I ordered a new front mount for my '57 when I had the gear box out and the one that came (reputedly OEM) had studs a size larger than the original. To fit it would have involved redrilling the nose mount, not something I was prepared to do. I ended up using the original.

It'll be interesting for future reference to know what WW mounts are like and if they fit ok.

Mike 😎

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Hopefully Julian is reading this and can intercept the post if it's going to be wrong...

Paul told me they've never had any complaints about them.

Fingers crossed it'll be ok. I understand that WW aren't in the market of offering junk???

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Everything I've had from them has been top quality, just a pain getting it here sometimes.

It's only fair to say that mine wasn't supplied by KK and as far as I know didn't come from WW. It was supplied by another well known UK supplier... :wink:

Mike

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And they're getting VERY hit n miss these days as they expand and 'conquer'...

I remember this when it was all just fields...

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LT, I got my front mount from 'KK' and had no problem with the quality and fit.
'KK' may not be the cheapest supplier (although you can normaly score a 10% discount for 'pre67vw') Quality counts and they always come up trumps on that count imo.

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Yeah - I must admit, everything they have supplied has been correct as ordered and decent quality.

Worth paying the little extra for the quality and more personal service - although when I look back at all the orders I've placed and add up what I've spent on postage costs.... :lol:

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I had a rare day off today so decided to make the most of it....

Before I bore you to tears with my efforts, I'd like you all to stop and think for a minute about your poor old transmission. It suffers endless abuse and torture whilst it's next door neighbour the engine gets all the glory.

Why am I feeling so sympathetic to it's plight I hear you yawn? Well, because today I spent just 7 hours living in it's environment which was enough to send me insane. The poor transmission has to spend decades under there and it's not a nice place to spend a day, let alone your entire life!

Despite the consistency of the minus 5 degrees C thermometer which I was sure had frozen stuck, I wrapped myself up like a mummy and armed with all my equipment, I crawled, shimmied, head scraped, knocked and bashed my way under the back of the car shortly after breakfast in order to do the final clean and prep for the transmission.

Last time we left it cleaned of most of the major dust, dirt, oil and grime thanks to the jet fuel, but with the frame horns, nooks and crannies still in a bit of a state.

As the final 'seal and protect' process with the wax sealer is so important, I wanted to make sure all the surfaces were surgically clean to enable the sealant to properly adhere.

To do this, I brought out the latest in my growing arsenal of cleaning agents - 100% pure medical grade IPA - Isopropyl alcohol - the stuff they put on your skin just before you get an injection.





I decanted this into a 'squirty' spray bottle so I could direct it where required, then scrub away with my various brushes, spray again, then wipe clean with a fresh cloth leaving the surface absolutely clean and dry.

My magnetic LED lamp was very helpful allowing me to see what I was doing.







Note to self "Keep IPA away from your eyes - it stings..... lots and lots and lots!"





Once I'd got it all clean, I took a few shots to show how unbelievably rot free this car is. If anyone has every imagined what they'd do if they could go back in time and buy a 'new' VW Beetle to look after for the future and protect before the rust set in - well I know now, because it's like be under a 3 year old car - all virginal, ready to protect.

It's an amazing feeling to see it all so original and rust free. The few darker areas in the corners and seems in some of the pics are just areas where the IPA had yet to evaporate.









Cleaning the frame horns thoroughly was a real bitch of a job, as the crud was almost baked on like an oven baking tray, but slowly and surely I kept at it, scrubbing layer upon layer off to reveal the bare frame underneath.

I'm glad I've got the NOS ATE flexi-hoses, as the originals are past their best!















The mess this created that I had to sit in all day was a whole new kind of unpleasant!





Once it was all perfectly clean and dry, I donned a breathing mask, climbed back underneath and literally drenched the underside in sealing wax until it was dripping all over me and the floor. I emptied two full cans of the stuff in all the nooks, crannies and crevices - above, behind, underneath - everywhere until it looked like this...















I'll buy a few more cans for the rest of the floor pan and inner wings etc, and give the area another lighter coat once this one has hardened in a few days.

I'm pretty tired now, I can tell you!

Night all!

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I was just thinking before I got to that line and the accompanying photo, I hope he's wearing goggles! :lol:

Need to be careful with some of this stuff Andy...

Nice work, keep going. Engine and box back in for Xmas?

I'd love to think so, but sadly that was my last day off before Christmas Day. 😞

In the evenings, I'll make as much preparation as possible, and maybe get the box back in and rebuild the brakes perhaps, but the first fire up is now likely to be January...

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If its possible make a video with the first fire up of the engine. I would love to hear this little kitten.

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Don't worry - there'll be a fire up video!!! :beer:

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AAAARGH!!!

FFS Andy, I can't seem to escape this thread. Since I spoke to you the other week I've been slowly but surely working my way through the VZi thread and now its the first one I see here :shock: .

I'm so seriously impressed with your attention to detail and refusal to cut corners. Your wasted as a car salesman, you should be in charge of QA in the workshop at your dealership!

Cheers,
Paddy :d :d

I'd drive them up the wall and cost them too much money!

Nice to see you BTW.

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Despite it being my wife's 40th birthday, I sneaked into the garage for a couple of hours when she went out shopping with her sister for some treats....

The first coat of the sealant wax had dried, so here is a couple of shots showing how it looks when dry - a nice matt waxy finish - very satisfying.







Next up was to do the same to the rear inner wings, or fenders, depending on where you;re reading this... Once again, I degreased everything with the IPA alcohol, then liberally drenched it with the stuff - a whole can per wheel arch!







I also did the engine side trays and rear valance.





And then another full can for a second coat under the rear to make sure it is well and truly encapsulated.





A nice parts order arrived from Wolfsburg West (via Karmann Konnection) containing a second try at a new front mount.... which looked suspiciously similar to the other one I sent back....





Some West Coat Metric fuel line grommets....





And finally some hard brake line grommets for the front bulkhead behind the pedals....





First up was the easy one - the brake line grommet.





Followed by the not so easy cable conduit grommet. This took ages to fit as it's quite tight going over the metal lip it fits over and with very limited access around two sides, plus it being in a very awkward place to start with, I can best liken it to being like trying to eat an apple through a letter box, but I got there in the end.





At this point, there was as much wax sealer dripping all over my head as there was on the frame horns!

I'll take this opportunity to give praise where praise is die by saying that the West Coast Metric stuff I've bought has been beautiful precision quality and fit - highly recommended.

Now, back to the front mount which was so ill fitting last time. I offered up the new Wolfsburg West one up to find....





Deja-vu anybody?

Just to make sure I wasn't going crazy, I refitted the original one again just to make sure it wasn't something else....





There might very well be no substitute for cubes, but there's also no substitute for correct fitting original parts either.

Dunno guys - how many more do I order, to find that they're all coming from the same incorrect factory.

I hear people say "Buy a good decent quality German one..." - Great idea, can you please point me in the direction of one that is definitely German, and will definitely fit as spending hard earned £$£$ posting incorrect stuff back is getting old real quick.

The original one has had yet another stay of execution for the time being....

Answers on a postcard please.

If anyone has a NOS one, please contact me.

Julian -I'll have to send this one back buddy.... :cry:

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Hope you dont run your brakes through that. :shock: :lol:

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:lol: :lol:

Can I blatantly hijack this thread... bought an old Raleigh bike as a winter father/son project and wondered what you used for seized nuts?

This thing has sat in a damp shed for 20 years, so I need some help loosening rusty nuts... :shock:

Perhaps I should start a resto thread 😳

I use this stuff,it's good.
 plusgas.jpg You have insufficient rights to see the content.

Cheers - and sorry for the hijack Andy :wink: