Neil's 52 Zwitter

[nshaddox]

GT tech. check the classifieds here. they make TBDs and LSDs.

So I tried putting the braces that I used when I did heater channels on my friend Dennis' '54 into the bug and couldn't really get them to fit. Not sure if that is because the body has distorted on this thing or what. I can't remember if they went over the tunnel or if the body was off the pan when I did the '54. Either way, looks like I'll have to do some mods to make it work on this car. Been scratching my head trying to think up the best way to pull the body back into alignment. Also going to be tricky to do channels because so much of the surrounding metal is gone too. Thinking I need to repair some of the quarters or pillars first to help get things all back into alignment. Gotta grab my bentley manual from the other house this weekend, will probably pull the axles and get back into the center section of the trans and get ready for the LSD install while I'm over there.

[nshaddox]

Spent some time yesterday working on the LSD install.

First had a buddy pull the rebuilt trans with BD axles back off the shelf where it had been resting under a growing pile of moped parts. It kind of sucks having to tear back into this thing, but the LSD install obviously requires axle removal. Also, the LSD has bigger side and spider gears than stock T1 style tunnel case differentials do, so you have to modify the axle tubes so that the bearing casting sits out 3mm further on each side. This is actually a bit easier on the barndoor axles since the outer housing is bolted on rather than riveted. trans side covers also need some oiling holes machined in.

For those that don't know, Barndoor buses have reduction box castings that are very similar to war era cars, they bolt right on to stock T1 width spring plates. Very convenient for building a lifted bug, assuming you can find a set.

My set didn't come with brakes, so I'm still doing some head scratching there, but I think I can modify some late style T1 backing plates to fit. The issue is the outer reduction bearing casting has a bump on it that sticks out farther than the machined surface on which the backing plate rests. It doesn't stick out much, but enough so most backing plates I've tried don't rest completely flat on the machined surface.

You can kind of see the gap in this mock up.

I think if I cut out a bit of the backing plate it will work. Probably needs a 1" circle cut out to a depth of .050" or so. The backing plate is reinforced in this area on the other side, so I don't think it will even expose any break internals. holes for brass brake nut adjustment might also need to be hammered a bit/welded closed.

I got everything torn down and cleaned up for reassembly. have to send side covers and axles to get modified for the LSD application before reassembly. Also modified axle tubes for the bearing housing relocation. I used a carbide burr and dremmel tool. Made a template on a piece of tape in the shape of the stock location clearance feature, then cut 3mm off the edge and stuck it on 180deg around the axle tube. made a sharpie outline of the area needing clearancing and eyeballed it till it looked like the stock feature. Came out pretty good I think. Higher one I added, lower one is stock. Managed to get both sides cut before I had to stop for the day. Won't be working on it any more until parts come back from getting machined.

[parker007]

thanks for the info. looking to do simulor build.

[nshaddox]

got what was left of the floor pans removed today. Not throwing anything out until new stuff goes back in just in case i need to reference anything for dimensions.

With floors out it should be easier to move around in there and get patches welded in. my plan i think is to patch up the inner rear quarters to use as a datum of sorts for getting the new channels back in. there is just barely enough original metal to know where the folds should be and how much material is missing.

Also thinking i need to pull the doors and straighten the hinges, then reinstall and adjust gaps before bracing the body. probably then separate body from pan and repair rear cross members and front firewall. should be possible at that point to install heater channels. then rockers and a-pillars, then front quarter panel repair.

[sled]

Im glad there are folks out there like you willing to fix cars that are this bad, I'd have cut her up or sold it off long ago!
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drive your split.

[TDCTDI]

[nshaddox]

some new parts arrived today but I won't be able to get into the box til next thursday between upcoming personal and work travel. I did pick up a new tool this week though. 24" di-acro finger brake off craigslist. should be a nice addition to the shop. Also did a little template making and panel beating Tuesday night. my welding tank is out of cert but I'm dropping it off for re-cert tonight since I won't be able to do any work for a week at least anyways.

[D-train]

Nice work! I’ve done similar to my 57 bug, but used country buggy suspension which is similar also to war/barn door set up.
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shiny paint doesnt make it worth any more

[nshaddox]

I’d love to get my hands on some country buggy or barndoor spindles but they don’t exactly grow on trees.

Still waiting for my Ar-CO2 tank back from re certification. I think I gave the guy at the welding shop a nervous break down by calling every day asking for it. He said to stop bugging him and he’ll let me know when it’s there so I didn’t call today.

Lost the last two weekends to a couple different weddings but I’ve still managed to get some work done while waiting for the tank and mix managing my time. Started fabricating some patch panels that I couldn’t buy.

Started with an easy one to get back in the hang of it

Then moved on to a slightly more challenging piece. Had a lot of fun with this one because I noticed from what was left of both sides of the parcel tray in these areas that the folds are unique on each side. So the tunnel over the heater tube has some pleasure ribs that would have to be custom for every car essentially if they are crusty like this thing is. Custom pleasure ribs.

Both pieces mocked up.

Next task is fabricating the lower edge of the inner quarte panel on my new brake.

[nshaddox]

Finally got welding tank back from recertification so made some progress yesterday.

Started off by making some tools. First a pair of jigs to help get the heater mufflers oriented back where they should be after heater channel and cross member repairs. Had to remove them after this just to be able to get in there and do the other rust repairs. You can also see the inner quarter repair pieces I made last week on the brake.

I was looking through my early years Bentley for the body diagram with all the measurements and it’s not in there? Anyone know how close the 58-64 body diagram is to the 52 body? I had no choice but to assume that door related measurements are the same. Made a tool out of 3/8” square rod to get the b pillar height correct. Exactly 1049mm long per Bentley measurement m/n.

Also added a gauge at the bottom to help get the profile of the heater channel right at the base of the b pillar. This photo is an after photo so you can see the tool was pretty effective. Should be able to use it on the passenger side too.

Then I made a tool to help get the inner quarter flange height at the right spot. There was just enough flange left on the passenger side with which to work.

You can see this tool was also effective with the following drivers side after shots

Pretty satisfied with the repair. Managed to remove the remains of the inner quarter from behind the seat support tab so the repair was as unobtrusive as possible. The arrow points out the pinch fold location in the b pillar. From what was left of this car, I think it should be about 200mm to the lower tip of the inner quarter. Can any samba readers confirm this measurement on a less roached bug? Also wondering what the distance should be between b pillars at the same reference point?

[nshaddox]

Still looking for some help on the dimension specified above between the b-pillars. Any help out there?

Got the two home made patch panels welded in after work today.

Patch above crossmember

Patch on inner quarter corner

Corner complete except for crossmember

Next step will probably be reconstructing passenger side lower inner quarter panel.

[nshaddox]

Got another afternoon invested.

Passenger side inner quarter panel patches going in. Mostly done but need to make a small piece to bridge the gap between the two panels.

Measurements look close enough. Will be interesting to see how much more fiddling it will take to get the heater channels in.

Same tool as used on drivers side lines up fairly well.

[nshaddox]

Can anyone with a less roached early bug help me with these measurements? for the quarter panel measurements, I realize the panel has some curvature to it, so I am looking for arc lengths along the curves rather than straight line projections if that makes sense.

Just got back from 2wk vacation. Goal for the weekend is to separate body and pan. need to weld some supports into it to keep it from falling apart, have a plan in mind with some turnbuckles to pull door openings into the correct width. would like to confirm dimensions A and B in the above sketch too and lock the b pillars into closer to the correct location before moving body off the tunnel too.
Axles are back from GT tech so trans is ready for reassembly, but probably going to hold off on that until weather is too crappy to work outside.

[nshaddox]

No one has a tape measure?

Removed passenger door (always a pain.) hinges are all bent up and I want to straighten them before reinstalling both doors to adjust gaps.

Got a good start on the body brace last night. Going to try to finish it up tonight after work.

It’s amazing how much the front and back of the car can move without channels in place. I tried to get the front to back runners centered on the horizontal runners up front and they appear to be off by a 1/4” at the back. Going to make sure they are not slightly bent with a straight edge before welding the rear of the car to them. It’s easy enough to pull them to center of the parcel tray, but tou can see the a pillars flexing when you do. Body might just be twisted from having only one door installed for a while without any heater channels. Not sure. My hope is that by using the best heater channel repops out there everything will want to magically come back into alignment; it’s worked for me before.

Could really use some b pillar measurements ladies and gents...

[nshaddox]

Still working on body bracing. I still don't have any dimensions to go off of on the B pillars from the above inquiries, but I went ahead and locked them down more or less where they were. All the horizontal braces I have welded in so far are 4" from their lower edge to the peak of the tunnel; I've been using the same small chunk of square tubing to ensure the 'level' with this exercise. I used 2x 1' long sections of 1x1x1/8" angle iron to center the main section of square tubing between the B pillars at the right height. Both B pillars wanted to move a teeny bit in this centering exercise; I figure the rear quarter panels have moved a bit over the last 20 years or so that they have been totally unsupported by anything except the roof, so I allowed them to move in favor of keeping measurements even from side to side. After I got the horizontal bar centered and welded to the B pillars at the right height, I moved the longitudinal bars on top of them to the same spacing as on the two front horizontal braces. This did move the front clip in relation to the rear a bit, but again, I am thinking it is better to have everything centered than to lock the body into whatever twisted shape it is currently in. I did a test to see if I could lift the front of the car without having it fold on me and it seemed to be ok. I can see the roof over the passenger B pillar flexing a bit, but not sure if there is anything that can be done about that since it is totally rusted through the gutter above the door. I'm still planning on adding a few more braces before pulling the body though.

[Two Glove Boxes]

[sled]

C is 630 mm
D is 727 mm

Ill get A and B a little later.
_________________
drive your split.

[nshaddox]

rearmost brace in yesterday too.

Sled, many thanks for the dimensions, they will be put to good use.

GK, thanks for the motivational words, trying to get at least one small task done every day I'm in town.

[nshaddox]

Had a couple friends help separate body and pan. Have better access for rear cross member and front firewall repairs now.

Have to strip down pan more and do some surgery on it too. Think I have to remove bottom of tunnel to clean it out and possibly replace some hard lines. Pretty sure it’s full of dead rats.

[tisius]

Awesome, that zwitter is in really good hands with you!!!

(sorry I can't be of help with the measurements, as I'm doing a channel replacement on both sides as well)
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drive it like you just robbed the bank
you don't have to be crazy to be into VW's, but it sure helps!!
.... if it ain't dutch, it ain't much!