Spending on Parts

My employer changed our vacation and sick time policy for 2012. Instead of having an assigned number of vacation and sick days, we are converting to a PTO system. How does this have any meaning to the VW project? Simple, with the conversion, they paid out all of my unused vacation and sick time . Since I am a manager and therefore unable to really use much of my time off, I got a nice check which was instantly “converted” into several parts orders for the car!

Order #1 from AirHeadParts

Left Front End Parts

• Upper Ball Joint 311-405-361 B  $28.95
• Lower Ball Joint 311-405-371 C  $33.45
• Tie Rod End 311-415-811 C  $11.49
• Brake Hoses 311-611-701 B, 355mm  $11.95 @
• Front Wheel Bearings/Kit 141-498-625 E  $22.56 @
• Left Front Dust Cap 111-405-691 B  $2.98
• Right Front Dust Cap 111-405-692 B  $2.98
• Thrust Washers 311-405-661  $1.89 @
• Hub Cap Pullers 311-012-243 $1.79 @

        Rear Taillight Parts

• Bulbholder to Body Seals 311-945-191 A PR  $8.25
• Bulbholder to Lens Seal 411-945-235  $4.19 @
• Taillight Lens 311-945-223 $18.95 @

        Misc. Parts

• Ignition Cylinder & Key 113-905-855 B $7.55
• Bosch Ignition Wire Set 09004  $21.95
• Black Left Side Mirror ZVW-857-513 D  $9.95
• Black Right Side Mirror ZVW-857-514 D $9.95

Order #2 from ISPwest

       Seals/Gaskets

• Fan Cover Tin to Fan Shroud Seal – 311119599A  $10.00
• Pulley Cover Seal 311119655C $5.95
• Engine Cover Seal 311813133A $16.95
• Bellows 311119665A $18.95
• Inner Rear Fender Seals 311821331C $28.00
• Inner Rear Fender Air Intake Seals 361821333A $28.00
• Rear Floor to Hatch Seal 361827715 $9.95

Left Front End Parts

• Front Upper Bumpstops 311401275 $20.00
• Steering Arm Bolt 311405343 $1.95
• Steering Arm Bolt 311405343B $1.95

Order#3 from justsuspension.com

        Shocks

• 4 Excel-G Shock Absorber 343144 $18.46 @

Order#4 from PMBperformance

Front Rotors

• Zimmermann Front Brake Disc  411 407 075 $55.00 @

Alternative Mufflers

The stock muffler on the car was completely covered in rust. Since I have not had the motor running, I have no real idea if the muffler is actually good or not. However, when I removed the exhaust system from the pulled motor (a necessity to be able to lift the engine onto a bench0 I found that the inlet pipes on the muffler had several rust holes. After seeing the price of a replacement stock muffler, I began looking into alternative options.

Taking a page from Mike Fisher’s cars (on the samba), I settled on using Harley Davidson mufflers. They are easy to find, when you look for used ones that someone took off their Hog in order to upgrade their exhaust. I found a set on eBay for about $40 shipped! They are a straight style (not curved at the ends) and in a brushed metal finish. They even came with some skid plates on them, which I will transfer to the heaterboxes.

Taillight Housings

One of the differences between the “early” and “late” Squarebacks is in the taillights. After a series of posts and replies on “the Samba“, it was determined that there are even differences in the taillights within a series. As it turns out, the “late” Squarebacks came with either a Chrome or Silver taillight housing. It is still uncertain what differentiates the usage of these two forms. I suspect that it was a bit of a cost savings as the model was nearing the end of the run, but also feel that body paint color might have also been a factor. (You can find either option in various years of production, so model year may not be the factor. However, with these cars being so old and most have gone through so many different owners, who knows what was original to any particular car anymore.) Anyway, I digress. I had noticed that mine were in somewhat rough shape. As it turns out, they are “Silver” and not “Chrome” ones in dire need of repair. This is good, since I can repaint them and not have to have them plated.

I decided to simply paint my taillight housings black in order to help in my goal to model the car after the Touareg. I had also noticed that the reflective plate behind the upper bulb was simply not very reflective on mine.

After the same research as mentioned above (actually this is what started that thread), I found that this reflective piece was suppose to be Chrome. So this lead to some severe sanding to the entire assembly. After sanding and a couple coats of black primer, I sprayed the reflective portion with Chrome paint.

Realizing that the area behind the other bulbs is now much darker and may not reflect/direct as much light, I decided to lighten those areas up with some silver-ish paint. Then I sprayed the exterior portion of the housings with Gloss Black Automotive paint. Here are the finished products. (Since most of the housing is under the taillight lens, I was not super concerned about making sure the edges of the painted sections were perfect. The only externally visible part will be the outside edge.)

Thanksgiving 2011

I realize that it has been a month since I updated. I think the newness of the blog has worn off a bit, and will be better suited to give monthly updates (or sometimes sooner).

In the past month, I have been mainly focused on the motor. (A few business trips, and a good friend’s wedding,  prevented me from working on the car.) I was able to drop the motor out of the car. (The engines in ACVWs often come out by raising the car and dropping the motor from underneath.)

While ACVW engines are light, they are still a bit much to try and lug around. So, before I could get it up on the bench, I needed to strip some parts off, mainly the exhaust. After pulling the exhaust off and the engine cooling tins, I found what I expected/feared. Initially when I pulled the cooling air intake boot off, I found a rodent’s nest. When consulting on “the samba”, people mentioned that I need to make sure that there wasn’t more under the tins. Well… they were correct.

So next came a tear-down and cleaning. Before…

And After…

The pistons were very crusty with carbon build-up and required a great deal of Kerosene and Scocth-Brite work. Everything got a through cleaning. The intake got a new coat of paint. The color is technically a Titanium Silver Blue, but as close as I could readily find to the stock color. It is a little bluer and brighter than stock, but is also a little different from other cars. The cooling fan shroud and oil breather stand got a coating of Flat Aluminium. The engine case got a light dusting of Silver Wheel paint. Most of the brackets got Gloss Black, along with the cooling intake tin and oil breather. (I already painted several other parts such as the air intake gloss black.)

All of the cooling tins were painted flat black. They are not yet on the engine because, as noticed in that last picture, the heads are not yet attached. While removing the exhaust, several of the exhaust studs were damaged. I was unable to remove them from the head, and therefore will have to take the heads to a Machine Shop to have them replaced.

Also, as I was cleaning and stretching the Push-Rod Tubes, Murphy and his Law got me. I had 6 of the 8 tubes ready when, working on number 7, I found three cracks/holes in the accordion portion  of the tube. So, new Push-Rod Tubes are on the shopping list. Most of the engine reassembly is only in order to have as many of the engine components as possible in one place. Pieces that have been reattached have been done so with new gaskets and hardware.

With the engine oh hold, I moved to the engine bay. This area is still yellow and that would just look silly once the car is painted black.

After pictures to follow, as it was too dark to get good ones.

Normally, you do not remove the Engine Hangers when dropping the motor. This is in order to keep the motor centered correctly. However, when I began cleaning the engine bay, I noticed that one of the hangers was loose. Knowing that they were no longer “set” correctly, I went ahead and pulled them out and cleaned them.

While these are normally black, I went ahead and painted the Flat Aluminium in order to provide some contrast in the soon-to-be black engine bay.

The Tragedy of Dash Wiring

Since the previous owner pulled most of the gauges and switches from the car, there was a nest is random wiring inside the dash. He also neglected to cover the fuse panel prior to sand-blasting the car. As a result, the entire fuse box was filled with sand. This gave me to opportunity to completely revamp the wiring of the car. (It is 40 years old after all.)

With pen and paper in hand, along with an ample supply of colored zip-ties, I began marking and logging each wire and removing the fuse box. Once the fuse box was out, I was able to soak it in C-L-R and with some light polishing, return it to near original condition. One of the relays had the case off of it and a bad terminal connection. I was able to re-solder the connection and possibly avoid having to purchase a new relay. (Testing will be later.)

Once the fuse box was disconnected and out of the car, a large web of wires was now free to come out. This collection also got a bath in C-L-R in order to remove 40 years of crud from the connectors. With everything cleaned up, I was able to re-wire the connections from the fuse box to the dash components. Having everything out of the car and on the bench allowed me to be able to zip-tie section of wire together so that once everything is back in correct locations, the wiring will be nice and neat.

Luckily, everything appears to have cleaned up well. In addition, only two fuses and one light bulb are bad. The “fun” part ahead will be to connect all of the ground wires and then to reconfirm all of the connection prior to applying voltage to them. the last thing I want to have happen is to have similar colored wires connected incorrectly, only to have the headlight switch turn on the wipers, or have a turn signal honk the horn.

Before

 

 

After pictures to be added.

1 Hour Hood Resurfacing

When I purchased this car, the front hood was the only part that still had the original paint on it. In order to bring it down to the same condition as the rest of the car, I knew I needed to strip it down and begin resurfacing.

On my way home from work, I stopped by Advance Auto Parts and grabbed a couple cans of Aircraft Remover (Tal Strip brand). This stuff is amazing! Walking into the house through the garage, I quickly sprayed the entire hood with the Tal Strip. After going inside to change clothes and pet the dogs, I return to the garage. The 40 year old original paint and primer simply peeled off the hood in about four sheets. After another small application and checking Email, the remaining bits wiped off.

It took about 15 to 20 minutes to scuff the hood with 40 grit sandpaper with the DA Sander, and everything was ready for new primer. Done.

Driver-side Door

I have completely stripped the driver-side door to bare metal. Then I was able to repair the holes that a previous owner had drilled into the door to install a mirror. A little welding and some bondo took car of that area.

When sanding the door, I was able to notice a couple of small dents, that with some hammering and finishing layers of filler, are gone.

About the only trouble I had with this door was trying to clean all of the old paint, primer, and various gunk from inside the window channels of the door. Never the less, the door is ready with a layer of primer. Time to more on….

BREAKer Bar

Well, in the past week I learned why the tool is called a Breaker Bar. Using a Breaker Bar on steering and suspension bolts that have not moved in 40 years simply snaps said bolts. All three of the bolts that broke, two holding the steering arm to the spindle and one securing the ball joint, sheered off. Normally if there were any threads showing, I could weld a nut onto the bolt and remove it. However, these all broke below the surface. This will be a project for another time and with some more experienced assistance.

With the left side fenders off, I was able to attack some of the issues with the wheel wells. The left rear was the first area of interest. After removing some surface rust and the yellow paint, I treated the sheet metal with some rust inhibitor and primed the entire area. During the clean-up, all of the factory seam sealer simply fell out. So, a quick application of black silicon, the inner fender area was ready. I used liberal amounts of Aircraft Remover to get rid of all the factory paint and primer from the vents on the rear fender. After priming the inside of the rear fender, I rehung it on the car and attacked it with the DA Sander. A quick shot of primer left the left rear fender complete and ready to move onto other aspects of the car. (There is no longer an yellow visible through the vents, which is a major improvement.)

The left front fender is a larger issue. Before removing the fender, I removed a lot of body filler from an apparent previous repair. After removing the fender, I began to hammer out some of the damage. I made a little progress before my short attention span got the better of me. I will go after this fender later, maybe with some assistance form someone that has more experience with body work.

The wheel-well needs some work. I have removed about 1/2 the surface rust and prepped the area with rust inhibitor/primer/undercoating. There is a small area at the very bottom of the rear section of the wheel-well that has some rust holes. It appears that the metal had been bent and allowed water to get behind it. I have already straightened the metal and will address the rusted area soon. Then section that the charcoal filter for the fuel tank mounts on has a major rusted  out spot. I have cleaned and prepped the spot, but not yet sure what approach I will take to correct it, since in some regards it is an unnecessary item.

VW Show in Sevierville

Me and the wife ventured up to Sevierville, TN for the Circle Your Wagons Show. Needless to say, we did not bring my car, but were able to look around a bit at the other cars. Unlike previous shows we attended, there were some Type 3 VWs at this one. There was even a ’72 Squareback in Texas Yellow there. This car, while the “same” as mine made me really appreciate how solid my car really is. This car was completely rusted out in the rear deck section and overall had a ton more rust than mine. It did however give me a chance to see what my interior is suppose to look like.

I was able to pick up a few items from the swap meet section of the show:

• Key chain with a pewter Squareback – Technically it was a ’69 or ’70 model since it does not show the vents in the rear pillar, but hey, close enough! Now, I just need to get a key to go on it.
• Tennessee License Plate – I found a TN tag with a 1972 sticker on it. The tag number began with “3”, which means it was a Knoxville tag, where my VW was originally sold.
• Gas Tank – I found a gas tank for my car. While I technically didn’t need a gas tank, this one was cheaper than purchasing the POR-15 Fuel Tank kit needed for mine.

Better Tools and Improving Skills

Until I can clear some more room in the garage and then pull the motor, I am limited to mostly body work for now. I am OK with that since there are a ton of little things that need to be done in order to have the body ready for paint. In my initial hurry to remove the surface rust that was on the car when I got it, I hand-sanded the car and shot it with black primer. Now I am starting to go back and address individual sections.

• I couldn’t sleep last night, so I went out and began working on the driver’s side D-Pillar. In the 3 vents, there was a good amount of the OG paint than needed to go away. I ended up spraying the vents, the port window opening and the left side of the hatch opening with Aircraft Remover. Needless to say, those sections were stripped down to bare metal.
• The bottom section of the left port window showed some pitting, as does the bottom of the windshield opening. Both sections were stripped down to bare metal, cleaned with Aircraft Remover, stripped again, and then I began my first ever Bondo work. Working with the bare metal, I mixed small batches of Bondo and applied several thin layers. I was not looking to “Bondo” the entire area, but to smooth out the pitting. I actually probably sanded away about 90% of the Bondo applied. The driver’s rear port window opening is done and primed, while the driver’s side of the windshield opening still needs another layer of filler.
• I picked up a DA Sander today. Wow, have I been missing out and wasting a ton of elbow grease sanding by hand! I began attacking some areas of the roof where the presence of the OG paint was very noticeable. After using the DA Sander and re-shooting with primer, you can really tell a difference in these areas. I am very pleased with the results of the DA Sander, and it makes all of my previous body work look like “busy work”.
• I finally got around to removing the large section of Bondo on the front of the left front fender. It appears that the car had been tagged in this fender some time ago and the “repair” was to apply two cans of Bondo. I will play around with the hammers and dollies later, after I remove the fender.
• Speaking of hammers and dollies, after playing around on the crinkled rear apron with them, I completely my first real dent removal today. The left front of the roof had a 3in long dent in it. I was able to use a hammer and dolly to work most of the dent out. I got all but about 3/4in of it. The bracing in the roof near the door opening made it impossible to get a dolly behind all of the dent. I am please and can live with these results.