Restoring "The Cougar", a '64 rusty Notchback

[blues90]

You really have a lot of work there. I would have just walked away, all that rust . Good luck , hope it all turns out for you .

[ibldrc]

I took some measurements today to fab up some rockers. The plan is to take the outer skin and the guts from the donor car, but since it's a different inner profile, I'm going to get some sheetmetal bent up and fab the insides. 3 profiles will get the job done.

Once it's done and I know it's right, I'll post up the measurements in case someone else wants them.
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'64 1500 S
'65 Variant S
'66 1600TL
'67 Squareback

2003 Jetta "Variant" TDI
2008 Passat Wagon 2.0

1500 Build thread
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=7904818&highlight=#7904818

[bobnorman]

[ibldrc]

I do have a little update. Yes, I’ve been real busy. But haven’t actually done anything to the notch. Over the Christmas break, I went out west and brought home a parts car, and have been cutting out the pieces I need.

I still had a real hard time getting myself to make the first cut. This was a good car, and could easily have been put back on the road, but it had no title, and when you are looking for a parts car, a good car is the going to give you the best parts right? Anyway, it didn’t get cut up without sooommme remorse….
There will be more metal used than tossed!

I did some more cleanup on the pan, which is actually nothing more than a tunnel at this point, and have found more deep rust.

The pan head is also toast,

As is most of the LH side of the tunnel.

My thought for this is to trim off around an inch from the bottom and replace it with another flange from the parts car. Has anyone done this? My thought is to weld a few tabs on the inside so I can screw or cleco it in place temporarily to keep it straight, then weld it up.

I’ll be changing out the whole rear deck as one piece, will build a new flange with the extra material behind the wheelwell to mate up with the inside sheetmetal of the inner side panels

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'64 1500 S
'65 Variant S
'66 1600TL
'67 Squareback

2003 Jetta "Variant" TDI
2008 Passat Wagon 2.0

1500 Build thread
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=7904818&highlight=#7904818

[MonT3]

Man, that frame-head is smoked. Looks similar to what I had going on with min but not to that extent. And the tunnel is going to be a challenge. How does that Fasty tunnel and frame-head look? Rather than cutting off the frame-head and cutting up the sides and patching in the length of the tunnel, wouldn’t a replacement of the entire tunnel up to or near the VIN stamp be a better option? Maybe re-enforce the cut and weld on the inside? I think it might work. The pan halves welded on to the tunnel would further shore up the tunnel. By no means am I an expert on this stuff or a structural engineer. There’s a lot of work cutting and welding in the side pieces all along the tunnel.
I removed the frame-head from my tunnel and replaced it. Prior to welding it back on, I tacked it and measured and test fitted it to the shell to ensure it was correct. It’s a chore but can be done so don’t be discouraged.
My hats off to you for taking this on. Plan out your attack on it and ask questions as there are folks that have been down this road. AND you have a good parts car at your disposal so that’s a plus.
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MonT3
67 Squareback
64 Squareback
63 Squareback
Engine rebuild
Trailer rebuild

[ibldrc]

[GoMopar440]

Damn! That's way worse off than the one I had. Mine has all been chopped up and tossed in the metal recycling bin at the dump last month. Scrap steep was only getting $10/ton around here so I would have had to pay more in gas than I would have gotten for the metal if I had brought it there. All I have left of mine now is what I'll be using. The engine, trans, rear torsion housing and most of the tunnel. At least you found a decent parts car to fix up yours. If it weren't for the VIN issue it looks like it would have been easier to fix up the parts car you got instead.
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Homemade rail for street & off road: BJ front beam (bent), IRS rear (boxed/maybe bent), stock T1 DP 1600, 009, 34PICT-3 (soon to be dual 40HPMXs), 4-1 glass pack exh, T3 brakes (F disk, R drum & Dual MC), Bug trans (002, 5 rib going in soon).
Link to my rail (re)build thread: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=629493

[ibjack]

I really thought you were nuts for taking on this project but after seeing this, http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=463139 I believe anything is possible to resurrect.
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'68 Lotus White T34 automatic sunroof
'64 Manila Yellow T34
'65 Sea Blue Square Panel
the1500club.com
Shop Lacky at the T3/34 Factory, https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100094313902074

[ibldrc]

Good morning.
It’s been a while, but I have been getting little things done here and there as time has permitted.
Thanks to Clatter for posting up some decent pics of a great working pan dolly! I made one similar, but having his in mind made building it a snap! Well worth the hour or so it took to get it done. It’s just a little too tall to fit under the car shell at the moment, so we’ll cut it down a bit.

A quick note on the putty knife I mentioned I was using for separation after drilling the spot welds…
I was scraping away some seam sealer, and decided to use my heat gun (1100 deg), and the heat killed the temper in the blade, so it became too soft to hit without bending immediately. I took it back to Home Depot and asked to implement the Husky lifetime warranty. They asked me what was wrong, and I simply said I’d worn it out. Replaced with no more questions asked… so I bought 3 more! The one I’m using is the thin flex one, and I also bought the stiffer chisel one, which works even better when straight access is available. The flex blade is still most used though.

Forget about any others with plastic handles, they break on the first wack!

For just under $7 each, I will never buy another type of putty knife… with the warranty, I may never have to buy another one period!

So after I got the dolly made up I cleaned up the pan and tunnel just a bit. I have not decided my final plan of attach just yet.

I used the air chisel with very low air pressure and a near parallel angle to get the tar paper insulation off. This method took it off very quickly and left little mess to clean off later. I initially tried the putty knife and hammer, but it was leaving way too much tar, which has to come off somehow

The major accomplishment is that I got my replacement rear tray out of the donor car! That was a ton of work, with lots of intricate parts that were in the way. It made for some great practice though for what I’m sure is yet to come. I’ve been pecking away at this here and there for the better part of a month. But in reality, there’s maybe 15-20 hrs to get it where it is now.
But I’ve looked at the other parts of the car that I need to disassemble, and I’m pretty sure this pc will be the hardest. Most all of the parts in this rear assembly were removed in a manner that they can all still be used. I didn't "need" to do it that way, but I won't know for sure if I need any of it later until I really get into cutting out the cancer of the notch. Again, good practice.
Just a few pics on this here, but I dumped a bunch more in the gallery.

_________________
'64 1500 S
'65 Variant S
'66 1600TL
'67 Squareback

2003 Jetta "Variant" TDI
2008 Passat Wagon 2.0

1500 Build thread
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=7904818&highlight=#7904818

[ibldrc]

[MonT3]

Congrats on sectioning that piece out. I think you did the smart thing in separating the pieces as you never know what you may run across. Progress!
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MonT3
67 Squareback
64 Squareback
63 Squareback
Engine rebuild
Trailer rebuild

[ibldrc]

A little progress over the last couple days.
After getting the rear cargo tray and the intake duct off the parts, car, I took apart the good apron, and did a little work on the pan tunnel.

So the apron was in ok shape, but had some dents here and there, a little bit of rust through, and of course the bottom fairing had it usual bent up areas. I was pleasantly surprised how easily it went back into shape though. It’s still not perfect, but what a huge difference, and I only put about an hour into it with a hammer and block of wood.

I’ve been messing with the welder a bit and have gotten it to work decent enough to use. It’s a 30 year old Miller Syncrowave 300…. Tig machine. That’s all I know how to use, although I’m seeing that a Mig would be better suited for this kind of work.

The tunnel has lots of rust, but I decided I didn’t want to cut it all out at once. I had just cut up one of my spare tunnels mainly to get it out of the way, so I ended up with a section on the passenger side to replace.

This is officially the first “repair” I’ve made on the project…. Sure tons of time put in to disassembly, cleaning, and parts car dismantling, but here is the first replacement put back into it. A very minor milestone, but a step in the right direction. I haven’t welded anyting in about 5 years, and it’s been about 25 or so since I did it regularly as part of my job. I’m satisfied. Its good and strong, plenty of penetration, and no burn through. A good first session!

Lots more in the gallery!
_________________
'64 1500 S
'65 Variant S
'66 1600TL
'67 Squareback

2003 Jetta "Variant" TDI
2008 Passat Wagon 2.0

1500 Build thread
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=7904818&highlight=#7904818

[notchboy]

Alright! Its all downhill now, right?

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[Bobnotch]

[ibldrc]

The parts car is finally disassembled. I just need to figure out exactly where to make the seam between the “new” bottom and the car. I left the top crossmember intact just for temporary rigidity, but I’l be using the original piece here.
I’d really like to take apart the sides, front and back and replace them individually, but I’m not sure which way is best, easier to repair each area on it’s own, or keep the integrity of a solid form.

The donor lower section is sitting on the pan I’m going to use in the end. I’ve decided not to take that apart just yet, as I think the best way to do this is to have the rockers and firewall bolted in place to keep everything straight. Thinking get a few good welds in here and there, and then put it on the rotisserie (just 2 engine stands and a custom mount) for full access.

The roof has so many holes in it I decided to replace as much of it as I can. The front grill is also shot, and having learned that the roof and grilles are originally together as the same piece, I took it out as such. Only about ¾ of the Fastback roof is a match to the Notch roof though, so, I still have to make a seam and repair the back half. But I’ll open the pinch seam and do it as correct as possible. It’s really cool learning how the pieces were assembled. Taking it apart at all the spot welds is extremely time consuming, but I think it’s the best way to go…. Replace the part rather than repair it (if possible). It’s about as close to an NOS repair as you can get.

I also got the engine torn down, with nothing but more bad news….
The original pistons are not there. It’s got 87mm slip-ins. I guess that’s “kind of” good news, and I didn’t feel so bad when I had to cut one of them open to get it apart.

BUT, #1 cylinder has a nasty crack in it with a seriously ugly hacked “weld” patch. I’ll clean this up and try my hand at some magnesium tig welding… not much to lose in trying here. I have not gotten the birth certificate yet, but I’m pretty sure it’s the original case so I have to try and save it.

So I’m glad to have the parts car torn down. One less eyesore on the property, and I’ve got good parts to start really moving forward. There are some other commitments taking my time over the next couple weeks, but the next update will show some parts exchange!

More pics in the gallery.
_________________
'64 1500 S
'65 Variant S
'66 1600TL
'67 Squareback

2003 Jetta "Variant" TDI
2008 Passat Wagon 2.0

1500 Build thread
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=7904818&highlight=#7904818

[Donnie strickland]

Glad to see things progressing!

What's up with the Type 1 dipstick?

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71 Elm Green FI A/T Squareback

[ibldrc]

[Donnie strickland]

Type 3 cases don't normally have a hole for a Type 1 dipstick. Sounds like you've got a "universal" case, or else someone had the case machined for a Type 1 dipstick at some point.
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71 Elm Green FI A/T Squareback

[busey]

YIKES!
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No turning back now, "Its Blow thru or No thru" baby!

[mannydantyla]

Dang, and I thought my squareback was rusty....

I gotta show this to my wife! She'll have a new appreciation for whats cluttering her yard