Cheers Mike...

Is there a 'preferred' source?

Also, I trust that I still need to install the original dust cover rings if for no other reason than for correct spacing?

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Its just a case of finding a local supplier .The bearing is not unique to VW so it should be easy to find .SKF,FAG,Timken are all good makes and there's nothing between any of of them.As you said LT keep spacing as it was.

https://www.yell.com/s/bearings-moreton-wirral.html 

Mike

First thing this morning I called in on my brother in law as he has some ‘equipment’ in his attic. He is an electronics genius and works for the ministry of defence in design and research. Whilst I spend lots of time in the garage playing with cars, he spends time in the attic designing and building lasers….





Fortunately, he has a small hobby lathe which was perfect for re-facing the commutator in the dynamo.


The chuck was able to hold it perfectly true without the need for a running centre.







We ended up removing just under 0.75mm from the surface to get down to the deepest grooves, but there is plenty left to play with without going near the bottom of the insulation grooves.

To clean the burs and crud out of the grooves, I ground the wavy edges off both sides of a junior hacksaw blade which made a great little all-in-one tool perfect for the job.







After a quick clean up, I was left with this….. good as new.





I’ve found a source for some now 2ZZ bearings which until they arrive, the dynamo, and therefore the rest of the fan housing etc is on hold.

The only other thing left now to complete the motor is the heater boxes…..

I was all ready to install the NOS items when I heard these little voices whimpering from the bottom shelf of parts saying “Please use us, we’re fine, really – we promise to be good, we’re not too rusty and if you give us some love and attention, I know we’ll be up to the job…..”

As the main exhaust was rotted through and the original heater boxes had repair pipes welded to them, I just assumed them to be junk and as I have the NOS items, I didn’t give them much thought, but I’m under no illusion as to the value of a perfect pair of NOS heater boxes, and it seems silly to fit them for the sake of it if the original items are serviceable.

So I decided to strip them down and investigate their real condition – if it turns out I can use them after all, I’ll be over the moon, as it just adds to the originality and I get to keep the NOS ones for a rainy day.

I wanted to see what was behind the repair pipes, so carefully cut them off just in front of the welds to see what was underneath and discovered the original pipes inside which went pretty much all the way forwards to where the silencer joins, but you can see why they were repaired.







I then kept cutting the original pipes further and further back until it was back to the original thickness of pipe without any rust thinness which thankfully is well into the straight section if I decided to keep the J tubes and fabricate a correct diameter replacement tube.

I then gave them a jet fuel bath to get the oily and flaky junk off.

They really were very grotty….













Now for the real test – if ever you wanted evidence of the almost unbelievable powers of plusgas, after a 15 minute soak in the stuff, every single fastener which has been rusting solid for 53 years came off without a hitch. I’d bath in the stuff if it didn’t make my hair fall out….

Anyway – I was thoroughly delighted with what I found inside – almost like new, and check out the condition of the J tubes!!!





At this point, I’m thinking that a straight pipe could be invisibly joined at the cut (after carefully smoothing off the rest of the repair pipe) and hey presto – original heater boxes! Failing that, I’ve got some NOS J tubes lined up just in case.

For those that care, here are a couple of close ups of the mechanism if you’ve ever wondered what goes on inside…







Now – this is where it all gets a bit crazy…. stick with me on this….

It would be all too easy to send them for blasting and powder coating, but that’s not in keeping with the program, so here goes….

I carried out an experiment recently to test the rust removing capabilities between Coke and vinegar by submersing a pair of old rusty body mount washers off a previous project in a small container of each fluid for a few days and seeing what came out. Whilst the Coke was pretty much ineffective, the vinegar was astonishing!





You can see what’s coming next can’t you….





The looks I got at the check out at the local super market with this lot on the conveyor were hilarious!

The bags of white powder aren’t what they look like, they’re sachets of citric acid powder to give the vinegar some extra kick. The vinegar took about a week to work the rust off the washers, which is fine, but to speed up the process a touch, the citric acid will just spice up the mix a little.





Malt, no less!





My poor bin gets some crappy jobs….





I put all the original hardware into two small plastic boxes, marked left and right and punctured a few holes in it to make sure they flood with fluid, then closed them up tight with my last tie wrap, and some PK screws to make sure I don’t loose anything.







4 gallons of vinegar and over a pound of citric acid went into the mix….







I’ll be right back after these messages…. (which might run for a day or two!)

Cheers!

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Is everyone going to complain of the smell of vinegar when you switch the heaters on? :d

:lol:

Garage smells like a chippy! :shock:

It'll be all rinsed off, don't worry.

Can;t wait to see the results.

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Just fantastic.

I was thinking there's so much good stuff in this thread if you didn't mind, I'd like to see Rob add a resource page where we could have each job listed (with photos) individually. That would take away the need to trawl through pages in order to find out how you did something.

The tank did it for me as I've asked Evil Ben to replicate your method of cleaning it, but errrr, which page was it on:?: :lol: :wink:

Wow, I'm flattered - didn't think I was doing anything special....

Yeah, great Idea - go for it!

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This is one of the best threads I've read, it's up there with Martin's vert thread over on Resto

P.S Andy, glad I sorted your kitchen before you started this thread, would have been to nervous having seen your attention to detail! Lol!

Jamie

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This is definitely one of my two fave VW threads of this year (the other being M.Fenner's). You've really raised the restoration stakes by finding inventive, engineering uses for culinary products. To keep up, Martin now has to find a way of using chives, Honeydew melon and aniseed in the restoration of his interior upholstery.

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The pull out ninka bin door front is curved along it's length and therefore cannot shut propery - it either fits at the top, or at the bottom, but not both.... bugged me from day one.

Happy now? :lol:

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Martins thread is my favourite as well, although we're at the complete opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of the finished product.

Martin's car will be one of, if not THE most detailed and high quality builds in the UK when it's done and I doff my cap to his efforts and attention to detail.

My car, if I stick to my game plan, will hopefully be one of the most original and unmolestered Ovals in the UK, albiet with all it's patina paint, dings, dents and scratches etc.

Different Volks for different folks as they say.

To be even mentioned in the same sentance as Martin though is praise indeed and I feel flattered that people are so interested in my tinkerings and experimentation.

I'm not a pro, just a keen amateur who values originality and doing things properly without spending my way round a problem if I can help it.

I've had a thoroughly enjoyable week off work this week, (even though I did lose two days to the heat risers) but I'm back to doing 60+ hours a week from tomorrow, so please bear with me if progress slows down a little... :roll:

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Stop playing with it then and get back to the oval!!:lol:

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Anybody want to give me a clue how to remove / install dynamo brushes in a narrow slot dynamo???

The brushes are wider than the slot in the dynamo and you can't twist them 90 degrees to get them in as they are taller than the gap between the brass guide rails and the body of the dynamo... :?

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I just had a look at a spare generator and it looks like you have to remove the end with the brush holders ,put the brushes in and pull the brushes out while you slide it back over the comm.I have never done it but that looks the only way.Quite why that slot is too narrow for the brush is puzzling.

Indeed - I'm glad I'm not going crazy then...

But how do you get the end off????

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Just worked it out - there was a screw hidden under all the muck that holds the entire front casting onto the dynamo body - the entire front has to come off.

Now I know why they went to a wider slot! :lol:

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I did wonder why you didnt remove that part when i saw the photo,thought maybe sniffing all those cleaning products had made you slack :wink:

LT,Could you do me a small favour sometime while the engine is out and take a photo of from inside the engine bay looking at the rear valence .A detail shot of where the rubber strip channel is and above where it joins inside the engine bay.I am thinking of getting a wolf rear valence but they dont come with the inner part that attaches to the engine bay.

Thanks

Mike

Remember - I've never done this before, so every day is a school day! :oops:

I'll climb in the engine bay and take those pics tonight - although feel free to remind me in a day or so if I forget..

Just waiting for some bits n bobs to arrive in the post before I can progress, plus I'm back at work now.... 😞

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I have just found some thin slot dynamo pics in a 58 manual i have .In theory you could change the brushes with it still in the car although the manual tells you to remove it.
Probably too late with these but maybe some help for someone in the future.

CTRL and + key to zoom




The little screw you found ,not very obvious and easy to miss.


Some info on when they changed to a wide slot







Mike

Cheers Mike!

Couple of items on tonights agenda....

Firstly - whilst I'm waiting for my new bearings and brushes to arrive for the dynamo, now that the armature is all prepared and ready, I turned my attention to the body.

I spent a good while trying to find out how to remove the brushes in a narrow slot dynamo, only to find that unlike a later one where they just lift out, on an early one, the end cap has to be removed which is held in by a small screw hidden under a black fury coat.





Which when removed, allows access to inspect and replace the brushes.





Oh, deary, deary me.... this will never do... oh no, Sirrrreeeee!

I'm aware that the coils are delicately wrapped in a sort of cloth type insulation that I didn't want to scrub at, so to clean the housing inside, I removed 95% of the dirt with a soft old tooth brush, being as carefull as possible. This actually did a very good job, but for the final clean, I gave it a quick blast with some pure alcohol spray which is totally inert and wouldn't harm anything. This was fired out of a pressurized container like an aerosol can and got rid of the last traces of dirt whilst evaporating almost instantly.

Came out well.

Obviously some of the insulation on the lead wires will need a little attention, but other than that, it's ready for assembly.











And now for something COMPLETELY different......


Ladies and Gentlemen, please take your seats for the pilot episode of LT-TV!

Before I remove the gearbox I wanted to loosen the rear hub nuts.

We all know what is usually involved with this job - 6 foot long scaffold poles, broken tools, terrible language, and it needs no further description here, but as I had the Mr Torque tool ready in the wings, and as it's the sort of device where pictures don't really do it justice.....





I thought I'd go one better and show exactly how it works on LT-TV!


Quite amazing as this nut hadn't been off in over 30 years and possibly not at all as it was immaculate and untouched, just like the cotter pin.

If the feedback is positive, I'm make more vids, if not, it was a fun experiment either way!

Enjoy!




:lol:

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