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vanagonjr Samba Member
Joined: October 07, 2010 Posts: 3425 Location: Dartmouth, Mass.
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Posted: Wed Feb 10, 2021 11:41 am Post subject: Re: Saving the '84 |
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skills@eurocarsplus wrote: |
add a few strips of stainless and i can toss the old retainers
test fit and it works just fine. too bad you can't see it against the boom mat
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Super nice job. And I thought taking mine and spraying them with zinc-galvanizing spray was doing a thorough job!
Looks like we used the same insulation - I got mine from West Marine. Up top on the horizontal surface, I used zip ties to and from existing holes in the body to create some retaining action. I imagine some creative bending of those stainless rods would create a better looking retainer -although I don't think anyone can see them, even on a lift once the engine/trans is in. _________________ John - 86 Wolfsburg Westfalia "Weekender"
Flint reversed 1.8T W/Passat 5-Speed
LiMBO (late model bus club) www.limbobus.org
LiMBO is on Facebook too! https://www.facebook.com/groups/
FAQ thread: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=525798 |
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skills@eurocarsplus Samba Peckerhead
Joined: January 01, 2007 Posts: 16803 Location: sticksville, ct.
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Posted: Wed Feb 10, 2021 3:16 pm Post subject: Re: Saving the '84 |
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^^^^ thanks
what are your thoughts on the insulation? either way, it's got to be better than what i pulled out.
as for the retainers i went SS after seeing how crispy mine were. no way would mine have survived a sand blast session. they would have looked trick against a black mat, but it is what it is. _________________
gprudenciop wrote: |
my reason for switching to subaru is my german car was turning chinese so i said fuck it and went japanese....... |
Jake Raby wrote: |
Thanks for the correction. I used to be a nice guy, then I ruined it by exposing myself to the public. |
Brian wrote: |
Also the fact that people are agreeing with Skills, it's a turn of events for samba history |
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coqcitywesty Samba Member
Joined: February 20, 2018 Posts: 401 Location: Coquitlam, BC
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Posted: Wed Feb 10, 2021 9:38 pm Post subject: Re: Saving the '84 |
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Thanks for documenting this build - impressive work and mad fabrication skills, so count me in as amused and following along. I am also appreciative of your writing skills- I actually recited a couple of the more amusing pieces of prose to my wife to share the laughs. Again, thanks for your efforts. _________________ 1991 Westfalia EJ251, 1972 Volvo 1800 ES |
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vanagonjr Samba Member
Joined: October 07, 2010 Posts: 3425 Location: Dartmouth, Mass.
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Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2021 10:24 am Post subject: Re: Saving the '84 |
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skills@eurocarsplus wrote: |
^^^^ thanks
what are your thoughts on the insulation? either way, it's got to be better than what i pulled out. . |
The van had been off the road for years and with an engine swap, I simply cannot make a comparison to the original sound deadening.
My take is the same as yours, it simply can’t be worse than the OEM material.
I’m surprised your retainers were so rusty when your van is pretty clean. Mine is an 86, so maybe they used improved coating on later vans. I did have some little surface rust spots on the body behind the insulation.
I spent quite some time in that engine compartment - super hard to clean and prep for paint. Wish I had borrowed and used a pressure washer. So many nooks and crannies! _________________ John - 86 Wolfsburg Westfalia "Weekender"
Flint reversed 1.8T W/Passat 5-Speed
LiMBO (late model bus club) www.limbobus.org
LiMBO is on Facebook too! https://www.facebook.com/groups/
FAQ thread: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=525798 |
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valvecovergasket Samba Member
Joined: October 10, 2018 Posts: 1491 Location: pnw
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Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2021 10:38 am Post subject: Re: Saving the '84 |
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awesome work!
this thing is gonna be incredible when its done.
the engine bay paint looks awesome too
going to throw some compression fittings to break out the ends of that fuel line or did i miss what you ended up doing for those joints? _________________ MegaSquirt resource - SpitfireEFI.com
gone, but not forgotten: '83 tdi westy - swap thread |
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skills@eurocarsplus Samba Peckerhead
Joined: January 01, 2007 Posts: 16803 Location: sticksville, ct.
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Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2021 12:29 pm Post subject: Re: Saving the '84 |
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vanagonjr wrote: |
I’m surprised your retainers were so rusty when your van is pretty clean. Mine is an 86, so maybe they used improved coating on later vans. I did have some little surface rust spots on the body behind the insulation.
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anything "tin" under the van was smoked. it had been off the road for a long time and in a garage after that. then my understanding was it got moved outside and sat in a stone/gravel driveway.
my friend the towed it for me was ready to pay what i paid and then some if i walked away.
it basically suffered a real bad case of sat-around-osis but the body is in incredible shape.
painting the bay DID suck, as did cleaning it but so worth in imho
valvecovergasket wrote: |
awesome work!
this thing is gonna be incredible when its done.
the engine bay paint looks awesome too
going to throw some compression fittings to break out the ends of that fuel line or did i miss what you ended up doing for those joints? |
thanks. the fuel lines that are sticking out will be cut back and beaded for rubber fuel hose. i'm not 100% sure where stuff is going to lay out just yet. also not 100% sure what i'm going to do about the charcoal canister connections. i may follow what i do with the bay window swaps _________________
gprudenciop wrote: |
my reason for switching to subaru is my german car was turning chinese so i said fuck it and went japanese....... |
Jake Raby wrote: |
Thanks for the correction. I used to be a nice guy, then I ruined it by exposing myself to the public. |
Brian wrote: |
Also the fact that people are agreeing with Skills, it's a turn of events for samba history |
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TurtsMcSlow Samba Member
Joined: August 07, 2015 Posts: 78 Location: Derby City, Cantuckee
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Posted: Sun Feb 14, 2021 7:23 pm Post subject: Re: Saving the '84 |
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Awesome build as always. Don has been one of the reasons that kept me coming back to the samba when I first signed up 5 or so years ago. His knowledge, eye for detail and take no prisoners attitude on the bay forums won me over as a fan of his work. Talked to him in great length years ago about doing my '79 westy but as life is wont to do, monkey wrenches were thrown into my plans. No worries though because when the time is right I'll get her up there to him to work his magic. |
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skills@eurocarsplus Samba Peckerhead
Joined: January 01, 2007 Posts: 16803 Location: sticksville, ct.
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Posted: Fri Feb 19, 2021 9:52 pm Post subject: Re: Saving the '84 |
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wow, thanks for the plug
i'll be the first to admit i have a like me or hate me aura about me. i see no reason to sugar coat things. our country is a mess because people can't handle shit but that's another topic for another forum
anyway....
i was finishing up the paint on the window repair and simply couldn't live with the color the rear valance ended up so i tweeked the color a bit. it's a touch off, but is what it is
that brought me to the realization that i REALLY need to pull the kitchen out and finish the mouse shit removal. that is the only area i haven't dug into yet. i found enough insulation in places it didn't belong so i knew i was in for it
you can see how much insulation was 'transported' away by mice (fuckers)
it only got better. the sink side of the cabinet was toast and full of mouse piss
the sub floor under the sink was toast, especially that fiber board trash. it smelled like a combination of musty stone foundation basement, mouse piss and moth balls.
the lower wall had some rust, but not bad. not sure why the camera is making it look so bad but in person, it wasn't
so i pulled all the sub floor and went to town
i wire wheeled the heavy crap and said hell with it. took out my spot blaster and cleaned the whole deal. after cleaning that mess i used some Masterseries on the rust. primed, seam sealed it and painted it
funny, my primer line is about where the factory line is. total bitch to get even my smallest gun in there.
floor 90% scrubbed up
ended up rewiring the house/shore power wiring. mickey decided to chew on a wire and honestly, i wasn't about to scrub the mouse shit off the wires
i picked up a sheet of plywood to remake the floor
i have a quart of that boat paint i used on the top, that super bright white stuff i couldn't return so the plywood is getting coated with that. i figure if it's good enough for boats it ought to seal the floor up tighter than a frogs ass in cold water.
look, chocolate sprinkles
mmm mmm tasty
grab a spoon
after what seemed like an eternity i got it clean enough that it didn't skeeb me out. started to do all the normal Dometic maintenance....
well, son of a bitch
it wants to live
of course the fan is noisy, so i have a few computer fans on the way. figure i will do my best to see what this can do in the real world. i plan on the inside fan across the evaporator and 2 outside fans on the condenser. we'll see if this works or not.
i was able to score another kitchen unit local to me. initially i wasn't going to get it, but the price was right and i said screw it, may as well. it was complete, but i wanted to swap my guts over to it because other than mouse turdz mine was way nicer.
hey kid, you ever clean mouse shit? no?!? well then...
so me and the kid started swapping stuff over. i'll leave the fridge out for now but we are making progress...
other than the fan mods, anything else i should look into? i think i may use some header wrap on the exhaust and possibly seal up the top of the air intake/exhaust pipe insulation. i'm not expecting much out of this, but i really do like the idea of a 3 way fridge _________________
gprudenciop wrote: |
my reason for switching to subaru is my german car was turning chinese so i said fuck it and went japanese....... |
Jake Raby wrote: |
Thanks for the correction. I used to be a nice guy, then I ruined it by exposing myself to the public. |
Brian wrote: |
Also the fact that people are agreeing with Skills, it's a turn of events for samba history |
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skills@eurocarsplus Samba Peckerhead
Joined: January 01, 2007 Posts: 16803 Location: sticksville, ct.
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Posted: Tue Mar 02, 2021 11:18 pm Post subject: Re: Saving the '84 |
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finally had a chance to get enough done that it was post worthy. new plywood in, and painted with the "oops" white interlux i bought. both sides done, 3 coats a piece. if it's good enough for a boat it's good enough for a vanagon
i had some leftover sound deadener so i tossed a few pieces up. not looking for a lexus here just figured i would do what i could with what i had on hand
decided to use some styrofoam panels for the insulation. it's nice rigid stuff and i will lay another panel down below as well. still on the fence about fiberglass, i may run some just on the top, not sure yet
my long wall panel was shot. despite my best efforts it was too toasty on the bottom by the sink. i was kind of bummed to lose the textured wallpaper but in an effort to keep things moving i just painted the new panel with a real nappy roller to give it some texture.
ended up using a semi gloss which worked out perfect to match the sheen of the wallpaper
i went to the hardware store with a piece of the wallpaper and made the "close enough" color card spot on. the guy mixing the paint wasn't too thrilled i kept having him tweek the color, but it's dead nuts to the sample i brought in
after examining the GW outlet covers i saw what people were talking about in terms of potential leak points:
no way could i see the foam seal farting out enough to seal the gaps. so, i blew them all apart and sealed every joint. no way will you ever get them apart again, but whatever. i'll use some of the 3M dum-dum to seal around the holes in the body. pretty sure it will be ok with a little of that around the holes in the body.
dropped off my million dollar Serial Kombi curtain material to one of the best seamstresses i know to get the curtains made. i need to get the one by the closet back before i can install that. i hope to hear from her soon so i can get that back together _________________
gprudenciop wrote: |
my reason for switching to subaru is my german car was turning chinese so i said fuck it and went japanese....... |
Jake Raby wrote: |
Thanks for the correction. I used to be a nice guy, then I ruined it by exposing myself to the public. |
Brian wrote: |
Also the fact that people are agreeing with Skills, it's a turn of events for samba history |
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skills@eurocarsplus Samba Peckerhead
Joined: January 01, 2007 Posts: 16803 Location: sticksville, ct.
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Posted: Sun Mar 14, 2021 1:26 pm Post subject: Re: Saving the '84 |
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i really need to get moving on this....
after staring at a subaru box forever i decided to get going on the engine and get it built. the heads have been off the donor for a long time and i just have too much shit scattered for other builds etc to the point it's becoming difficult to warehouse all of these big projects.
so....
i got the engine finally on the stand
i dropped off the heads tuesday, got them back friday so it was just time to build it
nice and clean, zero miles
windage tray and pick up installed
done
well, done enough for now anyway. now that i got this built i can install the transmission and slide the whole mess together so i can start on the support bar.
depending on how this week goes i hope to get after this ASAP. would be nice to get all these parts out of the shop and finally installed _________________
gprudenciop wrote: |
my reason for switching to subaru is my german car was turning chinese so i said fuck it and went japanese....... |
Jake Raby wrote: |
Thanks for the correction. I used to be a nice guy, then I ruined it by exposing myself to the public. |
Brian wrote: |
Also the fact that people are agreeing with Skills, it's a turn of events for samba history |
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erste Samba Member
Joined: March 29, 2013 Posts: 1110 Location: San Francisco
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Posted: Sun Mar 14, 2021 6:19 pm Post subject: Re: Saving the '84 |
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engine obviously looks great and that paint match being roll-on turned out pretty much perfect.
looking forward to seeing how the curtains turn out |
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skills@eurocarsplus Samba Peckerhead
Joined: January 01, 2007 Posts: 16803 Location: sticksville, ct.
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Posted: Sun Mar 14, 2021 7:50 pm Post subject: Re: Saving the '84 |
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thanks.
i'm pretty happy with the paint match on the interior panel. i just wish i was able to save the basket weave but honestly, i just can't 'detour' the project anymore.
i'll do the same for the slider panel and the rear hatch. if we decide we love the thing i'll pull it back apart and do it all...headliner etc.
i did get 1 round of curtains back
here is the new rear hatch on top of the old side window (you can see the hem is wider on the rear hatch)
i would have taken photos, but i wanted to get the interior back together, couldn't do that easily without installing the curtains first
don't know what hurt more, the cost of the material or putting the holes back in them for the snaps etc
old on top, new on bottom
a few weeks ago i ripped apart the power mirrors cleaned everything and sprayed them with SEM hot rod flat. just got them back together tonight
i tore them all the way down to nothing. i didn't want to see a tape/fade line around the mirror glass so these got torn down as far as they would go. _________________
gprudenciop wrote: |
my reason for switching to subaru is my german car was turning chinese so i said fuck it and went japanese....... |
Jake Raby wrote: |
Thanks for the correction. I used to be a nice guy, then I ruined it by exposing myself to the public. |
Brian wrote: |
Also the fact that people are agreeing with Skills, it's a turn of events for samba history |
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fxr Samba Member
Joined: December 07, 2014 Posts: 2301 Location: Bay area CA
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Posted: Sun Mar 14, 2021 8:55 pm Post subject: Re: Saving the '84 |
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Oh FFS, bloody imgur.
As bad as using photobucket <spit> _________________ Jim Crowther
1984 1.9l EJ22 Westy Wolfsburg Edition
Vespa GTS 300 |
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erste Samba Member
Joined: March 29, 2013 Posts: 1110 Location: San Francisco
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Posted: Sun Mar 14, 2021 9:08 pm Post subject: Re: Saving the '84 |
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fxr wrote: |
Oh FFS, bloody imgur.
As bad as using photobucket <spit> |
Can you not see the pics? They show up fine for me. Maybe it’s a browser/httpS issue? That’s what I’ve noticed recently. |
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fxr Samba Member
Joined: December 07, 2014 Posts: 2301 Location: Bay area CA
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Posted: Sun Mar 14, 2021 9:13 pm Post subject: Re: Saving the '84 |
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They show up - eventually. But what if imgur changes its TOS? Or the account dies? Those photos will be lost from this site (though nothing says this site will go on forever of course). _________________ Jim Crowther
1984 1.9l EJ22 Westy Wolfsburg Edition
Vespa GTS 300 |
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Abscate Samba Member
Joined: October 05, 2014 Posts: 22568 Location: NYC/Upstate/ROW
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Posted: Mon Mar 15, 2021 3:28 am Post subject: Re: Saving the '84 |
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fxr wrote: |
They show up - eventually. But what if imgur changes its TOS? Or the account dies? Those photos will be lost from this site (though nothing says this site will go on forever of course). |
Lord Wayback says otherwise.... _________________ .ssS! |
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skills@eurocarsplus Samba Peckerhead
Joined: January 01, 2007 Posts: 16803 Location: sticksville, ct.
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Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2021 11:52 pm Post subject: Re: Saving the '84 |
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welp, finally had enough shit done to be post worthy.
where to start....
i guess with the transmission. i like shiny shit, so this got 3 coats of Akzo Nobel's finest clear coat
sent that into it's hole followed by the engine
got everything leveled off and went about making the hanger
broke out the plasma cutter and went to town
didn't really document the hanger build because who really cares. i wasn't a huge fan of the off the shelf offerings and having built enough of these things for other swaps it wasn't a huge deal to make one for this.
after the engine was in for good, that's when the fight broke out with the cooling system. again, wasn't a fan of all the stuff available as a lot of it looked sloppy as fuck. i'm a bit of a form and function guy so i set out to build what i needed to
i wasn't going to do a reversed manifold. evidently, you end up hogging out the section of firewall that secure the coolant pipes. that was not going to happen for a few reasons...one i spent a shitload of time making the panel to secure the NOS pipes i scored and two, i have already pained the bay. another reason for not cutting them back was there was no support anywhere for them....probably a non issue but i wasn't playing that game.
anyway, the non reversed manifold put the heater feed directly into the radiator pipe
and the return was about the same. so, they got shortened
mocking up the pipes
got the pipes all dialed in. pressure checked all of them then they got sand blasted and more shiny shit
installed
i did a copy basically of smallcars/tom shiels plumbing but made it as neat as possible.
this is what they use
i didn't like how crappy it looked. i'm sure it works fine. i want it to look better than that.
off the heater feed i welded a T to that. that feeds a pipe that goes straight to the thermostat
that connects to the small pipe at the bottom of this pic. oddly enough that was a pipe i modified out of a 99 beetle i think
hard to see all of it but this is how the top pipe feeds
the BEST part of all of this... NO stupid hoses. everything is either straight or a 90* elbow. the only goofy hose is that Cadillac one going to the radiator. basically you can just buy a hose and sacrifice the elbows you need. and the best part yet is 1 hose from a ford does all of it (well, on the engine end of things) the rest is standard issue 5/8. no bullshit stepped hoses, goofy bends etc... life's good.
while i was throwing slag, i figured i'd make a gauge pod
going to run a trans temp gauge and a real coolant gauge. again, couldn't find anything i liked so built my own.
i was on the fence about doing rear wheel bearings. these seemed to spin fine, but i don't need a disaster on the first trip out. little bit of mung in there
i didn't take pix...too greasy and we all know what rear bearings look like. scored a mix of SKF and FAG that were actually made in Germany if you can believe it. they went together without any issues
it's getting there. finalized the rear suspension while i was under there. it was just kinda tossed together just so i could shove it into the corner of the shop. i have to get the bungs welded on the expansion tank....i have a brand new TIG machine but haven't had 5 minutes to play with it so i bring all this stuff to a local shop that can knock it out cheap. _________________
gprudenciop wrote: |
my reason for switching to subaru is my german car was turning chinese so i said fuck it and went japanese....... |
Jake Raby wrote: |
Thanks for the correction. I used to be a nice guy, then I ruined it by exposing myself to the public. |
Brian wrote: |
Also the fact that people are agreeing with Skills, it's a turn of events for samba history |
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skills@eurocarsplus Samba Peckerhead
Joined: January 01, 2007 Posts: 16803 Location: sticksville, ct.
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Posted: Tue Apr 27, 2021 10:13 pm Post subject: Re: Saving the '84 |
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Jesus Christ....
been a month to the day since i have had any time to fool with this, let alone upload any photos.
got the front end pretty much done
then ran into an issue with the sway bar bushings and upper ball joints that weren't drilled right
decided the steering couplers were in need of attention. so...out they came, with the rack and i cleaned that all up and installed the powerflex rack bushings as well
steering shaft got a sand blast and paint
decided to upgrade the tank to the 12mm outlet. was kind of a no brainer i mean this has to be one of the least expensive gas tanks out there. wish i would have researched it some when i first got the van, i wouldn't have fooled with my old one.
so that got prepped and protex lined to kind of match the crap on the original tank
i wanted to replace the windshield, which has turned into a fucking shitshow. anyway... 16CV's came to the rescue (and i need to get back with him ) but in the short term my original windshield will be going back in.
i pulled it and was super happy to find the channel was perfect. zero rust
cleaned all the poop off. looks perfect
took a few tries to get all of that sealer poo out of there, i'll have to snap another pic. that crap was miserable to remove
if i could have a solid week on this it would be about done. really all that's left is hang the brakes, make a few more brake lines, tie in a few loose ends electrically and finish the trans cooler.
speaking of electrical, i shit canned the battery cable and upgraded to 1ga
out with the old
in with the new
while i was upgrading, i also shitcanned the power wire to the fuel pump.
i mean...it's like the same gauge as the dash bulb wiring... _________________
gprudenciop wrote: |
my reason for switching to subaru is my german car was turning chinese so i said fuck it and went japanese....... |
Jake Raby wrote: |
Thanks for the correction. I used to be a nice guy, then I ruined it by exposing myself to the public. |
Brian wrote: |
Also the fact that people are agreeing with Skills, it's a turn of events for samba history |
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Back to top |
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Abscate Samba Member
Joined: October 05, 2014 Posts: 22568 Location: NYC/Upstate/ROW
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Posted: Tue Apr 27, 2021 10:49 pm Post subject: Re: Saving the '84 |
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Stillfollowing, almost 99% done
_________________ .ssS! |
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dobryan Samba Member
Joined: March 24, 2006 Posts: 16474 Location: Brookeville, MD
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