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Dusty1
Samba Member
Joined: April 16, 2004
Posts: 1761
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 Posted: Fri Feb 24, 2023 8:50 am Post subject: Re: Red - Vintage Road Racing '63 Oettinger TSV1300 |
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| RainierHooker wrote: |
| Sara was driving back from a drag racing event where I was running my dragster, and she was forced off the road by a truck. She went into the shoulder and went full Ralph Nader. Sara walked away without a scratch, Red was a write-off... |
Oh, no. Don't let the insurance company have it. I've repaired worse than that. 
| RainierHooker wrote: |
Fortunately, Red was well insured and and within a couple short weeks, we were looking for a replacement beetle. I bought-back Red and her interior and other good bits would end up in Blue, a '64 DeLuxe that the wife has been driving now for half a year:
This is where most would have expected Red's story to end. But the good news is that I build race cars for a living, and with that comes a lot of good connections with a properly good collection of friends and shops. Since Red's body was knocked so far out of square and the roof was buckled spectacularly, the first step was to see if it could be made right again. She took a trip to a friend's body rack. Three days of careful pulling and a new door later, she was back in the running as a real car, square and true: |
Oh, good. This story is gettin' better.
We mostly race short track. Short track cars are built to get wrecked. They start the season lookin' like automobiles and finish the season as lumpy as sacks of potatoes.
| RainierHooker wrote: |
| I'll be dropping a March of '63 engine case at the machine shop this week. Hopefully it gets a good bill of health and will be a good candidate for a full-flow, case-saver, and freshening-up job. Ive got a second 40 horse motor (that came out of Blue) that will be providing parts and pieces as needed and a second full case if needs be. The current plan is to build an as-correct-as-possible TSV1300/34 with the original parts and 78mm pistons (NOS 1mm overbored pistons) for use as the "real" motor and a second 40-horse-based engine with an 83mm big bore kit and (probably) reworked single port heads as the "practice" engine while I figure out this road racing thing. I don't want to lunch the expensive Oettinger mill the first time out. |
I say,
"You can't afford to race it if you can't afford to wreck it."
This thing has come back from the dead a few times already. Total zombie racer!
Stick your spare motor in a Formula Vee. It beats tripping over it. 
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RainierHooker
Samba Member
Joined: June 08, 2022
Posts: 25
Location: Tacoma, WA
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| Posted: Fri Feb 24, 2023 3:05 pm Post subject: Re: Red - Vintage Road Racing '63 Oettinger TSV1300 |
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| AlteWagen wrote: |
| Wonder how difficult it would be to create another class… |
That is a huge nut to crack. Most of my adult racing experience is drag racing, and we (the owner of the shop I’m at and our group of friends) have been trying to get a real vintage event going at the local dragstrips for years. The single greatest hurdle is insurance. Virtually every racing venue is going to have to play by their insurers' rules and almost 100% of the time, that means only allowing known sanctioning bodies with the rules that come along with it. With sanctioning bodies, it’s their way or the highway.
My dragster is a perfect example, it was specifically built for a “budget” nostalgia class that was being developed within the NHRA. It was built using the current 7.50 safety regs and to make it meet those rules and still look like an early 1960s dragster was no easy feat. We developed a basic platform for the class, and my dragster was built as sort of a prototype. We met with enthusiastic responses from many, we had at least a dozen other racers that were going to build/rebuild cars to compete. The NHRA certified my car and gave it a chassis tag. In the end it came down to a “famous builder” that held sway with the NHRA committee. He didn’t like the idea of a budget heads-up (not bracket) class and one phone call later the NHRA pulled the certification of our chassis and killed the class. Now, instead of an methanol-injected hemi, it has a Flathead Ford and is slow enough that it doesn't need to fit in any particular class. Racing for the sake of racing...
I’m not fighting that sort of battle anymore. But I will try to fight the good fight from within. If I can show up, with a good car, get good results, there is the possibility of creating interest in more beetles on the track.
Last edited by RainierHooker on Fri Feb 24, 2023 5:03 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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67rustavenger
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Joined: February 24, 2015
Posts: 10377
Location: Oregon
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| Posted: Fri Feb 24, 2023 4:41 pm Post subject: Re: Red - Vintage Road Racing '63 Oettinger TSV1300 |
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| RainierHooker wrote: |
| If I can show up, with a good car, get good results, there is the possibility of creating interest in more beetles on the track. |
You're a likely candidate for Saturday Night "Peashooter" drag racing at PIR.
We have been fun and grudge racing VW cars for the last two years, weather/track schedule permitting.
We don't have designs on a new racing class. But that would be fun to entertain.
Currently we have a couple stock bugs, a high 13 second dune buggie and a mid 14 second beetle that participate on a fairly regular basis. 
Bring your car down and join us for a fun night.
You never know, what can happen in the heat of the night down here in PDX country.
_________________
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! |
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RainierHooker
Samba Member
Joined: June 08, 2022
Posts: 25
Location: Tacoma, WA
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| Posted: Fri Feb 24, 2023 5:21 pm Post subject: Re: Red - Vintage Road Racing '63 Oettinger TSV1300 |
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| 67rustavenger wrote: |
| RainierHooker wrote: |
| If I can show up, with a good car, get good results, there is the possibility of creating interest in more beetles on the track. |
You're a likely candidate for Saturday Night "Peashooter" drag racing at PIR.
We have been fun and grudge racing VW cars for the last two years, weather/track schedule permitting.
We don't have designs on a new racing class. But that would be fun to entertain.
Currently we have a couple stock bugs, a high 13 second dune buggie and a mid 14 second beetle that participate on a fairly regular basis.
Bring your car down and join us for a fun night.
You never know, what can happen in the heat of the night down here in PDX country. |
I might just have to come down. I'd love to make this car a triple threat: Road Race, Drag Race, and running the Dry Lakes. I just have to concentrate on not letting my automotive ADHD getting too out of hand.
| Dusty1 wrote: |
I say,
"You can't afford to race it if you can't afford to wreck it."
This thing has come back from the dead a few times already. Total zombie racer!
Stick your spare motor in a Formula Vee. It beats tripping over it. |
After spending the last few days planning, finalizing, and paying for the engine build, I think I've come to the conclusion of just building the real TSV1300 engine and being done with it. I'm sure that other engines will come along as well, maybe even that "spare" that I was talking about. Not so much of a financial decision as a time one. I don't even want to talk about the stupid things I've done to engines on racetracks, but they were all fixable (mostly).
I have been talking with others about building a really mean 1500 that might make the car worth taking to Bonneville. Did I mention Automotive ADHD? |
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SparksLP
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Joined: May 26, 2009
Posts: 224
Location: Ohio
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| Posted: Fri Feb 24, 2023 6:51 pm Post subject: Re: Red - Vintage Road Racing '63 Oettinger TSV1300 |
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Awesome idea for a build, I'll be following this one! Do you have links to the old FIA/SCCA rules for Beetles? I would love to get my Bug to be able to compete in some form of racing, that would give me a base to plan my build! Good luck!
_________________
Tom
1966 VW Beetle Sunroof Sedan |
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RainierHooker
Samba Member
Joined: June 08, 2022
Posts: 25
Location: Tacoma, WA
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| Posted: Sat Feb 25, 2023 12:43 am Post subject: Re: Red - Vintage Road Racing '63 Oettinger TSV1300 |
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| SparksLP wrote: |
| Do you have links to the old FIA/SCCA rules for Beetles? |
There isn't a specific rulebook for beetles. Its mostly a matter of getting an appropriate year rulebook and figuring out which class your car fits in, and then building it to the limits of that particular class. For the FIA 99% of the cars discussed here would be classed in one of the "Production" or "Touring" classes, or in FIA parlance Groups 1 through 4.
Group 1 cars are essentially bone stock sedans and coupes.
Group 2 cars are "improved" stock sedans and coupes with very narrow rules for what can and can't be changed from strictly showroom-stock
Group 3 is "Grand Touring" cars, limited production (in the case of the '64 rulebook a minimum of 100 must be factory produced) versions of otherwise stock cars, more modifications are allowed, but displacement and other dimensions are restricted.
Group 4, depending on the year is defined as "Sports Cars" or "Special Touring" and is essentially the same as Group 3, but camshafts, carburetion, exhaust, et al is open. Displacement and body modifications are still fairly restricted.
For example, a 100% stock 1963 beetle would be a Group 1 Production car. If you took the carpet and headlining out of it, blueprinted the engine, and re-adjusted the suspension it would become a Group 2 car. If you then sent it to Oettigner and they put their "production" 1300cc engine in it, it would become a Group 3 car. If then you took it home, swapped the cam, put a new exhaust on it, and changed out the wheels and swaybars, it would be a Group 4 car.
Above the production and touring classes are the modified classes. Thats where body and engine changes start looking like the wild west. For purposes of this thread though, it's moot. SOVREN, the SCCA Vintage Series, and most other Vintage Racing bodies don't allow cars conforming to those classes unless they are original race cars with provenance from the era.
To go vintage racing (in SOVREN at least, and to my knowledge) you basically have to choose a year, get that year's FIA or SCCA rulebook and build your car to that plus any other restrictions that may pop up due to safety. Most of the old rulebooks can be dug up without too much trouble. FWIW, I have copies of the 1962 and 1964 FIA rulebooks that I'm going off of. |
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Dusty1
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Joined: April 16, 2004
Posts: 1761
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| Posted: Sat Feb 25, 2023 7:01 am Post subject: Re: Red - Vintage Road Racing '63 Oettinger TSV1300 |
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| 67rustavenger wrote: |
| We don't have designs on a new racing class. But that would be fun to entertain. |
Big sanctioning bodies are generally death to the little guy. NHRA is the Cubic Money show especially since they cherry picked and ate up the best of the IHRA tracks. That left places like Lebanon Valley with a thriving but unsanctioned tribe of bracket racers.
Same thing happened with NASCAR. They've been tryin' (forever!) to go full- on Cubic Money without alienating their weekly racers. They stepped in and slapped the NASCAR Weekly Racing signage on any short track where they thought they could make a buck. Lotta kids run the Young Guns or Street Stock classes entertaining their NASCAR dreams.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUC9ga1KWAY
We were at Loudon the weekend Tony Stewart showed up at Loudon with Kyle Larson in tow. We have video of Mike Waltrip comin' out of an infield Porta- Potty from that weekend. Kyle was somewhat under our radar, previously. Anyway, Kyle and Tony hopped in a helicopter in the infield and left after the Modified show. Kyle wrecked a sprint car at Eldora that night. If I remember correctly they made it back to Loudon for the Cup race. For me that's the impressive part. New Hampshire out to almost Indiana and then back again for the big show. That indicates the sort of resources these people have.
Stu Friesen almost made the big show. He is a force to be reckoned with in a dirt modified.
Ryan Preece made the big show. Like Larson, Preece received the Tony Stewart Seal of Approval. If Tony says you're fast, you're fast.
Difficulty is it's not racing if you don't have anyone in your class to race.
It's a hell of a lot easier to build car count and healthy competition when your cars are built from inexpensive and readily available parts. You need to check off all the boxes if it's going to work as a real racing series or even as a vintage racing series.
http://www.vwfuncup.eu/en
If you're gonna race, you're gonna travel. Howe 'bout a ticket to Europe for a whole track full of "Bugs"?!
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RainierHooker
Samba Member
Joined: June 08, 2022
Posts: 25
Location: Tacoma, WA
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| Posted: Sat Feb 25, 2023 9:40 am Post subject: Re: Red - Vintage Road Racing '63 Oettinger TSV1300 |
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| Dusty1 wrote: |
| Difficulty is it's not racing if you don't have anyone in your class to race. |
Indeed. That is why I'm pursuing SOVREN. While there aren't many other bugs (there's one 66 beetle that shows up from time to time) there is a regular showing of MGs, Healeys, 356's and Cortinas, exactly the kinds of cars that Oettinger was gunning for in the early '60s.
I've mentioned the ICSCC, and I intend to run there too, but there just isn't the same mix of cars there. Their nostalgia class rules are much less stringent, so a less period-correct car (think early beetle with a 1600DP) may be more welcome. They put on a series of time-distance-rallys that might be worth getting into regardless of the car. |
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RainierHooker
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Joined: June 08, 2022
Posts: 25
Location: Tacoma, WA
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| Posted: Sat Feb 25, 2023 4:55 pm Post subject: Re: Red - Vintage Road Racing '63 Oettinger TSV1300 |
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Just got off the phone for the second time today with a committee member of SOVREN. Looks like its full steam ahead with the build, they seem quite enthusiastic about a race prepped beetle. I've now got a deadline for the car being functionally, but not totally, done. They are holding a licensing event at the end of April, so I've got to get cracking. Looks like I'll be having some late nights.
The engine-case for the proper build is in the mail and on its way somewhere between here and Brother's Machine. Hopefully, it gets finished ands comes back in time to be built by April. If not, looks like that "spare" engine might come into play. I think I have enough bits and pieces around here to build a milder but still reasonable long block out of it.
Going back through the responses so far in this thread, I'd like to say that there shouldn't be too much holding folks back from bringing beetles out in the track even if there aren't others to play with. We're the plucky underdogs. We're supposed to be up against supposedly "sportier" cars. By far the most popular cars in the small bore class in SOVREN (and in the SCCA back in the day) are Sprites and Midgets. A stock Mk.II Sprite has 46HP pushing 1540lbs of car compared to a stock beetle's 40 Horsepower and 1600lbs. Surely, there's enough knowledge and ambition in the ACVW world to narrow that gap through tuning and trickery. |
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RainierHooker
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Joined: June 08, 2022
Posts: 25
Location: Tacoma, WA
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| Posted: Sun Feb 26, 2023 2:55 pm Post subject: Re: Red - Vintage Road Racing '63 Oettinger TSV1300 |
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Verifying figment of the main hoop…
It’s pretty good, I need the lower legs to bend inboard just a smidgeon more to clear the little shelf in the pan perimeter. Doing so, and cutting the bottoms of the legs to be flush to the plane of the pan, will bring the hoop down a little less than an inch. Still plenty of clearance off the seat, and it’ll help with headliner clearance. Yes, I’m putting a headliner back in it, mostly so I don’t have to get too crazy body-working the inside of the roof.
I also made the feet for the cage…
I still have to do the ones for the bars that will attach to the front firewall, but they are going to be a bit more odd-shaped to fit around the steering column and pressed-in shape of the firewall. I made them to SCTA cage specs, which is overkill for an SCCA cage, but will allow me to run at SCTA land speed events down the road with the addition of a few more bars without completely remaking the cage. Each foot and backing plate is 1/4” mild steel:
The plan is to get the rear half of the cage tacked together at home (where the car is currently) and when the body work and (an) engine is done, I’ll drive it down to the shop to do all the real welding and the front half of the cage on the big TIG machine. Fitting the front half of the cage is going to have to be done at the shop anyway, since I’ll have to make some creative bends for the door bars, and that’s where the bender is. |
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RainierHooker
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Joined: June 08, 2022
Posts: 25
Location: Tacoma, WA
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| Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2023 8:28 pm Post subject: Re: Red - Vintage Road Racing '63 Oettinger TSV1300 |
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Finally got the roof round enough that I (think I) can call it reasonably ready for final cleanup and a skim coat of filler. Normally, I'd do a full tilt job of metalworking this to the point where a skim coat isn't necessary, but I have to keep reminding myself that this is a car that'll get used and abused...
Then I started un-pretzel-ing the inner roof/headliner support that had to get cut out at the beginning of the process. It started out in a "W" shape. Now its almost roof/headliner support shaped...
And then because I was tired of hammering and dollying, I changed gears and chipped out all of the sound deadener in the engine bay...
I need a shower |
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frenchroast
Samba Member
Joined: October 13, 2019
Posts: 704
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| Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2023 7:49 am Post subject: Re: Red - Vintage Road Racing '63 Oettinger TSV1300 |
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| 67rustavenger wrote: |
You're a likely candidate for Saturday Night "Peashooter" drag racing at PIR.
We have been fun and grudge racing VW cars for the last two years, weather/track schedule permitting.
We don't have designs on a new racing class. But that would be fun to entertain.
Currently we have a couple stock bugs, a high 13 second dune buggie and a mid 14 second beetle that participate on a fairly regular basis.
Bring your car down and join us for a fun night.
You never know, what can happen in the heat of the night down here in PDX country. |
A goal is to also get 67JG out there this summer! It will be a challenge with work and school but progress is being made! The best part of Saturday night drag racing at PIR is you just show up, pass safety inspection, make as many runs as you want, and hang out!
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Dusty1
Samba Member
Joined: April 16, 2004
Posts: 1761
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| Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2023 8:59 am Post subject: Re: Red - Vintage Road Racing '63 Oettinger TSV1300 |
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| SparksLP wrote: |
| Awesome idea for a build, I'll be following this one! Do you have links to the old FIA/SCCA rules for Beetles? I would love to get my Bug to be able to compete in some form of racing, that would give me a base to plan my build! Good luck! |
I would consider the classic desert racing Class 11. I have considered the classic Class 11. It's the stock Bug class.
It's rough service. I have my doubts I'm entirely up to it even though I have always enjoyed thrashing old Bugs offroad.
I would build up a semi- beater although almost no one does. They build 'em as nice as their budget will allow. There are some really nice Class 11 cars out there.
The Class 11 rule books says "stock" 1600 single port. We do a few sneaky tricks to the engines. They turn out healthier than most stock 1600s ever hoped to be.
The typical Class 11 is built up with a stout roll cage and suspension modifications. A Bug that has previously been "wrecked" is an ideal foundation. If you're going to race it for reelz you're going to beat on it. If you're going to beat on it you might wreck it. See where this is going?
My idea is to build a main car and a backup. Build a complete set of spares, spare engine(s), spare transmission(s), spare beam(s). Truck it all out to my buddy's place in Arizona and go racin'.
I'm sure there is more to it than meets the eye. For example I see a lot of "Baja" Bugs that are woefully short of being real race cars. Nuthin' wrong with that. Build what you like and build what you can can afford. Just don't expect to build a competitive race car on the super cheap.
I wish we had something like Class 11 back East. I've been looking at various gravel pits and quarries. There are advantages to setting up a short "desert" course in a sand pit. We don't need to dink around with the local zoning board if there's heavy equipment at work in the pit all week long. We certainly don't need to mess with the BLM or The Sierra Club on "public" land. I reckon the challenge would be to make a sand pit safe for competitors and spectators as well as bein' "a good neighbor".
I don't think the idea is too farfetched or too far out of reach. I've seen a couple "club racing" road courses sprout up. IMO it should be easier to carve an offroad course out of a sand pit than it is to pave several miles of road course.
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frenchroast
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Joined: October 13, 2019
Posts: 704
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| Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2023 9:21 am Post subject: Re: Red - Vintage Road Racing '63 Oettinger TSV1300 |
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| Dusty1 wrote: |
I don't think the idea is too farfetched or too far out of reach. I've seen a couple "club racing" road courses sprout up. IMO it should be easier to carve an offroad course out of a sand pit than it is to pave several miles of road course.
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A DIY rallycross-type course would be a lot of fun and you could run a completely stock bug and not break the bank. SCCA rally cross is also an option but it's a lot more organized: https://www.scca.com/pages/rallycross |
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RainierHooker
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Joined: June 08, 2022
Posts: 25
Location: Tacoma, WA
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| Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2023 9:36 am Post subject: Re: Red - Vintage Road Racing '63 Oettinger TSV1300 |
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| Oh, don’t even get me started on rallycross. One of our clients at the shop (we built him a street car) is an instructor at the DirtFish Rally School. I’ve had a few impure thoughts about a thrash-worthy car. Not this particular one though… (maybe) |
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frenchroast
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Joined: October 13, 2019
Posts: 704
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| Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2023 10:13 am Post subject: Re: Red - Vintage Road Racing '63 Oettinger TSV1300 |
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| RainierHooker wrote: |
| Oh, don’t even get me started on rallycross. One of our clients at the shop (we built him a street car) is an instructor at the DirtFish Rally School. I’ve had a few impure thoughts about a thrash-worthy car. Not this particular one though… (maybe) |
Geo Metro's used to be de rigueur for rally cross. Cheap, plentiful, and no risk of impure thoughts. |
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Dusty1
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Joined: April 16, 2004
Posts: 1761
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| Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2023 10:33 am Post subject: Re: Red - Vintage Road Racing '63 Oettinger TSV1300 |
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| RainierHooker wrote: |
| Finally got the roof round enough that I (think I) can call it reasonably ready for final cleanup and a skim coat of filler. Normally, I'd do a full tilt job of metalworking this to the point where a skim coat isn't necessary, but I have to keep reminding myself that this is a car that'll get used and abused... |
Bent Bug roofs suck. It's like half a metal egg that's no longer egg shaped when it's bent. If I get it halfway straight it's like surfing. Hammer on the wave, the wave moves over an inch or two. Hammer on it some more, same thing.
I reach for my full collection of slappers, shrinking hammers and shrinking dollies...
Which is to say you did a real nice job on your roof. It's almost unbelievable it was kinked the way it was kinked and it looks like it does, now.
| frenchroast wrote: |
| Geo Metro's used to be de rigueur for rally cross. Cheap, plentiful, and no risk of impure thoughts. |
Oh, no. Not the poor misunderstood Metros.
Metros never got the credit they're due. Same fuel economy as our Prius. Less weight. Less complexity.
You don't appreciate what you got 'til it's gone.
I can tell it's an SCCA Rally weekend when I see the teams trailering up the highway past here. Might check it out some time when we're not going somewhere else.
We have several SCCA Hillclimbs semi- locally. They seem to be a little more balls to the wall compared to SCCA Rally. Built Bugs are still competitive.
We would just as soon sit up in the bleachers at an SCCA weekend at Watkins Glen. We like to see rich guys wreck Porsches.  If we have a craving for dirt short track Outlaw Speedway is twenty minutes up the road from The Glen.
Or we can just hang out at The Lodge at the edge of town. They have a ton of F- 1 memorabilia including dried out winner's wreaths from when F- 1 used to race at The Glen.
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RainierHooker
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Joined: June 08, 2022
Posts: 25
Location: Tacoma, WA
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| Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2023 4:31 pm Post subject: Re: Red - Vintage Road Racing '63 Oettinger TSV1300 |
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| Dusty1 wrote: |
Bent Bug roofs suck. It's like half a metal egg that's no longer egg shaped when it's bent. If I get it halfway straight it's like surfing. Hammer on the wave, the wave moves over an inch or two. Hammer on it some more, same thing.
I reach for my full collection of slappers, shrinking hammers and shrinking dollies...
Which is to say you did a real nice job on your roof. It's almost unbelievable it was kinked the way it was kinked and it looks like it does, now. |
Thanks Dusty1. I can't even begin to tally up the hours myself and two other guys have in this roof. Is it perfect? No. But it is way way better than it was and after paint prep, it should look like nothing ever happened. I hope so at least. Suffice it to say, if I was paying to have it done, just the work to date would have exceeded the value of the car. Good thing my time is worthless, to me at least  .
I'm nearing the worst part of any build, paint. I know, just to keep costs down, I'll be finishing the body work and doing the filler/primer/prep here at home. I keep waffling over whether or not I'm gonna farm out the actual paint job though. A good paint job starts at $15k for a whole car around here, about half that is in materials. That's just not in the cards at the moment. While I'd never consider it for a customer car, I've had previous luck with providing the paint and a stripped and prepped car to MAACO and telling them to spray it on heavy so I can cut and buff it into looking like a good paint job once I get it back home. If I paint it at home, I'll probably be waiting until April when the weather warms up, since I'll have to do it in my outside carport, making a temporary booth from plastic sheeting. It may all come down to timing. |
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EVfun 
Samba Member
Joined: April 01, 2012
Posts: 5852
Location: Seattle
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| Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2023 5:04 pm Post subject: Re: Red - Vintage Road Racing '63 Oettinger TSV1300 |
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| RainierHooker wrote: |
| I'm nearing the worst part of any build, paint. I know, just to keep costs down, I'll be finishing the body work and doing the filler/primer/prep here at home. I keep waffling over whether or not I'm gonna farm out the actual paint job though. A good paint job starts at $15k for a whole car around here, about half that is in materials. That's just not in the cards at the moment. While I'd never consider it for a customer car, I've had previous luck with providing the paint and a stripped and prepped car to MAACO and telling them to spray it on heavy so I can cut and buff it into looking like a good paint job once I get it back home. If I paint it at home, I'll probably be waiting until April when the weather warms up, since I'll have to do it in my outside carport, making a temporary booth from plastic sheeting. It may all come down to timing. |
I have used Maaco too. I typically did all the body work, minimal primer and old school lacquer filler/primer only (and not over enamel paint). Be sure to clean every nook and cranny well and scuff every finish as they are sloppy and minimal with their sanding. I then let them do final primer and one of their better paint finishes. When I got the car back I didn't do the whole buff-cut-polish thing. The local Maaco laid a good finish with minimal orange peel both time I used them. I would tow or drive the car to them stripped of anything needing masking. The time I drove my wife stayed close behind me as the car had no lights, no license plates, no bumpers. The only masking they had to do was the rain gutters and glass (old Mopar, installing or removing the factory stainless steel rain gutter covers was difficult without paint damage).
The result will look respectable in public and even better in photos, in my experience. Not a show car, but still popular with the public at shows (especially since its an "antique" Volkswagen).
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| Wildthings wrote: |
| As a general rule, cheap parts are the most expensive parts you can buy. |
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RainierHooker
Samba Member
Joined: June 08, 2022
Posts: 25
Location: Tacoma, WA
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| Posted: Tue Mar 07, 2023 6:36 pm Post subject: Re: Red - Vintage Road Racing '63 Oettinger TSV1300 |
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Spent last weekend battling sound deadener. The remainder if the original Tar paper came out easy enough, but the imitation dynamat put in by the previous owner was horrendous. I tried everything, in the end the most effective removal technique was electronics freezer spray and an old chisel combined with tedium and bad language...
I decided that the stuff put in the door and behind the rear side cards can stay. All in all, there's a not insignificant savings in weight, and now I have a clean slate to start with inside the car.
With that handled, I shortened a Taylor aluminum battery box by 1", so it fits inside the original battery tray area and clears the rear seat riser. Then the main hoop, with the bottoms of its tubes trimmed to match the mount plates was clamped in place...
And finally, both front seats, the mounts having been all finish-welded, were installed to verify clearances and give me an idea of shoulder and door bar placement.
...also, I sat in the driver's seat with my 8 year old son in the passenger side, and made vroom vroom noises. |
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