Low down Hillbilly

[OCD Garage]

Finished the battery holder today, now the electrical can move towards permanent installations. I think it adds a little something to the build's race car/rat rod/retro-futuristic vibe. My immediate plan will be to install the trans plate and rear bumper, followed by trans/motor. The transaxle is fairly clean but will need a good scrub and some detailing/paint before I drop it in and connect the axles, etc.

[OCD Garage]

Now that the brakes are done, it's time to finish the battery holder. The battery will have side posts only to make sure there are no shorts if I happen to drop a tool behind the seat. There's still more drilling, champhering and shaping to do on the base and construct the struts that will tie the top and base together, followed by paint.

[OCD Garage]

[Meco]

Great progress, and cool project. Been following along. I can’t wait to see the body on and painted!

[OCD Garage]

All the hard lines are finished, need to paint and install the calipers before I bleed the system. Hopefully everything will be leak free first try as every hard line had to be custom fit and flaired. Also, the rear hose mounts need to be painted before bleeding the system, so will be delayed until more parts are ready to be coated in metallic grey.

[OCD Garage]

The brake lines are finished on the driver's side and I'm working my way around the car making new lines as I go. The mounts for the flex hoses were originally on the same side as my bag mounts, so a pair of bolt-on mounts were necessary for the back side of the arms.

Had to thread the new line between and around the shock, bump stop and air bag, there's a lot more movement of pieces due to the range of the air ride. It required a couple of re-bends and a few tweeks to get it right throughout the range. I added a rubber isolated clamp mid-way for added security.

[OCD Garage]

Now that the air system is leak free, the ignition is controlling the fuse block and the gauges are powered up, I decided to start connecting the braking system. I've included an adjustable brake bias valve as well as residual pressure valves to help me tune the system and be ready for future upgrades. To cover the sound deadener, I grabbed an anti-fatigue mat from Home Depot to make a pair of industrial floor mats inkeeping with the 'hole' theme.

[OCD Garage]

I was already getting tired of playing with the manual valve set-up, chasing the leaks around and around, decided to switch to an electric manifold. Way better rise/fall times compared to the manual valves for the same air line sizes. The new switches also look less cheesy and light up when activated. A little more work to install, but should be less prone to failure.

[OCD Garage]

Another beautiful 17C spring day on BC's West Coast...
Hot off the rotisserie, still sporting the rear mount.
The seats will be colour matched to the rest of the interior metalwork, the air and fuel tanks will be matte cleared in dove blue, to key in with the body.

[OCD Garage]

The front/rear suspensions have been assembled and the air ride system control plumbing is done. For the moment, I plan on using the shop compressor until the rest of the system is painted/wired/finished. It'll be nice to finally be able to wheel it around again.

[OCD Garage]

...and now painted with black primer/base colours/satin clear. The front beam still needs a little cosmetic welding and prep before it gets painted/assembled. I'm on holiday next week and plan to have the chassis off the rotisserie and back on it's wheels soon.

[OCD Garage]

This pile of parts has now been smoothed over with 60/120 grit discs in the angle grinder, washed in Platinum Dawn to get rid of the grit/grease, air dried and then wiped down with ISO in preparation for primer.

[OCD Garage]

I was hoping to have the rear suspension completed by now, but have run into some paint issues with the parts. It appears as if the primer is coming up through the base about an hour after I spray the clear coat. I'll likely have to sand blast everything back to bare metal and start again with fresh painting materials next week.

I've also been working on the front beam this weekend, finished welding the adjustable bump stops and created a couple of filler plates which will help tie everything together as well as reinforce the shock towers.

In the foreground are my home-brew through rods: 3/4" bolts welded into tubing with thrust washers/bearings, held in place by nylocs to reduce play and keep things rotating freely.

[OCD Garage]

[Kafer_Mike]

[OCD Garage]

I've owned the shell for more than 20 years, I don't think I can envision it as any other colour than a shade of blue with a white roof.

As the build is themed along the lines of a 'custom resto-mod-sorta-low buck race car from the late '60s', I've been planning to paint the body, gas & air tanks a flat-cleared period colour like L31 Dove blue which was common for the VW bus at that time. The bomber seats, roll cage, a few suspension and other details are being painted Volvo Lava Sand metallic to match the console/steering support. I will likely have the exhaust Cerakoted at a local shop as it's still way cheaper than a good stainless steel system, I like the look of the glacier titanium coating which fits well with the grey/silver metallic aspects of the build. I'm mixing the gloss, satin and flat textures in with basic solid colours and metallics to add some attitude to the look without it looking too 'rat rod-ish'.

[NJ John]

What color is the body going to be?
_________________
1973 standard, yellow, lowered, 3” narrowed front, 1600 blo-thru turbo w/single dell 15.4@86, so far
11.41 et buggy. Long gone
Let’s go O’s! Let’s go O’s!
https://www.youtube.com/@AirSpooledGarage

[OCD Garage]

The four spring plate delete pieces, fire extinguisher bracket and drive axles have now been base coated silver, currently waiting for a second coat/clear as it was raining today and I couldn't paint outside. I did however dissolve the old axle grease using Gunk and followed up by scrubbing the CVs clean with Simple Green, which was very effective. They are now ready to pack with grease and install along with new boot kits. The black one on the upper right appears aftermarket as the other three are shiny silver and have VW symbols on them. All the CVs seem to be in good condition and move smoothly/freely for their age.

[OCD Garage]

The rear tailing arm bushings, axle bearings, seals and brakes are finished, but still need the e-brake cables shortened. The rear shocks are temporarily mounted to support the weight of the control arms until I can pick up the correct length bolts. Most of the remaining small parts including the spring plate deletes, axle shafts, extinquisher mount, etc are now primered in anticipation of colour matching them to the interior, tomorrow. It'll soon be back on the ground with some additional work/paint to the front beam.

[OCD Garage]

After installing the control arms + brakes, I went to finish up by connecting the e-brake cables to find the cable housing to be about 35mm too short to reach to the bracket on the backing plate. I'm pretty sure I ordered the right ones for the year of the pan, so decided to make a couple of extensions from scrap laying around my work bench. If I'd painted it black, you'd likely never notice.