Jimmy V's 54 Oval Project

[Jimone]

[VW_Jimbo]

[Dan22]

Nice modification. My solution is to do the blasting with a portable unit outside but yours will work perfect for long thin items.

Thanks for sharing that. I have a couple of HF blast cabinets.
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1-0900722 die langsame grüne Schildkröte
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=765074

[VW_Jimbo]

So, with that up to date. I managed to get a Porta power unit off of Amazon.
https://a.co/d/9hxPZgl

Had to get this to stretch the ragtop opening up about 3/8". Check it out!

Dragged the box into the garage. Damn heavy! Unboxed it and set it up, into the opening. Just an FYI, I have never used a tool like this or set up one. I breezed through the included detail sheet and with both feet, jumped into stretching!

I did a quick measure of the hole, at each end and at the mid point, which I marked. Each end is right at 32 15/16". That is the number that the header bow fits into and slide a tiny bit before binding up. The back also measures at that number.

The midpoint was below that, by about an 5/16". 32 5/8". So, I need to reshape each side by 3/32"!

So, I pumped the jack and got it!

Saves me a shit ton of back tracking and work. Now, I need to feel around for ripples in the top, but I doubt anything changed!

The next day, I returned to the Bug, after work to assemble the ragtop. I installed the side rails and slide the header bow guides up into place.

I assembled the header bow center to the two outside guide plates and slide it back and forth!

So freaking AWESOME! Well worth the cost of that Porta tool!

If anyone can help me out. I need a second set of eyes on the distances from the steel header bow to the body. Do they look correct? Having never seen this first hand and winging my way through it is really an uneasy feeling. A second set of eyes would be very much appreciated!

In addition to the Porta tool use, I had to take less than a 1/16" off of the bows. After setting them up and sliding the header bow and the trailing bows back and forth, the trailing bow started to bind up. Header bow worked great.

The trailing bows were purchased from Grumphy's metal. Very nice pieces. Really rough around the edges, which is why I feel safe shaving a 1/16: off of the bows, so that they clear the side rails when they slide.

I took off up to the black marker mark, so that I could still see the outline of the marker edge.

Removing that tiny amount was key to the two trailing arms moving easily!

And the shoot with all three bows in place! I am pretty damn happy!

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Jimbo

There is never enough time to do it right the first time, but all the time necessary the second time!

[VW_Jimbo]

Update time once again! But first let me back track on a tool modification I completed, which has helped out alot!

I have the standard 40 pound Harbor Freight sand blast cabinet. It can handle up to a 26 inch long piece inside the cabinet, on an angle. Beyond that dimension and things get impossible, unless they are cut into smaller pieces. So, items like ragtop header bows, roll up window channels and locking arms have previously been sent to Primo Blasting.

Well, those days are over. I came up with a solution. It is practical, cheap and does not alter the footprint of the blast cabinet, so it requires no extra rom in my garage!

Check it out! I added 2 6" vacum system gate doors to each side, so that I can attach a 6 inch round tube of ABS waste pipe (as long as needed) to blast long parts!

Cut a 6 1/2" hole in the side of the cabinet.

Bought two gate valves from Amazon. $13 each.
https://a.co/d/9hxPZgl

Took some exterior grade, two sided mounting tape and stuck the gate to the side of the cabinet.

BAM! Opening through the side of the cabinet! You can barely make out the header bow in the blast cabinet!

I then walked out to the truck and pulled a section of 4 inch ABS I had. and a rubber cap.

And I duct taped it to the new opening in the cabinet!

Worked flawlessly. I will upgrade to 6 inch ABS, the next time I visit Furgesons!

Hope it helps someone out! My Daddy always said tools serve more than one purpose! My blast cabinet can now do long skinny pieces!
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Jimbo

There is never enough time to do it right the first time, but all the time necessary the second time!

[VW_Jimbo]

Nice Eric! I feel the cold beer in your hand and raise one to you! Oh wait it is 8:30 here. I will raise one to you at lunch!

Glad my journey helped, in some way(s) be them right or wrong. All of it was and still is just pure fun for me!

Thanks for chiming in! It helps with the motivational part of the projects.
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Jimbo

There is never enough time to do it right the first time, but all the time necessary the second time!

[Sasquatch10K]

Howdy Jim.

It feels almost like a biopic, a dramatic saga jumping across time, space, life, and questionable engineering (and life) decisions.

I am a total newbie here and brand new to the VW world, so naturally I dove in by reading six years worth of your projects, tips, fixes, and skill. A surprising amount of it applies to what I am dealing with: rebuilding the pedal assembly, the front link pin beam, sorting out the tunnel conduits, and about twelve other things I did not know existed.

But here is where it gets fun.

My setup is... well, lets call it a VW time capsule smoothie. I am working with a 1960 Type 1 pan wearing a 70s California Manx style fiberglass body, accessorized with parts from across the VW family tree. We are talking 55 bus rear brakes, one year only rear hub Bus RGBs with unobtanium guts, a 73 1700 Type 4 engine on a Type 1 swingaxle (which by the way is somehow 100 percent hanging from the rear tunnel protrusions), and many other components that probably fell off someone elses project and landed in mine. It is a full on VW homogenization spanning two decades of parts with some California history mixed in, the kind of thing that makes purists clutch their chest and whisper "why".

And yet, even threads about vehicles completely unrelated to mine have been incredibly helpful. I am learning history, techniques, and all sorts of things I did not know I needed to know. So seriously, thank you for everything you contribute to the community.

I am genuinely looking forward to the upcoming smell (imagined for me, but real for your neighbor) of body filler as I follow your tales and photos from your saga.

Hoisting a pint to you from 10 degrees below zero at 10,000 feet in Colorado. My garage is cold, but at least there is no HOA to keep me heated.

Cheers,
Eric

[VW_Jimbo]

[matthew henricks]

Nice update Jim. Nothing like a surprise project so you can work on your project.

What brand compressor motor did you go with? I was looking down that road at one time. There are not hard to build and you can really get what you need at a lower cost.
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1964 Original Owner build Thread. https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=702135&highlight=

Ambulance Fan's. https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=627707&highlight=

Parts i am looking for:
64 bug nice used front/rear Black LHD floor mat.

[VW_Jimbo]

Update time once again. Not too much time out in the garage lately. Lots of family get-togethers still going on. I have been seeing my 2 girls almost every other day! I love it! I would give the Bug up if that would always happen!

I have been concentrating on the ragtop. I want to get it installed. I only need to clean a few parts, paint them and assemble it all. So, let’s get to cleaning!

First up was the header bow’s carriers. Into the blast cabinet, followed up with etch primer and a few coats of black paint.

That did not go as planned! My blasting cabinet, stopped blasting, due to a lack of available pressurized air. Seems my old compressor, bought used, decided that running continuously was not in its job description. Both the motor and the pump locked up together. The motor actually shot sparks out of the front openings in the motor end casting, from behind the pulley. That is what got my attention! So, I disassembled the compressor and went searching for a way to improve the burned up components.

Found a motor on Amazon. I had a 3hp, got a 5hp, as I want a two stage pump. I then found a two stage pump from an air
compressor company. Both came in a week or so after the death of the old one. I got those both on the old tank and then I realized an issue. The pump had an outlet of 3/4”NPT and the tank had an opening of 1/2”NPT. Okay.

So I went to my plumbing box and fashioned up a pressure tube from the pump head to the tank. Works great! And the compressor fills more quickly than the blast cabinet can shoot out! I have to keep the duty cycles of both units in mind. Oh wait, I do not, both were rated 100% duty cycle!!!!! It is awesome!

After the rebuild, 2 weeks later, I was able to test it out by finishing up the blasting of the ragtop components. Worked unbelievably amazing. Like a really hot knife through butter! After the blasting, I laid down an etch primer followed by 2 coats of satin black epoxy paint. Once it was dry, I installed the rub blocks on the header plates.

That was all the time I managed to squeeze out over the holidays. I did find out that I now need to clean more hardware, so that I can reassemble it all! Until next time.
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Jimbo

There is never enough time to do it right the first time, but all the time necessary the second time!

[VW_Jimbo]

Some parts came in this week. Got rivets for the window regulator assembly and some rag top parts! Cross your fingers for me!

Aren’t they purrrdy!
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Jimbo

There is never enough time to do it right the first time, but all the time necessary the second time!

[VW_Jimbo]

[Rome]

Looks like the mechanism's supplier is Keiper.

[VW_Jimbo]

[Dan22]

It is a cool design. The torsional spring acts like a brake to the mechanism so the window stays put. The slop allows the handle to tighten the spring and release its grip to the outer housing. Quite ingenious.

Thanks for sharing the details inside.
_________________
1-0900722 die langsame grüne Schildkröte
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=765074

[VW_Jimbo]

[matthew henricks]

Very cool Jim. I too have never seen one of those taken apart.

So the piece with the gear. Does its "U" shape drive on the opposite side interface with the "U" on the main shaft? Does that provide a solid or loose coupling? Seems like it would be sloppy.

Also, no bearings right? Just metal on metal?

Cool beans...
_________________
1964 Original Owner build Thread. https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=702135&highlight=

Ambulance Fan's. https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=627707&highlight=

Parts i am looking for:
64 bug nice used front/rear Black LHD floor mat.

[VW_Jimbo]

Well. I got a shit ton of parts in route to my home. All of the needed rag top parts are supposed to to be here by Saturday. I sure hope that they are early, so that I have some time to assemble something! Or at least get a new list of parts needed! Status quo - right?!?!

In the mean time , I decided to disassemble the roll up window mechanism. It has a weird spot while lifting. I tries lubing it but there was no change. I tried cleaning as best I could, but again, no change. So….apart the assembly goes. This is a part of Ovals that I have never disassembled! I went ahead and researched everywhere and could not find anything on disassembling the gear asssembly. I have never seen this area of these old Bugs, SO IT IS KIND OF COOL!!!!! I love learning something new!

Here is the regulator. It looks fine. I see nothing wrong. Betting it is dirty or rusty, or both!

I first took a center punch and hit the rivets dead center!

I then drilled out the heads of the rivets with a 1/16th drill bit.

Looked good, so I went through 5 more drill bits, stepping up the size each time, to finally get to 3/16. That is when the heads twisted off with the drill bit.

I then cleaned up the edges with a small grinder.

It it under tension, or a preload, because the cover pops up.

Lets open it up and see what the mystery is within!

I do not see anything in this portion, nor do I feel anything. Let’s see what is in the crank shaft portion.

Looks like an open sided cage with a few springs.

Yep, if I turn this shaft, I can feel the tight spot. Let’s keep digging!

The shaft is the next piece. He’ll, the only piece left!

Oops! I lied. There is a circular spring in there as well!

Yep, it is this crank shaft. I am betting it is the rust. A good cleaning ought to take care of it all! Here is the shaft.

For the records. Here is the back of the shaft. And the pinion gear.

Here it is, in order, all laid out.

How to get the rest of the assembly apart? It would be cool to clean all of this and paint it!

I then decided to bring the punched head off of the pivot pin, which seems to be holding this assembly together.

It looks like a keyed joint.

All ground down. Just need to tap the pivot to pop the assembly apart!

Here it is, apart!

Look the center pivot pops right out. Look at all that rusty stuff!

And that’s it! Off to cleaning up the tid bits. Then painting them. Followed by reassembly. First up, I have to go order some solid rivets, 3/16” round x 1/8” length. I think that ought to do it!

Until next time!
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Jimbo

There is never enough time to do it right the first time, but all the time necessary the second time!

[VW_Jimbo]

[Jimone]

nice work Jimbo!

grumpys was the best source i found for the missing bits when i did my ragtop. shoot me a message if you need pics of anything. most of its accessible even though its installed.
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november 1952 ragtop
november 1954 single cab