great thread!

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What for bikes :shock:

Such a good thread this continues to be. Reckon the 'wheat should be sorted from the chaff', and it would make an excellent illustrated book, or pdf file :beer:

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Hi Buddy! :beer:

"Praise from Caeser......" and all that...

How you doing And?? Hangin' in there bud?

Funny - I was talking about you with Smull less than a hour ago, and your collection of NOS early panels.

I hope you approve of my work and methodology?




Beefy.... Plusgas is simply the one, the only, the best. Accept no other substitute!

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Very flattering indeed! :oops:

Are you sure there's enough 'wheat' though?

If anyone wants to edit it, they're more than welcome, as long as it's in the public domain and not for proffit - yada yada yada...

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Oh dear, sorry about that, first time I've herd of a problem with these so it might be one bad batch perhaps. I think it's fair to assume that this is not an item Wolfsberg West make themselves.

I have had a hunt around and found a German supplier who does have old stock of the mount available. They came from a company called 'PE' who are an aftermarket supplier so not 'Genuine' but they are German and they are old stock.

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Thanks Jules,

I'll get the current one back to you in tomorrows post.

I think I've found a VW NOS item, but I'm waiting for the guy to respond to a postage cost question before it is concrete.

If for whatever reason this fails to come to fruition, we can investigate your alternate supply option.

I appreciate your personal concern.

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judging by all the nos stuff that turns up in this thread....you have a very sympathetic wife! lol

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Shes hasn't quite translated the term NOS into the language we all know and fear, so, at the moment at least, it's a fairly safe topic of converstation over the dinner table.

Goes something like this....

Her - "What was in that heavy box from California this morning darling....?"
Me - "Oh, nothing much, just some old and rusty NOS car parts for the Beetle, Okrasa crank, cylinder heads, barrells and pistons, 4 tab bonnet etc, Hitlers last urine sample - nothing special...."
Her - "That's nice, as long as it makes you happy....."

I'll get busted sooner or later, but for now, I don't fear the postmans knock.... yet!

:shock:

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Just Read All Your Thread , Simply Amazing Work & Attention to Detail.

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Why thank you good Sir.... much more to come!

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I'd say so. Even better, team up with Robb's 1967 1500 Beetle restoration thread (body work), 55 Kabs Karmann Cabrio restoration (cab hoods). Sort the lot properly into one pdf! Anyone planning on a detailed split-window (crash box & cables) rebuild to add :!:

I don't think I'd have the heart drive your oval around when finished, think I'd 'Carcoon" it – too good and clean mechanically and A1 :beer:

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Well, I've never driven an aircooled VW before (seriously, I haven't, don't ask!)so please forgive me if I indulge myself a little with this one...:lol:

It's protected from corrosion very well and will only ever get driven on dry roads, unless I get caught out at a show etc, but with the amount of sealing wax that'll be all over the underside, it'll not be an issue.

It lives in a garage attached to my house which houses our central heating bloiler, so the garage is always nice and warm and dry.

Other than half a dozen shows per year, it'll only get infrequesnt exercise use for 10 miles at a time or so to keep everything running and free, so I can't see it doing more than 2000-3000 miles a year and will receive meticulous maintenance and obsessive amounts of oil changes along the way.

It'll do it more good keeping it running than locking it away in my honest opinion.

It;s had a nice 30 year holiday, now it's time for some gentle fun.

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Well said,that man:wink:

Well there's no nicer car to drive IMHO:beer:

I love driving my old '58 :wink:

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Some more garage tinkery....

After a brief mild period, the weather broke again and hit sub zero temperatures, so before any further work could continue, I decided now would be a good time to sport my latest head gear.... which we can safely assume was not what I was wearing when I met Mrs LT!




Only a mother could love someone with such dreadful fashion sense!

Remember our twisted sister of a front trans mount? I thought I'd measure the distance from the lower left stud to the edge of the mount on the original....





Then compare it to the after market one...





And we have a winner! The reverse shows the actual twist in the construction!





Fingers crossed I've secured a NOS one now, so watch this space.

Whilst I wait for the new trans mount to arrive, I can get on with some of the smaller, more fiddly but equally time consuming jobs on offer....

On to matters more constructive, the postman brought me a nice NOS clutch release bearing and clips which was duly fitted.









Whilst I was undoing the bolts that hold the gear selector coupling and shift rod together when I was removing the gearbox, I dropped a small socket into the trans tunnel and listened in horror as it rolled down the tunnel, forwards with the intent to rest and rattle for all eternity! I managed to put this out of my mind whilst other work was carried out, but knew I'd need to go fishing to retrieve it.

Thankfully, within a few minutes, and thanks to a selection of telescoping mirros, and more importantly magnets, I rescued him and put him back amongst his brothers to tell tails of his adventures.





I inspected and cleaned up the nose cone seal which was still very serviceable and refitted it to the front of the box.







I then spotted out the corner of my eye, the two very ugly and messy rear transmission carrier mount bolts and gave them a quick lick on the wire wheel which brought them up like new.





Despite the car sitting for so long, there was still full pressure in 3 of the tyres which I found incredible, but one of them had gone soft, so after a short play with some soapy water, I traced the leak to a bad valve which I replaced in work today. The soapy water session turned into a full clean and I was delighted to find under all the dirt, a very nice patina rim!







I'll obviously give the other wheels the same treatment.

What was also a very nice surprise was to discover, and to be honest I'd not raeally paid them any attention since buying the car was that the previous owner had very kindly fitted it with a brand new set of original cross-plys shortly before putting it into storage!





And best of all - check this out - Portuguese tyres! Gotta be worth some originality point there!





Nest up was to fit the NOS heater cables I'd acquired. To remove / fit them, firstly you must undo the threaded collar that holds the screw mechanism into the conduit... When I did this on my '64, it was amazingly tight so I automatically tried it with pliers, but to be fair, this came undone with very little effort at all.











The cable loops round a securing dowel that winds in and out as you twist the control knob to pull the cables and activate the leavers on the heater boxes.





Due to the longitudinal off set of the heater boxes (one is a few inches further forwards than the other) the heater cables are slightly different lengths to compensate for it, so make sure the longer one goes into the hole on the right hand side of the car when viewed from the driving position.







Then feed the cable through the tubes until they poke out the ends of the tubes on the sides of the frame horns.





I then fitted new rubber boots which stop dirt and water getting in to the conduit tubes. These were tricky to fit as the fat end of the cable has to pass through a tiny hole just big enough fit the narrow cable wire through. With a little grease and after dipping the rubber boot into a mug of boiling water, it slipped on eventually nice and secure, but I forgot to take a picture of them in position.




At this point, I was feeling the cold, and just at that moment, the garage door opened, and there was my dearly beloved with a nice hot cup of tea! Result!





I then decided to clean up the bowden tube that feeds the clutch cable from the chassis tube to the clutch operating arm. The tube is in amazing condition and once I;d cleaned the rust off the metal boss and tube end, along with with cleaning up the original clamp nuts and washer etc, it was all ready to refit, along with a new genuine VW rubber boot.













And that's were we'll leave it for tonight folks - stay tuned y'all!

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LT, bit random but can you take a picture of your door striker/catch for me please?

BTW nice to see some anal work going on :wink:

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THe one on the door or the one on the B pillar? No worries, will do it tonight...

Anal???

I prefer words such as appropriate, correct, thorough and properly... :wink:

You're actually one of my influences Andy, so it's all your fault!

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I'll have to ask Last Triumph, curiosity has got the better of me, but if you've really never driven a Beetle before, what challenged you to buy your car if other than the fact that its a damn good 'un :?: 😎

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I've been in the VW scene on and off since the late 80's ands did my first rotisserie body off restoration aged 15... none of this is new to me.

You've seen the '64 project I did back in 2006 I trust, as linked earlier in this thread?

I like originality and having gone through more MIG wire, repair panels, grinding discs, spot weld drills etc than I'll ever care to remember, I wanted a time warp car this time that didn't need all that stuff doing again.

I wanted an Oval as they are my favourite VW (shorlty followed by a pre 70 T1 Ghia and Split bus)

I could have bought one already restored, but I didn't want a restored car, unless it had been done to a certain standrd (spot weld position perfect in every detail and totally un dectectable from original) and I know of less than 3 people in the UK cabable of that type of work and I know what they charge...

So the only thing was to wait and search for the correct car to come up.

My must have criteria was:-

Never welded
Not needing welding
All original panels
Original paint
Original motor
Original trans
Original beam
Original interior
Original electrics and semaphores
Un-molestered and un-modified

Patience is one of my plus points.... :lol:

When this car turned up with original everything and in what is probably the best unrestored condition I could have possibly wished for, it was either this one, or I'd never get one.

Circumstance has just been that I;ve never actually driven one... crazy I know! :oops:

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there could be a big dissapointment when you drive it then,if so id be semi keen on it at the right price as it is nearly christmas and cars can only be given away....:shock:











I am joking obviously,think its going to be mindblowing! :lol:

would get out in mine if weather was more kind at the moment

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