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stevemariott Samba Member
Joined: November 09, 2003 Posts: 1052 Location: Portland, OR
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Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2015 2:40 pm Post subject: Fresh from Storage |
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After 15 years of storage, I brought my buggy home yesterday.
I built it when I was a kid, and I've managed to hang onto it, less the engine. I've got a 90% of the parts to put it back together, including a 1600 longblock and a pair of Kadrons. Still looking for a clean QP exhaust. Here we go! _________________ 1963 Manx copy
1968 Bus |
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Deh Shark Samba Member
Joined: December 09, 2006 Posts: 704 Location: U.S. Virgin Islands
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Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2015 5:48 pm Post subject: |
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Good start!! _________________ AH TIYAD AH DAT DEH BAI!!!
Organize folks are just to lazy to look for stuff!!
55 3 fold Ragtop
Manx Dune buggy 2387cc |
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Dale M. Samba Member
Joined: April 12, 2006 Posts: 20380 Location: Just a tiny bit west of Yosemite Valley
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Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2015 7:56 pm Post subject: |
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Glad you finally got over your sickness....
Dale _________________ “Fear The Government That Wants To Take Your Guns" - Thomas Jefferson.
"Kellison Sand Piper Roadster" For Street & Show.
"Joe Pody Sandrover" Buggy with 2180 for Autocross (Sold)
============================================================
All suggestions and advice are purely my own opinion. You are free to ignore them if you wish ... |
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stevemariott Samba Member
Joined: November 09, 2003 Posts: 1052 Location: Portland, OR
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Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2015 8:35 pm Post subject: |
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Dale M. wrote: |
Glad you finally got over your sickness....
Dale |
Thanks, Dale: it was just a matter of taking care of school, career, etc. first. I'm finally settling into a place where I can put some effort into it again.
Shark: I've been enjoying your build, I dig the stance. Years ago I built mine with some go-fast goodies - that was my intention from the beginning. It went from a 1600 w/Baby Dells, to a 1600 w/Kadrons, and after collecting parts for some time I finally built a 2016 (78.4 x 90.5) for it. Ported 42x37 Heads, 1-5/8" merged sedan header, big (268 @ .050) Bugpack cam, 44idfs, balanced, Berg pulley, full-flow, 9.2:1, etc.
The next summer I swapped in a "built" swingaxle with all of the goodies by the local go-fast VW shop, along with a close-ratio (1.48 / 1.04) 3rd and 4th. At the same time, I wedged a pair of IDAs in there.
Years later, the engine is long gone, but the swingaxle is still in the car. I'll just have to be happy with the 1600 and Kadrons again for a little while.
I'm thinking of more of a traditional look for it these days, so I picked up a pair of 14 x 6.5 steelies for the front for a reasonable price recently. They fit nicely. I'll be bringing the front end of it up a few inches as well.
_________________ 1963 Manx copy
1968 Bus |
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Wolfgangdieter Samba Member
Joined: June 25, 2008 Posts: 1958 Location: FL Panhandle
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Posted: Tue Oct 20, 2015 6:38 am Post subject: |
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15 years in storage! Great condition looks like you were "a kid" just last year. You'll probably appreciate it more since you've aged a bit. I regret getting rid of many cars I used to have when I was younger - especially when I see their value today! _________________ CMC '57 Porsche Speedster Replica and Dolphin boat tailed full pan VW MOD-T Street Buggy |
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Deh Shark Samba Member
Joined: December 09, 2006 Posts: 704 Location: U.S. Virgin Islands
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Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2015 3:02 am Post subject: |
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Sweet!! Steve... Long time coming. I had mines since 2002 and ain't did anything till just recently. _________________ AH TIYAD AH DAT DEH BAI!!!
Organize folks are just to lazy to look for stuff!!
55 3 fold Ragtop
Manx Dune buggy 2387cc |
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stevemariott Samba Member
Joined: November 09, 2003 Posts: 1052 Location: Portland, OR
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Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2016 11:38 pm Post subject: Re: Fresh from Storage |
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So after months selling parts to buy parts, sanding, painting, and wrenching, I can post some progress. While working on my Manx is both a hobby and therapeutic for me, it’s nowhere near the top of my regular priority list, so any progress takes some time.
Since my last post in October, I decided to go through the brakes, fuel system, and wiring before I put it back on the road. I put this car together when I was 20 or 21 years old, and while I’m still proud of the body and paint work I did at the time, some of my wrenching skills as a kid were really not that great. That, and I wanted to make a handful of changes along the way.
Job #1 - rear brakes. First off, the teardown to see what I was dealing with.
Thank goodness for the torque tool - makes removing the axle nuts so much easier.
Left rear drum comes off, and . . . oily everything. Ugh.
Right rear drum comes off, and . . . more of the same. Greeeat.
Well, I figured I'd be putting some money into the rear brakes, so I knew where I had to begin. _________________ 1963 Manx copy
1968 Bus
Last edited by stevemariott on Mon Mar 21, 2016 12:21 am; edited 2 times in total |
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stevemariott Samba Member
Joined: November 09, 2003 Posts: 1052 Location: Portland, OR
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Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2016 11:51 pm Post subject: Re: Fresh from Storage |
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One change I had wanted to make was to swap out the short axles on the trans (that had come with my ’63 trans) for ’67 long axles and tubes - I had always wanted the rear wheels to stick out more. If I used ’67 axles and tubes, I should still be able to use my stock ’63 brake drums and backing plates.
I found a guy with a set of ’67 axles and tubes on Craigslist, and after I drove the 50 miles to his house, it turned out he had a set of type 3 axles and tubes - not exactly the same setup, as the splines on type 3 axles are longer than ’67 type 1 axles, and I wouldn’t be able to easily use my stock ’63 rear brakes with them. Not only that, but these particular tubes had the welded-on Z-bar brackets, and no brake line brackets. I was initially disappointed, but I picked them up anyway after he threw in a set of ’67 Type 1 axles along with the type 3 axles, tubes, and bearing caps for a reasonable price.
Type 3 axle tubes and bearing caps, pre-strip and paint:
Type 3 axles ('68 type 1 length) vs. '67 type 1 axles:
Type 3 / long axle bearing caps vs. early type 1 short axle bearing caps:
_________________ 1963 Manx copy
1968 Bus
Last edited by stevemariott on Mon Mar 21, 2016 12:20 am; edited 1 time in total |
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stevemariott Samba Member
Joined: November 09, 2003 Posts: 1052 Location: Portland, OR
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Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2016 12:06 am Post subject: Re: Fresh from Storage |
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Now that I had the axle parts, I could focus on making my brake parts work with them. New wheel cylinders, shoes, and hardware were in order.
One change I read that other Manx owners had done to improve front / rear braking bias was to swap the stock type 1 rear wheel cylinders to type 3 rear wheel cylinders. In preparation for this, I purchased a set of super beetle front wheel cylinders (same part #), and modified my type 1 backing plates to fit the super beetle wheel cylinders. This wasn’t difficult - I just had to file the wheel cylinder mounting hole a bit and the super beetle cylinders bolted right up.
At the same time, the type 3 bearing caps I’d be using would allow me to get rid of the “slingers” that went inside of the stock ’63 drums, so I used a gasket as a pattern to drill a weep hole in each of the backing plates.
The next step was to have my stock rear brake drums turned - I brought them down to the local Autozone, and found out that both of my brake drums were wasted! Ugh. This meant new drums. Skinny, stock rear drums. Why not upgrade to type 3 rear brakes to go with the type 3 wheel cylinders, axles, and tubes? Improved rear braking, and increased rear track width = a win / win situation.
I knew that type 3 wide 5 drums were available new, but the type 3 backing plates would be harder to find. I found a local guy on Craigslist that had a set on a complete type 3 swingaxle, so I traded him a handful of parts from my bin and picked up his rear backing plates, hardware, axle nuts, and e-brake cables for a reasonable price.
While digging around his parts stash, I also spotted a pair of early bus brake line clamps that fit on the axle tubes. I was stoked on this, as I hadn't located any on the samba classifieds, and it meant I wouldn't have to use Empi aluminum brake line clamps.
_________________ 1963 Manx copy
1968 Bus
Last edited by stevemariott on Mon Mar 21, 2016 11:47 am; edited 1 time in total |
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BL3Manx Samba Member
Joined: August 29, 2006 Posts: 6767 Location: Northern California
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Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2016 1:47 am Post subject: Re: Fresh from Storage |
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The other option beside Type 3 for long swingaxles with long splines is 1968 Type 1. |
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manxdavid Samba Member
Joined: November 24, 2003 Posts: 1841 Location: David Jones, Anglesey, North Wales, UK. Manxclub #678.
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stevemariott Samba Member
Joined: November 09, 2003 Posts: 1052 Location: Portland, OR
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Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2016 11:06 pm Post subject: Re: Fresh from Storage |
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Gotcha - fortunately, I found the type 3 rear drums on sale through cip1.com, and was able to go with those.
A little comparison . . . you can see the type 3 drums are a bit bigger in diameter.
I placed both the type 3 and type 1 drums on plastic spray can caps to show the increased track width.
You can really see the difference in diameter here . . .
. . . and the type 1 drum actually fits inside of the type 3 drum.
The next step was to pull the transaxle out, in preparation for the axle swap.
At an estate sale a few weeks back, I purchased someone's decades-old homemade shop cart, which turned out to be the perfect height for swapping in transaxles and longblocks! Best $2 I ever spent for a shop tool.
After much wrestling and pulling, it came out.
A hassle enough to remove in the buggy; I feel fortunate that I'm not working on a beetle or type 3.
Before swapping in the new-to-me axles, I spent some time polishing the spades. Polished on the left, unpolished on the right.
I couldn't actually find much instruction on how exactly the polishing should be done, so I just did the best I could. I don't plan on putting any real HP through these, but I figure every little bit helps while it's apart. HD axles are not in the budget right now.
Somewhere I still have the receipt with all of the specs for the transaxle, but for now I just have to rely on my memory. 4.12 r/p, 1.48 3rd and 1.04 4th, beef-a-diff, crown HD sidecover, etc. It has two big gussets welded onto the bottom of the case, and I added a HD cross shaft and a longer clutch arm once I got my hands on it.
I never noticed them when I installed the swingaxle 15 years ago, but this time around I realized that the builder installed longer studs at the nosecone for a Berg mid-mount. I paid what felt like an arm and a leg for the trans way back then, and it's still more than I'd want to put into it right now, but I'm glad I have it.
It's an AH case, which made it an IRS from the factory, I think?
My wrenching time each week is limited to a couple hours on a Friday or Saturday evening, so the transaxle was out of the car for a few weeks. After hours of shimming axle tubes, checking and rechecking everything, wrestling with snap ring pliers, and a misstep or two, I finally got it all back together.
_________________ 1963 Manx copy
1968 Bus
Last edited by stevemariott on Tue Mar 22, 2016 10:58 am; edited 1 time in total |
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manxdavid Samba Member
Joined: November 24, 2003 Posts: 1841 Location: David Jones, Anglesey, North Wales, UK. Manxclub #678.
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Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2016 2:53 am Post subject: Re: Fresh from Storage |
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Looking good, you won't regret going for Type 3 brakes. |
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stevemariott Samba Member
Joined: November 09, 2003 Posts: 1052 Location: Portland, OR
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Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2016 10:59 pm Post subject: Re: Fresh from Storage |
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manxdavid wrote: |
Looking good, you won't regret going for Type 3 brakes. |
Thanks! I've read lots of good things about them; my old brakes being worn out was a good enough excuse to spend a decent chunk of my meager budget on them.
Years ago I wanted Porsche 356 brakes all around, but I never could find a set in decent shape for a reasonable price. I'd hate to price out a set now.
Jamming the transaxle back into the car was even less amusing than taking it out. Fun parts included difficulties aligning the shifter rod and coupler, and bolting the transaxle in entirely but having forgetten to thread the bowden tube and clutch cable through the attachment on the sidecover Oh well, now the fun part begins!
Axle seal kits . . .
. . . and backing plates set to go.
LH side . . .
. . . and RH side.
The brake lines I bent years ago for the short axles were still long enough to use with my new long axles. The emergency brake cables, however, were not. Fortunately, I thought ahead enough to get the type 3 cables when I bought the backing plates, so I just shortened the housings and they fit right up.
New wheel cylinders vs. old wheel cylinders. I dismantled the new cylinders and prepped them with brake clean and new fluid before I put them on. Black paint keeps them from getting rusty.
New shoes and hardware.
Moments later . . . new shoes, hardware, and wheel cylinders installed.
_________________ 1963 Manx copy
1968 Bus |
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Skulptorchaz Samba Member
Joined: June 11, 2013 Posts: 839 Location: S.E. Indiana
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Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2016 1:29 am Post subject: Re: Fresh from Storage |
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Lookin good Steve. You're right - good therapy. (I gotta have it. ) |
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stevemariott Samba Member
Joined: November 09, 2003 Posts: 1052 Location: Portland, OR
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Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2016 10:37 pm Post subject: Re: Fresh from Storage |
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Skulptorchaz wrote: |
Lookin good Steve. You're right - good therapy. (I gotta have it. ) |
Thanks, Skulptorchaz!
The moment of truth (kind of) . . .
Not the most amazing compare and contrast, but if you look carefully at the rear wheel, you can see the difference - before . . .
. . . and after.
With the engine in, the rear will squat down flat.
Now that the rear brakes and axle swap are done, I can focus on the front.
First, a trial fit of the 14" steelies I bought for it some time ago:
And from the rear:
Up next: front brakes! _________________ 1963 Manx copy
1968 Bus |
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stevemariott Samba Member
Joined: November 09, 2003 Posts: 1052 Location: Portland, OR
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Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2016 11:52 pm Post subject: Re: Fresh from Storage |
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I was hoping that my front brakes would be in better shape than the rear brakes were. Years ago, I remember going through the front brakes to some degree, but I couldn't remember exactly what I had done. At the least, I had already purchased new wheel cylinders to install this time around. The drums come off . . .
Front left - no so bad! Front right . . .
Ugh . . . hard to see, but the shoes are a bit greasy and coming apart a bit.
As for the drums, I took them into the local shop to have them spec'd out, and surprise - they're junk, just like the rears. Great.
A few dollars later, I have new drums.
Something I had not considered, or even knew anything about, was installing new bearing races in the new drums. Fortunately, it seems like there are youtube clips for almost anything these days. A quick search, and I found the following clip:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2oLA6--fwQ
After watching the clip a couple of times, and looking at a manual to verify information, I felt confident enough to do it. How tough could it be?
A quick trip to the local O'Reilly, and I was able to rent a bearing race driver set. They charge your credit card the cost of the tool, and you have it for a day. Get it back in time, and you get your money back. I can't say I'd use a bearing race driver enough to warrant the cost of buying one, so I'm happy they offer the service.
As I was handing over my credit card, the guy at the counter said to me, "Installing bearing races? That's a job I definitely DON'T want to take on." It only took maybe 10 minutes to install races and seals in both drums, so maybe the guy misunderstood the job. Anyway . . .
New races:
Using the tool, you tap the race in . . .
. . . and there it is.
Turn the drum over, and second verse . . .
Is the same as the first. Easy enough. Packed my new wheel bearings with grease, installed the seals, and I was one step closer to finishing.
Months and months ago I had purchased a pair of beetle rear wheel cylinders to replace the stock front units. Like I had done on the rear, I dismantled the new wheel cylinders and prepped them with brake clean and new fluid before installing them. A quick shot of black paint keeps everything looking tidy.
New shoes and hardware:
After inspecting my old work from years ago, I think I had just pulled everything apart, stripped and refinished the backing plates, and threw it all back together, crusty parts and all. Nice job, 20 year-old me! Since I had everything apart already, I pulled the now-dingy looking backing plates once more, stripped them again, and painted them again. Might as well.
Moments later, I have all-new brakes on the front to match the all-new brakes on the rear.
Up next: Front wheels, tires, and a new fuel tank! _________________ 1963 Manx copy
1968 Bus |
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Q-Dog Samba Member
Joined: April 05, 2010 Posts: 8700 Location: Sunset, Louisiana
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Posted: Thu Apr 28, 2016 6:32 am Post subject: Re: Fresh from Storage |
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I use the old race to drive in the new race. I didn't even know there was a tool for that? _________________ Brian
'69 Dune Buggy
'69 Beetle Convertible
'70 Beetle |
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stevemariott Samba Member
Joined: November 09, 2003 Posts: 1052 Location: Portland, OR
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Posted: Thu Apr 28, 2016 8:14 pm Post subject: Re: Fresh from Storage |
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Q-Dog wrote: |
I use the old race to drive in the new race. I didn't even know there was a tool for that? |
Using the old races to install the new ones didn't even occur to me, but it makes perfect sense. I probably would have given that a shot first had I known about it. The tool was pretty slick, though.
Here it is in kit form:
_________________ 1963 Manx copy
1968 Bus |
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SBD Samba Member
Joined: October 24, 2012 Posts: 3269 Location: SOUTH DAKOTA
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Posted: Sat Apr 30, 2016 1:09 pm Post subject: Re: Fresh from Storage |
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Buggy is lookin' good!
I bought one of these on sale 3 or 4 years ago. Works great for both races & seals. Glad I have it.
http://www.harborfreight.com/10-piece-bearing-race-and-seal-driver-set-95853.html _________________ "Just $99 down and $64 a month for 36 months buys you a brand new Volkswagen Beetle!"
mark tucker wrote: |
I wouldent waste $ or thyme on building a small motor. build it big so it dosent have to work hard.remember it's only as fast as your foot alows it to be unless you build a small turd then it just stinks as it squishes up through your toes when you step on it. |
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