October 52 Zwitter

[esde]

So, up top this point I had just bolted the hood on and adjusted the catch so it locked. The gap on each side was giant, and the curve where it met the cowl was wrong. And it wasn't square to the car, and a dozen other things. But, it was an early four tab, so I decided to try to fix it. And while I was at it, I converted it to 3 bolt hinges, the separate hood prop bolt, and added the emblem reinforcement plate. First thing was to take a bunch of measurements, comparing to a straight car. I discovered that one hinge was bent, and straightened that. Then found the curve of the cowl was uneven, bleh. Discovered this pic while searching here, and improvised a similar lever.

Found a brace had been added to the driver side of the hood, and while the job appeared ok, it made the hood curve more on one side than the other. Here is the brace, and as I removed it. It was spot welded to the skin and silver soldered to the lip. Removal took hours

Hard to see but the lip is wavy, which was hidden with a ton of filler

silver solder and cracks

The lip is a thicker piece that the skin folds over. Here I've cut the skin back and left the thicker piece protrude.

Repair piece

clamped

Final result, but still need to hit the spot weld location with a shrinking disc

Used a copper backer and managed to repair a chunk that was missing from the edge

Adding the middle nut for 3 bolt hinges. I. marked the center, and cut a rectangular window just big enough to slip a M8 nut through. Then I drop the voltage way down on the mig welder, and stick some wire to a nut. You can use the wire to fish the nut in, and then get a bolt threaded to hold it while welding it in place. Works like a charm.

Cut the center hinge slots on the milling machine and bolted them up

I have the correct Kamax 14mm head bolts, but not sure if the washers I have are the right size. Anyone have one they can measure for me?
Well then the moment of truth, mounting it. This all happened over three evenings, and the last eve stretched till the sun came up and my wife was about to get up for work, probably a good 8 hour session. I got the hood bolted up and then could not tear myself away from it till I was happy with the fit. But it's close

I need two people to get this any closer

I used to be able to get my second knuckle through this gap. Now it's 1/4" or less

This side still has a bigger gap in the middle than I'd like, but I've cut it by half and may just have to live with it.
Next project is the hood release cable tube, and some work on the front left quarter panel to help my fender alignment headache. Trying to make a big push on the details and punch list stuff, so this can go out to the paint shop soon. Plus, I have another car coming around Christmas, and I need to make room here.....
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modok wrote:
Bent cranks are silent but gather no moss. I mean, ah, something like that.

[VW_Jimbo]

Looking good! Great to see some progress!

I still have to circle back around to my hood. It also has too large of a gap, through the middle portion. I need to remove some of the arch. Thanks for the reminder!
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Jimbo

There is never enough time to do it right the first time, but all the time necessary the second time!

[esde]

[VW_Jimbo]

[Robert Chambers]

Amazing work! I love following this thread. Thanks for taking the time to share this for the rest of us to learn from. Very inspiring to me to get to my Zwitter!
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'63 OG 117 Herbie Replica
'56 Euro Oval Deluxe
'52 Standard Zwitter
'63 OG 117

[banana split]

Nice job on that front hood
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My Beetles :
1951 Crotch Cooler 11G Split Ragtop
1953 Zwitter
1964 Chop Top

[esde]

MORE
In a mad rush to check items off of the punch list so this car can go to get bodywork and paint..
Hood release tube. I had harvested one from a 63 shell at Schwings house, but it was about 2" too short. Picked up a 60" length of 5/16 hard line from NAPA and gave it a shot. Took pics of a zwitter thats in the works at a friends to confirm the routing:

Gave it a shot, not bad

Front quarter panel problems. I've got this issue thats still causing issues. I found that my BBT fender is not quite right. I've mounted it to a nice original car and the rear of the fender doesn't mate to the running board at the correct angle.
BBT fender

Original German fender

On my car, the front quarter has had extensive repairs, and it's also not quite right. Problem is, the way this quarter is "not right" magnifies the issues with the BBT. I've had the idea to harvest a front quarter panel, and replace the skin from the pinch weld (vertical at the hinges) forward. But, after carefully studying the previous repairs I found they already tucked that repair into the pinch welded joint. You can see it here, looking down from inside

Along with the piece I had intended to use. It's from a later car, I was going to add the early captive nuts

As of now, I've put this repair on hold, as I'm pretty sure I'll only make it worse if I touch the pinch weld. The right repair would be an entire quarter with the hinge pillar.
I still have to replace the defrost tubes, which for some reason were cut flush down inside the A pillar. Stay tuned
New bits from Mika. Excellent as always

Looking for a pic of how this end is secured, if anyone can help thanks
*edit* I figured it out. The tab is welded at the bottom inside the heater channel. No way to fish the tab down through the hole from the top, and even if I did, how would I weld it? I'll have to figure out plan B.

Lastly, the hood seal channel. It's sorta beat up and while straightening it I discovered it was hiding a fair amount of rust.

New channels are a small price compared to repainting the front if rust comes bubbling back out in a few years.. so off with the old. I ordered new channels from Mika and asked a buddy for to return the spot welder.
It comes off easily after drilling the welds, and was hiding a lot

Prob going to pull the engine back out this eve, and get glass removed. So much to do!
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modok wrote:
Bent cranks are silent but gather no moss. I mean, ah, something like that.

[esde]

Several late nights working in the barn after the family goes to bed. But the temps are dropping into the 20's, so the heater in last winter is getting a workout.
Defroster tubes: This is a nightmare that didn't have to happen. When the channels were replaced the defroster tubes were cut flush with the top of the channel. I get that it was planned to be a drag car, but what about the next guy? How much weight are you saving by eliminating 2 pounds of tube? Anyway, I paid the price in blood and bandaids to get one in, and maybe learned enough to make the second one easier
Looking down into the abyss, no tube seen

used a hole saw to open the inside, and yes, the tube is cut flush

I often use a hole saw rather than a cutting a flap or square door. I can just use the next size up hole saw to cut the patch, and it's aways a good fit. And, there are no corners, which heat and expand more, and are just more work to keep flat. Round patches are easy!
The remains of the tube weren't coming up, so I had to smash them into the channel. Judicious amounts of bad words and careful use of the extra long double jointed needle nose pliers succeeded. I managed to fish a wire from the rear of the heater channel, through the 5" piece of tube, and twist the wire back around itself working through these two holes.

Sort of like building a shop in a bottle, except the bottle has sharp broken edges. For the next side I'm cutting the hole in the bottom of the heater channel.
Success. There is a steel tab that secures this tube inside the heater channel, it fortunately broke in exactly the right place. If it had more hanging off it would have never fit out the back this way

New tube shoved down and in. You have to pre bend it to aim towards the rear so it "scoops" some of the air flow. I cut the end at and angle slightly so it went in easier

Used a little seam sealer to glue it in place, and then plugged the hole

Enough of that for a minute. Decided to try my hand at removing the hinge pins. The cheap Eastwood tool was destroyed within 5 minutes. If I had timed it right, I could have broken it, put it back in the box and handed it to the mailman for return before he finished delivering our street. So, looked here at some pics of what works and tried making one from what was on hand.
Went for the big all thread and clamp style. Found a chunk of 1x1.5" billet to make the ends, and hoped it was strong enough.

Used 1/2-20 grade 8 threaded rod and hardened 1/4" pins. Looks promising, and did remove the first 3 pins without much fuss. Top drivers side pin was extra tight and needed heat. I had to crank on the tool, and the pin wouldn't budge till I heated it. Then there was a loud pop as it moved a bit, and time to run through the sequence again

But on to the passenger side lower hinge and it failed. However much force I was applying was enough to force the 1/4" pin down into he aluminum. I thought it was the hinge pin but I just buried the 1/4" down flush with the aluminum. Decided to redesign the tool, and copy the lever style that was offered by several other people in the past
Parts cut and machined, tacking together

The sides are 1/4", the lever is 1"x2.5", 1/2" grade 8 pivot.

I'll say, this pin was really, really in there. Even with the 3:1 lever, it fought, but eventually gave up

Currently reading about what's the best prep for the hinges before reassembling. I don't want any of it to be bare steel, but there isn't really clearance for epoxy primer between the two sections. What would be the best product to keep rust from starting in the seams?
SD
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modok wrote:
Bent cranks are silent but gather no moss. I mean, ah, something like that.

[esde]

Figure I'll make a small update for the end of 2022.
Spent a little time doing the passenger side defroster tube, and it went much smoother than the driver side. Lesson learned, do NOT go in thorough the hinge pillar, it is much easier to open the bottom of the heater channel. Total replacement time was about an hour instead of three, and I didn't lose any blood in the process.
Before

Open sesame

The Gerson defroster tube was tacked welded and I had no access to grind it free. So as it's just a spiral wound tube, I grabbed the end and just "unwound" it until everything was gone. The little bits broke free of the welds. Feeding the new piece up and in took no time.

Closed and welded

I've spent a lot of time chasing down pinholes and welding them back up.

Engine, seats, and all interior bits have been pulled and packed. Still have the glass to remove and a handful of other things. It's just about ready to go for bodywork and paint, but waiting on door pins and some seal channels to show. Once I have the new hinge pins in, and can be certain about the door fit I'll feel a ton better about dropping it off.
And while it's at paint the interior bits will get restored, chrome replated, etc.
SD
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modok wrote:
Bent cranks are silent but gather no moss. I mean, ah, something like that.

[cyberdyne systems 101]

Thanks for sharing the update. I remember those heater tubes from my oval days, I'd had two 57's and then a '56, which I daily drove. But I hadn't realised that the 57's were the first year that an internal heater tube ran from the front to the back as well as up to the windscreen. So the '56 felt a lot less efficient as it just filled the cavity of the heater channel the same as your split, but I often wondered if that helped keep rust at bay or made it worse?

Looking forward to your next update.

Gareth
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When I think of something to say - I'll be the first to know

56' Oval
71' Westy

[esde]

waiting for parts, organizing the barn. Pulled all the seat stuff out to remember what I had.

Most of this originally was from a 55 that I parted out. But the fronts ended up being worse than I thought, so I've gathered some additional frames and springs
Front seat backs. These were pretty bad. I welded up the holes on one and replaced the lower bar with a new cross piece from Virtanen. All I had to use for position was the other frame but that was broken loose. If anyone has pics or measurements to share It would help, the piece is just tacked in place for now

I'm also missing one seat back spring. Was told that a 56-57 can be made to work for a -55 seat, can anyone confirm? Or does anyone have an extra spring?

Bases
The nicest one has had the ends of the back support neutered. I'll have to harvest some ends from another base. Seat sliders are rough, hopefully I can get them sorted before the car goes to paint. I'd like to be able to do the seats while the car is away

Back seat back

Bottom

Loaded the whole pile into the blast booth and it is bare and rust free again.

Light coat of self etching primer when I got home, I can see how everything "fits" this coming weekend.
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modok wrote:
Bent cranks are silent but gather no moss. I mean, ah, something like that.

[VW_Jimbo]

Nice update! I am jealous of those seat parts! Wish mine looked that good!
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Jimbo

There is never enough time to do it right the first time, but all the time necessary the second time!

[esde]

few things happening here..
I managed to get all of my seat frames and springs in self etching primer, and I've started repairing everything. Man, repairing the spring packs is tedious. I cut some long coils out of an old couch, and have trimmed them down to size for the half dozen broken coils, and every time I think I'm done I find another. And the spring frames were bent, and spot welds popped. But it's close. The frames have also needed a ton of work. Welding and grinding pinholes, and filler on the tubes that will show. I'll get pics when those are closer to done, as all I've remembered to take are pics of the seat back support repair

Finally took delivery of a much needed package from Virtanen, thank you Mika!
The last seal channels, oversize hinge pins, and matching reamer!

I quickly got to work reaming everything, and then stripping the hinges. The side with the screw holes I started on the milling machine, but had to do the very last bit by hand.

I've decided that visibility out the split windows is bad enough that it warrants a passenger side mirror, so 2 mirror pins.

Interesting, and maybe of no importance: The right door hinges have 34 stamped on the outer face

and this is on the backs

you can see VW with other numbers curved underneath it
The left door has 24 stamped on the outer face, and different numbers on the back side. Interesting that the face numbers are paired left to right, but the back numbers are not matching.

While waiting for the seal channels to arrive, I had treated the rust and prepped everything. Sanded clean, blasted, treated rust 2x's with Ospho, neutralized, and primed with weld through primer

Testing fit

I'll get to using the spot welder tomorrow, and hope it works well.
In the meantime, everything is off of the car except the glass, so as soon as this is done it goes off to bodywork and paint, I'm super excited.
I got into a cleaning phase this winter, trying to better organize all the "stuff" that I end up curating at home and by business shop. In the end I decided to offload some project cars I had been saving, and a ton of unneeded extra stuff (VW and otherwise) and bought a worthy car to keep the zwitter company.

It's a local car, never been apart, and has one mediocre respray. I'm the 4th owner and super lucky, will surely post some pics in the oval forum once I get it home.
SD
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modok wrote:
Bent cranks are silent but gather no moss. I mean, ah, something like that.

[VW_Jimbo]

Very nice progress! Love seeing the process!!!!

Oh, AND THAT IS AN AWESOME SCORE! Wish I had the money to even consider buying a convertible Oval! Lucky man! Have fun with it!
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Jimbo

There is never enough time to do it right the first time, but all the time necessary the second time!

[esde]

Thanks Jimbo, I'm lucky to have made the deal. And I generally hate red cars but this one is different. Anyway, back to the task at hand
Spot welder did the job, but damned that thing gets heavy

Burned through on two spots where the cowl was super thin, so a little touch up with the mig is needed.

Link

Pretty neat once you get the hang of it

The contacts aren't long enough to get the very bottom below the hood latch. I think I'll drill the apron, and weld through from inside so that the outside remains neat.
Working on some customers stuff tomorrow day, but I'm hoping that I can get the hinges in epoxy in the evening.
SD
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modok wrote:
Bent cranks are silent but gather no moss. I mean, ah, something like that.

[VW_Jimbo]

12" arms on Ebay for $90.00! Suppose to be plug and play!
https://www.ebay.com/itm/303486791401
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Jimbo

There is never enough time to do it right the first time, but all the time necessary the second time!

[kafer53]

Amazing skills. Wow !
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1953 Zwitter 11C (L73)

[esde]

Finally it's off for paint, was such a whirlwind day I forgot to take any pictures. The shop was started by two guys that had previously worked at a well regarded shop in Maryland. Their business is Slam City, and everything I saw happening made me confident I was leaving the car in good hands.

Of course upon dropping it off I found 30 things I should have finished before, but I think thats inevitable with things like this.
And also, after spending a year looking high and low for a better pair of OG wire tube early fenders, as soon as I left the car I found a pair. Yesterday was spent collecting those fenders and a stuck 25hp zwitter engine.

I'll get the fenders stripped and delivered, and have already started stripping down the engine. The case is trashed due to sitting in the mud for 20 years, and it's wearing the wrong pulleys, but everything else can be used.

Early oil fill

Zwitter pump and 383 distributor

ribbed cylinder tins

not to mention the sleds and heater boxes, carb, and other bits. All of it will get rebuilt and used to properly backdate my 36hp so it looks more like a 25hp..

I've torn down a bunch of really crusty engines, and this one is in the top worst 3 for sure. I blasted it with wasp killer last night when spiders kept crawling out..

SD
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modok wrote:
Bent cranks are silent but gather no moss. I mean, ah, something like that.

[Two Glove Boxes]

Nice keep up the good work!
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1951 Split Standard Hoffman Build

1960 Dove Blue Double Cab Patina Build

Two Glove Boxes

DLK

[Rome]