F4u5T Roadster *Build Thread*

gregmporter · Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2009 9:07 pm Post subject:

To make your filler piece, definately start with a tape cast. You can cover your wood mold in criss crossed duct tape, then cut it into two pieces (it will keep the shape). With them cut apart, you can trace patterns onto your sheet metal and see where you need to shrink and stretch. If you need to shrink, just do the poor man's shrinker and cut slits in the sheet, bend it up and weld all the slits back together. It's surprisingly fast.

Once you do the first side, flip the tape inside out and make the other side. If a contour needs to be refined after welding, just cut slits with a cut off wheel.

Seeing what you've done already, this will only take you a couple hours per side.
_________________
You Tube Channel w/vids of the car's progress
http://www.youtube.com/user/gregmporter

1974 Karmann Ghia Cabriolet
1964 356C Coupe (in progress)

72Ghia · Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2009 10:50 pm Post subject:

That will surely be a unique addition to an already unique vehicle.
Cant wait to see how it turns out !
_________________
Bill

WTB- Billet center caps with Wolfsburg logo

72 Ghia Vert project
Bodywork http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=303542&highlight=
Re-assembly: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=4762737#4762737

72 Beetle Weekend Driver, restored in the 90's
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=353424

www.airsuckers.com

John Kelly · Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2009 7:02 am Post subject:

I think that the easiest way to make the taillight cap sections would be to stretch into a tightly packed bag of sand with a mallet (ballpeen hammer will work in a pinch). Experiment with different shaped starting blanks to see what works for you.

Always smooth the lumps you create in the metal with a hammer and dolly before checking your shape or you will get a false read.

During fitting, you will have to tweak the metal by hand to make it conform to the contours you desire, and to see what else still needs to be done to make it fit.

John www.ghiaspecialties.com
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slafa · Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2009 11:35 am Post subject:

cool idea, I like the contour of the block, make sure to show pics of how you make this happen Cool

_________________
'63 KG Roadster proj.
1973 Mercury Montego MX Brougham
1977 Dodge Tradesman 200 "shorty" Van
1983 Ford 350 Econoline Ambulance
1997 Mercedes S500 W140
1976 BMW 75/6 bike
various Honda, GMC daily drivers

slafa · Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2009 5:41 pm Post subject:

Hey, you were asking me about body fillers and I found this info on 72ghia's thread..

72Ghia I may be too late for this comment but its looks like your using an acrylic glaze(spot putty) instead of a good polyester glaze. That spot putty will shrink and cause major issues in the future. With you going this far with the car I hate to see you have trouble with it in the future. Also did you use a fiberglass filler over your welded work? If not you might have trouble with the Bondo since it absorbs water. Lastly, there are sooooo much better fillers on the market than bondo brand. That stuff is hard as a rock compared to the evercoat products. You will be amazed at the difference when you try it. If its not too late(and I would recommend removing all the glaze if it is) go get some Easy Sand or something comparable for your glaze. It is a very nice product but it is a bit pricey. Your work looks great BTW, I just thought you might not know about the different fillers since this is a first for you.

Bondo brand filler is pretty much the same as any other plastic filler, its just a lot harder to sand. With the poly glaze, you mix it just like the filler but its much thinner and flows out nicely. Get the bondo pretty close and then put a thin coat of the glaze over the entire repair. Think of it as a spread on primer. Then block it with 180-220 and you will have a pinhole/scratch free, level surface. Cool

_________________
'63 KG Roadster proj.
1973 Mercury Montego MX Brougham
1977 Dodge Tradesman 200 "shorty" Van
1983 Ford 350 Econoline Ambulance
1997 Mercedes S500 W140
1976 BMW 75/6 bike
various Honda, GMC daily drivers

F4u5T · Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2009 6:50 pm Post subject:

John Kelly · Posted: Sat Jun 20, 2009 7:45 am Post subject:

Either one of my two DVDs is $20 delivered. Please contact me through email: [email protected]

John www.ghiaspecialties.scom
_________________
Metal Shaping and Dent Repair videos:
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=GullWingInn&view=videos

F4u5T · Posted: Sat Jun 20, 2009 6:13 pm Post subject:

3rd attempt...
not great, but maybe workable

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

John Kelly · Posted: Sun Jun 21, 2009 6:37 am Post subject:

That will work, but you can easily do it without pie cuts, just spend more time stretching and smoothing the metal. There is a tool called a tuck puck that is very handy for stuff like that. You could make one from a stump or piece of wood or buy one from Carry Culpepper (probably the deeper one of the two):

www.tuckpuck.com

With a mallet, a depression in a stump, or the tuck puck, you can stretch the center, shrink the edges and smooth the surface in short order. Takes a bit of practice but well worth it if you plan to do more metalwork in the future.

Also see my two part tuck shrinking videos on youtube for techniques that are similar and will also do the job.

John www.ghiaspecialties.com
_________________
Metal Shaping and Dent Repair videos:
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=GullWingInn&view=videos

F4u5T · Posted: Tue Jun 23, 2009 1:43 pm Post subject:

ok guys, switchin direction on ya this time.
Last night I traded a prized procession ( last remnant of my first bug, the Hazet tool box) for a Dual port 1600cc engine minus intake, and an adjustable beam.
The engine has too much endplay and needs line boring and new thrust bearings. I figure no big deal - gonna rebuild it anyway, right
The beam is a Brazilian model, and the guy told me it made his car real stiff, he thinks the bearings are either bad or too small.
So, what are your thoughts on the beam, and also Im thinkin of running a turbo on this guy - any advise on that topic?

spectre6000 · Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2009 5:44 am Post subject:

I've been bouncing around the idea of a turbo charger myself. It's an extremely elegant way (from an engineering perspective) to increase the efficiency of an engine. It doesn't look very elegant though and it adds unnecessary mechanical complication and expense (two things I'm trying to avoid). If you end up with one, I'll be very interested to see the hows, whys, and whats.
_________________
Jason Hopper

-'58 German Market Deluxe Beetle (in progress)
-'84 M1009 CUCV
-'81 K10
"Buy the best, cry once." -Gene Berg
"A cheap man will always buy the cheapest thing available, and then buys another one hoping for a better result, and then spends the rest of his life in misery complaining about it. A thrifty man will buy a good part once and never think about it again." -RockCrusher
"Don't feed the Shitty Parts Monster!" -Me

F4u5T · Posted: Sun Jun 28, 2009 10:03 am Post subject:

Ive been working one the pan lately, stood the thing up on it's side and finished welding in the support bars - this should end the flex issues, it's really solid. Started cleaning it up a bit preparing to paint. Im sticking with good ol rustolium this time, its tried and true and when you really think about it - is this car ever gonna see that much rain, I hope not! Wink

One concern I do have is the rust insdie the bowden tube, doesnt look that bad really and isnt a structural concern, however I would like to knock it out now while Ive got it this far apart. Any ideas on what to do?

Thanks, my friends

slafa · Posted: Sun Jun 28, 2009 11:16 am Post subject:

Lookin' good Pardner, (cowboy accent intoned) seems that spraying a crapload of thinned POR15 in there and letting it run and cover what it will is all you can do, Ah! Dancing

after doing the POR15 in there, stick a blower surrounded by a rag in the hole and air blast it to move the POR15 as far as it will flow Very Happy

luckily that car has so little rust that your grandkids probably won't have to deal with it. Cool

_________________
'63 KG Roadster proj.
1973 Mercury Montego MX Brougham
1977 Dodge Tradesman 200 "shorty" Van
1983 Ford 350 Econoline Ambulance
1997 Mercedes S500 W140
1976 BMW 75/6 bike
various Honda, GMC daily drivers

spectre6000 · Posted: Sun Jun 28, 2009 2:39 pm Post subject:

I'm in a similar position. Media blasting guy says he can't get in there, body guy seems pretty sure he can. He says he has wands and such that can do just about anything. I'm going to see if I can't get him to spray some chemical rust converter in there, rinse (or whatever it needs), then do something POR15-esque.
_________________
Jason Hopper

-'58 German Market Deluxe Beetle (in progress)
-'84 M1009 CUCV
-'81 K10
"Buy the best, cry once." -Gene Berg
"A cheap man will always buy the cheapest thing available, and then buys another one hoping for a better result, and then spends the rest of his life in misery complaining about it. A thrifty man will buy a good part once and never think about it again." -RockCrusher
"Don't feed the Shitty Parts Monster!" -Me

John Kelly · Posted: Sun Jun 28, 2009 2:49 pm Post subject:

Minor correction... that is the tunnel, not the bowden tube. The bowden tube is that flexible tube that the clutch cable goes through mounted to the side of the transaxle.

John www.ghiaspecialties.com
_________________
Metal Shaping and Dent Repair videos:
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=GullWingInn&view=videos

F4u5T · Posted: Sun Jun 28, 2009 3:01 pm Post subject:

ahhh, thank you for the clarification.
Much to learn this padiwan has, emmm

slafa · Posted: Sun Jun 28, 2009 3:32 pm Post subject:

I would have given you a heads up before the "Jedi master" saw that but I'm not nearly sure enough of my own meager info foundation... Rolling Eyes

Actually, I think we are on the Dark Side...
_________________
'63 KG Roadster proj.
1973 Mercury Montego MX Brougham
1977 Dodge Tradesman 200 "shorty" Van
1983 Ford 350 Econoline Ambulance
1997 Mercedes S500 W140
1976 BMW 75/6 bike
various Honda, GMC daily drivers

F4u5T · Posted: Sun Jun 28, 2009 3:48 pm Post subject:

Yeah, were Sith no doubt.
Vader was the baddest of the bad
They have padiwans too, right? Laughing

F4u5T · Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2009 5:20 pm Post subject:

Well, I took the beam off to clean to pan really good and figured while I was at it why not try the adjustable beam I just got.
When I got it the guy told me that he had it on his bug and it made it really stiff and that I would probably want to put urethane bushings in, I thought there where bearings pressed into the ends of the tubes - but there isnt.
I dont understand what could be wrong with it, its just the tubes with adjusters installed.
It is not narrowed and as I plan on running drop spindles I think I should cut it down, but Im not sure how much. Ive seen everything from 2 to 6 inches.
What would be fairly safe?

dells68 · Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2009 8:59 pm Post subject:

Lookin' good! Glad to see the pan is as solid as the body. Check to make sure the needle bearings aren't in the tubes. Both outer and inner should still be in there! Smile

I run a 4 inch narrowed beam and it drives and handles great. Only issue you may have is tires rubbing the inner fenders if you go much narrower.


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