First Posts - Next Steps on '63ish beetle

[taconachoqueso]

Tranny is out. I'll remove axles and send off to Painter's Grinding for super diff and overhaul this week. Talked to those guys quite a bit about road vs track and what a happy medium might be. I want a fast track car, but I do want to be able to drive it to the track. I know that reduces the options for both, but I think those guys can help me find the sweet spot.

[taconachoqueso]

Trans is at painters grinding so doing some some cleaning in the back end. Good chance to IR the brakes, E brake cables and hard lines. It is was pretty goopy back in there. 1/2 inch of grease and whatever on the chassis (frame rails?, trans mount?). I had done disks in the front, but will keep drums in the back.

[taconachoqueso]

Update - so the tranny is at painters grinding in denver. Those guys have been great and after talking through it they are going to build the trans with super diff, stock gearing, welded 3rd and 4th and 4:12 ring and pinion. They are also building a 2176. They took me for a ride in a 58 they have that is setup like this. I think it will be perfect for what I want to do.

In the mean time, the entire rear is overhauled, backing plates are shined up, overhauled brakes, new ebrake cables, new brake hard lines, axle tubes cleaned frame scrubbed, etc. While I have access I will probably paint the under side of the body back there as well.

[taconachoqueso]

Trans is done. Painters Grinding in Denver. Great guys.

[taconachoqueso]

No way I will be able to get new engine in from the bottom so the apron is off. Still cleaning up engine bay. The firewall had been painted black. I stripped all that so it is down to the original green. Not exactly the green that is on the car now. Going to rivet stainless to the top half of the firewall. Maybe something fun with leds. Not sure.

For what it is worth, I used the citrus based paint stripper 'citristrip'. It actually worked great.

[taconachoqueso]

Local shop sandblasted my axle tubes. I might just clear them? Just about ready to start putting the trans in. Just waiting on the transmission support now.

[lawn ninja]

If you want to start with something bigger than stock I'd do a setup that requires pistons and cylinders but sticks with the stock stroke. That will allow you to dip your tow into the performance builds without having to deal with the added complexity of a stroker. Figure out all the things it takes to get it right with a stock stroke. You can experiment with cams, rocker arm configurations and things like that. Then add the stroke in next year with an aluminum case.

You can absolutely build a big stroker motor now, but it takes time and patience. Not only from an assembly standpoint but from a machining stand point as well. You will need to assemble it to a certain point, take measurements then pull it back apart and have the parts machined. You'll do this at least 5 or 6 times before you get to the part where you torque the case nuts and put the heads on. It's a blast though. One of my favorite things to do.

Make sure to buy good parts from reputable manufacturers. It will save you time, money and headaches. Buy once, cry once. Research what people have used on this forum and then read second and third opinions on them. And if you're unsure post here and ask questions.
_________________
Jason

My 64 1500 S Notchback project here
My 58 sedan project here
My 63 Ghia here

[Chickensoup]

[taconachoqueso]

That looks really good. Is it 'hammered' in gray or is it actually called 'hammertone'.

[Chickensoup]

[buguy]

If you have a paint gun, I used Kirker hot rod black on mine. I have about 1000 miles on it and it still looks good so far.

[taconachoqueso]

thanks everyone for the feedback today. I had been meaning to post pics of the cleaned up engine bay. Here it is all cleaned up painted and sheet metal. that only took a couple months

[taconachoqueso]

Stopped by painters today to check out engine. Almost ready. 2176. I need to get busy.

[taconachoqueso]

The guy at Painters suggested packing the side gear and fulcrum plates with grease when I put the axles back on. I've never seen anyone doing that but I trust painters. Any else here do that?

[madmike]

Yea,keeps them in place when installing axles tubes
_________________
'Black Ice'Drag Buggy 'Turbo'
Rail Buggy 1915 turbo
76 Drag/Street bug 2180cc 'Turbo' 11:85 @113 mph"If I go any faster I'll burn up the Hamster" ,gets 28 mpg. also 10/09/22 11.90 @115 mph
"If I'm ever on Life Support,UNPLUG Me, Then Plug me back In see if that Works"

[taconachoqueso]

I did end up painting them with the Rustoleum 'hammered' Black.

[taconachoqueso]

Picked up the engine today.
I have been stuck on getting my side gear/thrust washer gap correct so I still don't have the transmission together. I got some bigger washers and shims from painters when I picked up the engine so hoping to get busy again.

[taconachoqueso]

1. So I am finally getting my axles back together. Spent about a month trying to solve play to the side gears with the new double snap ring diff. Painters gave me some bigger thrust washers so I am now at about .004 and .005 on both sides.

2. With just the axles in the side gear I feel some binding when I swing the axle by hand. There are some threads here about that so I think that is par for the course. I think doing that moves the axles into positions that are just not realistically encountered during driving.

3. When I installed the axle tube I only needed 1 gasket to the side cover which surprised me. The play/drag feels about right so I think I am good though. The trans was such a mess when I took it a part that I really could not tell how many gaskets there were, but it did not seem like there was a lot of gasket material.

4. All new rear brake hard lines and flex lines are in.

5. Still waiting for the trans cradle form jbugs. Going on 2 months. Everything else is now on hand. New rubbers, grounding straps, shift coupler, etc.

6. Engine will need an electric fuel pump that I also have on hand. I'll start setting that up if I don't get the trans cradle soon.

[taconachoqueso]

Making progress. I have installed my electric fuel pump. In doing so I decided to remove the fuel tap lever and just leave it in the reserve position. Anyone see issues with that? It just allowed me a lot more flexibility in running the fuel lines to and from the pump. I would rather eventually install a gauge. Sorry I should have taken a picture before reinstalling the fuel tank. Funny thing is that there was an unpainted area on the firewall that exactly matches my fuel pump including the bolt holes. So, I put it there with isolators. I tested it all the way to the back exit of the hard line. It drained about a quart of gas in maybe 30 seconds with no leaks. Of course I'll leak check again after the engine is in.

Besides that, I have rebuilt the e-brake and replaced the cables. Axle tubes are back on the trans. Still just waiting for the trans support from jbugs. I also ran enough wire from the front to the back to now support oil pressure, oil temp, voltage and tach.

[EVfun]