Jimmy V’s 54 Oval Project

[Dan22]

That is most likely one of the detent balls for the shift rails. Check out the parts diagram item 51 (1960 parts book). There are three in there somewhere!
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1-0900722 die langsame grüne Schildkröte
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=765074

[VW_Jimbo]

[67rustavenger]

[VW_Jimbo]

Perry, you are one funny guy!

Ball is not from the casters. Those are new heavy duty ones for my boring machine! Unknown origin as of right now. But it could have been from the router bit that gave up the ghost the other day. Poor piece of wood!

Progress was made though. Got in touch with my buddy Scott at MCM in Sanger, CA. Emailed back and forth regarding the transmission. Asked if I could get up there and have him watch me rebuild my transmission. He has responded as I was hoping, positively. He is even willing to allow me to utilize one of his split case transmissions. To prepare, I will need to gather a few parts. A gasket set, seals, and whatever else. Hoping to get everything together in the next few weeks and head on up to his place, once again!!! So nice having great people to lean on. As I continue to meander through life, I have come to realize how great it is to ask for help. When I was younger, I made it a point to not ask for help, ever. I have come to regret those mistakes. Glad I have changed, because it makes the journey easier and way more friendly!

See you soon Scott!!!
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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!

[67rustavenger]

That was the outcome I was hoping for. When I typed, "you know who to call."
Glad you are going back up there to build your own this time. With Scott's careful eye's watching and guiding. It'll be a great experience for you.

I never want to try a tunnel case trans. But a split? Hell yes!
They remind me of a motorcycle trans. I have done a few over the years of racing MX!
I miss Saddle Back park, Indian Dunes, and that park in Trabuco Canyon. The name slips my mind.
And who can forget MX night at OCIR? I loved that place. Now long gone. Uhg!
If the racing was boring. You could watch the fighter jets take off from El Toro AB.
Great times!
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I have learned over the years.
Cheap parts are gonna disappoint you.
Buy Once, Cry Once!

There's never enough time to do it right the first time. But there's always enough time to do it thrice.
GFY's Xevin and VW_Jimbo!

[sunroof]

This transmission looks really worn out to me. Someone was very rough with first gear which filled the trans with shrapnel causing all the wear you see, along with running it out of oil. It looks like parts to me. Too bad, I took a '59 trans apart in the fall and it was excellent inside. The guts all went to the recyclers but you should be able to find something good in your neighbourhood.

I kept fourth gear:

OTOH The case makes a great table:

Don
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Better and better mistakes!

[Ricksurfin]

[Clatter]

Thanks for posting all of the detailed pics of your split-case disassembly..

While the answer would always be "replace" in the old days.
Today, parts might not be available, and what to use or not might be determined purely by the market.

Maybe you can post some pics and write up your pilgrimage to see Scott?
I have wanted to go and see him for SO long..!

Show up with all of your parts clean, disassembled, some things glass-beaded,
All the new parts you think you might ever need, a bunch of spares, and maybe some fine malted beverage as a gift..

Would love to see this play out;
Get to live vicariously through others and see what I'm so unlikely to be able to do myself..

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Bus Motor Build

What’s That Noise?!?

[VW_Jimbo]

[67rustavenger]

Did you "Hit the wall" on the build?
Or are you working up the funds for the trans build?

I hope all is well with you and the family.

Perry
_________________
I have learned over the years.
Cheap parts are gonna disappoint you.
Buy Once, Cry Once!

There's never enough time to do it right the first time. But there's always enough time to do it thrice.
GFY's Xevin and VW_Jimbo!

[VW_Jimbo]

[67rustavenger]

Glad to read that you Haven't "Hit the wall" on your build.

I just came off a two year 5-10 work schedule and a 6th day at my SIL's ranch on Saturdays. All work and little play made me rather miserable.
Now it's 4-10's and I have too much time on my hands.

I too have parts flying in from all over the globe. Once they get here, I can get to work on my projects. In anticipation of the upcoming car show and racing season.

I'll keep checking in to see if there are any updates.

Take care.
_________________
I have learned over the years.
Cheap parts are gonna disappoint you.
Buy Once, Cry Once!

There's never enough time to do it right the first time. But there's always enough time to do it thrice.
GFY's Xevin and VW_Jimbo!

[VW_Jimbo]

Got home and had enough energy to try out the screws that came in for the rag top rails.

They worked, but, barely. Went ahead and ordered some longer ones. 6mm longer. They should work perfectly!

Till 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]

Got a few minutes on the Bug today! So, I decided to start preparing the trunk area for the floor panel install, along with the trunk seal on the cowling. I also have to reinstall the hood cable conduit.

So, out with the old seal retainer. Drilled out the spot welds.

Here’s the remnants.

That was it. I then went back to Jeep Liberty. Seems like I was given a bad upstream O2 sensor. Set a code P2096 twice in the last two days. Did a good visual inspection and cannot find anything. The scanner shows a lazy O2 sensor. So, I put the old one back in to see what happens. So far, so good. Thankfully it is super easy to get to. Wish me luck!
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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!

[Buggeee]

[sunroof]

Ya know... I often have trouble motivating myself to go out in the garage to work on the bug but the funny thing is that when I'm out there I am happy and having fun. Working on beetles is a joy every time. Working on the Triumph is work but the beetle is not. I am always amazed to look at the clock and see how much time has gone. One night this winter I went out at 7PM and looked up at the clock a few minutes later and it said 11:30. I though it had stopped the day before so I looked at my phone. I was completely astounded to see it really was 11:30!

Triumph, fun to drive but hell to work on.

100% reliable between breakdowns.


Don
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Better and better mistakes!

[67rustavenger]

Every little bit you get done. Gets you closer to the finish line.

Nice to see some forward progress going on.
I know it's been difficult finding time between the broken family cars and work getting in the way.

The weird thing during the illness that we cannot talk about is.
Everyone seems to have some disposable income. So even though they are incapable of making home improvements themselves. They are happy to pay for the Professional Handy Man to come and do the work for them.
The upside to this is. You get play money. The downside, as you know. There's no time to play.

Perry
_________________
I have learned over the years.
Cheap parts are gonna disappoint you.
Buy Once, Cry Once!

There's never enough time to do it right the first time. But there's always enough time to do it thrice.
GFY's Xevin and VW_Jimbo!

[VW_Jimbo]

Had time today to drive out to La Habra and pick up an early front beam. First one I have seen come available in 2 months! I remember when we would dig through stacks of these to find the best part to rebuild whatever was on the lift. It floored me at how hard this item was to find.

Here it is. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Now, out to the garage I go!
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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!

[Volksvr6gti]

nice score Jimbo. thats a fun small project to complete. I really enjoyed restoring the front beam on mine. I just received a call this week from a guy in GA that would like to buy my completed narrowed beam thats on the chassis now. if the price is right I will sell that newly restored beam and then start the project over on my stock beam. My ultimate goal was to restore the narrow beam and then sell and then rock the stock one. so we shall see if he pulls through.

[sunroof]

OK so I don't want to be a party pooper here but that is not the right beam for your car, if that is what you wanted. OTOH it is a much better beam. It has the bracket for the steering dampener which makes the car much more stable on the road. It should also have a sway bar on it which is another big improvement that stabilizes the front end. Another nice bit is the recirculating ball steering box which lowers arm effort and is available new. This beam can make your car handle much more nicely than stock.

Don
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Better and better mistakes!