Our latest restoration "Ragnar" 1955 three fold rag top

[nlorntson]

[janerick3]

[janerick3]

[nlorntson]

Thank you Jan! Any pics of this different bulb holder?

Any idea of what the lens on the right is for?

[janerick3]

[Keith]

That putty you are looking for is Butyl putty. You can get it in a roll. It used as a gasket/seal and is waterproof and stays soft.
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Formerly known in the forums as "OVALTEEN"

"I firmly believe that some villagers from Botswana could probably build a better road than PennDot."- Splitty

"If you do anything to your car someone will hate on you for it. People absolutely love to complain and find fault with others. Don't let it bother you. Just live and have fun."- Lind

[nlorntson]

[nlorntson]

I had to reinstall my freshly painted E-brake handle in our 1955 so I thought I would make a quick tutorial for that installation. You can see that in this link:

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=702549

I hope it helps others.

[janerick3]

[janerick3]

[nlorntson]

More reassembly. I'm trying to sort out the path of the wiring harness. Based on the different tabs, this is my guess.

And for the tail light wire beneath the rear apron these two tabs.

[nlorntson]

I've been so busy lately the reassembly is getting done an hour here and there.

I have made good progress including the ragtop headliner install so I though I'd share that work. I've never attempted a three fold ragtop install so I'm using the Bentley and trial and error to figure this one out. A professional may do it differently

The car body was in boxes and there were several sunroof parts for a two fold, and a few for a three fold. I traded some parts and labor on his 1952 sunroof split with a friend who had a second sunroof for parts. Between the stuff I had and this extra roof, I'm able to make two complete 3 fold sunroofs. Thankfully I did have the rails and the Golde Handle, bezel and spring.

I got the interior for Ragnar from Marcus Raeke (Beetlekey) and besides him being a MASTER at upholstery for these old cars, he is a great resource if I have questions. You can't go wrong getting all your interior pieces from him or better yet if you're in Europe have him do the work.

The first order of business was disassembly and documentation. I don't think this is the original cover, but the rest seems pretty original. There are a few parts missing if I compared what I had to the pictures in the Bentley and on the Grumpy's Metal web site.

Here's both sides of what I am starting with.

Here you can see the two trailing bows and the locking bow.

LOCKING BOW

I disassembled the locking bow and cleaned it up and lubricated it with some spray on lubricant. Leave the locking mechanism detached from the bow so you can attach the headliner, add padding and get the hole for the handle in the right spot.

I blasted and painted all the steel pieces of the bows with gloss black rattle can paint. I put three coats on the header bow, and the locking bow as those seem to get the brunt of the moisture.

The trailing arm on all three bows slide into the headliner pockets. On the two rear bows, I drilled out one rivet. Drill out both rivets on the front bow. For the locking bow, you'll have to slip the trailing arm in the headliner and rivet both ends.

Get yourself set up with a large table and a clean beach sized towel so you can spread out the headliner and bows to see how it all goes together. Wash your hands a lot!

Start from the front and work your way back. You'll assemble the headliner, locking and trailer and bows separate from the header bow and cover

Lay the headliner on the towel/table so the inside of the headliner is down and the trailer bow pockets are up. Lay the three bows out on the table on top of the headliner so you can see how it all goes together. (In this picture, the locking bow is upside down from the other two bows)

Once you have everything oriented, remove the two rear bows from the table and just work with the locking for for now. Flip the locking bow so the handle side is up (remember the locking mechanism is removed!). Hold the headliner upside down so the pockets face down (think about it... the top of the headliner has the trailer bow pockets and faces the outside of the car) opposite the teeth so when the cardboard edge is in the teeth, you can fold the headliner back over the locking bow and figure out where the hole for the handle post should go. Cut a small "+" for the handle post.

The headliner must be on bullet square to the locking bow. If it's not straight here, it will be worse as you move back.

Center the headliner on the teeth and tuck the stitched on cardboard edge up in the teeth. Stuff the cardboard up high so the teeth completely flatten below the cardboard. Make sure all the teeth are evenly flattened down. I used a large flat punch and a small hammer to tap each tooth down. It is important that the tooth hooks around the cardboard not into the cardboard.

On either end of the locking bow near the teeth there is a small hole. Use a small rivet to attach the headliner to the locking bow at this hole on each end. You'll flip the headliner over to hide it.

Next take some spare headliner material or some thin padding and cut a layer or two wide enough so it wraps from the bottom of the teeth up and over where the 8 phillips head screws go. This will add some padding so the area is smooth once the headliner is wrapped back over it. Figure out where the hole for the handle needs to go and cut it large enough to allow some adjustment when you glue it. With the locking mechanism removed it's easy.

I opted to use a double layer of the headliner fabric. I'll trim off the extra after it's glued to the locking bow.

Attach the locking mechanism with the eight phillips head screws and the two cheese head ones at the front near the hook. Install the hook and the spring. Check the mechanism to be sure it locks and unlocks with ease. Don't proceed until it does.

Using spray adhesive, glue the spare padding over the teeth and up and across the phillips head screws you just installed. Make the edge near the bottom of the teeth as straight and crisp as possible.

Here it is glued on but the headliner is not yet folded back over. I also used a small doughnut of felt padding where the collar of the handle will sit, just for some additional cushion. Once this is dry, You can fold the headliner back over it and the handle post. Note that I have not yet removed both rivets from the trailing arm on the locking bow in this picture. I didn't realize I needed to until this point

Next you can feed the trailing arm of the locking bow through the first headliner pocket and rivet both sides back together. Be sure to have the trailing bow curved upwards. This joint does not need to move but it does need to be square. You want the smooth side of the rivet to be on the (top) side the outer canvas rides on so it will lay over and not show a hump from the bulge of the rivet. I used a pop rivet and stainless washer on either side of the 1/4" long stainless rivet.

TRAILING BOWS

The trailing bows get a similar treatment. Disassemble the guides on each sides, remove the two sex bolts, foam block and cushions on each side. Wire wheel or run the whole works through a light media blast to clean it all up.

Remove the rivet from one side of the skinny steel rail of the trailing bow so you can slide it in the headliner pocket later. Paint the steel portion with your favorite gloss black paint (gloss allows the material to slide around).

Cut a 3" wide strip of spare headliner fabric to glue onto the top (outer canvas side) of the aluminum portion of the bow. This will offer some padding and lessen the wear of the outer canvas sliding over the aluminum bow.

Reassemble the bow with the new parts from Grumpy's. I recommend you do use new parts so the roof will slide in the rails evenly. Repeat this work on the other trailing bows.

HEADLINER ASSEMBLY

Now that you have the locking bow and the trailing bows cleaned up and restored, lay out the three pieces as if they were in the roof of the car with the headliner below. The headliner is already attached and it's trailing bow should already be rivited back together on both ends. For the middle bow, slide the side you removed the rivet from into the pocket on the headliner and rivet it back together. Remember, put the smooth side of the rivet on the top. Do this for the second trailing bow.

Now the whole works should be together as if it were sitting in the sunroof opening. Just the rear edge of the headliner should be loose at the back.

Attach the collar and Golde locking handle to the post.


HEADLINER INSTALL IN THE CAR

This next step assumes you have all the alumininum rails cleaned up and installed in the car with the plastic strips installed. If you don't, get all that done first. I also put a protective layer of masking tape down each side and two layers in the front corners.

Slide each of the three bows (now with the headliner attached) into the sunroof rails on the car, from the back sliding forward. You'll need the two short rear rail pieces off to do this. If you already have them on or you cannot get them off, you'll need to remove the sliding blocks from both sides of each bow to slip the bows in place.

Loosen the three hex head bolts on either side of the locking bow enough so they can be adjusted in or out so they track straight in the rail and have an equal distance from either side of the rail. Practice sliding the locking bow back and forth until it moves as easily and smoothly as possible. Some very light silicone or wax in the aluminum channel helps a great deal also.

Once all three bows are installed in the opening and the locking bow is sliding front to back very easily, tighten the three hex heads on either side and use the handle to lock the bow in the closed position.

Next thing to do is evenly space the bows apart. Pick a spot on the locking bow and measure back on each side so the aluminum bow is the same distance from the locking bow on both side. Do this with both sides.

Go inside the car. It helps to have all the seats removed. Use some large binder clips and clip the rear flap of the headliner to the area on the sunroof where it will glue on. Obviously the flap with the door panel clips must be hanging out of the way. Pull the headliner flap evenly back so the sunroof headliner flattens down and follows the rounded contour of the roof. It's this tension that will make the roof look like a hardtop roof from the inside. Check that the left and right sides of the headliner are even all the way back. Keep working at it until it has decent tension and a nice, even rounded look on the inside. The binder clips should hold this tension.

Go back out and measure the distance between the bows again. Adjust them to accommodate the inside tension of the headliner. I used painters masking tape alongside the rails to mark where each bow should be when tight and even. I also used big clips on the rails to hold them in the precise location.

The next thing to do is glue in the rear flap. Use good glue that will not bleed through the headliner. Apply the glue to the metal rib on the roof. When it's ready to start gluing, start in the center of the headliner, pull tight and glue it down. Work out a little to the left and right pulling evenly and as tight as you need to for a wrinkle free headliner.

When you get to the outer edges, you'll need to double check that the bows are still in the right position before you rivet each corner. You can see a smaller hole next to the larger clip hole. Run the rivet up from the inside so the head is smooth I added a stainless washer on the backside of the rivet for a better seal. The sides of the headliner will cover this rivet on the inside.

Once the glue dries, check that the locking bow and trailing bows still slide nicely in the channels, if not, do more adjusting of the sliding blocks wherever needed.

I also put a dab of clear silicone in the corners over the rivets to prevent any water from getting through and into the headliner.

Finally, you can snap in the rear flap with the door panel clips and the headliner portion of the install is done!

SIDE STRAP INSTALL

Again, close and lock the front bow. Check that the aluminum bows are still parallel and equally spaced left to right and front to back from the front bow. The headliner tension really determines the spacing for the bows so don't expect them to match any other measurements others have posted. Use clips to hold the bows in position if needed.

Lay the side strap spaced evenly down the side from the locking bow to the back screw plate.

One hex bolt and one tiny screw and cup will attach the strip to the locking bow. Get the front anchored down to the locking bow. Pull with even tension to the rear and temporarily attach it to the rear screw plate. Repeat this on the other side.

Check one last time to be sure the two bows are even and in the right position before fastening the tension strap to each bow. Use the small screws and cups. Keep an eye on the position of each bow as you tighten. Do this on both sides.

Install the cover plates temporarily, or leave them off as the screw that holds the outer sunroof cover to the bow will go through this little cover plate.

Check inside to be sure it still looks nice.

Open and close the roof and again check that it slides with ease.

Done!

Next up is the outer cover. Stay tuned.

[greek_tony]

Thanks a million for that!!!!
I'll be printing this out and handing it to my interior guy when its time to do the headliner!
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1963 Karmann Ghia - Sold
May 53 Ragtop - Resto started
October 65 Fastback - Almost there.

[BulliBill]

Hi Nancy and Dick,

I hope to see you on Labor Day weekend?

Nice Oval and prep and paint! Your tutorials are great! So what year and month are you restoring this Oval as, I assume you'll go by the chassis number to date the car. Are you going with Euro or USA spec for the restoration? Whichever it is, it'll be a knockout knowing you two!

I have an unmolested, un-restored June of 1955 USA spec Oval Sunroof (her name is "Martha") in the garage and that 1955 era is a great Oval to drive and play with. If you need any detail info from "Martha" let me know. I can't wait to watch your progress!



Bill Bowman
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I'm looking for these license plate frames for my fleet:
Coeur D'Alene - Lake Shore Volkswagen
Mission VW - San Fernando
Thornton VW - Stockton

Thanks for any help!

[nlorntson]

Yes Bill, we are planning to join you at BNNTA again.

The chassis is a May 1955 and the body is an early June 1955. The title is on the pan. It is a euro and has semaphores and hearts.

We are really liking the strato silver color and I can't wait to get it finished and on the road.

I'd love to get a closer look at Martha, especially as I put Ragnar back together. These 55's are an interesting breed!

[joey1320]

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

[highdesertdeluxe]

Good day guys. Following Ragnar's build. Inspirational truly!
Not to hijack this post, but I picked up a baja'd Oct. '53 ragtop (11G) project in L272 and was wondering what color the ragtop would have been. The tech info page says "beige grey top material".. and beige interior, headlining seats, etc. Seems very monochromatic to me for a deluxe model. Mine is a long way from complete with only a matching body and pan. so I am just starting to gather parts and close it up before the rainy season arrives. I only saw your gorgeous ragtop project and Bill's Sahara Beige? 3 fold and had to chime in. Best of luck with this build!
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Palmdale transplant
Looking for local splitty owners
VW ironworm farmer

[nlorntson]

As I've mentioned, the body we bought for this project some time ago, came with several boxes of miscellaneous pieces and parts for a variety of pieces and parts for early and late ovals and some late 50's and early 60's cars.

One of the items I had to find were the door latches and remotes for ribbed doors. I understood the latches were all pretty much the same for the ribbed door splits through mid 1955 with the difference maybe being the locking portion. Further I thought at some point, the drivers door latch went from non-locking to locking?

I compared these regulators to the ones I installed in our 1949. The passenger side in that is a locking latch and looks identical visually and in function, with these for Ragnar.

In any event, I've been assembling the doors and discovered an odd difference. It seems the flat bar that connects the remote to the latch is 510mm long but 15mm too long for the remote to fully draw in the latch so you can open the door from the inside.

I had installed the first latch in the door and checked its function. For some reason it seemed to "bottom out" or be hitting something that prevented it from moving the full distance to unlatch the door. The outer handle worked fine to open the latch.

I pulled it all apart and laid the latch on the inner door skin and aligned up the screw holes. No matter which way I oriented it, the flat bar was too long, and the remote was only able to move half way before bottoming out.

Here it is with the remote in the correct position to open the latch but the latch holes are 15mm off.

It looked like it needed to be 15mm shorter so I drilled out the rivet, made a new hole, and riveted it back together. Now all the mounting screw holes line up and the inner handle is able to open the latch.

I haven't been able to find a comparison in part numbers to know if the difference is in the door shell or in the flat rod connecting the latch to the remote.

Anyone know?

[nlorntson]

More progress with reassembling Ragnar.

All the wiring is in and connected.

Headlights are in

Tail lights are in

Semaphores (restored by one of the best in the business, John Henry) are in.

Left to do is the right door assembly, install carpet, bolt up the decklid and hood, attach the doors, install the ragtop cover, and install the windshield and rear glass.

I think next I'll complete the electrical circuit tests. If all goes well Ragnar will be on the road soon!

[sled]

looks great!

im curious whats up with the semaphore openings in the body, they look oddly shaped like they were cut-in and not factory stampings.
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drive your split.