Sunday, July 23, 2017

Inches of progress

Found myself with a little time so I swapped out the torn up rotors.  Fairly straightforward process and very simple to do.

One less thing on the list to do before I can put things back together.

I'd like to get the body out into the driveway so I can use the power washer underneath and give it a good cleaning...maybe paint a few areas where there's rust starting on the surface.  I'm not sure I'm going to have time though...we may be moving again soon and the car has to be mobile - this determines how long I can take to clean up and repair before paint.
Just about finished organizing and cleaning up - all of the parts I'm going to need are collected and organized by where they go on the car...now I simply have to wait for the powder coated parts to return - then I can put the suspension bits back together.

Saturday, July 22, 2017

Clean up, pick up, put away...

I spent about an hour this morning organizing and cleaning up the remainder of the parts to make sure I have the parts I'm expecting to need for the assembly process.  I did a quick inventory of the parts that need to be ordered and put them on order - fulcrum plates, rubber bits, and a spare set of inner spacers (as insurance).

Things left to address: install the second air port for the carburetors (air intake), clean the engine bay, source a thermocouple plate and remote oil cooler, clean up the hardware that will be reused, etc.

As the days tick away, I'm getting more comfortable with the work that is ahead to put the car back together.  That first drive with a new engine and transmission is going to hopefully be pretty awesome.  Some days, it seems like I've got tons of time and others it feels like I'm not going to have enough time.

Friday, July 21, 2017

One more shot...

I made a break for it in the middle of the day yesterday - drove up to the powder coating shop and dropped off the axle tubes, subframe, spring plates, bump stop brackets, reinforcement plate and trans mount...should all be ready in a couple of weeks.  After that, I stopped by a semi-local speedometer repair shop and the owner tested both of my Gossen tachs.  One appears to work - the other one does not.  He suggested that I send them to Palo Alto Speedometer for repair.  I called them when I got home and they were familiar with the name but not the specific tach.  They were willing to bench test them for me and suggest a cost to repair them if they did not work.  I sent them off today - hoping this isn't the box that the USPS decides to lose.  They're insured but the process of finding one again would be a real bitch.  I'll probably hear about them sometime next week at the earliest.

The annual family vacation is coming up at the end of next week - powder coated parts will be ready, tachs will be ready and the engine is about 3 weeks away from showing up.  I called Chico and he told me about the progress of the engine build and we confirmed some other changes I requested.  He said that he's about a week behind what he originally quoted and that time isn't likely to slip much more.  It's nice to know that in about a month - I'll have all of the parts here to put it back together.  I'll just have to find the time.  Work is consuming a lot of my time right now...

Sunday, July 9, 2017

maybe sailing, maybe drifting...

A local Type 3 guy, Pete, came by yesterday so we could finally meet in person and he could have a look around to see if anything was of interest to him.

Fortunately for me, he was interested in the transmission - so after a couple hours of talking about various experiences, we set about taking the axles and nose cone off.  The end gears and fulcrum plates look okay and I kept the nosecone just in case the rebuilt trans doesn't come with one.  Pete is a cool dude with lots of great stories, lots of experience and what sounds like a pretty cool parts collection.  I'm hoping to get this car back on tires so I can get together with Pete and Chadd to go for a little cruise in the Type 3s.

I'm still on the fence about whether or not I'll take the axle tubes apart - I may defer to the powder coat shop to tell me what they can do with them being together - if they cannot properly prep/coat them assembled, they'll get pulled apart.  I should be able to find out some time this week.

It still feels like progress and that's motivating...

Friday, July 7, 2017

New parts are always exciting!

The replacement parts have started trickling in, one package at a time...

First to arrive are the new rear spring plate hardware pieces.
I've also ordered new hardware for the transmission mount at the rear and will potentially order up new shock bolts as well.
 Replacement rotors for the rear disc brakes - bought them on sale for what I thought was a decent price.  I've got tons of time to rebuild the hubs so I figured it'd be nice to have non-fucked up rotors.  I'll either keep the jacked up pair and have them surfaced or sell them to someone else who might want them.
 VEWIB axle boot seals for the new transmission/axles.  I got the split boots because I don't think I'm going to pull the axle tubes completely apart this go around.
Also got these rear wheel bearings with a split clip around the outer edge.  Not sure what that's about but I'm pretty sure I'm going to send them back.  I've already ordered replacements from another source.

Tomorrow is the day I pull the axles apart on the original transmission...which I'm hoping to trade for a rear subframe (if it's better than mine).  Once that's all worked out and I receive the reinforcement plate - it all goes off for powder coat.

Tuesday, July 4, 2017

Even the inchworm makes progress

I had a couple of pockets of time today - I spent the majority of the largest pocket cleaning up the workbench and putting tools away.

I did have another look at the reinforcement plate - with the romantic notion that I might heat this thing up and straighten it out so it could be used again...but then I flipped it on the edge and the reality of the situation became apparent.
 I neither have the skills nor the ability to straighten this thing out - and the time I would spend doing it would not be 'time well spent'.  So I reached out to a few people and I think I've found a suitable replacement.  Fortunately, time is still on my side as far as preparation is concerned.

The plan is to get a replacement and tweak the floor mounts into shape for now so that I can get it all back together and drive it for the late Summer/Fall.  Truth be told - I haven't missed many driving opportunities lately because it's rained so much here over the last several weeks.
Another thing I did today was remove the rear transmission mount - one of the washers was in three pieces and the bolts have definitely seen better days.

I have a new Brazilian manufactured rear mount that I'll add to the powder coat pile for this rebuild.

Slowly but surely, I'm getting ready to drop parts off for powder coating.

Saturday, July 1, 2017

"If we wait until we’re ready, we’ll be waiting for the rest of our lives."

The 1500 S engine, after some delays on the carrier's part, departed on Thursday for California.  I've sold off a few other early engine parts along the way...I'm in the 'dragging my feet' portion of removing the rear subframe but I need to get on it very soon if I'm going to meet the time line of having it powder coated and assembled before the replacement transmission and engine arrive.

I did manage to get a little progress today, however, so things are still technically moving forward.

 The center support plate was the hardest part to remove.  Two of the bolts were wedged into place by bent metal.  I had to dig out the hammer and chisel to bend metal back to get at the bolts.

The last one caused more trouble because the square weld nut inside broke free.  The floors are in much worse condition than I initially thought.  The whole rear section starting about halfway under the front seats to the rear where the battery sits is rusted through and there's not much holding it all together.  I'm kind of surprised I haven't put my foot through the floor.
 This piece is destined for the scrap bin.  There's no saving it.  The trouble is that I don't think a straight one will bolt up to the existing floor pans...which means that I could do the floor pans.

On one hand: restoring the pan wouldn't be that big of a job but it would be time-consuming (time is a commodity that I'm currently short on due to my workload).  It'd be hard to restore the pan and not slip into a full blown restoration - which would defeat the purpose of trying to get the car running/driving and enjoy it for a while before starting the restoration.

On the other hand: I probably should find a stopping point and just drive the car for a while.  That's hard to do knowing that I could just pull it apart and get the restoration going...start using the parts I've been collecting for years.  I'd really like to pull the pan and get that fixed up but it's such a slippery slope...might be a 'game day' decision.

At minimum, the rear subframe will be completely restored.  I guess I should be okay with that and move forward but I can't help but realize that I'll wind up doing this all twice (now and later).

Evening edit:  I was able to get quite a bit done today - these cars come apart rather fast- it's getting them back together that's hard.
 I put the tires on the rear end and removed the bolts.  I used one of my little dirty carts to hold the front end so that when it came down it wouldn't hit the concrete.  It worked out pretty well.  Once I got it out from underneath the car, I removed the rear brakes, then the transmission, then the spring plates and torsion bars.
 I'm fairly certain that this is either the original gasket or it's a cheap repop - it's borderline crunchy/soft.
 Typical VW transmission - completely caked with oily dirt.  I did the boot seals right after buying the car and they seem to have held up rather nicely.  I've got a new German set on the way and they should arrive before I need to put the new transmission back together (install the axles).
Found an original shift coupler cage - super nice condition...
 I can't tell if this rubber for the shift coupler is new or was taken from a new one and placed into the OE cage - the clip style clamp was a nice sight though.  The hockey stick bolt was safety wired - so someone has been in here recently.
 The rear subframe almost stripped down to its core.  I have to figure out how to get the trans cradle loose.  I got in touch with a local Type 3 guy and he might bring another subframe over - if it's nicer than mine, I'll buy it and have it powder coated.  If not, I guess I'll work with what I've got.
 It still somewhat amazes me at how fast these cars come apart...

I also bought new rotors for the rear from CIP1 while they had the CSP rotors on sale with free shipping.  I'll see those in a couple of weeks - I'm in no hurry since this won't go back together for about a month.
 The only thing I didn't get off yet is the spacers for the rear brakes but I figure they'll come off when I pull the axles.
I noticed these three holes on the side of the transmission when I was putting it on the cart - pretty sure you can see right inside.  Not sure why there are three holes here but I'm thinking they should have plugs and not be open to the world.

The fluid that came out of the transmission was fairly clean and amounted to about 2 quarts.

The hockey stick is a redrilled Type 1 so someone has at least had the nosecone off of this transmission at some point.  EDIT: Turns out, the super early hockey stick is a redrilled Type 1 hockey stick.  The geometry is slightly different due to the heat tube in the tunnel.  Both the front and rear mounts are new Wolfsburg West manufacture and are in near new condition.