on a hot day.

Thanks to that excellent bulb condom thread, I ordered a set of red bulb covers.
Stoked that thread came up; I'd forgotten all about the issue.
Luckily, it seems all of the bulbs on my gauges are the same.
Will be interesting to see if i can get the aftermarket and OG gauges all the same brightness; never had much luck with that before.
Aftermarket gauges were always super bright and factory ones dim,
Even wired off of the same terminal on the light switch.

Got underneath and mocked up the alternator and wiring.
Thinking about putting the voltage regulator in front of the firewall.
(That's what those vice-grips are sticking down up there).
It would look more clean, but might get sprayed with muck and cause issues down the road?

Mocked up the tins; got them all screwed down tight like they will go.
Still a bit o' trimming here and there needed..

Got to figure out wiring and plumbing for the motor..
Where to put that Malpassi regulator?
Almost want to put that thing in front of the firewall, too.
Same with the wiring; those wires that normally run past there to the trunk and backup lights should go in front of the compartment.
Maybe sneak the gauge and coil wires right up the center by the bellhousing?


Decisions decisions..

Long day of dumb work with little to show,
but there you go..

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Bus Motor Build

What’s That Noise?!?

[Mike Fisher]

Bentley manual says to bleed fronts first and rears last. You can look up the proper order there.
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https://imgur.com/user/FisherSquareback/posts
69 FI/AT square Daily Driver
66 sunroof,67,70,71,71,71AT,72,72AT,73 Parts
two 57 oval ragtops sold
'68 Karmann Ghia sold

Society is like stew. If you don't keep it stirred up you end up with a lot of scum on the top! - Russ_Wolfe/Edward Abbey

[nogoodwithusernames]

[Bobnotch]

I'd put the engine bay wiring up front where it's supposed to go. That way the front engine tin will hide it. Maybe put the FPR somewhere on the front engine wall, so it'll come off when you pull the engine. Yes, I know you don't plan on pulling it again, but with all of the test fits you've been doing, it might simplify your work.
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Bob 65 Notch S with Sunroof
71 Notch ...aka Krunchy; build pics here;
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=249390 -been busy working
64 T-34 Ghia...aka Wolfie, under construction... http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=412120

[Clatter]

Another day came and went. Not really sure what happened.

Got out my new toy.

Never used one of these before.
Good thing it came with instructions.
Was planning on putting some Simple Green and water in it.
Always thought you just filled it up, turned it on, and threw your parts in.
Looking at the instructions, it says to use a basket, or suspend the parts from above?
Is that how you use these? No contact with the tank?
It shows these baskets in the instructions..?



Started in dyeing arm rest pieces.
Hard plastic parts are fun to do.

Steps for those were to scrub them down with a brush in Simple Green,
Rinse thoroughly,
Dry for a whole day in the sun,
Wipe down/finish clean with lacquer thinner,
SEM Vinyl Prep,
SEM Landau black - two coats.

Was going to use the Bulldog adhesion promotor,
But,
From reading the directions,
It seems redundant with the Vinyl Prep.

So many harsh chemicals in a row softening things up,
It seemed like I'm wiping away the pebble grain.



Padded/soft parts of the arm-rests got the same treatment,
Only I Trammed some RTV into the cracks.
RTV seems to work well in the cracks.

Hard to fill the cracks completely, without filling in the surrounding pebble grain.

It also seems to shrink a bit after drying, especially on flaws that are a bit bigger.
Might try and build it up with a 2nd coat?

Above pic shows some high spots around the hole from shrinkage.
Wondering f i should risk taking them down a bit?

Here's some close-ups of the finished rears.
Not perfect, but good enough to move on with my life.

I'm sure a real vinyl guy would not approve.
Make sure and give me shit about them if i ever see you at a show..


That led to sorting arm-rest miscellanea..
Tiny push-nuts are metric, and the local hardware store has nothing similar.
That led to (Successfully ! ) playing Look N' Find.
Got them wired up for blasting without catastrophic loss.

Changed out the glass beads for some aluminum oxide,
And made short work of some stuff needing it.

This stuff is going to the expensive/skilled powder coater.
He'll be giving it a very thin coat of semi-gloss,
With some UV protectant mixed in.

At least,
Um,
When i get a fourth clip for those dang windows..

Anyone?
Just need one..

Begging.. Begging...

_________________
Bus Motor Build

What’s That Noise?!?

[Tram]

Am I correct in ass/u/me ing that the trim joiners are just generic Type 3?
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Немає виправдання для війни! Я з Україною.

[Clatter]

[VWporscheGT3]

[Dfasty]

I just looked are you looking for inside or outside.
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70 fastback automatic 06 invader

[Clatter]

[Clatter]

So, I'm supposed to have some company coming over from out of state..

Maybe i might get some help with these things?
Decided to do what i could by playing Look n' Find.

Helps to have some OG parts around as examples of how things go together.

Got some ashtrays JB-Welded together;
We'll see if they hold.

Woulda been cool if someone at TMI might have tried these door panels on a car to see if they fit..
Oh well, long as we can (eventually) make them fit, that's what matters, right?

Four speed-bleeders and two Brembo bleeders came in from Pelican.

And then in the afternoon, Company came over..
Brent!!

Dag, after struggling and struggling, he helped me bleed those things rock solid in nothing flat!

This guys is so WAY smarter than i am..
They fly him all over to fix Scanning Electron Microscopes.
How lucky am i to know this guy; smart enough to do anything,
Nerdy enough to be into type 3s!

He wasn't that impressed with my armrest fixes.
Sanded down the high areas with a sanding drum on the Dremel,
Laid down some RTV way high, then put pebble grain in with an awl.
RTV all decorated up will get shaved down with a fresh razor blade after it dries overnight,
Making a nice pebble pattern.

Since Brent had done a pump conversion to his car,
He helped me overcome my confusion and hesitation.
Here we are mocking things up and figuring out locations.

Then, I'm doing "Ground Crew"; Repeatedly asking " Yo What you need? What you need? What you need?" like the crack dealer on the corner.

He used an original late-model FI pump mounting bracket with some M8 studs/nuts we welded together to make a nice solid mount for my Carter rotary pump.
With a rubber surround to keep it quiet..

Rounded up the wheels and got them on to do an alignment tomorrow.
Tank went in just temporarily, because it still has Larry paint on it.
It all fits and works!

Maybe some doors tomorrow??

We got done more yesterday afternoon that i woulda in the next two weeks.
Or, like, EVER in the case of the brake bleeding..
_________________
Bus Motor Build

What’s That Noise?!?

[T3Yoshi]

Lookin' good!
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1967 Squareback

[Bobnotch]

Nice. Brent's been threatening coming out there and help you for a while. Looks like he came to your rescue just when you needed it the most, and it shows. Progress is progress, and someone who knows what they're doing really shows. Thank You Brent for bailing out Steve when he needed it most.
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Bob 65 Notch S with Sunroof
71 Notch ...aka Krunchy; build pics here;
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=249390 -been busy working
64 T-34 Ghia...aka Wolfie, under construction... http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=412120

[Clatter]

Saturday, we, er, Brent, got the dash pad done..
This is the same routine he did to his OG dash pad, and it has proven to work long-term.

Figured it would be good to put this here to document the process..

While not a 100% way to stop the ravages of time,
And the inevitable shrinking of vinyl,
It does do a couple of things to hopefully slow the process.

First thing was to wash the top side down with some Simple Green and water using a scrub brush and toothbrush.
Then rinsing, blow off with some compressed air, and a hour or three drying in the sun.

Speaker holes got chased out with a small drill bit;
They all looked a little crusty inside with grime.
Made extra sure to use a small enough bit to not remove any actual vinyl dash material.
This was just a tiny bit held in hand, not spun in a drill or anything like that.
Just to clean the holes up, and give the paint a chance to stick well..


Here he's well under way with a couple of things.
First, in the lower left, you'll see a de-laminated spot along the front clamped together.
The vinyl layer had come free from the foam along the edge.
Evercoat Maxim urethane epoxy is used to glue them together.
Some of it was pushed in between layers with a little stick.
A bit of paint stick is also used underneath spring clamps to spread the clamping load.

Speaker grille is a known trouble spot where shrinking vinyl decides to crack.
We'll get a bit of reinforcement by gluing down the little plastic grille that goes below.
Filled it in underneath, then pushed in a big thick fillet from above after it was in place.

Stuff sets up in the gun really fast; Nice to have an extra couple of mixer nozzles handy.
Pushed deep between separated layers,
Then clamped down tight for drying.

Thing got scrubbed clean with the SEM Vinyl Prep on a towel.
A lot more goo came out from between the pebbles during this.
Notice also the flat sheen of the untreated vinyl vs when it's wet.

Where the urethane went on to fill little holes and cracks,
Brent used a bit of Bulldog adhesion promoter.
Three light coats of SEM Landau Black from all different directions for coverage,
Followed by one heavier overall coat to flow out..

See also Covid-safe accommodations in the background.
When is Xevin coming to stay, again??
The Westfalia Hotel has a vacancy. Just sayin'..

Detailed speaker grille holes.

Put it in the safest place i could find,
And to drink beer and make vroom noises..

Armrest repairs came out tits;
Virtually undetectable.

We than stabbed a couple of doors!
Didn't get any pics of that operation - hands full.
Made for some good vroom noises afterwards..

That led to me digging out the door parts i could find.

As is now well known in certain circles,
The VERY FIRST thing to do after hanging doors is put in the over-travel bumper/stop assemblies.
With these two constantly wrestling/chasing around, you'll never know what's next.

Out of all my latch assemblies, we found a good pair.

Paint remover.

Gas bath.

Ultrasonic.

Turns out you ARE supposed to use a basket or suspend things in an ultrasonic.
Otherwise you can chafe or damage things.
Good thing my Man is here to lead the way for me.

Latches all clean.
They'll get a bunch of open/shut locked/unlocked cycles thru with some compressed air and carb cleaner,
Then maybe some lithium grease?
Or perhaps just engine oil??

Door assembly got shut down by a lack of scrapers.
And that was fine by me.

Damon came over,
My wife made us another fabulous multi-course meal,
We built a fire,
And some Tomorrow Today came out.
So,
We stayed up a bit late on Saturday.
Was good to have some friends around for a change.
Been a long time..

Sunday came to find Mom had made a huge Dutch baby pancake,
And we were moving a bit slow, for some reason.
Did a bit of strategizing on sunroof cables and repair over coffee
And then loaded Brent up for his long trip back to AZ.

What a great weekend.
Really really stoked to have things all sussed out,
And to spend some time with good friends.

Another big, big shout out to Brent,
Coming through for me and making things happen.
Love you, man.. *sniff*..
_________________
Bus Motor Build

What’s That Noise?!?

[T3Yoshi]

If we had that cool fire emoticon I would have dropped a few, so instead I'll just type...

"Fire" "Fire" "Fire"
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1967 Squareback

[catbox]

Those arm rests are waaaay cooler now.
Nice progress on the car dewds!!!
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"...these cars were preferred by the racers because the strut front suspension results in far superior handling than the regular torsion bar front end..." - Keith Seume.

[EverettB]

[Bobnotch]

Great work guys. Nice progress.
_________________
Bob 65 Notch S with Sunroof
71 Notch ...aka Krunchy; build pics here;
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=249390 -been busy working
64 T-34 Ghia...aka Wolfie, under construction... http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=412120