Jimmy V’s 54 Oval Project

[67rustavenger]

Nice work on those "Bermuda Triangle" and rear quarter closure bits.

Aren't the Bermuda Triangles supposed to have drain/ventilation opening at the bottom?

This car just keeps looking better every time I check in on progress!
_________________
I have learned over the years.
Cheap parts are gonna disappoint you.
Buy Once, Cry Once!

There's never enough time to do it right the first time. But there's always enough time to do it thrice.
GFY's Xevin and VW_Jimbo!

[VW_Jimbo]

[Buggeee]

I'm sorry Jimbo, I had to laugh at you for dropping that triangle in the hole. that is totally something I see myself doing over here. I lost some parts to install popout windows that way in the Super and had to order some more and to this day the ones in the body remain in there somewhere. I guess I should have built a rotisserie
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1966 Sportsmobile Camper https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...mp;start=0
72 Super Duper http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=672387
(adopted out) 61 Turkis Pile https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=728764

[VW_Jimbo]

[pastellgreen]

[VW_Jimbo]

[pastellgreen]

[VW_Jimbo]

[Käfer2]

Here is a photo from Mikas gallery:

"Note to leave the drainage hole there."
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/2013318.jpg

or

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9304244&highlight=#9304244

[VW_Jimbo]

[VW_Jimbo]

3 more hours. Squeaked them in between sleeping on the couch and treating the wife to a beer at the brewery!

Rolled it out of its spot and rolled it over.

Then rolled it over on its belly.

And got back to the bottom plates on the A pillar.

Figured I would try the little Dremel wheel.

It does a great job, but it does not plunge deep enough, but it did some of the work.

Then I pried out the left over piece.

That did some of the job, but left an unfinished hole. So, I made a guide to clamp to the body and use it to straighten out the cuts with a 1/8” spiral cutting bit.

Problem is the clamp failed and the bit went sideways. So, the hole is now, misshaped and needs to be refined. So, I tack welded the guide into place.

Well, that is not what I was hoping for. Hole is better looking, but still misshapen.

Stopped on that. I need to think on this one a bit. So, onto the ragtop.

Need to remove the old nuts from within their cages, and replace them with new nuts. So…..

Drew some cut lines on the ragtops rail.

Cut those lines.

Folded the cut back.

That exposes the nut cage side. Folded that over and pulled the nut out.

Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle.

Magic trick time. Poof!

Then I pulled a new square nut and squeezed it in between the jaws of the vice grips.

Inserted the nut into the cage and screwed in a screw to hold the nut in place.

Perfect!

Then folded the cage side back into place.

Then folded the rail back into place.

Then welded it all together and cleaned them all up.

Followed it up with primer.

Got several more to go! Maybe tomorrow!
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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!

[VW_Jimbo]

WOW!!! A week just flew by! Hope everyone had a good turkey day, spent time with loved ones and had a bit of time to collect your thoughts!

Spent today in the garage for 3 more hours! Got the remaining 9 entombed nuts replaced! Here we go!

Pulled the Bug out and rolled it over to work on.

Was going to stand to work on it. But why stand when you can sit! So, went over and rolled the Bug to the 90 degree spot. Then went over and grabbed the stool.

Went through and marked cut lines on the remaining nine nuts.

And then onto cutting. Burned through 4 Dremel disc!

I then sheared the retaining screw head. Damn it! Thankfully, I only had 1 more cut to get done.

Then I pried them all open.

Next up was removing the old nuts. Had to use 2 screwdrivers like chop sticks!

Lined up like an assembly line!

Had to use a small, skinny punch to open up the nut cage. Couple taps on one side. Then slide the old nut over. Few more taps.

And then pulled the nuts out, one at a time. Had to surface a couple of them to get them to clear the opening.

I then dropped in new nuts.

All of them have nuts! Onto welding!

I then, one at a time started closing them up and welding the flap down. Followed by grinding it all flat and sanding it to be pretty. Primer followed.

Got that all done and primed it. Rolled it back over and cleaned up. Onto grocery shopping for the week! Woot woot!
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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!

[67rustavenger]

Thought of you yesterday evening. We were planing some 1 x 4's for a lego table build with a Rockwell planer. Every time the planer rattled. I thought of revenge for the dickhead neighbors.

I'm sure you're aware of the Dremal cutoff wheel upgrade.
They now have a spring loaded arbor that grips the disc with no slip, cutting off the little screw in the arbor.

That is some tedious work changing those ragtop nuts. Looks great!
_________________
I have learned over the years.
Cheap parts are gonna disappoint you.
Buy Once, Cry Once!

There's never enough time to do it right the first time. But there's always enough time to do it thrice.
GFY's Xevin and VW_Jimbo!

[VW_Jimbo]

[VW_Jimbo]

Another 4 hours!

Man, that rotisserie is worth its weight in Gold! Loving it! Will never do another car without one! Guess I will have to beef this one up to tackle the 57 Bel Air, when I head up to the in-laws!

My starting point. Moved over and ready to go!

Pulled Mika’s part and clamped it into place. Super awesome fit and finish!

I was able to see the faint mark from when I removed the old rusty one. And I reapplied the black sharpie.

I then clamped the seal channel 100%. Ready to weld it!

Double check the alignment.

All good! Rolled the Bug over on its belly.

Crawled up underneath the trunk, placed my light and got ready to weld the channel into place.

Welded a few plugs into place and removed the clamps. Then welded a few more.

Got all the plugs welded.

Had to get out and check out the good side!

Then ground those down and primed all of them.

With the channel in. I moved onto checking the rag top. Installed the rails and the tension bar. All nut cages work and accepted screws. All except 1. It has a tiny blob of steel on the treads. Guess I missed protecting that one.

Guess I bought Bus rag top bows. I thought that they were large, but I thought I was crazy. Well, I guess I am not! They are for a Bus! Gotta find some Bug ones. Regardless, I rolled the rag top cover on the car, just to dream a little bit! Here, so you guys can dream with me!

Until I get more time! Got to prep for Christmas! Hope you all are doing the same!
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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]

Nice work on that seal channel. Did you prime the back side of it? And what size holes did you drill for the rosette welds? I'm looking closely at your pics, and it looks like there's a slight gap between the channel and the step in the cowl. Any idea how big that is? Mine is much tighter, but I've found it varies.
I just removed all of the seal channels as I knew it was hiding rust, and have been contemplating how I reattach the new parts. I may actually do it the OG way and use a spot welder. If I had the body off the pan and on a rotisserie I'd follow your lead.
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modok wrote:
Bent cranks are silent but gather no moss. I mean, ah, something like that.

[VW_Jimbo]

[esde]

[VW_Jimbo]

Got in 3 more hours yesterday. Maybe some more today, but high command sent orders to attach lights to the exterior of the house eaves. So….I have my orders.

Yesterday……

Rolled the Bug out and positioned it for attacking the heater mufflers. Also, the tubing.

Just a reminder, because I needed one and you all may as well. I present the old heater mufflers! I never throw stuff away until after the good stuff is in. Let’s hope I get to throw these away!

I picked up that 10 foot length of steel tubing last week. I just need 2 feet of it. So, let’s cut it and prep it for welding in.

Switched to the 12” cut off saw. Way better cuts. Sometimes I forget I have tools for some of the stuff I do. Too many trades!

Okay, yes. They are to be 2 different lengths. I became aware of that, AFTER, I found the longer one. I matched the shorter one. Hoping that does not bite me it the ass later on. I will get the engine in with the boxes on them to check before paint.

I installed the new tubes and the new case halves, to check fit and alignment. They are perfect! So, back out they will come to be cleaned for welding.

I also found an old lower luggage shelf and pulled it out to measure the projection of the tubes. Right around 1 5/8” from the attachment to the outer most projected area of the tube.

Then, back into the body. Cleaned up and ready for welding. Clamped and aligned into position. Then a few tacks to just hold the shell onto the tube.

Then, rolled it over, so I do not have to dodge weld blobs! Another bonus!

Double check the alignment of the tubes.

Weld the assemblies to the lower luggage shelf!

For reference. The old 59 rear clip lower shelf. I will use this for those little tube retaining clips, too!

These.

Drilled out those spots. Cleaned them up and placed them on the new tubes, then welded them.

Then grinding and primer.

Looks good from this point.

Rolled the shell back into its spot, cleaned up and walked to the brewery for dinner! Awesome Saturday!oh, wifey sold another house!
_________________
Jimbo

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

[esde]

Productive few hours!
FYI the longer/ shorter tubes are because of the offset of the 1-2 and 3-4 cylinder heads.
Cleaning up when I'm done for the night always makes it easier to get started the next time. I hate walking into a shop that was shut down in a hurry.

Something to check on, I seem to recall those tubes having a recessed area, that is so they clear the torsion housing. I'll dig through my pics to see if I have something showing it. Or not, could be wrong.
*Edit* one side has the dent

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