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Hondapop
Samba Member
Joined: February 19, 2012
Posts: 71
Location: Dover Delaware
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 Posted: Tue Sep 25, 2012 5:00 am Post subject: |
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I was very lucky to find the local vw guys. They loned me their industial air compressor and rotisserie to allow me to sand blast the frame. WOW ...is it nice to have this equipment. It took most of one day to sandblast the pan and all the other pieces I brought but it was worth it. The pan was epoxy primed and chassis coated. I aslo put a layer of Eastwoods seam sealer on the joints and the repair areas.
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Hondapop
Samba Member
Joined: February 19, 2012
Posts: 71
Location: Dover Delaware
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| Posted: Tue Sep 25, 2012 5:11 am Post subject: |
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I decided to go with a gloss black paint on many of the components and a gray for the transmission and axles.
I ended up replacing most of the bolt on stuff. I kept the drum back brakes but added a disc conversion up front. I thought the extra weight I was added would need the extra stopping power of front discs. The front suspension is mainly from Topline and everything is set to be about 1.5 inches lower than stock (we will see once everything is loaded?)
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Q-Dog
Samba Member
Joined: April 05, 2010
Posts: 8868
Location: Sunset, Louisiana
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Hondapop
Samba Member
Joined: February 19, 2012
Posts: 71
Location: Dover Delaware
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| Posted: Tue Sep 25, 2012 5:15 am Post subject: |
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| Q-Dog wrote: |
| Out of curiosity, why have youmoved the driver side seat mount back. Looks like about 5 inches back. |
You are right it is back about 3 inches. I am 6'4" and when I drove the car I had my knees hitting the dash. I test fitted the original seat this far back and it slides fine and should just clear the back seat (if I reinstall the back seat). I am considering only installing a single seat in the center of the back to allow for battery placement on either side. |
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Hondapop
Samba Member
Joined: February 19, 2012
Posts: 71
Location: Dover Delaware
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| Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2012 6:16 am Post subject: |
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I made some progress on starting the rust repair of the body over the last few weeks. I started with the front of the vehicle and used a grinder with a knotted wire wheel brush to remove all the paint (and hopefully all the rust too). The corners were the tough locations so I used a drill with a small wire brush attachment which worked ok. Some the areas were only accessed by hand and a small brush. Most of the front end was in good shape except for the area that contacts the pan at the very front on the passagers side (bottom of the arch). Sorry, I don't know the panel names...
I purchased some repair panel steel in 16 gauge and 20 gauge for the different areas. I don't have a metal break so I bought a cheep harber frieght shearer which ended up working great. I used cardboard as a template which was perfect. I little time with the cardboard saved a lot of trim time. With everything ground down, I tacked the repairs in place and then completed the welds. All the welding was covered with Eastwood seem sealer before a final coat of paint. The trunk area was in good shape with surface rust and a few holes. I tried Por 15 in this area for the first time. It seemed to work well (we will see). I plan to prime and topcoat with paint shortly
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Hondapop
Samba Member
Joined: February 19, 2012
Posts: 71
Location: Dover Delaware
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| Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2012 6:23 am Post subject: |
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The area at the back wheel wells had some previous repair work performed by the previous owner. Most of the work looked pretty good. Some of the repairs were made by brazing instead of welding. I'm not sure but brazing may be a lost art. |
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zombiebug
Samba Member
Joined: August 18, 2011
Posts: 1242
Location: Webster, MA
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| Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2012 7:08 am Post subject: |
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Great work! Keep it up and keep us posted! Vws are the original blank canvas you can do just about anything to them. If it makes you happy then good on you. Keep us posted on the great work.
_________________
'74 Super |
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jwold
Samba Member
Joined: September 30, 2008
Posts: 2088
Location: Portland, OR
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baxsie
Samba Member
Joined: August 09, 2005
Posts: 606
Location: Eastern Washington State
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| Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2012 10:03 pm Post subject: |
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Very nice find on the base car. I can't wait to see the electrics  |
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Hondapop
Samba Member
Joined: February 19, 2012
Posts: 71
Location: Dover Delaware
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| Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2012 11:17 am Post subject: |
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| baxsie wrote: |
| Very nice find on the base car. I can't wait to see the electrics |
I guess it was a little luck to find the car but the circumstances were rather sad. I was looking for about two months checking all the usual sites on a daily basis. I looked at a few local cars but they were all pretty far gone. I was about to take a trip to NY city (by the way I am in Delaware) when I saw an ad on theSamba. The car was listed at $2500 with a good spare engine and it looked nice. I called the guy and he lived about three hours away in the middle of Pa. and he had someone coming over the next morning. I scrambled to my car and started driving to his location, not even telling my wife where I was going. I looked at the car in the dark of a poorly lit garage and found out the po was getting a divorce and had to be out of his house within two weeks. I was excited to get a nice base car, but sad that he had to sell his baby. |
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baxsie
Samba Member
Joined: August 09, 2005
Posts: 606
Location: Eastern Washington State
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| Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2012 11:33 am Post subject: |
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| Hondapop wrote: |
| . . . but sad that he had to sell his baby. |
Bummer for him . . . but good for you. Circle of life and all, I guess.
Do you have a picture of how the front of the rotisserie is attached to the frame? I love the simplicity of that design . . . I'm thinking of making one. |
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Hondapop
Samba Member
Joined: February 19, 2012
Posts: 71
Location: Dover Delaware
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| Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2012 3:01 pm Post subject: |
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| baxsie wrote: |
| Hondapop wrote: |
| . . . but sad that he had to sell his baby. |
Bummer for him . . . but good for you. Circle of life and all, I guess.
Do you have a picture of how the front of the rotisserie is attached to the frame? I love the simplicity of that design . . . I'm thinking of making one. |
Sorry but I do not. As I recall it was attached at the front with two bolts about six inches apart ( two of the bolts that hold on the front bolt on part of the frame ( what ever it is called.....). He also had another section that was used in the same rotisserie for standard beetles. |
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thechief86
Samba Member
Joined: January 18, 2012
Posts: 860
Location: middle tn
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| Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2012 8:42 pm Post subject: |
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nice find! and great color! I like the gas powerplant, but i've actually done an ev conversion on a toyota tercel, and a nissan frontier for a program at the college i went to. i have been more impressed by alternative fuels in internal combustion engines, such as veggie oil, E10, cng, propane, and hydrogen as far as performance and range go, but electric is a neat way to go, and has potential for great performance as long as weight can be kept down, and good batteries can be sourced.
good luck, and keep us updated!
you probably already know this, but with an electric motor, you can hook directly to the transmission input without a clutch, as the motor stops spinning when the throttle is off. It is very easy to just drive without a clutch as if the normal 4 speed is an autostick, and synchronization happens very easily.
gearing through the transmission can help with more than just ease of mounting and force direction change. it also multiplies torque so a much weaker/smaller motor can be used with better takeoff and more usable power throughout each range. from there, top speed has potential to be endless if the right motor is used and the power is there.
_________________
"A poor workman always blames his parts... Ya gotta have skillz to hang junk." -johnnypan |
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Hondapop
Samba Member
Joined: February 19, 2012
Posts: 71
Location: Dover Delaware
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| Posted: Fri Oct 05, 2012 5:40 am Post subject: |
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| thechief86 wrote: |
nice find! and great color! I like the gas powerplant, but i've actually done an ev conversion on a toyota tercel, and a nissan frontier for a program at the college i went to. i have been more impressed by alternative fuels in internal combustion engines, such as veggie oil, E10, cng, propane, and hydrogen as far as performance and range go, but electric is a neat way to go, and has potential for great performance as long as weight can be kept down, and good batteries can be sourced.
good luck, and keep us updated!
you probably already know this, but with an electric motor, you can hook directly to the transmission input without a clutch, as the motor stops spinning when the throttle is off. It is very easy to just drive without a clutch as if the normal 4 speed is an autostick, and synchronization happens very easily.
gearing through the transmission can help with more than just ease of mounting and force direction change. it also multiplies torque so a much weaker/smaller motor can be used with better takeoff and more usable power throughout each range. from there, top speed has potential to be endless if the right motor is used and the power is there. |
I have been starting some research on what I want to install (not much time yet). I am familiar with the idea of going clutchless but I'm not sure yet. I'm thinking of going with a high performance motor like a Netgain Warp 9 at 120-144 volts. If I go this way, I was thinking that a clutch might be a good thing to provide a "weak spot" in the drive train. The idea being that a clutch could slip a little if I apply too much torque. I understand that the HP electric motors provide insane amounts of torque starting at zero rpm. I am also not sure of batteries yet either but may consider a lithium battery pack. This will reduce the weight by about two thirds and double the range. The only problem is the 5-6 k for just the batteries. My wife already thinks I'm insame for tackling a project like this. I'm telling her its my midlife crisis and it could be worse |
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Hondapop
Samba Member
Joined: February 19, 2012
Posts: 71
Location: Dover Delaware
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| Posted: Fri Oct 05, 2012 7:02 am Post subject: |
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I found this photo and thought I would share how I kept track of the body to pan bolts.
I was having a problem getting the rear wiring harness out of the body area where the foan is sprayed. A search on Samba showed most were working the foam out with various rods or using acetone to dissolve the foam. I looked around the garage for a rod that was flexable and came across this tool. Let me tell you that it worked great and I had the harness out in about ten minutes.
I inserted the tool into the foam as far as it would go, expanded the fingers, then slowly pulled the tool out, twisting it as I pulled the tool out. The process removed the foam in about a 3/4 inch circle. As the foam was removed it was a little harder to find an area of foam to insert the tool (it wanted to go into a previously cleaned area). With a litttle effort and about ten insertions the harness pulled out. |
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baxsie
Samba Member
Joined: August 09, 2005
Posts: 606
Location: Eastern Washington State
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| Posted: Fri Oct 05, 2012 10:04 am Post subject: |
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| Hondapop wrote: |
| . . . . My wife already thinks I'm insane for tackling a project like this. I'm telling her its my midlife crisis and it could be worse |
On your next trip to town, get slick paper brochures for Corvettes, Porsches, BMW, Lexus (basically anything you could find on this list of high-end sports cars). Use a sharpie to jot the price for each one conspicuously across the bright red car in the photo that has a young, buxom, blonde in it. Put those all in a folder labeled "EV Project Alternatives". Then carelessly leave it out on the kitchen table.
Can you tell that I used to be a marriage counselor before my divorce?
Just kidding of course
| Hondapop wrote: |
| . . . how I kept track of the body to pan bolts. |
Cool. I like it. |
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thechief86
Samba Member
Joined: January 18, 2012
Posts: 860
Location: middle tn
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| Posted: Sun Oct 07, 2012 6:50 am Post subject: |
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[quote="HondapopI have been starting some research on what I want to install (not much time yet). I am familiar with the idea of going clutchless but I'm not sure yet. I'm thinking of going with a high performance motor like a Netgain Warp 9 at 120-144 volts. If I go this way, I was thinking that a clutch might be a good thing to provide a "weak spot" in the drive train. The idea being that a clutch could slip a little if I apply too much torque. I understand that the HP electric motors provide insane amounts of torque starting at zero rpm. I am also not sure of batteries yet either but may consider a lithium battery pack. This will reduce the weight by about two thirds and double the range. The only problem is the 5-6 k for just the batteries. My wife already thinks I'm insame for tackling a project like this. I'm telling her its my midlife crisis and it could be worse [/quote]
hey, at least you're not on crack! this project will only help your mental state, unlike a lot of available hobbies/addictions.
that's how i justify it to my wife, anyway.
it sounds like you're making something badass if you're going to make enough energy to possibly break stuff, so yeah, a clutch may be a good idea. i would look for a lightened flyweel to bolt it to, though, so you don't have the extra inertia of a weighted one. i'm following this one, and can't wait to see how it turns out!
_________________
"A poor workman always blames his parts... Ya gotta have skillz to hang junk." -johnnypan |
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Hondapop
Samba Member
Joined: February 19, 2012
Posts: 71
Location: Dover Delaware
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| Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2012 6:52 am Post subject: |
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I started to tackle the rear end on the car this weekend. This area has a lot of rust and panels with many holes. I was able to find several replacement panels but at a high cost. The new rear apron was less expensive than one of the engine surround panels. I think the apron was about $78 while the others were about $80 each.
Sorry for the thumb shot. I can see now why the rear end of the car felt a little loose when I was separating the pan from the body.
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Hondapop
Samba Member
Joined: February 19, 2012
Posts: 71
Location: Dover Delaware
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| Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2012 8:10 am Post subject: |
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I finally finished removing all the rust in the engine bay and cutting out the
remaining rusty panels. I purchased replacement panels for the engine guard at the back of the engine bay and was surprised when they were delivered. The left and right panels look fine but don't extend to the middle of the bay far enough to replace the whole guard (I know it isn't called a guard but I don't know what else to call it....maybe surround tin at the back). I ended up cutting out the rusty tin and leaving small sections of the existing center tin and mathced them up with the new surround tin.
I ended up replacing the entire left side of the engine bay since there wasn't much left. I cleaned all the rust away and sealed the area with POR 15. Man....does POR 15 smell bad when you weld to a panel close to when it was applied.
The left side of the compartment hat rotted away at the area where the rear apron attaches. I found some nut plates the right size and fabricated an extension to fix this area. I first attached the left fender to make sure the nut plate location was correct. I do plan to put both feners on to mark the correct location for the new apron.
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Hondapop
Samba Member
Joined: February 19, 2012
Posts: 71
Location: Dover Delaware
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| Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2012 6:13 am Post subject: |
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This weekend I was able to finish the work in the engine bay and get a coat of primer on everything. I'm hopefully going to have some nice weather in the next week or so to get a topcoat of the original color in the engine bay and trunck area. I want to get this stuff painted so i can get the body back on the pan and free up some garage space. It is tuff shuffling around things to have enough space.
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