Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Early breather

The early super rare breather without the pipe inlet from the oil bath air filter.

This is the part that should have come in three weeks ago.

They're both now on their way to their new owner in California.

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Like two ships passing in the night

It dawned on me last night during an email exchange that Nigel and Ferris have yet to be in the same place at the same time...Nigel is in the garage and there are pieces of Ferris here but the two cars have not been assembled and adjacent.  It's a lot like trying to get Dave Grohl and Courtney Love together for a photoshoot.

Once I rectify the issues with the pan for Ferris, I'll be looking to start bolting things together.  I'm itching to start putting that pan together.

One more shipment arrived today - again most parts for fellow Type 3 people.

 311 405 615B
A set of NOS front drums for the 64/65 model year.
 A set of NOS drum hub caps.

 311 405 341
Deka 10k bolts for the front drum brake spindles (short version).
 311 405 343
Deka 10k bolts for the front drum brake spindles (long version).
 311 255 149 A
Protection plate for heater box
A mystery hinge that's supposed to fit a Type 3.  The part number indicates that it's for the lower right but this picture of my spare door says that's not quite right.

I posted up a thread on TheSamba.com and so far the answer is that the new hinge is a conversion hinge for the later doors.  It makes sense but doesn't really solve my issue.  So I'll keep looking.



Saturday, December 13, 2014

Rust bullet failure

The weather warmed up today and I was hoping to scuff up the surface on the first coat of Rust Bullet that I put on the spindles and steering arms a while back.  Once they were scuffed up, I planned to add a second coat today and then apply the final coat of Black Shell tomorrow since the weather is supposed to remain warmer than normal.

The whole plan fell apart when the Rust Bullet started coming off in flakes while lightly sanding the caliper brackets...and then it happened on the steering arms and on most of the flat surfaces of the spindles.  I either didn't properly mix the coating or it was applied too thick (due to the cold probably).  In any case, I wound up removing it all from the steering arms and one of the spindles before deciding that I wasn't making progress.  So I've opted for a 'Plan B'.

Plan B is to drop the stuff off for media blasting and powder coating along with a few other items and pick it all up and then assemble as time allows.  There's no real deadline, per se, and I would like to get it all done so that I can get the brakes bled and back to functional.

I found a shop in Chicago that I'd like to try out.  I'll start with the brake parts and some other miscellaneous pieces.  I don't know when I can make it happen but at least I know where I'm going to start.

Thursday, December 11, 2014

What you pay for isn't always what you get...

A few months ago I bought front wheel bearings in anticipation of this brake changeover.

I pulled one of the bearings out of the box for the first time since they arrived and discovered that I definitely did not get what I paid for...I specifically paid more for German bearings and wound up with Brazilian bearings which are nowhere near the same quality.

Might be high time I checked everything with a fine toothed comb since it seems that people, in general, can't be trusted.  I may simply be late to this party and it's time for me to 'catch up'.

I opened the other box and it too has a Brazilian bearing.

Type 3 parts book

I found a Type 3 parts book half way around the world that has at least half of the pages that I'm currently missing.  The price is pretty good and by the time it arrives I will have completely forgotten that I paid for it so it should be a nice surprise.

I'm hoping that the other pages I'm missing will be included.

Fingers crossed things will work out.

Wednesday, December 3, 2014

A minor modification planned...

I found a decent shot of the 67 only dual brake reservoir.  I'll be using this as a guide to get it installed without looking hacked into place.

My plan is to trial bend the supply line by using copper first then copy the shape into the final supply tubing.

I bought the panel piece to be welded in and once I get the car back on tires I'm going to get this installed correctly.

Fortunately, I won't have to do this on Ferris as the 65 already has this bump on the divider.

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Early rare parts for a fellow Type 3 owner

A box I thought may have disappeared showed up today after I made a several phone calls and spent a lot of time on hold.  I've discovered that the postal service has terrible fucking hold music.

Nearly all of the parts in this box are for a fellow Type 3 owner undergoing a restoration on a very early car.  Three of the parts are pictured and one (a spring) is not.  The first two parts are correct while the third part was incorrectly shipped.  I'm expecting the correct part to arrive in a couple of weeks.

Below are the other three parts:
311 129 71 A
Bracket -Return spring
to Eng. No. 65 745
NOS
 311 101 771
Single port cylinder head
NOS
311 115 452 C
Oil Breather
NOS

Monday, December 1, 2014

Black cap repop fuel pump

Here's something I don't think I've seen before:  A black cap late repop fuel pump.