North GA 1973 Veteran's Addition

[Heiferman]

New blue brake hoses in today.
After filling with new clean fluid and bleeding thenold ones had clearly lived their best lives.
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- 1973 Thing, some LandCruisers and an old Ambulance

[Heiferman]

Last night the Sheriff's Office chased a wanted gang member across our property last night. So today we had to clean up his mess. Spent several hours setting up a blockade where he was coming through passed a locked gate and then I retrieved the Yamaha he abandoned. What a lovely guy.

I will not bother posting a pic of his tattooed face.

Anyway, I finished sandblasting the temp Empi muffler and painting it with several coats of BBQ paint. Hopefully it holds up a little. I know the paint they use on those isn't worth anything but looking pretty on a shelf.
First coat:

Tomorrow, we HOPE to get the main fuel line replaces through the hump as well as the shift rod bushing replaced.

Oh, and we set up two rain water catchments on our shop. Been a long time comin'. Now we just need some rain.

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- 1973 Thing, some LandCruisers and an old Ambulance

[Heiferman]

Well - I typed a super long entertaining post about doing this today but the prose were deleted as I tried to post them and I am not typing it again.

So shift rod bushing has been replaced and I removed the crappy old kinked fuel line and replaced it with AN bulkhead fittings on stainless braided lines in the tunnel.

I reworked the holes in the frame at the pass throughs:

And ended up with this:

It was not easy AT ALL. But I am not retyping the whole explanation unless someone is wondering about it.

Headed out of town tomorrow to pickup some Landcruiser engines so I will get back on the Thing Monday. After todays 7 hour wrench session I need a break.
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- 1973 Thing, some LandCruisers and an old Ambulance

[doublecanister]

Love the Progress Heiferman!
Keep going man!!

I'm curious how the BBQ paint holds out too, I have a can of that and used it on my 73's stock mufflers previously for a refresh when needed but only once.
But with the stock muffs under the car you didn't see them like you will that new muffler.

I ended up doing some engine upgrades (dual carbs, ignition, serp belt, elect fuel pump)and sand blasted the stocker mufflers and used Krylon's Ceramic hi heat paint (2000 deg) in silver and their 2000 primer.

They looked like brand new once done, But darned if in mid setup I couldn't get the tailpipes back on exactly right - were way off center
(they were prev spot welded on with the clamps) and to go back center of bumper hole i'd need to re-weld them.
Got a few runs on them during testing but we ended up swapping to a slightly used Tri-mil that was painted with I believe the same Krylon 2000 ceramic paint in flat black.

So far so good, but Geez that tri-mil gets hot as well as the bumper and rear center engine bay from the muffler heat.
Was mulling wrapping some of it or trying to fab a heat shield but not done anything yet, just got it all working in past few weeks.

I Wasn't used to it getting that hot but with dual 73' stock mufflers they were under the car so didn't notice it like I do now with
the hotdog style tri-mil

Sure sounds good though(esp in 2nd gear) and that one you have should sound good too.
Good thing about painting them black is you can refresh them pretty easily when they need it, I liked the silver look but
unknown with this kinda heat how long they'd look silver....

Well, Keep on wrenching hope you get it going soon!

T
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2020 - Mustang Eco Boost [High Performance]
1973 - Thing
1966 - Mustang GT- Fastback
1951 - Ford F1 pickup Flathead V8

[Heiferman]

Thanks @doublecannister. The Trimil looks awesome. I had not thought about heat issues.

I had a little obstruction to progress. Too many ugga duggas:

I was able to pull the end with this style easy out.

Took the weekend to go pick up some engine projects for an old Landcruiser

The replacement fitting just arrived in the mailbox this very moment so I can get back at it.
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- 1973 Thing, some LandCruisers and an old Ambulance

[Heiferman]

My gang member trespasser was arrested so there is that.

Anyway, made progress today. Rear fuel lines all hooked up.

There was a big hole that the original hose ran through along with the air for the airshocks (which will for sure be replaced at some point) so I cleaned up the edges and added some stick on pinch molding.
Front is almost there. I had to order one more fitting to link the fuel filter to the pump.

Took the design from another Thing owner on here. Thanks @mondshine. Thread here:
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=10208182&highlight=#10208182

I have just a few things left
A bit of wiring to button up including closing up the dash
Steering wheel needs to go on
Gas tank needs to go in
Rear brakes need adjusted
Shorten the throttle cable and get the carbs hooked up. (I had to get a throttle cable shorteni g kit as I forgot to order one before)

I think that will get me to where I need to in order to start this bastard.

Oh, I forgot to take a pic of the regulator. It is pretty up on the fire wall but I am going tonhave to drill a service hole to get to the adjuster
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- 1973 Thing, some LandCruisers and an old Ambulance

[Heiferman]

Ordered some Ebay side mirrors.
Also hit up a member for some lower dash cusions.
In about 2 weeks (new CC month) I will order the front trunk cross panel - mine was trashed by the PO. He cut it all up.
I really want a front hood rack but they are too expensive.
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- 1973 Thing, some LandCruisers and an old Ambulance

[mondshine]

Nice work.

Re: The HPG1 filter, consider installing a shutoff valve between the tank feed and the filter inlet. That way, you can drop the canister for maintenance with gas in the tank.
The filter element itself is good for many years, because 99% of the trash settles to the bottom of the canister.

Just an example: https://www.amazon.com/Beduan-Brass-Valve-Female-S...3&th=1

Good luck, Mondshine

[Heiferman]

[Heiferman]

I received the last fitting today and got the pump connected, the pump plug added and the gas tank reinstalled with the proper seals and hoses.
Then drinks and a band this evening with Mrs. Heiferman.
Tomorrow I hope to get the last of the dash wiring done and maybe the steering wheel back on.

Incidentally, after vacuuming out the tunnel I sprayed a liberal amount of Fluid Film in there. It is sorta stinky. Reminds me of driving in an old CUCV in the 80s.
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- 1973 Thing, some LandCruisers and an old Ambulance

[Heiferman]

Alright my Thing gurus.
Is this the latch end or the top end (where it enters the glove box) of the hood release cable cover?

Are those grommets supposed to lock into something that I.may be missing?
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- 1973 Thing, some LandCruisers and an old Ambulance

[Heiferman]

More progress today.
A few last items were wired including the fuel pump which took brain power. I attached the last little dealios and started buttoning the dash up.

I discovered the 12v cig plug has LEDs in it so active all the time. Bugger. I just ordered a new one from Amazon.

Tomorrow will be setting up the steering wheel and horn ground and dickering with the heater a bit more. Also the carb linkages and throttle cable.

In other news I received my new outdoor sink to hook up to my rain water catchment amd set up a new security cam.

So - anyone want to answer my question about the frunk cable cover? I guess I need to make a phone call. Sometimes I feel like I am talking to myself!
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- 1973 Thing, some LandCruisers and an old Ambulance

[kenj06]

You're question was answered in the cross-post
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=451926&start=20

[Heiferman]

[Heiferman]

Which one of you guys is hanging out in Hatteras, NC?

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- 1973 Thing, some LandCruisers and an old Ambulance

[Heiferman]

Got the new to me OEM steering wheel on, column properly adjusted and horn working. I had to spend considerable time trying to repair the splines on the column. It looked like someone had used it as wrecking bar at some point. I sort of had to coax the new wheel over some of the buggered spines. I probably should have filed on it more.

Next I re-adjusted the brakes all around and the parking brake.

I dabbled with the carb linkage and had some hardware left over from my helicopter mechanic days that was perfect for the tiny heim joints at the carb ends. Speaking of, the ones on the car are Brosol/Kadron/EMPI 40s or 44s. Unsure of the size. I got another complete set with the car as well. I think they are the IDF 2 barrels.

Then I replaced some missing body mount bolts. That was a messy job. It was the four up front. The holes were packed with dirt and rust.

Finally, I decided I was ready to give it a try. I put about a gallon of gas in to discover I failed to fully tighten one of the AN fittings. That was a bit of a mess before I figured it out but got it sealed up. Then I sprung a leak on the heater side just before the heater pump. The one piece of soft line I did not bother to replace split and dumped a bunch of gas all.over the brake master and on the floor before I could figure out what was happening. Got that sealed off but need to get a couple size appropriate clamps. I am also going to add another valve on the heater side at the T.

So that was my day. Stay tuned. I am close!
So I am going to forego trying to start it somce I spilled a bunh of gas in the shop. It was a pleasant day and too humid so it seems to have evaporated pretty fast. Still, I have a big fan running and will air the place out for a few hours.
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- 1973 Thing, some LandCruisers and an old Ambulance

[Heiferman]

Oh - almost forgot, thanks to Mike B I got my frunk cable in and deleted the aftermarket work done by the PO that was a choke cable run elsewhere.

So many holes drilled in this Thing. It is ashame.
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- 1973 Thing, some LandCruisers and an old Ambulance

[Heiferman]

Ok. Got the new cigarette lighter and made a little standoff to push it away from the heat duct a bit. Waiting for the black paint to dry before putting that in.

Started tackling the rear bumper mounts. A PO badly cut some slots in to access the nut plates. One nut was completely gone so I am cleaning that up. Re-tapped the holes for 12mm and welded in a flanged nut where the one was missing. To do all that I had to take the muffler off. Boo.

Headed to Ace for some hardware. Will clean up the slots the PO cut tomorrow and weld some covers on them then spray the inside with Fluidfilm and get the bumper back on and the muffler properly supported.

The stuff to repair the gas leak should be here tomorrow. [Nope - Monday] Amazon is an amazing thing for shop suppies for a project like this.

Having pizza and beer at the local brewpub.
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- 1973 Thing, some LandCruisers and an old Ambulance

[Heiferman]

Not a lot of time today but I did get to work on continuing the repairs on the rear bumper mounts. Straightened the damage and made some patch panels. Cleaned off the paint and rust and sprayed with rust through primer.

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- 1973 Thing, some LandCruisers and an old Ambulance

[Heiferman]

Also, evaluation of the seats.
This is darn ugly.

I have a lead on one seat bottom here on Samba.
I hope to be able to make copies of the ruined parts so I do not need two.
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- 1973 Thing, some LandCruisers and an old Ambulance