Spooky gets a makeover

[joemama]

This is Spooky in his youth:

Yep, Spooky is a fiberglass buggy. So a little background as to how he came to be called Spooky. No, has nothing to do with how he runs, though he has found himself in scary situations over the years.
21 years ago, I was showing my kids some old photos, and one was of a friend and I, in the summer of '73, on the Oregon dunes, in his buggy, that I helped build. My then 10 year old son thought the buggy was cool, and asked if we could build one. A few days later, I was on my way to a client, and passed the street I was supposed to turn on, but there was an alleyway just past it, so I turned down it. I passed a backyard overgrown with weeds, and an old vw sitting in the middle of the weeds. I went on to see the client, but the vw stayed on my mind. A few days later, I purposely went down that alleyway, and there was an old lady watering a rose bush in the middle of all the weeds. I stopped and asked her if the vw was for sale. She said, for sale, heck, Ill give it to you! I told her I would pay her $100.00 if she had the pink. Well, she had owned it since new, and had the pink. It was a '67, and her son had started to refurbish it for her, but parked in front of the house got rear ended and shoved into the car parked in front of it. Her son sold off the rebuilt motor, and the bug was left. Next day, I came back with a Uhaul car dolly, put air in the tires with her dead husbands compressor, she helped me
push it onto the car dolly, and we were on our way to building a buggy.
This had to be a budget build, and the place to buy parts was the paper "The Recycler". Bought many used parts, amongst them a fiberglass body. It was full of holes, cracks, missing entire chunks, but was $100.00, and came with some gauges, and a rollbar I later sold. After many weeks of work, the body was ready for paint, and my neighbor at work did custom paint graphics for new trucks and suv's. He introduced me to ones of his employees who could paint on the weekend using his materials and equipment. Great! The young man came by the house to see the body. My excited son came running out of the house, and the young man asked him. "Hey, little dude, how do you want it painted", and my son replied, how about some ghost flames ( not sure my son knew what those were), the guy said ok, and took the body and hood away. Several weeks later, he brought it back, and wow, no ghost flames, but
little ghost faces, with trails of ghost bodies?, all over the place, possibly 100 of them? He had a stencil, and went nuts with it. My wife took one look, and said, no way. We had a discussion, and he would try to cover them up with tribal flames. Well, it looked great, like you see in the picture above. Best part, is that several places you could still see little ghosts peeking out under the flames. Showed one of my friend, and he exclaimed "Spooky"! And the name stuck. We made many trips to Glamis and other offroad areas over the next several years, and many of my friends kids, as well as mine, learned to drive a stick on Spooky. The kids grew up, we quit going to Glamis, life got in the way, and Spooky was severely neglected. Well, I just retired, and number one project is to give Spooky a new lease on life. I have already started, and taken pictures, so I hope to post a couple pretty often.
Here are a couple of pictures of the hood, and a fender, where you can see some of the little ghosts:

Unfortunately, so much of the paint has been damaged all over the body, that I decided to strip it down to the original surface. I am hoping to save the hood, as that paint is kind of O.K., and with some luck maybe I can match the blue, paint the body, touch up the hood, and maybe I can keep the legend going.
Well, thats the intro. More to come.

[oprn]

Great story and great Buggy! Looking forward to seeing more!
_________________
We had the stone age, the bronze age, the industrial age and now we are in the age of mass deception and mind control for corporate profit. (The mass media age)

[joemama]

Removed the roll bar/cage, as well as seats, and the body. The body has many layers of paint on it, and I am using a citrus based paint remover on it, I am being very careful not to damage the fiberglass. It is taking as many as 4 or 5 applications of remover, and it doesnt just wipe off, I am using a 1" sharpened wood chisel to scrape it off. I brush it on in the afternoon, cover it with Saranwrap, and scrape the next day. The good thing about doing it this way, is that while it sits, I get to work on the pan.
This shows how thick the paint is on some of the damaged areas

Im using the Citristrip on the paint, the other stuff I used on the top of the pan to remove Herculiner that was applied to the floorpans. It only softened it, I scraped it off with a wood chisel.

[joemama]

The bottom of my pan was painted with black rustoleum, and coated with spray can rubberized undercoating

After scraping off some loose stuff, and using a wire cup brush in my grinder, I found the pan totally rust free, and protected. So used up whatever cans of rustoleum I had on the shelf, and recoated it with rubberized undercoating again.
Finished scraping the paint and Herculiner from the tub

Probably removed 25 lbs of paint

Thought I would share this. When I first got the boddy, it was very flimsy, so after adding a couple of layers of matting on most of the body, I layed down some stick on rubber weatherstripping, and glassed over that, creating some reinforcement ribs. I did this on the bottom of the hood (picture), and also on the bottom of the front fenders, as I wanted to be able to sit on them. Worked great.

[joemama]

Pics of reinforce ribs under fender

I also removed the Herculiner from the top of the pan, wire brushed clean with grinder and cup brush, primered with Rustoleum red primer

Topcoated the pan with Rustoleum black Hammertone, and coated the floors with 2K black Raptor. The picture doesnt show the Raptor yet.

[joemama]

Im taking a break from working on the body. I need to make the pan into a roller, so I can make room for more work on the body. I worked on the beam. One of the things I needed to fix was a smashed lower adjuster. Definitely need a small skid plate so this doesnt happen again.

I wired brushed the beam with my grinder and cup brush. I also repaired the lower adjuster. I did not replace it, just cut out the bad part and welded one in from a new adjuster I bought, along with the bolts, etc. You can see that the beam was previously seam welded, and reinforcements added to the shock towers. Probably not needed in a lightweight buggy, but cheap to do. I do not have hook and rod stops, as again, with the light weight of the buggy front end, dont think I need them. Something else I forgot to take pictures of, were the broken torsion leaves in the beam. I had removed leaves and think made it weak. I do remember the accidental jump that probably broke them. Went back with full set of leaves.

While Im at it, thought a picture showing the lower drain hole on the beam, one on each side, make sure they are clear. Goes a long ways in preventing rusting out.

Painted and installed beam.

[joemama]

[joemama]

Working my way thru the pan, I worked on the pedal cluster. Took it apart to clean, paint, and lube it.

Here is a modification I made years ago to make clutch cable installation easier. I drilled 2 very small holes, and use safety wire to make a bridge across them, creating a stop that keeps the cable on. When its all installed, the wire does not get in the way.

Pedal cluster installed.

You can also see the sprayed on Raptor lining on the pan. Im thinking self adhesive non slip tape for the accelerator pedal.

[joemama]

Bought 1 foot of non skid tape, guy gave me 13", so actually enough to do it twice, $1.69 a foot. Didnt get it centered perfect, but itll work.

A while back, when I was working on the pan, I added some reinforcement to compensate for the clearance done for the IRS conversion, and type 2 C.V.

And finished

In the photo you can also see a new front trans mount bracket, and some patch work after removing a bus conversion front mount. The welds will get cleaned up some. You can also see the IRS conversion brackets tacked in place.

[joemama]

So, I ordered and picked up a rebuilt type 1 trans. It is a single side cover late model case, with early 4:37 gears, welded 3rd and 4ht, hardened shift forks, heavy duty side cover, and super diff. I previously had a swing axle version of this, and liked it, so ordered a IRS version. Kevin at KCR in Riverside built it. He had good reviews, and seemed like a good guy, so he built it. First thing I had to deal with, is that I built my engine cage/rear bumper around a solid mount trans bracket, but I did not want a solid mount this time. The solid mount bracket has a couple of extra holes that can be used to bolt the rear engine cage to, so I merged/combined a stock and solid mount set up to do what I wanted.

I also used Rhino mounts, a heavy duty version of stock mounts, hopefully they deliver heavy duty performance without the vibration and noise. I think I have a trans strap somewhere, so will also use that.

[joemama]

The spring plates I am using are from a '71, dual spring plates and the inside spring plate has been notched 5/16". I am using type 2 C.V.s. I am using stock trailing arms, as this buggy will not see too ruff an use going forward. I did however, cut off the shock mount, cut 5/8" off it, and welded it back on. This will let me use stock length shocks that I already have. It will also give me a little more ground clearance. Also fixed where it was bashed in.

[joemama]

Happy Easter everyone!
I added an Empi disc brake kit to the back, with parking brake. It is a wide 5 kit. I know some are going to say, why the back, shouldnt it be the front, or all around? Here is my thinking. I have never had a problem locking up the front, but have never locked up the back. Even after switching wheel cylinders around. My driveway is very steep, and when I back down it, the fronts lock up, and I struggle to keep my 30 x 9.5 x 15 rear tires from turning. Any ways, always wanted to try this, and my front brakes are in good shape, and parts (not cylinders or shoes), are original '67 german, so they fit. Now, the braided steel lines "made in USA" that came with the kit, the threads were so loose, that I stripped one of them tightening on the "T" at the back, luckily my old braided lines appear to be fine, so used those for now. For some reason, even though the brake cables are cut so the end come out the same distance from the tunnel where the handle goes, the right tire locks up and I couldnt adjust it loose enough, so ended up taking the pads off, and running them against my belt sander. Did this several times. I think they will work fine now.

Note the serrated washers under the cv bolts. Some times these get left out, but they go a long ways towards making things reliable.

I also installed my old type 2 cv joints, as well as the heavy duty axles and boots I used with my old bus trans. I could have used the stock type 1 axles, but I like these boots so much better, and they last so much longer.

Also new hard lines, and a new Bowden tube for the clutch.

[oprn]

It's the height of those tires that have made the rear brakes ineffective in the past.
_________________
We had the stone age, the bronze age, the industrial age and now we are in the age of mass deception and mind control for corporate profit. (The mass media age)

[joemama]

Yep. Thats why I think just the back will be O.K. If I get the buggy back together and on the road, and needs more breaking, then I can always add front discs. Actually, I was going to do them all around, but when I looked at the kits, they had one for '67 and earlier, and one for later models. My front end is '67. The '68 and later bugs had bigger spindles, and tie rod ends. If I was going to buy discs for the front, I would want to do the later ones, needing spindles, tie rod assemblies, pitman arm, probably a different master cylinder, and a front end alignment. I had already installed new tie rod boots, and everything is marked to go back as it was. Im spending enough money as it is, so decided to leave it alone for now.

[joemama]

When I put new boots on the tie rod ends, I struggled with the wire ring that keeps the boot in place. Someone here on Samba, showed that he used safety wire instead of the wire ring, I liked that idea, so did the same. Much easier, and I think will last as well as the wire ring. Wish I remembered whose idea it was to give him credit.

Worked on the shifter. I use a stock shifter my friend gave me 20 plus years ago. Its been cut shorter, and curved. Nothing fancy, but I like it. Cleaned it up, and used my grinder to remove all the old paint

Painted, and ready to be installed

Made a tool to install a new bushing

Used the tool and installed the bushing. Placed the bushing on the tool, used a bit of tape to hold it in place, and simply pushed the bushing on. Worked great.

Also made a tool to push the shift rod thru the bushing.

Used a wire to support the shift rod at the bushing end, placed the "tool" to hold the end of the shift rod, reached over to lift the wire and rod end in position, and simply pushed the tool end and it slid right in.

As I mentioned ealier, I am switching from a bus trans to a type 1 trans, and the shift rod ended up being too short now. I use an adjustable end, and needed to make that longer, so bought a bolt, cut off the head, lined the 2 pieces up , and welded it up.

Adjusted the length of the shit rod, and rotated to what I think will work. Safety wired the coupler bolt.

Shifter done, and dont worry the inspection panel is not tightened down, Im not that optimistic.

[joemama]

I finished sanding the body. Also used scrap wood and a couple of carts to make rolling it around easier. Also gets it at a good height to work on and paint.

I mentioned that I originally bought this body for 100.00. There was a reason, it needed a massive amount of repairs, but I had more time than money, and foolishly thought I could repair cheap.
Bolt down lip

rear seat area

top of right rear fender

Battery box needed to be shortened to fit IRS under early body made for swingaxle

Front shock tower areas, as well a bosses for lights

Need to repair new hole for steering column once I added body lift

I had to rebuild the rear engine area after an engine fire when after removing the top of a Holley Bugspray carb to change jetting, the pin for the float got caught between top and bottom of the carb, allowing lots of gas to pour out. Wife and I, and the kids were going to run out to breakfast in the buggy, and I had started it to let it warm up. Ran inside while it warmed up, only to have my 5 year old daughter come running in to tell me the buggy was on fire! Only damage was to the fiberglass and paint. Went to breakfast in my Blazer S10.

This doesnt show the repairs to the hood, or dozens of holes that needed filling. I also glassed hood and dash together.
I ordered epoxy primer, Featherfill high build primer, base coat in blue and some yellow, and clear coat. Ill make some repairs while that gets here.

[joemama]

Taking a breather from working on the body. Ill get to it shortly. Decided to hang the motor on the pan, to use as a work/test bench to evaluate the motors condition. Here is the motor the way it has been sitting in my garage for the last 1 1/2 years or so.

First thing is to check end play. Went around to flywheel end, and cleaned off an area of surface rust.

Pried flywheel out

Installed and adjusted end play tool, by bringing small set screw gently against the flywheel

Tapped the flywheel back

Checked clearance with 4 thousands, 5 thousands, 6 thousands feeler gauges

4 thousands and 5 thousands slid in, 6 thousands did not.
Im calling it good. On to hang the motor, remove tins and shroud, do some cleaning and painting, check compression, if that checks out, install new oil cooler seals.

[oprn]

Nice work!
_________________
We had the stone age, the bronze age, the industrial age and now we are in the age of mass deception and mind control for corporate profit. (The mass media age)

[joemama]

Thank you! Today I was looking around for old paperwork. Mostly I remember when I wired the buggy, I made a chart of color codes for the wire I used. Have not found it yet, it will sure make hooking things up easier, although there have been many changes and alterations over the years. I did run across some old invoices, from 2003. Kind of interesting to see what things cost back then.

Here is an invoice from Rimco for all the machine work.

Invoices from Moore parts

And Pacific Customs

Brings to mind that some things were done differently back then. The crank is a stock forged vw crank with counter weights welded on. Done by Demello. Great quality and no worries. The pistons are forged Mahle, I couldnt afford those now, if I could find them. Funny thing is that the aftermarket parts were horrible back then, many are much better now. Of course back then I bought a new real Bosch 009 (already Brazilian), and a new Bosh alternator. Both still doing great. Used parts where 20 years newer than what you can find now. You could still find a cheap donor with a non-rusted pan.
Funny story about the motor. A friend had a stock dual port long block in his garage, he had no use for it as he was building a Honda v6 powered rail. He gave it to me. It turned out to be a GEX rebuild. Only thing I used were the heads, the crank and rods as cores. The case had something beat on it on the inside, and had welds. Chunks were missing from were the barrels slid in.
At the time, the Recycler was the best place to look for parts. I found an add and called it. The guy said come on over, I have a couple of cores. Turns out his best friend was the service manager at a local VW dealership, Plunket VW, and when they closed up, he was given all the cores they had laying around. He didnt have a place to keep them, but his friend (the guy I was buying from) had a large home and property in Burbank, and allowed him to keep it there while he set up a shop. Well, he had a heart attack and died. The stuff sat around for a few years, and the new custodian of the stuff had a heart attack himself, and his wife told him he needed to get rid of everything. She didnt want to possibly get stuck with all that junk. He had type 1 cores, type 4 cores, carburetors, transmission cores, cranks, cams, distributors. You name it. Much of it in 55 gallon drums with lids on them. I bought a type 1 core, and as I was getting ready to go, he said, look, can you just take a second one, free. Youll be doing me a favor. I did, and later passed on what I didnt use to someone else. Any how that what comprises this motor.

[joemama]

Today did some more work on the motor. Removed all the tin, found some stuff I lost over the years.

Need to replace the intake boots.

Vacuumed, used compressed air, and pressure washer to get things clean. Had a gooey mixture of oil and silt stuck to the fins, very hard to get off. When I built this motor, I was recommended to use cool tins, what came on type 3 motors. Well, they trap dirt, oil, gook, and hard to clean. Somewhere along the line, I will replace them with stock type 1 deflectors. I bought a new battery, Group 96R, closest to the older group 42. This will fit in the battery tray great. Temporarily set it up so I could do a compression test.

My pressure gauges needle is sprung and starts at around 18 lbs, so I have a consistent what I think is 140 lbs. Im calling that good as well.