Meet the "Turd" a journey of a west/east coast '56

[fes]

Hey to the refined people of the Oval side of the Samba!
I've been a member for a while,hanging out on the Baywindow,Ghia and Performance forums here, but have been lurking here since last fall and absorbing as much as I can without hounding you all with simple questions since I bought this little devil back in January..

Story is:
The car was last driven from BC to Nova Scotia in 1974 by a university professor,The 36HP locked up and he left it with his parents,It sat outside for a little while with the passenger window down slightly,and you can all guess that didn't do the bug any favors..
However,it was moved into a barn at some point, then rescued from by the recent owner and moved into his garage for the last 14 years or so, he had intention of restoring,but never got around to it..The OG registration and plates came with the car..

Here I come,having finished up my two VWs,and working part time for others,I needed a project..and yeah I got one,that's for sure..

It was residing in another province from me,albeit relatively close,but being on an island way out in the North Atlantic does not help with shipping logistics..But that's life..

The seller sent me quite a few pics, and the usual stuff is toast..channels,pans,you name it..but it's intact March '56 and unmolested since 1974 (The trunk lid has been replaced with a later year 4 pin)so what the hell right? I pulled the trigger..

I managed to find a really good cost on on a shipper,I had considered driving down to Nova Scotia from Newfoundland with my pickup,renting a Uhaul car carrier and driving back with it,but it's about an 8 hour drive across the island,and a ferry and another 5 hrs to the location of the oval..
In the dead of winter with crappy roads at the best of time,I held out and glad I did..flew down on airmiles,rented a 2018 Golf on points and finished the deal..

So.....
It was a beautiful spring day..

First light in many years, two of the tires were off the bead,the seller donated another one..

After a day of packing up parts,which included two '36HP engines,( need to be rebuilt of course),a shitty brazil spare pan that he had,that I won't be using,pope's noses,horn grills and spare rusty bumper,NOS wheel houses (from '59 i think)
I tarped it up ..He says to me "Couldn't you have bought a nicer tarp?Looks like a giant turd log" Hmmmm I always nickname my VWs,and this one kind of seems right..for the time being at least..

After the long day,I went over to PEI and visited family and awaited the shipper..

2 days later, the weather turned and I met the hook bright and early,I pulled off the tarp,and I wasn't so enthusiastic,probably the dreary day and the look on the tow truck driver's face.."fuckit I said,no turning back now"
Hauled it 12 miles to the next town,loaded it up on a container,thanked the b'ys and went back to PEI to celebrate..

Fast forward to today..2 weeks later,because of the fantastic deal I got on shipping,I had to patiently wait until they were bringing other shipments..but no big deal..the worst was the constant hounding from some of my buddies.."here yet?!)
Ohh yeah,somehow that 53'container turned into a flatbed with a tarp + I love how they jammed the spare motor under the rear bumper,,WTF

Another flat bed tow truck, and the Turd was delivered right into my laboratory..where I have been all night,unpacking,shaking my head,and somehow falling in love all at the same time..

The delicate flower Ghia gets to share the garage with her grubby companion for now..My Bus will have to be fine with living outside this season while the deconstruction is ongoing..

Might as well get right at it..unpacking,including the engine in the back seat..I.love this interior..looks like the dark nave blue,with white piping,which I haven't seen too often,the rear seat is in remarkable shape..and filthy

OG BC plates..the owner was kind enough to spend time at the DMV and get everything all legit in his name,and transferred over to me..making my life easier when it's time to get her on the road

That's my story thus far..I'll post more tomorrow of the good,the bad and the ugly
-Matt
_________________
'68 Campmobile-Pedro
'15 Golf-Stella Blau
'56 Oval-The Turd (for now)

[René R.]

You are a brave man.

I look forward to reading your progress reports, not that you have much work ahead.
_________________
Gone but not forgotten: 1950 Hoffman split (restored in 1966) - another 1950 Hoffman split (restored in 1996)

[Hazza6542]

Looks good, but how did you manage to get that motor behind the back seat without damaging the vinyl!? Looks like it'll be an awesome build.
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55 build: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=680057

[fes]

[sunroof]

What a coincidence! I too had a turd:

Best of luck with yours,

Don
_________________
Better and better mistakes!

[boxkiteflyer]

sunroof- turd on roller skates!
fes- given the condition of the poor little Bug it's funny the PO commented about your tarp! Good luck with your project!

[Terry Gaudet]

Wow, yet another cool oval on the east coast of Canada. Welcome Fes. I am in the Moncton, NB area and have a few ovals. All the best with your project. Please do keep us posted on the progress.
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Terry Gaudet

1950 Beetle Standard
1955 Canadian Custom
1956 Kombi w/SO23 kit
1965 Kombi walkthrough
1965 Double Cab

[fes]

[fes]

So I'm hoping to get more pics along..my phone is not really syncing with photostream right now for some reason,butI'll get that sorted out..
As of now,the car is "lying in state" so to speak..I'm giving some of my buddies an opportunity to have a look before I start the deconstruction..
The feedback is altogether positive and lots of opinions on what I should do with it.."oh wow! that patina! you can't buy that!..Leave it"...my plan for now is a full stock replacement..Patina is cool and all,and costs way less,but Stock never goes out of style...

I did get a little sidetracked last night and started some investigation on the old boat anchor 36ers..I was hoping for a little insight and confirmation..

This was the engine I muscled out of the back seat..surprisingly it turns rather easily..This serial number according to the archives puts this at November 1959..and the rubber sparkplug holders on the shroud tell me it's a later motor...BUT..the stamp date code is throwing me..28-6-15..It's my understanding that these are day,month, year which the last number representing the year..with the digit before it the run..
So this to me would be 28th day of June and 15 being the first run of '55?

The second engine is locked solid..But this one has some mystery as well..
E prefixed number..with VD stamped below..this I'm thinking exchange case?..and again the numbers on the side are 14-3-10..which would be 14th day of March 1960..first run?

It would be nice to have a 113ish '56 case..but I'll figure out what to do later as far as what I'll rebuild...

Treated myself to this..My buddy warned me that they-re not as good as the originals..The photos don't have as much clarity compared to the OG ones..I hoped to get lucky..no dice..The pics are fine..but not as clear as the ones in my other old tattered Bentley's for different types..

More to come
-Matt
_________________
'68 Campmobile-Pedro
'15 Golf-Stella Blau
'56 Oval-The Turd (for now)

[fl59bug]

I'm kind of disappointed in the Bentley too . I have the '58 - '60 manual, and although it has some good information, it calls for a lot of specialized shop tools that joe average (me!) does not have, and the wiring diagrams in the back of the book appear to have originally been colorized but sadly, are black and white.

That's a neat little car you have there. Nice also that you've got not one, but two 36hp motors!

[fes]

Thought I'd check in with a little progress..and lest anyone think I'm not crazy,I'm diving in!

The worst spot on this car appears to be the front apron spare wheel well area, Rusted out,but also it seems that the car was hit at some point..the wheel houses are dimpled a bit,likely from the impact from the left hand side,jamming the spare against the jack..Aftermarket wheelhouses/quarter panels are available..albeit 10,0000 Swedish Kr..The fender was barbarically pounded out afterwords..

I'm going to hammer and dolly out the wheel houses for now,source a spare well and weld in some fabbed donor pieces..see how it turns out with the hope to get some donor stuff..But my attention for now goes to the chassis and motor.

I used the measurements from a fellow Samba member here,an expat Eastcoaster Mike,(54bug'n)..I'm sure all of you are familiar with his thread,and the wonderful job he did with his beauty..I've been using his saga as a positive influence for my car..

I had a friend of mine talk me into not stripping the body before separating from the chassis..."If you're not going to tackle the body right away,leave it complete..it's all there as a reference..as opposed to being in boxes and on shelves for the next year or so"
Made sense right?...Until four of us tried to do the "quick job" of lifting it onto the rather high dolly...I don't know if it's older steel,all the glass and everything..but that car certainly felt like a lot more than 600-700lbs..
We tried a 2x4 slid through at the front and rear..like the Arc of the Covenant kind of thing..or pall bearers..We had to scrap that and rig up a series of progressive lifts..(No pics,I'd rather not show them anyways )

I have the frame head bolts all loosed up to the beam,the torsion arms and front end components cleaned up and soaking with ATF/Acetone..
Pedal cluster out (seized)
Working on that nasty tarboard underlay on the tunnel now..

Ive got the better of the 2 36ers on the stand (The one that turns)..I'm probably going to rebuild this one,although it's not from the correct year..I asked earlier about both of the motors earlier in this thread as well as the "engine date stamps" threads in the "Oval FAQ"..maybe someone will shed some light on them as far as the dates and the engine number stamp on the locked up what looks to be a replacement motor

..
Once I get the tarboard off the tunnel,and get some decent weather,I'll roll them both out for a nice pressure wash bath before disassembly.

Last week I treated myself to a brand spanking new toy..goodbye fluxcore buzz box..

I managed to weld in some bracing so I can remove the doors..the passenger side bottom is garbage,but I'm going to try and graft on the lower section from another later bug door I have in my shed..

take note of the 2x6 block someone jammed in there to keep the window up

My welds started out garbage..damn ugly..I've been welding on thinner metal with my flux,but now putting in heavy gauge steel with a brand new MIG,I discovered I had the settings way too low..only after I trusted Miller's suggestions did they improve..solid enough
The channel on the right side is Swiss cheese..so I jacked up under the best I could and the door margins are fine..

One of the biggest challenges for me is finding the correct era trunk lid..this one has been replaced,probably because of the hit up front..who knows..need a time machine to the early '70s..This is a four pin hood,but it looks like late 50's or so because of the hinge reinforcement plates..It's also beat to shit so not much use putting work into an incorrect lid..

Believe it or not, the inside of this tank is pristine..I like positives, which I keep finding here and there..

More to come..
-Matt
_________________
'68 Campmobile-Pedro
'15 Golf-Stella Blau
'56 Oval-The Turd (for now)

[fes]

It's been a few months so time for some updates I figure..

Let's say despite the condition of the body in some places,this car has a few pleasant surprises..The beam is in great shape,there's no play in the links,the seals are still good and no rust (other than surface) I'm going to hit it with some muriatic acid,dissemble and remove the torsion rods and clean,replace the arm seals and call it good..that's the plan for now..

More pleasant surprises,the chassis's undercoating protected it beautifully..the frame head,Napolean's hat,rear cross-members and horn and tunnel are in remarkable shape..Pan's are of course toast

All prepped,loaded and ready for the blaster..notice I left the outer rails on for future reference..(I'm glad I did)

On to my first official restored parts!
OG Feb and March 1956 stamped rear drums..both had a broken lug..decided to try and extract..Nah..no dice..broken extractor,drilled out the stud..tapped and and new bolt threaded in,welded from the inside..no go.off to the machinist before it starts costing me more money..

All back,the Machinist had a hell of a time getting the broken studs out..about an hour labour between the two..but resurfaced within spec

Primed and hit with two coats of high heat paint

For the sake of not clogging up my thread with a super long post..more to come in a bit
-Matt
_________________
'68 Campmobile-Pedro
'15 Golf-Stella Blau
'56 Oval-The Turd (for now)

[joey1320]

Brave man you are.

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**1971 Super Project
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...mp;start=0

[fes]

[Dave]

I just got a '57 hardtop, that, according to the Wolfsburg Birth Certificate, was delivered to St. Johns... now in the redwoods of Northern CA...
_________________
2003 Samba Chummie Winner- Best Story

"Those that matter, don't mind,
and those that mind, don't matter"

[fes]

[fes]

Ok..so back to it..
Before I continue with the chassis refurb posts,I'll back track a little..with good and well,annoying surprises..
Considering how bad my torsion rod covers were rusted,and well disintegrated, I didn't have the warm and fuzzies about what my rods and inside of my tubes would look like...
Surprise...They look like they were put in yesterday

The last pic doesn't really give justice..but it was pretty much rifle bore clean in there

All the cables and brake lines were removed fairly easily,except..you guessed it..damn choke cable..after a few weeks of acetone/atf mix feed,and the chassis's weight tugging down on the frozen cable..not really even budging..and then "snap"..FAK..I'll look forward to reaming that out later..or bypass it per VW's memo..bastards..they knew it sucked then and didn't want their service personnel wasting time on it..but what the hell I'm a sucker

The Original numbers matching trans turns beautifully,the input shaft is a little knarly but it's polishing up nicely,clutch arm moves nice without slop and nice amber gear oil came out..BUT..I'm under the notion that the boots wern't split type from the factory in this era? could be wrong..but there's no evidence of any work done on this trans.

Now..on to those drums..
Ohh those stubborn axle nuts..accompanied by free floating chassis with no wheels,much less the weight of the Turd body,forget your damn 4' crack bar John Muir with your cute illustration of hippies standing on it with their smelly birkinstocks..I've got other plans

Like opening a sealed tomb

This little bastard was aggressive..and kept coming back after a couple of days..I hope I didn't introduce another nuisance species here on this island..Moose are bad enough.

On to the front..
Note the factory chicken wire..somehow I doubt a dealer mechanic would have put this back on so well..if at all..broke my heart to cut it...

Beam like I mentioned before is in great shape,and I think the years of caked grease from the leaking steering box helped to preserve it

After a little some POR degreaser and some wire wheel action,I have no real concerns here..

More to come..
-Matt
_________________
'68 Campmobile-Pedro
'15 Golf-Stella Blau
'56 Oval-The Turd (for now)

[nlorntson]

[Sloride]

Well done. I can appreciate the work you are putting into it. I got to see your ghia in person this summer when we were in Newfoundland visiting my family at the dubshow. Looking forward to seeing your progress on this one.
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1972 Westfalia - 1.8 VW in-line h2o conversion
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Link to the engine swap:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=565304&highlight=

1964 Ruby Red Beetle

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=705757&highlight=ruby+red

[bobnorman]

Hey Matt, any updates?
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Air does not freeze. Air does not boil.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=289807