Thursday, November 30, 2017

It is strange that the years teach us patience; that the shorter our time, the greater our capacity for waiting

Today was an odd day...I sold a bunch of stuff via Facebook groups, did absolutely no work on the car and made some phone calls about parts.  I called up Wolfsburg West today to inquire about the early vent felt trims - they told me that they're about a month away from being available.  The manufacturer is in Germany and they've been out of stock on them for a long time.  Given that the long/wide trim I bought from WW is damn near perfect, I'm expecting that the vent trims will be of similar quality.

On a suggestion of a fellow early Type 3 owner, I ordered up the vent trims from ISP West...they have no pictures of the actual product so I'm highly skeptical that they'll be anything other than the Brazilian trims but I'm open to being surprised.  If they work, then I'll install them and get the WW parts for the restoration.  If they don't work - I'll just wait until the WW pieces are available and work on other stuff on the car...like finding that groaning noise in the rear end.  At the rate I've been going, it'll take me a couple of weeks to get that sorted and then the vent pieces won't be that far off.  I also have those bus scrapers to swap onto the window trims.

Most of the parts that I bought for the headlight conversion to H4 and headlight buckets/trim have been sold off so I've recovered almost all of the money I put into that adventure.  Always nice when I can recover money that was spent chasing something that didn't work out.  I still have to aim the headlights - and potentially - buy new lenses for the headlights.  I suspect that part of my aiming problem is due to the optics of the glass lenses and that the fluting on the glass isn't compatible with the LED bulbs.  I may try to find some clear glass lenses to fit to them if they're not crazy expensive.

Wednesday, November 29, 2017

Holding me like gravity are places that pull

This is the main failure of the day:  The Brazilian made 'red stripe' felt trim did not install easily or cleanly.  I fought with it for a good 20 minutes before I gave up and yanked it out.  I didn't get a photo of just how shitty it looked once it was installed so you'll have to take my word for it: It doesn't work.  Maybe it'd work on a later car but not this one.  It's also too short by about 4" to properly cover the entire channel.
 This is the green strip felt - it fits the channel but the glass doesn't really fit in the felt once it's installed.  After everything was installed, I tried to lift the glass up with my hands and after getting about half way, the car door lifted up but the glass didn't budge.  It's safe to say that this isn't the solution for the doors.  Last thing I need to do is break a window regulator and have to tear the door apart again because I took a short cut.

I've been advised that ISP has the proper felt trim and that it works...my plan, for now, is to call WW and find out the ETA for their felt.  If it's a ways off, I'll roll the dice with ISP.  At some point, I'm going to need this thing to have functional windows...I need to get some miles on this engine for break in and it's going to take forfuckingever if I do it 5 miles at a time.

I'd rather not install and remove the door trim five times if I can help it...but the ability to roll the window up and down is kind of the deciding factor about whether or not I have to do it again.
 The larger felt trim fit very nicely around the door except where the repop Type 1 clips were fitted.  Since I'm going to have to remove this trim again - I am going to try to use the original clips after a little 'massaging' to get them to fit snug on the door frame.

I'm still on the fence about pulling the outer scraper rubber but since I have the Type 2 scrapers I bought from Wolfsburg West, I may just try to install them.  I discovered today that I can use aluminum pop rivets and then smash them flat in the vise.
 Using the outer scraper as it came with the trim and a NOS inner scraper - there's a gap of 14mm - too wide for the 5mm thick glass and neither scraper contacts the glass in more than a couple short spots.  The NOS seal doesn't fit as well as I'd have expected but that might be due to a design revision and I have the late version or something...I haven't really looked into it yet.
I also spent some time cleaning the inner section of the driver's side door and applying sound deadening.

The passenger's side door got cleaned and primed with red oxide paint.  Depending on how it sticks, I plan to top coat with a red rattle can paint and then apply sound deadening once the majority of the guts are in the door.  I put it in first on the driver's side and it got a little fucked up when I installed the window channel and vent window.

I still have the weird groaning to chase down in the rear of the car.  The camber compensator is off the car so that's not it...I'm going to back the parking brake cables off completely to eliminate them...then I'll have to dig into each wheel assembly until I find the source of the noise.  Below is a video of the last test drive I did in the car - I start the video at about the five minute mark as I'm driving through a parking lot and it's pretty easy to hear the groaning.  I don't know if it happens at higher speed because of the engine noise.  Either way, I need to figure out what it is and eliminate it.

Tuesday, November 28, 2017

Thought without learning is perilous

Today was semi-eventful.  I was able to tie up a few loose ends that have been bothering me.

Starting with the air cleaners...
Finished result.  I need to get button head hardware but that's for later.

The car still doesn't start on the first key turn but it seems to run fine.  I may take it to the local shop and have them look it over to make sure everything is in order.

There is an odd 'rubbing' sound coming from the rear of the car.  I think it's a stuck caliper on the rear brakes - if I had to guess.
Changed the oil and filter (somehow found a red filter so it doesn't stick out like a sore thumb).

Bought a filter wrench as well because I didn't have one - I used Channel Locks to remove the original filter.

I also started looking at the CSP Python exhaust...too expensive though.  I have to figure out how to get this Vintage Speed exhaust to work the way it should.  There is some welding work in the future of this exhaust.
Cleaned the bottom of the passenger's side door out and applied Ospho.  While I was out getting the oil filter - I also picked up some rattle can paint that's an 'okay' match.  It'll be a good temporary fix.
Got some felt weatherstripping from Home Depot to silence the door lever rod.  The original application is only at the end that goes through the hole in the door to the lock.  I added the rest of it to guarantee that it won't rattle.
I have the 'green stripe' felt trim - I'm going to use these for now.  I'll have to find a solution for the snug fit on the glass but it's time to get these fucking doors back together.
For the record - this is not the correct part to order if you're using Beetle felt...I spent the better part of 20 minutes trying to beat the shit into the channel.  Turns out, these are wider and don't fucking fit.

This was the lesson for today...keep an eye on part numbers!

The one other thing I accomplished today was to remove the camber compensator.  And the rear wheels have settled a little bit.  I may try to install the longer bar in a couple of weeks.

Sunday, November 26, 2017

Carburetor adjustment - attempt #1

The first pass at adjusting the carburetors went rather well.  I got all four to read between 5.5 and 6 on the snail with a 1000-1100 RPM idle and the car runs much better.  I took it on a drive through the neighboring subdivision and, other than a high idle, it ran very well.  I know how to fix the idle now and I'll get on that tomorrow.  I think I'll drop the snail # to about 4.5 and the idle should be closer to 900 RPM.  I still have the weird whistle sound.  I pulled the bottom of the air filter to validate its role in the whistle - not a valid suspicion, unfortunately.

The video is way long but the engine sounds better, there's more power and it doesn't reek in the car anymore.  All positives.

I don't think the carburetors are dumping fuel into the engine - if they are it's very subtle.  I've hovered over the engine after shut down to see/smell and nothing stands out the last couple of times.

This is my Home Depot plumbing department solution for reaching the #3 carburetor to test airflow.  Fits nice and snug.

Next up after the idle fix is shortening the air filter studs and an oil change then I'll get back on the door building.

I am also going to remove the bar on the camber compensator - I think it's causing the current wheel tuck situation...removing it will let me know for sure.

Saturday, November 25, 2017

Parts for later

Got a really cool box in the mail yesterday.  Super nice dual port tins, near perfect sled tins and torsion cover plates and a late oil fill with the tube that connects to the breather (to eliminate the possibility of the engine venting oil to the bottom of the engine case and making a mess).

Most of these parts are for later...I snagged the torsion covers because they were available.  Seems like one of those parts that is harder to find than expected.

I did some late night reading up on how to tune the Webers so I'm going to give that a go tomorrow and hope I remember/do it properly.  I'll probably save the window build for Monday so that when I go into a swearing tirade the little dude will be at school.

Friday, November 24, 2017

Tweaking the carbs

Today, I attempted to rid the car of the backfiring issue and see if I can get the carburetors synchronized a bit better.

I reset the idle stops to initial set up (1/2 turn in after contacting the stop) and got the linkage to be as equal as possible.  Turns out that was 80% of the issue...which was a lucky break.

The left side is flowing better than the right side.  The #4 cylinder is at 6.  Due to the location of the port for #3 - I couldn't get a reading.  I need to get a hose or something to allow me to read it.
#1 is at 4, which is a little low - I think my target is around 6.  I brought the idle up to get them to match and the car was idling at 1500 RPM - at least 30% higher than I want.
#2 is at 3.5 - again, a bit low.  This is at about 960RPM.  I'd like the car to idle around 800-850 RPM if possible.

Not a bad start for 30 minutes of work - I have to figure out how to get a reading on #3 and then work out how to bring up the 1-2 side without having a high idle.

Once this is all worked out I'll change the oil and swap back to working on the doors.



There is fuel in the oil again after running the engine for about 15 minutes.  The strongest odor is coming from the left side carburetor (also closest to the T in the fuel line).  I'm guessing that the electric fuel pump retains too much residual pressure at shut down and the pressure is relieved via dumping fuel into the carburetor.  If this is, indeed, the case, I'll pull the electric fuel pump and install a mechanical fuel pump because I don't want my garage to smell like a fuel spill every time I drive the car.

I drove the car a short distance (a mile, round trip) to the subdivision pool parking lot to adjust the headlights.  In spite of the 'not quite' sync on the carbs, it drives MUCH better than it did with the clones.  They've got a slight whistle - typical indication that they're not synced quite right.  They're close...

I am excited just thinking about how much nicer it'll be to drive once they're adjusted properly.

The LED headlights are nice and bright - needs a little more adjustment but there's no crazy glare to oncoming traffic.

Wednesday, November 22, 2017

Weber install

The first 'win' today is that the roof rack was picked up after a no show yesterday.  The driver said he didn't get the pick up until today.
I wasn't able to get the carburetors installed yesterday because I couldn't get a wrench on the inside nuts - while searching for something else, I came up with the idea of using socket head cap screws.  After going to two different stores - I was able to find the right quantity and length to get them installed.
These things barely fit!

I was able to turn it over and get the car started but it runs real rough and backfires a bit.  Given that I know jack shit about carb tuning, I've got a lot to learn so that I can get these running right.  I had a phone conversation with the engine builder today about some things to check/adjust first.  I also found a 'carb set up' guide that I'm going to refer to when I make an attempt on Friday. 

So far, the only modification I know I'll have to make is remove and trim the air cleaner studs - they're too long for the RamFlo filters.  I'm going to wait until I've got everything dialed in before I do that though.

I took a very short video of the initial start up - it's below.  I'm getting closer!

Tuesday, November 21, 2017

LED headlights are finished

The headlights are finished...

This is the unmodified P45t adapter before I shaved off some of the side bit to make this contraption work.
One of the four modifications to the P45t adapter to allow clearance for the cap to engage the housing.  This is the second one and it was much easier after I'd experimented the night before.
The left side is the modified H4 adapter.  The right side is how it arrives out of the box.

The first modification was done using a 4" grinder - it got the part hot and did more melting than grinding.

When I modified the second one today - I used a bastard file - much faster, cleaner and straighter.
Not a great shot but it shows the fairly clean cutoff at the top.  They are not aimed properly yet but I think they'll be pretty nice once they're aimed properly and I get a chance to get out and drive in the dark.

Another up side is that I get to keep the city lights in the 3 bolt headlights.

Toward the effort, I was able to get the carburetors mostly installed.  I cannot get to the two inner nuts on the 3/4 side to properly tighten them.  These Webers are larger in body than the AA clones.  I'll have to find a curved wrench before I can finish the install.  I tried to make my own from a cheap 13mm box wrench but my torch doesn't get hot enough and I just broke the wrench.  Once that wrench arrives, I'll be able to finish up the installation...maybe while everyone is wiped out from Black Friday shopping, I'll be able to go out and drive around a bit.

Sunday, November 19, 2017

P45t adapter with LED headlight

 Took advantage of an opening in time to test out the P45t adapters in the 3 bolt headlight housing.

The adapters are well made and fit nicely in the housing.
 The LED bulb adapter fits snugly in the adapter.  This picture is a bit premature because I hadn't yet pushed the LED adapter into the P45t adapter.
Here's where things hit a slight snag:  At first glance, it appears that the cap cannot be secured over the two adapters because they're thicker than the bulb that normally occupies this space.  At second glance, I suspect it's the plastic adapters...but at third glance, I suspect it's the LED bulb adapters and that the tangs are too long - preventing the bulb cap from being secured to the housing.

To make sure I didn't go off all half-cocked and make unnecessary modifications - I taped the LED bulb to the back of the housing and mounted it to the headlight bucket - it fits without any drama.  So the issue is either with the P45t adapters (plastic bits), the H4 adapters for the LED bulbs or the metal bulb caps.  I've looked at the assembly a few times and believe it's either the H4 adapters (tangs are too long) or the P45t adapters (plastic interference with metal bulb cap).

Follow up EDIT: After some additional monkeying around - it turns out that both the P45t adapter and the LED bulb adapter require modification.  The LED bulb modification requires that the tangs are near flush with the P45t adapter (and they're still good to go in the H4 housings after modification) and the P45t adapters have to be shaved a bit with an razor blade to allow the cap to interlock with the housing.  I did get one to fit.  If I get time later this week - I'll get the other one done and test them out.

I'll call this a draw until I get a little further into it.

Saturday, November 18, 2017

Building the crate for the roof rack

Today, the little dude and I prepared the roof rack for shipping after I went to Home Depot for supplies.

We covered all of the rails with water pipe insulation and taped it in place.
The finished result of keeping the 4 year old entertained for about 30 minutes.  He does good work when he's 'into it'.
 After a false start and standing around, staring at the rack and what I'd started to build, I came up with what would ultimately be the final form.  In fits and starts - when I had free time - I kept plugging away at building it.
 I've got two panels to place and some strapping to install and it's done.  Then it's a reweigh and updated dimensions before I get the shipping quote.  I'm hoping to get this thing off to the trucking company on Monday or Tuesday.
 The 40 IDF Webers arrived late today because it was one of those 'deliver the mail at 6pm' days.  There's a gasket missing so I am going to have to order those before I can get too far.

I've got plenty going on so I don't think this will slow me down any.
The once clean workbench is quite busy with lots of little things to get done.  It's a holiday week for the little dude so car projects may not get done quite so fast.

I traded the early Nutria ashtray that I had for a rebuilt late fuel pump today.

The parts book material sold so it also got packed up for shipping on Monday. 

I think this is my list of things to do so far:
* Test fit P45t adapters with LED bulbs in 3 bolt headlight housings
* Install Weber carbs
* Finish building driver's side door
* Build passenger's side door (if the driver's side goes well) - mitigate rust, top coat with paint, etc.
* Hook up the safety relay for the fuel pump (if everything else is good to go)
* Change the oil
* Put the rubber floor mats back in the car
* Finish printing supplements for Parts book

One day at a time...

Friday, November 17, 2017

Release and rebuild

 Oooh!  Look!  A door lock...yeah.  But stay with me here, the difference in effort to lock/unlock the doors (from both inside and outside) is remarkable!  Very little to no effort from inside and turning the key in the lock is now as smooth as my last car that had key locks.  I forgot that these locks could be so smooth!  I actually smiled when I opened the door and locked/unlocked the door.  There I was, standing in the garage, smiling like an idiot while I open and close the partially assembled door on my 50+ year old car.  So this is 'mid-life' happiness, I guess.

Early in the afternoon, the window trims arrived, along with the felt strip clips.  They're three days early (due on Monday) so I figured I'd get started on the driver's side door.  The window trims are not great but they're far better than what I removed in terms of rubber and dents.  The construction is mediocre but it'll work for now.

The plan is to completely build up the driver's side door before starting on the passenger's side door (which I promptly ignored by installing the door lock mechanism).  The passenger's side door is going to take more work to get it right due to the rust so I figured I'd toss myself a bone by doing the easy door first.

I test fit the felt strip in the wind wing channel - that's going to suck a little bit because the felt strip is wider than the channel and it compresses down to a slot that's too thin for the glass.
This door lock was lightly coated in hard crusty grease and I spent WAY too long cleaning it today.  All told, I think I spent two or three hours cleaning four door locks - trying to figure out which set to install.

These two are soaking in Fluid Film - I'll clean them out one more time before putting them away.  The benefit of storing them with Fluid Film is that it doesn't turn into crusty wax...so using them later won't be a chore.
The small Malpassi Filter King arrived today from the UK.  It's a fuel filter and pressure regulator all in one package.  Now all I need to get around to doing is figure out where to mount it.
These two little plastic rings are P45t to H4 adapters - they landed today and will, hopefully, be tested tomorrow.  I really, really hope the LED bulbs fit the 3 bolt headlight housing in the headlight bucket.  I think it's going to be a tight fit.

I'm also going to test the little film that's supposed to reduce the 'blue' effect of the LED bulb to a more 'natural' color suitable to a classic car while providing brighter light.
This is the stack of goods that remain after I completed the parts book that I'm keeping.  It's one complete book plus nearly two more complete books in pieces.  Not all of the pages are in great shape but it's a lot of material.  I have a prospective buyer and if he pays, it'll be on to another home.

I've had about all of the scanning and printing I can handle.  The reason I put this off for three years became abundantly clear about half way into the process.  I'm looking forward to the end of this project.

The glass tubes for the LED bulbs arrived today as well (it was a good day for packages!) so that chapter is closed as well.

Speaking of 'new homes', I sold the roof rack today...so I'll be building another crate to ship it to California next week.

The replacement carburetors arrive tomorrow afternoon - I have a lot of work on the board now and I'm hoping to be able to drive the car again in a few days.

Thursday, November 16, 2017

Parts book progress

The 'final' version of my original parts book has been created.  It's the contents of most of two books with a few pages from a third book.

I took the plunge yesterday and signed up for a month to month subscription to Adobe DC so I could clean up and edit the .pdf version of the parts book that I've been scanning over the last few weeks.

The whole book was scanned, cleaned up, made searchable and organized.  There are a few pages of the book that are still not as clean as I'd like but it's pretty close without Photoshop (which I don't have).
I tested out the organization and page cleanliness by printing out the first seven sections and putting them in page protectors for use in the garage while I'm working on the car.  I ran out of paper so I have to stop for the day.  I will get another ream of paper and print the last two sections and hope they fit in the other binder.  I'm printing each section in 20 page groups so I can check a third time to make sure it's all in order and nothing got screwed up.  So far, I've only caught one issue which I consider to be a pretty good result.
I found NOS locks for the car - they're en-route - but I will install the super nice used locks that I have on hand.  I am pretty sure the passenger's side lock that I removed is going to take a bit of work to get it functioning smoothly.

The new outer window trims should arrive by the end of the week.  Once I get those installed, the rest of the driver's side door should go back together pretty quickly.  My plan is to use the new window channels and keep the removed parts for future powder coating.  Recycling old/used for better/used or refurbished parts.

At this point, I'm waiting for my back to heal a bit and parts to arrive so that I can get the doors back together, lights finished and the engine back to where it should be once the carburetors are installed.


Tuesday, November 14, 2017

Finding all of the loose ends so I can tie them all together

The fender packing is complete - I tested the solidity of the packing by flipping it on its side, no noises other than the sound of it hitting the ground.

The crate will be here until shipping is worked out - it's actually now being used as a table where I store parts for the door rebuild.

After a short period of non-communication, the seller of the LED kit has indicated that they've shipped the missing piece.  That part should arrive on Thursday and I can get into the installation.  The P45t - H4 adapters should arrive within a week.  I might be able to get closure to this small project soon.

I sold the NOS rear seat cover to a guy with a super stock car - sad to see NOS parts leave but the ones that won't be installed on my car are just very slowly wasting away so they might as well be sold to those who will use them to improve their cars, right?

The Weber clones were shipped back and delivered yesterday - the engine builder communicated that the real Webers will be shipped out tomorrow and I should have them by the end of the week.

The door building process will be pretty good for the driver's side once the new trims arrive.  I found NOS door locks for the restoration so I'll use my good used parts to replace the super janky passenger's side door lock to get the car back on the road.  I'm going to work out a solution for the rust situation on the passenger's side so I can get the door back together.  I may try to use the new insulation I bought a while back but I have to get past the rust bit first.

I haven't yet figured out a solution to the wind wing broken welds...which will slip into requiring new wing seals...and if I'm going to do one, I might as well do the other one too.  Well, shit.  At least I have the parts.

Not much will happen over the next couple of days - I'm on a medically required break for two days.

Monday, November 13, 2017

Passenger's side door deconstruction

In between various other tasks for the day, I managed to get the passenger's side door apart.  I knew that this door wasn't going to be quite as nice as the driver's side because of a few visual clues.

The gap between the fender and the door when the door is opening is a clue that something ain't quite right with this door.
 The gap between the two panels virtually disappears when the door is opened but they don't touch...likely some form of 'magic' that'll also affect the fender when I get around to removing it.
The plastic sheeting job was half-assed (no pics) and I could see rust but I didn't know how bad it would be until I pulled the armrest off.  The sound deadening piece pretty much fell off with very little effort.  All of the bolts were rusty on the backside and the bottom 4" of the door are flaky rusty.
The follow up sign (other than the shitty plastic job) that this door has been opened up in the past:  The original clip boots are rolling around in the bottom of the door.

The rust is a bummer for sure...the odds of finding another 64 door in good shape without rust are slim.  If I were to look for a door, I'd also try to find one with a mirror hole (this one doesn't have one).  The other option is to keep the doors from the 65 and have them worked to fix the dents...guess I'll have to dig in and figure out just how bad the rust is on this door.
 Seems like everything inside of this door kind of sucks in some way.  This lock is so dry and stiff that I cannot believe this one worked better than the driver's side.  Smashing sawdust and a fistful of unsalted crackers would have improved the lubricity of this lock.

Manually manipulating it is like nails on a chalkboard - scratchy, shrill and made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.  I'm going to try to clean it and lubricate it - if that fails I'll pull out one of my spares.
The wind wing welds were broken - partially explaining why the damn thing was so easy to open and hard to close.

It looks like I'll be able to rebuild the driver's side door and maybe be able to fix the passenger's side door (for now) but a long term solution revolves around a replacement passenger's side door (or using the doors from the 65).

Sunday, November 12, 2017

NOS rear fender crate and headlights

The rainy cold weather spawned the decision to build a crate for the NOS rear fenders that are ultimately headed to California someday.  My son wanted to get his hands dirty and learn how to use some tools so we got on it.

This is the initial frame with the fenders to make sure it's the correct size.
 This is the finished product - I'm going to Home Depot tomorrow to get the plywood for the outer material.  I'm planning on using double wall cardboard to cushion the fenders inside of the crate to keep them from moving around too much in transit...which still has to be worked out.

The fenders are going to ultimately wind up on Ferris - he'll have three of the four fenders be NOS parts unless the 4th fender is found soon.
 Still waiting on the headlight people to send me the missing piece (glass tube) and I'm also waiting on the P45t to H4 adapters due inbound from the UK so I can test them on the 3 bolt headlamps and possibly eliminate the use of adapters, H4 bulb housings and single bolt headlight rings.

This is the LED light side - gives the car sort of a 'dead' look to it
The right side still has the P45t bulb in it - it looks more 'alive' and has a better reflection in the housing.  It's also a bit more water tight - meaning less corrosion in the headlight bucket but also possibly less air movement for the LED electronics.  This housing is deeper so I'm not sure it's going to work but I figured it was worth trying just so I know if it's possible.