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joey1320 Samba Member
Joined: September 12, 2006 Posts: 2325 Location: Cleveland, OH
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Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2017 7:54 am Post subject: Re: 1966 pearl white / Pigalle father son project |
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I gotta say at first I was dubious about not replacing the complete heater channels while the body was removed, but your guy did a great job at fixing them. I'm sure they are structurally sound and strong. Nice work.
I'll gladly take that seat cover off your hands if you're going to trash it. PM me. _________________ **1971 Super Project
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...mp;start=0 |
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Bala Samba Member
Joined: December 04, 2003 Posts: 2613 Location: Austin, TX
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Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2017 8:51 am Post subject: Re: 1966 pearl white / Pigalle father son project |
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joey1320 wrote: |
I gotta say at first I was dubious about not replacing the complete heater channels while the body was removed, but your guy did a great job at fixing them. I'm sure they are structurally sound and strong. Nice work.
I'll gladly take that seat cover off your hands if you're going to trash it. PM me. |
In the beginning I wasn't too concerned, but as he and I poked around there was more rust than expected. Isn't that the way it always is, ha. He did an amazing job and it's nice that we were able to keep most of the original metal.
I'll keep you in mind on the covers. But, I think I'd kick myself later if I didn't use them. I'll have to see how they compare to the new material once I finally order the interior. _________________ 1976 Westy
1966 Beetle |
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Bala Samba Member
Joined: December 04, 2003 Posts: 2613 Location: Austin, TX
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Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2017 9:24 am Post subject: Re: 1966 pearl white / Pigalle father son project |
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Staying at it!
When I dumped the old gas out of the tank I found the sender cable connector is broken. Quite a bit of flaky rust came out of the tank. After 3 rinses it looked pretty good. I'm going to try vinegar with some pea gravel and chains to clean it out. Hopefully it's salvageable.
Entire sending unit is looking pretty tired.
The shop that did my ball joints neglected to save all but one of the thick upper and lower washers. I found an awesome vendor in the classifieds that sent me the missing washers and also some control arm grub screws. One of mine is pretty chewed up.
My pops came over on Saturday to drop off my engine and help out for bit. The plan was to loosen the beam mounting bolts and slip in the caster shims. But, after working out the bolts it was apparent that there was just too much gunk to not remove the beam.
So, mainly at my dad's prompting the beam came off.
Chiseled and wire wheeled off all the nasty crust and grease.
Thought I'd go ahead and finish cleaning the rest of the front while I'm at it.
First coat of paint:
Second coat. 2 coats really covers everything well.
2 coats on the front mounting area as well.
The bolts were pretty bad.
Cleaned them all up and had to use a die to repair two of them.
When testing the bolts in the chassis both the threads on the left were binding up badly and chewing things up. Used a 12 x 1.5 tap and cleaned the threads up.
In my younger days I never really used taps and dies. They are pretty much essential now. Love the feeling of clean threads!
I used some paperclips to make these little thingies for hanging the ball joint washers. Simple, but they worked well.
The washers and beam bolts are all painted and drying now.
Drug the beam out and scraped/wire wheeled it clean. It's just about ready to paint. I just need to figure out how to clean behind the vertical mounts. Pretty tight spot.
That's all for now! _________________ 1976 Westy
1966 Beetle |
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Bala Samba Member
Joined: December 04, 2003 Posts: 2613 Location: Austin, TX
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Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2017 6:32 pm Post subject: Re: 1966 pearl white / Pigalle father son project |
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Here are the beam bolts and ball joint washers after paint.
_________________ 1976 Westy
1966 Beetle |
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Bala Samba Member
Joined: December 04, 2003 Posts: 2613 Location: Austin, TX
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Posted: Thu Feb 23, 2017 11:13 am Post subject: Re: 1966 pearl white / Pigalle father son project |
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Brake clips removed from the vinegar, wiped down and painted.
_________________ 1976 Westy
1966 Beetle |
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Buscowboy Samba Member
Joined: October 29, 2004 Posts: 402 Location: South Coast, England
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Posted: Thu Feb 23, 2017 12:26 pm Post subject: Re: 1966 pearl white / Pigalle father son project |
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Good job on cleaning and painting all those small components, I like to do the same, nice feeling that you are doing your best to preserve your classic Volkswagen. _________________ 1962 Gulf Blue Patina Deluxe Beetle
1963 SubHatch Westfalia MG/PW
1967 Fastback RHD Regatta Blue
1970 FI Auto Squareback
1999 T4 Transporter 2.5 TDI Reimo
http://www.youtube.com/@BuscowboyClassics
https://www.instagram.com/buscowboy/ |
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Bala Samba Member
Joined: December 04, 2003 Posts: 2613 Location: Austin, TX
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Posted: Thu Feb 23, 2017 12:40 pm Post subject: Re: 1966 pearl white / Pigalle father son project |
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Thanks! It's the first time I've gone to this extent on a refurbish. In the younger days it was usually do what needs to be done to get it on the road (relatively safely) and fix xyz along the way. Nice to do it the "grown up" way. Keeping in mind that it will be my son's one day is motivation to do it right as well. _________________ 1976 Westy
1966 Beetle |
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Bala Samba Member
Joined: December 04, 2003 Posts: 2613 Location: Austin, TX
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Posted: Fri Feb 24, 2017 7:09 pm Post subject: Re: 1966 pearl white / Pigalle father son project |
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Beam soaped up and ready for paint.
Replaced one of my smushed up grub screws.
Preserving the p/n stamp.
Would have been better to do this before the new ball joints and control arm seals. I was careful, but still got a little paint on my new parts.
First coat on.
And beam is pretty much done.
Removing the steering shaft and tube. Pretty rusty, but the lower part came apart pretty easy with some convincing with a hammer.
Took a bit of lube and force, but finally got the shaft out.
The steering shaft bearing was pretty nasty with dirty dry grease.
Wanted to pull the tube anyway to paint it, so out it came.
Crusty, but solid. Nothing a little clean up and paint won't fix.
Bearing wiggled out with a sharp flat head.
The "C" clip came off easily. Filthy, but nothing looks worn.
All cleaned up.
Fresh grease holds the ball bearings in place.
Shoot, forgot to snap a picture of it put together. Looks like before, just cleaner.
The new steering tube firewall seal looks a bit different than the WW replacement, but it'll work.
Steering tube and parts cleaned up and being painted. I'm using a semi-gloss black.
No time for veedubin' tomorrow, but hopefully Sunday I'll be putting the beam back on! _________________ 1976 Westy
1966 Beetle |
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Bala Samba Member
Joined: December 04, 2003 Posts: 2613 Location: Austin, TX
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Posted: Sun Feb 26, 2017 4:46 pm Post subject: Re: 1966 pearl white / Pigalle father son project |
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Beam is back in. Installed the caster shims and torqued it all down (36 foot lbs.).
Ne lock washers.
And preserving the p/n
Cleaned up this area before I re-installed the steering tube.
The original paint is pretty nice under the grime.
Cleaned up okay.
I even used some CLR (diluted 50/50 with water), but didn't notice much of a difference. Maybe need to use 100% and see what that does.
Fresh painted steering tube installed.
This seal was a pain! It helped to have the bracket loosely installed and slide the tube where the lower end was basically flush with the firewall and the seal installed on the tube. Then, work the seal into the opening. I used plenty of Simple Green to help the hanger seal and lower seal slide freely.
Maybe should have installed the steering bearing before the tube into the car, but it still went in easily with a few taps with a hammer.
And did a quick wipe down of the dash.
_________________ 1976 Westy
1966 Beetle |
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Bala Samba Member
Joined: December 04, 2003 Posts: 2613 Location: Austin, TX
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Posted: Thu Mar 02, 2017 10:10 pm Post subject: Re: 1966 pearl white / Pigalle father son project |
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Vinegar to the rescue again! Soaked the steering shaft to coupler connecting parts all week.
After a rinse and wire brushing.
Love finding the VW stamps on these little parts.
Removed the steering wheel and cleaned up the steering wheel nut and warpy washer too. Couple coats of paint.
These splines turned out to be in really good condition.
The lower 1/4 of the steering shaft was pretty rusty.
Wire brushed and sanded it as smooth as I could.
Bad picture, but hung it up on the back porch using a bamboo skewer and some string.
Painted and ready to re-install soon.
_________________ 1976 Westy
1966 Beetle |
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Bala Samba Member
Joined: December 04, 2003 Posts: 2613 Location: Austin, TX
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Posted: Wed Mar 08, 2017 7:02 pm Post subject: Re: 1966 pearl white / Pigalle father son project |
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Another exciting installment!
Yesterday I pulled the backing plate bolts and lock nuts from their vacation at the vinegar spa. This might be the best one yet! There was a crust on here that felt and looked like fresh made brownies.
Here are the parts after a quick rinse and nothing else.
A little wire brushing.
Taped and ready for paint. I had the box the bolts are stuck through on it's side so I could paint the end of the bolts as well through the box opening.
Painted and waiting their turn for reinstallation.
_________________ 1976 Westy
1966 Beetle |
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Glee7007 Samba Member
Joined: March 11, 2007 Posts: 13 Location: Machias, ME
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Posted: Thu Jul 13, 2017 1:17 pm Post subject: Re: 1966 pearl white / Pigalle father son project |
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Looks like a fun project. I also have a 66 that was originally the same colors as yours. Mine has been a daily driver until we moved from New Mexico to Maine. Now I have it garaged all the time and am thinking of making some minor restorations here and there as time allows. I'm sure your thread will come in handy. Thanks for posting and adding some great pictures as you work! _________________ Glee7007
'66 Beetle - as stock as possible. |
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Bala Samba Member
Joined: December 04, 2003 Posts: 2613 Location: Austin, TX
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Posted: Thu Jul 13, 2017 1:30 pm Post subject: Re: 1966 pearl white / Pigalle father son project |
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Thanks for the comment!
My daily driver Volvo was totaled in a rear-end collision a few months ago and that threw me off for awhile. No major injuries at least. I'll get back to the ol' bug soon! _________________ 1976 Westy
1966 Beetle |
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TinCanFab Samba Member
Joined: April 04, 2006 Posts: 2743 Location: Waterford, California
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Posted: Thu Jul 13, 2017 1:32 pm Post subject: Re: 1966 pearl white / Pigalle father son project |
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I found that using lock washers on the 4 big beam bolts kept loosening on me when I first started driving my bug, especially after installing caster shims. The torque value isn't really that high for how important those bolts are. Make sure you recheck them several times when you start getting some miles on it. Or, get the OG style bendy locks tabs and peen them over so they can't spin no matter what the torque is. Maybe put them on your next WW shopping list _________________ Check out my truck brought back from the dead... http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=420762&highlight=sprayed+blood
They're never really ever finished 58 rag build...
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=658092 |
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Bala Samba Member
Joined: December 04, 2003 Posts: 2613 Location: Austin, TX
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Posted: Thu Jul 13, 2017 1:36 pm Post subject: Re: 1966 pearl white / Pigalle father son project |
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roachdub58 wrote: |
I found that using lock washers on the 4 big beam bolts kept loosening on me when I first started driving my bug, especially after installing caster shims. The torque value isn't really that high for how important those bolts are. Make sure you recheck them several times when you start getting some miles on it. Or, get the OG style bendy locks tabs and peen them over so they can't spin no matter what the torque is. Maybe put them on your next WW shopping list |
Got it, thank you! _________________ 1976 Westy
1966 Beetle |
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TinCanFab Samba Member
Joined: April 04, 2006 Posts: 2743 Location: Waterford, California
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sovereignsamba Banned
Joined: March 06, 2004 Posts: 2845
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Posted: Fri Jul 14, 2017 10:50 pm Post subject: Re: 1966 pearl white / Pigalle father son project |
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roachdub58 wrote: |
Hey no problem. I was a noob at the time and thought they were supposed to be lock washers, because they were already there. The originals were still in place, someone just pounded them flat and used them as washers. Keep up the good work. I hate crusty hardware and threads too! |
expert advice. Expert.... |
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Bala Samba Member
Joined: December 04, 2003 Posts: 2613 Location: Austin, TX
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Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2018 8:11 am Post subject: Re: 1966 pearl white / Pigalle father son project |
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I've been busy for a bit and the beetle took the back seat for a while. Finally at a point where I can get back to it!
I had planned on using 2.5" drop spindles and even bought a set of EMPI brand. But, after reading about their low quality and even some stories about them cracking I decided to sell those. I know CB makes some good ones, but for now I'm going with stock. Not a super difficult swap if I decide to later on.
The old spindles. Dirty, but after inspection they look just fine. No cracks, just a nice coating of grease dirt and rust.
Wire brushed all the nastiness off, then slathered them in Naval Jelly and let them sit for a good 1/2 hour.
Taped off the mating surfaces.
Used some little paper cones to keep most of the paint out of the ball joint cup.
First coat of Rustoleum gloss black.
Dried for 24 hours and put on a second coat. This paint works amazing if you prep well. I wiped them down with Acetone and used gloves to insure a clean oil free surface prior to painting.
Final product.
Some paint got into the ball joint cups, but was easily cleaned with Acetone and a paper towel.
This was the final step in preparation for putting my entire front end back together. Looking forward to assembling all these new and refurbished parts! _________________ 1976 Westy
1966 Beetle |
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silkvw Samba Member
Joined: July 06, 2008 Posts: 453 Location: Elgin, TX
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Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2018 9:36 am Post subject: Re: 1966 pearl white / Pigalle father son project |
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Really good to see the progress being made again! _________________ '64 single cab Big Bend Bus Bash 2015 '16
'59 camper BBBB 2017 '18 '19 '20 '22 New Mexico
'70 Ghia........Bonneville,........TX Mile,........142 mph......(sold)
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=641871&highlight= |
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Bala Samba Member
Joined: December 04, 2003 Posts: 2613 Location: Austin, TX
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Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2018 9:50 am Post subject: Re: 1966 pearl white / Pigalle father son project |
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silkvw wrote: |
Really good to see the progress being made again! |
Thanks pops! It feels good to make a little progress! _________________ 1976 Westy
1966 Beetle |
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