1965 sunroof 1200 named Mushu

[tzepesh]

Gentlemen, I need your quick feedback. I found one which seems to be newer model. Does it fit? Below are some extracts from parts catalogue, and the main change is the front slider/adjuster (circled in one picture): 4, 5, 6, 21, 19 up to chassis number 117.... (my model) and 20, 22, 23, 24, 25 (new model, as in picture below).

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'74 1303S, L98B Viperngrun (extra glitter), German Look
'64 1200, Sea Blue, under restoration

[tzepesh]

Biting bullets. I bought that white sunroof, waiting to receive it from Austria. Hopefully the edge is not so bad, some rust can be seen in the pictures.
Then, a trailer of parts. I was interested if there would be some 1.3/1.6l connecting rods and a 69mm crankshaft. Well, there are connecting rods, 8 of them, I also need to measure the crankshaft. And a 1.2l engine minus carb, and 3 other crankcases (one is scrap), and a new blade front bumper, and many heaters, and a brand new tire (good for the spare wheel), and a front beam (better than the one from the car), and one Weber 36IDF, and a Weber 40 IDF, and loads of other parts... I barely got them in the already crowded garage, and I need to start getting rid of some of them.

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'74 1303S, L98B Viperngrun (extra glitter), German Look
'64 1200, Sea Blue, under restoration

[tzepesh]

Pictures time. I repaired the right side door. Also, the roof was rusted in front of the sliding roof, cleaned/cut and welded. And I bought right side front fender and both rear fenders. Pretty good fitment. So bodywork is almost done. Just 3-4 small patches and frame head repair (cut/weld in correct position) and preparation for paint can start. Body is on a trolley such that I have access to chassis and I can move them independently around. Chassis is on a pallet with wheels, really easy to move and rotate.

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'74 1303S, L98B Viperngrun (extra glitter), German Look
'64 1200, Sea Blue, under restoration

[tzepesh]

I cut the frame head off, because I welded it wrong when I first did it. The body was ~1-2cm higher than the beam supports. So now I aligned it again, laser level used, lots of measurements. Tack welded it in place, now body sits ok. But the beam is off to the right by ~10mm, I think this is from the threaded bushings inside the frame head. Bolts coming out seem not to be perpendicular to the frame head front. Frame head is from IGP. Did anybody have this issue before (second pic)? I'm thinking to cut them on the front plate and give them a smack to tilt them a bit to the left. This way the beam would move a few mm to the left, hopefully in the right position. I could confirm by measurement the centers of the threaded bushings are off compared to the frame head edges.

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'74 1303S, L98B Viperngrun (extra glitter), German Look
'64 1200, Sea Blue, under restoration

[Rome]

Before you start your painting (will you do it yourself or have it done?), the new passenger front fender needs an easy "massage". You can see in this photo that the rear of the front fender, down along the bottom of the fender curve, sticks out. It looks bad and "catches air" when driving. Gently push that area inwards so that the fenderwell edge is vertical, not tilted outwards towards the bottom as its now. Check the driver's side fender similarly, though since its original German ("OG") it's likely to be shaped correctly.

Are both of your rear fenders also new, or do you have a mix of OG and new? If a mix, take measurements for the taillight mounting hole locations from the OG one and compare them to the ones on the new fender. It's quite possible there is a deviation, which you don't want to discover after you've painted the fenders and installed the taillamps; then notice the mismatched taillamp height. Use the hole locations from the OG fender to redrill the new fender. You also have a grey left rear fender hanging on the wall which can be another comparison source for the location measurements.

[tzepesh]

Rome, I will not prepare and paint myself, I will take it to a shop. Good eye on the new fender, I will massage it in place. Rear fenders are both new, I will check all holes for position. I had it planned anyway because they came without holes for the overrider bumpers.
My plan is to check everything for fitment before sending to paint, also hoods, doors. I will send it equipped and the shop should dismantle everything.
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'74 1303S, L98B Viperngrun (extra glitter), German Look
'64 1200, Sea Blue, under restoration

[tzepesh]

Here is how the bolts sit. Definitely welded at an angle, throwing the beam off... Cut and weld. But first weld the frame head back. And it's 34 degrees Celsius out, at least wind blows lightly.

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'74 1303S, L98B Viperngrun (extra glitter), German Look
'64 1200, Sea Blue, under restoration

[heimlich]

Here are some pictures of a NOS sunroof I had for sale. Maybe it will be of help to you. Part number is 117 877 071 A.

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[matthew henricks]

Been MIA for a while. good progress on your car. Regarding sunroof panels. From what i have been able to learn the basic change to the roof panel in the pre-68 years was the area you circled and the cable guide/track & the hand crank.



The roof panel started with height adjusters at the front corners. Those were dropped at some point. Both work as long as you use or delete the adjusters. The track guides were the same.

This is a 64. Notice the area for the front guide is lower than yours. I dont have any images with the adjuster.

The cable guide went from plastic to metal i think around 65. I have reproduction plastic guides if you need them. Not the top cap that WW and other sell but the internal corner guide. It went to steel tubing.

The hand crank and finger guard changed sometime on late 64. Went from a trapazoidal shape to a narrower version. 64 version below.

FWIW the two holes in the flat "wing" of the roof are for plastic clips. They are the hardest part to find.

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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.

[tzepesh]

Thank you for your replies! I already bought the "newer" sunroof, received it already. Seems to fit fine. The rest is good: tracks, guides. I just need to buy new cables.

On bodywork: finished welding the frame head yesterday. And I cut the beam threaded bushings at the front and bent them to the left. The beam is well centered now.
Left to do: front heater channel (right) holes do not align with the one on the frame. Surprising, because most of the holes on the channels line up with the floor. I need to enlarge 2-3mm a few holes, no big issue.
I don't have a rotisserie, so I will have to think of a smart solution to put the body on its side to work on the heater channel holes...
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'74 1303S, L98B Viperngrun (extra glitter), German Look
'64 1200, Sea Blue, under restoration

[tzepesh]

Yesterday it was soooo hot (38 deg C) that Mushu fainted! Well, officially the bodywork is finished. I had two small patches underneath and to re-position the holes of heater channels on Napoleon hat. All other holes lined up pretty well.

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'74 1303S, L98B Viperngrun (extra glitter), German Look
'64 1200, Sea Blue, under restoration

[tzepesh]

Back from vacation, large delivery of parts: everything brakes and suspension. But first I need to clean and paint the chassis, sandblast and paint front beam and axle tubes and backing plates...

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'74 1303S, L98B Viperngrun (extra glitter), German Look
'64 1200, Sea Blue, under restoration

[tzepesh]

Romania... The land where everybody wants a lot of money without doing anything. None of the prep and painters I spoke to (hmm, just two actually) can sandblast. They just paint over rust (like the first pic) or, if there is a good one, would apply rust neutralizer first... My issue was that my compressor is small, I waste a lot of time waiting for it to fill, the sandblast gun is a really cheap one and keeps clogging (10 bucks?) and I do not have the space in my garage.
Another one told me that if he starts now, he may finish by September. Sandblasting, that is.
So I took the task myself. Dragged the car out in front of the garaje, laid some foil underneath to recuperate sand, and in two afternoons it was done (3+3h).
First pic: how a rust spot looked like (no, it would not go away with wire brush). 2nd, 3rd: after 5-10 min of blasting.

Then I turned it upside down to clean it. It looks surprisingly good. Having in mind that the spare wheel well and the rear trunk were very rusty on the inside, I expected the same under. Well, there is clean paint, and the orange stuff is a kind of protection, it looks factory, and on top of that is some kind of black rubber paint. Looks also factory. All paint on the wheel wells is pristine... So, very good protection. Bear in mind, orange is not rust! with zoom to make it clear.

Easy peasy, just cleaned the dirt. And then applied rust converter where I could not blast. Aaaand big issue: out of the four drain tubes, one is rusted. How on earth do I repair that (it's the left back one).

And on chassis: I started to strip everything to paint the chassis, brakes and suspension parts. I found a mix of parts, as expected on a car that lived in a country where parts were not available and people just adapted to keep them running. Rear bearing cap: one side pre 64, one 65-67 model. I think I will just buy a newer one, to have the same on both sides. And as I found they fit the same, I guess the newer one is better, VW would not redesign something working. Is this a good plan? Gearbox I think it comes from a '65, short axles. I have to check the backing plates, seems the 65-67 has a drain hole, older do not have it. How can I mix those parts?

Missing parts, like shims and O-rings. Filled with red RTV everywhere (did I ever say how much I hate that? Because all mechanics used it everywhere instead of using the right stuff. Because it was easily available and cheap). I bought repair kits and they come with two washers, one larger in diameter, one smaller. I guess they are numbers 2 and 7 from the pic.

Front axle: how do I extract the inner bearing race on the spindle? They would not bulge, and I heated them... I need to re-use the spacers.
I bought dropped spindles, I need to find that special reamer, and hope I am among the 90% that can drive the bushings out with a hammer. Auto shops I do not really trust, unless I stay there to support/press them out myself if needed.
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'74 1303S, L98B Viperngrun (extra glitter), German Look
'64 1200, Sea Blue, under restoration

[sportin-wood]

I made my own bearing puller from another forum post that worked great. Here's a copy of the instructions:

And here's mine:

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1966 Bug project
1973 Thing project
.
"Relax, all right? My old man is a television repairman. He's got this ultimate set of tools. I can fix it." --- Jeff Spicoli

[67rustavenger]

^^^ I tried making/using that John Muir bearing tool. It didn't work for me.

I ended up removing the trans axle tube retainers and used a three jaw puller at the brake drum end of the axle to remove the bearing, after a three day fight to get the rear wheel bearing off the axle.

Since then, I purchased a Fritz bearing removal tool.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/266335028260
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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!

[tzepesh]

Gentlemen, the rear bearings are already off. I was asking about front bearing races. And what about bearing caps?
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'74 1303S, L98B Viperngrun (extra glitter), German Look
'64 1200, Sea Blue, under restoration

[tzepesh]

And other questions: should the front beam torsion leaves be welded at the ends? They seem so, and I thought they should be independent.
How is the rear bearing installed, it has a kind of ring around, close to one side. Is the smaller lip going in the axle tube? I did not see such bearing before.
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'74 1303S, L98B Viperngrun (extra glitter), German Look
'64 1200, Sea Blue, under restoration

[tzepesh]

Parts arrived: CSP oil pump, with outlet for remote filter, 26mm. I have one on my other car and performs very well. Also very good fitment. And NPT plugs for the engine case. And a wheel balancing adapter.
Work: continued cleaning chassis and suspension parts, preparing for paint.
On spring leaves: some are broken ayway at the edge, I guess due to welding, so I will buy new.
Rear backing plates and caps. Here are pics. There are no drain holes. Even the cap which I thought it is for 65-67 (pn 311501311 stamped on it) does not have it (picture above shows cap with hole). So, I have no idea what to buy.

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'74 1303S, L98B Viperngrun (extra glitter), German Look
'64 1200, Sea Blue, under restoration

[tzepesh]

Well now, my eyes are not so good "live", but I see stuff in pictures. The 65-67 cap does have the drain hole, it was covered by RTV. But there is no hole in the backing plate, also not in the axle tube. Is there any way to drill them to change from "pre 64" to "after 64", anyone did it before, is this an usual modification?
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'74 1303S, L98B Viperngrun (extra glitter), German Look
'64 1200, Sea Blue, under restoration

[tzepesh]

Progress. I painted the chassis, suspension and brake parts with two layers of epoxy primer, seam sealed, then teo layers of epoxy paint, then rubberized paint underneath. I forgot to take pics of the primered chassis underneath…

Still haven’t found a prep and painter. One who made an offer can finish it in January or February, which gives me too less time to finish everything by the deadline (end of April next year).
Business trip for a week, then paint the body underneath with rubberized paint and start assembling the chassis
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'74 1303S, L98B Viperngrun (extra glitter), German Look
'64 1200, Sea Blue, under restoration