Bolton

Got the pan and body finally bolted together with all the weatherstripping and stuff. Very happy how it all lined up so far. The extra tubing to front fork aligns very well to the beam center and thanks to Tomi got good clamps for mating those together. All there is really before welding those and back tubes to pan is to fabricate some extra diagonals from the main beam to the tunnel. Should get that done this week.

Made some seat attachments by using regular furniture tubing and steel profiles. They feel very solid even without the front attachment points. Seat angle, position and maneuvering the shifter and pedals feel to be about there, hard to say when the car is not moving and your speed is 0kmh... There is an adjustment on the clips to raise the seat for 3cm but I think I will not be using it. Sitting pretty high as it is now. Lower than original seat height of course.

Plumbing

Some images below of the fuel piping. Since the NHRA rules don't allow the lines to run inside the car and rounting them under the pan would be unsafe I looked into getting them inside the tunnel. Just like the original line does. Getting 2x 1/2'' lines inside the tunnel ain't that easy. Wanted to make them replaceable so they're clamped with rubber clamps via maintenance holes at the top. Will plug the holes with plastic sewage plugs before carpetting. The fuel pipes are one piece, only 1 fitting on both is inside the tunnel at the front where it turns 90 deg and exits. Found some suitable AN bulkhead fittings. A real pain to tighten them and install but in theory they are replaceable as planned. At the back there was very little room between the tranny and cage but they should work after a few mock ups very well...

Back on all 4 feet

Got the car back on it wheels last week. To be honest, without the problems with our garage heating system and the being forced to move the stuff around, it would still not be there. Nevertheless, here we are. Some images of the stance below. Does not look too bad at all, some adjustments have to be made with the front axle since the tie rods are hitting the extra tubes of the safety cage and for some reason the shell mounting brackets on the beam are not like the originals... Anyways, not really that bad. Looking really forward into getting the car assembly going. There is a barely non-existing chance of maybe testing the car later after the summer. Not really likely but still...

Pan Wrks

Despite the non existing blog updates some work has been done over the past few months. There was a few issues to be sorted with the pan, especially the fuel lines. But now since I've got it "all" sorted out got it welded back together and paint prep is on the way, just in time for the new years... I'm waiting eagerly to get the car on its feet again with the new 4'' narrowed front beam. Very interesting to see how the front works since 2'' narrow beam was just not working. I've got one off the shelve beam with urethane bushings since I did not want to make a custom one, for now. Might have to, depending how it all goes. Hopefully get to show you some mock up images early in January...

Painters deligt

Timewise it all went bust, but that's no news when it comes to car building... I think the shell was at the painters for about half a year. Nevertheless, it came back and results are really pleasing. It was, and I said it loud and clear, one of the highlights in vw hobbyists life. There is just something about getting a rough shell back with a smooth shiny finish. Resurrection time!!! A few images below. Hopefully I get to assembly stage soon. Some work still with the pan before the "marriage".

Fittin' and weldin'

At this moment I feel pretty damn good. The roll cage is mostly done, some minor additions and touch ups before paint. This surely eases some pressure from Christmas holidays. Fitting the tubes was easy but it still took loads of time to get it right. And by now means this is to be considered as a "one man job". My garage mate Tomi helped me through the toughest spots. Maybe if you had some previous experience and suitable tube "clamps" or such one could make it alone. But I think another eye pair is welcome when checking the symmetry and angles right. Not to forget all the speculations of the available options that one could escalate the build into.

Since I'm not really a good welder by any standards I'm not including any glorious detail shots of the perfect seams. Instead I want to appraise the borrowed Kemppi mig welding machine. I did not think there would be a big difference between different types but my god was I wrong. This Kempomat was a really old one, but then again, basic mig welders have only gone plastic over the last few years and yes, they've become lighter also. Our garage mate Iiro was kind enough to lend me his Kemppi for the final welds session. He had obtained this machine after getting a hint from one of the Kemppi sales people that these old ones go from "father to son". I can believe that, really. With my none existing welding skills I was able to obtain some pretty damn perfect seams on trial pieces. It did not really have any hiccups no matter how we tried to off tune it. ;) So the final seams on the actual cage should have been easy right? I guess the difficulty comes from the non ergonomic positions when doing it. Some of the seams you can't get to and some spots are just too tight or you can't see or... List goes on. Still, very happy with the results.

Ah yes, and the cage itself is built to comply FHRA specs. Diagonal tubes from the main arc to main frame are still missing and some extra tubes to front axle will be added. I believe the horizontal tube just below the dash is not required either but it does make sense doesn't it?  This set proofed to be a snug fit with the shell. I wish the old RL would sell similar style with his CroMo cages. But that would not be "Unisex" then would it?

Tubular works

Fitting a roll cage is nothing familiar to me. Cost and time wise I think there is really no excuse on making it by yourself. Still, new things give me the thrills and I ended up buying a few gadgets to help me with the task. I believe there are a few "form combs" on the market for different size pipes if one decides to fit the pipes the hard way. I took an el cheapo short cut and got a Woodward Fab tube notcher. Must have been something around 100 e for the tool and "experts" on the web say it's pretty much bs. I must say first thoughts on the tool are very positive. Of course there are fancier solutions on the market but as I wasn't planning on making a business out of cage fitting this looks to be more than good enough. One does need a strong hand held drill machine that revs around 800 rpm or so. The tool uses regular hole saw bits available on most tool shops. Below are some images of after we got started. I'm very pleased that the main arc sits just behind the b-post. front arcs could have gone slightly forward but then there would have been some more dash painting issues so this will have to do.

The cage is an old mild steel set made by former company Hewiset. All in all, the fit is quite good and tight. Bender was needed to get the fit up to FHRA specs. Original dimensions on the main arch would have required mounting straight to heater channel and we were aiming to mount them on basic 3mm plates on the floor pan.

Inspirational fall

It's really been an inspirational fall this year. Working on the drag project feels good and stuff seems to get done also. After blasting all the remaining welds have been done, grinding pretty much done. Some set backs of course. The driver side door needs to be redone. It was just too twisted and hinge side also cracked etc. So looking for a new donor at this moment. These days good repair panels seem to be available through Virtanen resto panels here in Finland. They were not few years ago... Obtained some epoxy primer for the welds. Some sealant to make them sound and the shell should be ready for the body and paint work! Paint booth is reserved early next year, and that I'm very pleased with. Decided not to spray it myself since time looks to be very limited these days. 1 evening per week is really had to come by. Meaning the project progress is sloooowww...

Trial engine parts have also landed from US. Some machining and fit work with them as soon as the cage is welded in the shell. This engine is a bit smallish. Something around 78x94mm. Based in mag case and supaflo style heads. Carburated, well what did you expect? High compression and E85 as it is trendy these days...Tranny will be too long for it but for trial purposes (and hopefully some small wheelies) it should be more than fine. Final destination for it will be in the grey 62. That mouse engine is nice, but come on, no surprises there in the acceleration department...

No project pics, posting a blast from the past instead. In 1950 Autola Company officially imported the first beetles to Finland. 12 of these cars were handed to their new owners on 9th of June at Senate Square in Helsinki. I've seen a few images of this occasion in the web but none of them are accurate enough to see the licence plates if my car was actually there. Some cars of the first patch were not. The serial in the pan tells that this car was ordered by Metalliteos Oy. Later well known as Metos, a  professional kitchen appliances manufacturer in Finland.  Kind of funny to find out these things at this stage of the project... Not that I was actually looking. ;)

Sodamaan

As I probably wrote earlier, the front fenders needed replacing since they were not actually a pair. Lamps were in different height and the shape was not similar on them either. Swapped these to another early 60's pair in decent form. Some rust but, doable to say the least. Didn't want to start welding them until some sand blasting or similar. At that point I asked some offers of blasting mainly the fenders vs. blasting the whole lot. It just made sense to have that all done at the same time - at least cost wise. Local soda-hero blasted the shell and parts with soda and glass where it was needed. I have to say that I'm very pleased with the result. Welding bare metal is quite nice, and now the shell is so much cleaner for the paint and body works...

 

Trial fit of the fenders and door was somewhat successful. Even though they are reproductions for my purpeses the fit is more than acceptable. I'd say this means that roll cage fitting will be in the horizon very soon!!!

Long Gone

Looks like nothings happened for ages... Almost true, but then not at all. Did manage to get that Anthracite rolling after minor work on horn, windshield washer, carbs, family. The usual stuff. The car was drivable for long but just wanted to MOT it without any major concerns this time. Only problems actually was the missing paper work of the changed parts. Since the car was a historic plates car before the MOT check was more than just checking the driving condition. Obviously the engine size, axles etc was added to the registration info. After giving the full list it was all good to go. Well, it too 2-3 hours office work and me drinking "free" coffee. The picture below is a steal from Volkswanker (props to Jyri) blog as a proof that the car was at crem-a-que this summer. Notice how sunny it was? Was it really?? I thought it rained through it all...

Anthrazite bleeding...

After a few "allnighters" I was really hoping to get the 62 out of the garage last friday, but one hour before the barbeque it was all ruined with a massive oil leak from the engine... Don't really know what the problem is exactly but I' m hoping that I've kind of made a novice mistake and left an oil passage without a plug or something. The engine run about 15 sec and there was about 1/2 liter of 20W-50 on the floor, so I'm guessing it is not just a tiny leak. So out the engine again and try to fix the problem and back in again.

Good news was the long hauls at the garage really resulted in working brakes and whole lot of other stuff too. Looks as if it might actually be in driving condition soon! Discovered also that you can't fit CSP valve covers to a standard 62 engine bay without cutting the inner wheel wells a bit. Also some maintenance holes for the carbs are most likely necessary with the BigBeef manifolds as the carbs do come quite near the sides of the engine bay. Otherwise it will be a pain to get the manifolds tightened, plugs in etc... Good news is that the Dell'Ortos fit inside the bay just fine allthough this is with the soft Pipercross cleaners. Not done the K&N order yet since I think they will hit the lid at least on the right side of the car.
Some other things I need to work on is a small oil leak from the CSP breathertower. Seems that the O-ring and the paper gasket are not enough to keep the oil inside, so I'll just glue to bugger tight I assume. Also the "leak proof" JayCee tubes are leaking from the case side. Or to be more exact, it's 2 of the white CB gaskets between the tubes and the case. So, some more glue stuff to do? 8-) There was also some small issues witht the fuel line when the pump was turned on. Some of the clips were not up to the task to hold the pressure. Will replace those with a bit beefier clips and that should do it.

Anyway, here are some images of the car at this moment. The rear wheels do need massive spacers to get them right. On the images there is around 27mm of stuff between the brake and the wheel. And you could still put more. Fronts are ok, can't really go too much lower or the wheels will hit the fenders when cornering, and besides I'm old enought to go for the more comfortable solution...

Delaydelay

Forgot to post this image before. I tried the popular 2'' narrowed beam on the split. Worked, kind of. Have to go narrower, maybe 3-4'' narrower, not sure. So that's why I'm doing it myself this time to get it perfect. The car will just look so much better when it sits really low and the wheels actually turn... Sorry about the greenery - we're going really enviromental at the garage these days. Bio ethanol and all that shit you know...

Almost there...

Getting ready for the break in run soon! Well, I was hoping it to be a week or 2 sooner but seems that it will take a few "nights" to get this baby into the car and finnish all the small little details. But, I'm sure it will be worth it in the end...

Worked on getting the engine all lined up, loads of small cutting of the sheet metal to make it fit... By now I'm absolutely certain they've not seen a beetle in China or Taiwan. Anyway, better than nothing but for a top notch engine bay, one surely needs the OG VW sheet metal... Some foggy images below for you to get the idea where I'm heading. Some plumbing and wiring to do, but other than that, all it needs is a car to stuck it into.

PS: Not sure if it actually fits the stock engine compartment due to the CB BB manifolds... Will tell you all about it with some deck lid stand offs (or hopefully not).

Side Project

I suffer from random "burnouts" with my Split project, or so it seems... Happens to many I've learned. After selling my 911, I've been building slowly my Anthrazite '62. Should be a daily driver with some of the usual spices. The car had only minor imperfections such as some rust at the rear wheel wells where the pan meets the body. Also the pan had a hole at the driver side floor (turned out to be a drilled hole for water or something?). Stripped the pan from the engine, tranny, axles, brakes and took of the rear fenders. For some odd reason, it made sence to take the body off the pan, and then it made sence to have it sand blasted and painted and.... You know how it goes. ;)

Technically speaking, I'm building a 1776cc streetable engine. Mild but reliable. Dual Dell'ortos, 40x35.5mm valve heads, regular VW casting, and ported by yours truly. Engle W110 cam, Vertex magneto, some black goodies to dress it all up. Post some images when finished.

Managed to buy a longer ratio tranny. Affordable stock tranny, not a flyer. Bought also a set of GasBurners. Painted/polished then, and put some Vredestein Sprint Classic tyres on them (155 front/ 185 back). Very pleased with the combo. Front brakes are vented discs with Porsche Boxter rear calipers. Should be enough? Front axle is a CSP 2'' narrowed link beam. Some images of the first trial fit below. Rear is sky high on the images!!! No engine and needs a drop of a spline. A slight miscalculation since I replaced the original '62 torsion bars with Split ones. Beefier indeed!

Trial fit

During the carage cleanup I got some help from the buddies and we lifted the body back on the pan. I've managed to assemble the back with some brake hubs in 5x130 pattern and also got that front axle working. So that should enable me to trial the big-O tyres. I gave the fuchs a rough sanding/polish job and painted the wheels with the obvious paint scheme. Well, the later 8 inchers might differs slightly from the usual with only the outer lip polished. I wanted to see if that goes smoother with the early 4.5's. I do kind of like it, maybe the old school police will fine me now?

The rubber in the front is 3.6/24-15 M&H and the back fatties are 10.5/26-15'' inchers. That should be way enough grip even on bad tracks to keep this heap on track. There is not a whole lot of room for the tires to move up in relation to the body. They will hit the inner arches quite easily even though more room is crafted. Hopefully the beefier 28mm saw torsion bars and stiffer shocks will make the rear stiff enough.

The trial fit proved to be correct and the 10.5's have just enough room to spin. With a right spacer it should be perfect in the end. For some reason it looks a bit odd to have "bucket" wheels at the back but I guess that is one of the only easy ways to get that big tyre in. Fonts are quite nice. The axle was narrowed about 1.5 inches so it only takes away the widht that came with the brake setup. So what now? Putting back the pieces into the tunnel (new gaslines and modified cable tubes etc.) and welding it shut again. After that I think it would be time to put in the full roll-cage... That should be fun eh?