One by one, the house will be rebuilt

Did some additional digging and found that all of the photos are in a Picasa Web Album - all of them - the link to them from this blog is simply broken.  I can't find an easy way to link them back up, so I'm going back and, one at a time, linking them back up to their respective posts.  Late yesterday, I was about ready to just shut this whole thing down, photo-wise.

I did delete a few inconsequential posts - thinking that I'd probably never find the photos...frustrating because I don't really have a lot of time to go back and rebuild this thing.  And I'll now have three copies of some photos - not knowing which one is linked to the blog, so all three will have to remain.

Ferris's blog is up to date and corrected - I'm now focused on fixing this one to its original state.

Tomorrow is 'new phone' day.  New SD card and case for the new phone will arrive tomorrow.

Detour in the blog

I've gone back and looked at fixing both this blog (for the second time in 2 years) and fixing Ferris's blog (4th time in 6 years)...it's going to take a long time to fix the photos and I don't know how long it'll take Google to fuck it up - the elimination of Google+ photos and Picasa (it's now just Google Photos) has ultimately played a role in some of the failures in this blog.  Part of the fault is my phone and the sync between it and Google's back up to the cloud.  A week ago - before this issue popped up, I had one version of every photo in my Google Photos, now I have two versions - neither of which link to the blog images.  Going back through my photos and deleting the duplicates is one issue, fixing the blog images is entirely another

While I'm making progress on Nigel - I'm very discouraged at having documented so many things only to have them come apart on this blog.  I'm going to fix a couple of images but the majority of them won't get fixed - I simply don't have time to go back and search for the photo and re-link them all...only to wonder when Google will make some change that blows it all up again.

The price of 'free' is that this is all at the mercy of someone else.  I'm not going to create a build thread on TheSamba.com for two cars - one because it's not the right platform and two because it's not the audience I want.

I may look into my own domain to host the blogs but that's not really on the horizon right now.  Until I get the photo situation worked out or I get my own domain, the updates will be text only going forward.

The downside to being 'connected'

Well...looks like my phone's issues have reached full tilt and fucked over the blog...most of the photos that I used on this blog were linked from my phone - supposedly backed up by Google (apparently not).  The SD card that housed all of my photos on my phone is supposed to back up hourly.  A couple of days ago it unceremoniously died.  In the event that you're considering Lexar memory, I'd recommend you choose another brand.

I was wondering if Google's axing of Picasa was partly to blame but it appears that only the photos linked from my phone are to blame here and on the Ferris blog.  The photos are online but not linked to Blogger because I went 'through' the phone.  I won't be doing that anymore...

Looks like I'll have to go back and restore the photos if I can remember what they were.

Jim came by today and tweaked the carbs - the car is running more smoothly now.  Alignment and brake bleed is last on the list before the car can be put back together and driven out of the subdivision on a real road trip around town.  It's time for Nigel to stretch his legs a bit.

For obvious reasons, no photo for this post...

Time to buy a new phone

I took this video on my phone - which decided about five months ago that it no longer wanted to 'auto rotate' so I can only take photos and video in portrait mode.  After spending the better part of an hour online - looking for a way to rotate the video and then doing it (via YouTube), I present the annoying sound of my voice, a peek at my DD (Volvo V60 R Design), and Nigel, idling a bit high after the first start in over a year.

The carb whisperer will be over on Monday to help sort that out - meanwhile, Nigel needs an oil change.

Super productive day off pays off

A wonderfully productive day off of work today!  The weather was super nice at about 75°F and sunny.  The beginning of the day is detailed on Ferris's blog since that's where most of the action took place.

Once we finished with Ferris, Craig and I spent some time working to bleed the brakes on Nigel, who has been sitting in the garage for the better part of a year, waiting for his turn at life.  The brakes were bled well enough to stop the car, we did a once over on the front suspension, making sure bolts were tight.  Wound up pulling the third fuel pump out of the car today while attempting to start it for the first time this year.  It's the second one to pull the fuel inlet tube.  I also got to taste Summer blend 87 octane fuel.  Twice.  Listerine didn't help, Gatorade didn't help.  Sour Patch Kids helped a lot, oddly enough.

The fuel pump in the car now is a NOS Pierburg.  Once the fuel made it to the carb bowls, the car fired right up.

I put the choke wire connector covers on today - turns out that 40 year old plastic isn't terribly flexible - this one broke with little effort on my part.  Fortunately, I've got tons of random spares.

Since we were making good progress, we continued.  Hooked up the clutch cable, accelerator cable, fixed a couple of odd wires, repaired the speedometer cable grommet, replaced a bad relay, checked the lights, corrected the steering wheel gap, checked interior lights and after firing the car up and tinkering a bit, we drove the car around the neighborhood for ten or fifteen minutes.

When we got back, I swapped the stock shifter for the Hurst that's been in the garage for three years - I prefer the more precise shifting of the Hurst.

A local VW carb whisperer is coming by on Monday after work to tweak the carbs slightly - the car runs but it's not quite right.

Once that's done, I'll set up an appointment and get the alignment done and have the brakes checked by someone more skilled.  A few cosmetic tweaks and a couple of new seals and Nigel should be good for a while.  It'll be nice to drive the car around this Summer - I just have to figure out how to get my son's car seat into the back because he's already asking if he can 'come too'.

If you just focus on the smallest details, you never get the big picture right.

The Koln column from Belgium arrived last week.  It's in about the same condition that I expected - so it was nice to not be unpleasantly surprised.

 The contact plate is in okay shape but I think I'm going to replace it anyway since I'll have to take it apart to sand it down for paint.

The spring is missing from the contact plate but that'll get addressed by being replaced completely.

The clip that holds the turn signal arm to the body was missing (I knew this in advance) but I've sourced another one.

There is physical damage to the turn signal arm itself (I didn't know this in advance) but since it needs to be replaced, not really a big deal.

Then we come to the 'fun' part:  The spring and end cap pieces are missing - not a big deal since I have spares.

In other news - I'm now without ads in the classifieds because I took them all down.  One less distraction.

I have other parts inbound and after they arrive, there won't be much coming in for a while as I sort through what I've got and where the projects need attention.

There's one more trip to chrome and possibly one or two more trips to powder coating before I can safely consider it 'mostly done' - it'll be 'completely done' when both cars are complete and the list of 'things to do' is blank.

Don't wake me up 'til we arrive

 The carburetors from Volkzbitz.com came in the mail today.  They look really nice.  It's going to be kind of a shame that 90% of these things won't be seen once installed.

The other three sets of tie rod ends came in and they're in near perfect condition.  The cotter pins are missing from three or four of the tie rod ends but I can simply replace them when the time comes.

Powder coating will, hopefully, be finished next weekend.  If I get lucky, it'll be ready to be picked up on my way back from a business trip to Indiana at the end of the week.  I haven't accomplished much in the way of getting the engine for Ferris put back together but it's at least on my 'radar' for something that needs to be finished "soon-ish".

I'm working on ordering the CSP disc brake kit for the front - along with some other parts that I've been trying to find and not having much luck.

I haven't yet confirmed if the NOS seat bases that I found are correct because the seller won't send photos.

Yeah, send me money and I'll send you a mystery package that might be what you wanted/paid for.  I'll probably do it...I've done dumber things that have worked out.  I think this spot has the second pair of interior levers as well - if not, I'll get a (new) chrome guy to quote the job and just refurbish a current set.

I placed two small orders with ISP West to replace both the front hood seal and the rear hatch seals, the rubber grommet for the warm air tubes on Ferris and a rubber cargo mat to quiet the engine noise.

The next few purchases are going to be fewer in number but greater in cost.

Flippin' rocks and finding stuff

Found a used but functional Koln column on eBay Germany.  It didn't sell at the listed price.  I contacted the seller and he sent more photos, including 2 videos that show the ignition functioning.

My plan is to take it apart, sand it, paint it and put it back together.  I will likely install it in Nigel to run it until the restoration is underway, keeping the NOS Koln column as a spare.

 Bakelite looks really good - no melted parts, no cracks/damage - let's hope it arrives in the same condition.

Only missing the clip to hold the turn signal arm to the housing.  I should have a spare in my cabinet.

True to form old school lock tumbler, only one key.

It's worn in all of the right places.

Behold the turtle...he only makes progress when he sticks his neck out

In my 2016 quest to 'clean up and clear out' excess parts, I've started digging into the bins that hold various assortments of parts - bins that were slowly taking over every horizontal surface in the garage.  I continue to remain focused on getting squirreled away parts either rebuilt/refurbished or moved on to another home.

This pile is most of the carburetor parts that I dug out of one bin and five trays in my parts cabinets.

This matched pair (VW 5-1 and VW 6-2) of carburetors will be rebuilt as a spare pair.

It's all headed out the door in 24 hours.

I've regained four trays in the parts cabinet - the bin will be used to store the spare carburetors when they return.

This is the pile of spare pieces that will be sent in as core pieces.

I don't need more than one spare pair of carbs so it's time they found a new place to live.

While going through the bin of carbs and parts, I noticed this spare top with an odd bottom piece that's not like the others.

I don't know what this is but I kept it so that I can find out if it's unique.

the blood we crave shall drive us all insane

Both mufflers are sold - I decided that I neither need them nor have the space for them right now.  I'm in 'house cleaning' mode and I don't want to lose momentum, so off they go...someday I may wind up regretting it because they are super nice and still have stickers but I'll deal with that when the day comes.  The third oddball muffler will either be used temporarily or I'll put it up on the wall in the garage as a souvenir.

For now, I'm focusing on finishing collecting the last few pieces for Nigel's eventual restoration and the beginning of getting Ferris back on tires again.  There a few minor pieces streaming in slowly but nothing *big* or *exciting* to anyone other than me.

The other disc brake kit is finally gone - sold to someone who knows what he's getting himself into.  I've moved on, albeit with lighter pockets and the weight of experience.  I'm already planning the brake set up for Ferris - CSP disc - and contemplating moving the rear drums from Nigel to Ferris.  Nigel would then receive rear discs from CSP.  I just like parts that fit and are designed to fit together properly from the start.

Starting off 2016

 The wayward box from Germany arrived today.  It departed Germany on 8 Dec 15 and arrived nearly a month later...holidays, man.

Inside the box of parts was a 'gift' from the seller - they send me a Christmas gift each year for being a good customer (aka: spending lots of money with them).  It's usually a calendar or other literature - always interesting...but this year, I received an old Volkswagen themed board game.

The detail of the parts inside is pretty nice!  I didn't take it out of the box because it's 40 years old and I don't want to damage anything...maybe one day when it's quiet, I'll pull it out and see if I can figure out how the game is played.

 Among other small items, I bought this pair of NOS Notchback pop outs - they're in original packaging (although each is different - both have the OE VW part sticker affixed) and they are in very nice condition.

I have a potential buyer lined up but if he backs out, I'll pop them up in the classifieds or in the various Facebook groups to get them sold.

In addition to this, I bought a single NOS early parking brake cable (311 609 721), two repop later cables (311 609 721 A), heater cables, coat hooks, and an extra NOS pop out frame for the Variant.

I've decided that I'm not going to buy parts for random people going forward - it's too much work and too distracting, not to mention thankless.  I'll continue buying parts for a few friends but I'm done buying for random people.  I consider it a New Year's resolution for me.

Little by little

Found one.

I'll post the other parts up in the classifieds since I don't need them.

Not much in the way of progress to report - cleaned the garage again.  Made some phone calls about the welding to be done.

That's about it.

You know you like it but it drives you insane

I stopped 'trying' yesterday after I installed this brake rod - adjusted to the 149.5mm length shown in the Bentley repair book - and it didn't have the 5mm space (show at the top right @ 'x') between the master cylinder and the tip of the rod.  The pedal stop was adjusted all the way back to no avail.

So, on a whim, I dug through my parts and found the exact rod shown in the book and I cleaned it, adjusted to the 149.5mm length and swapped it with the one in the photo.  Right off the bat, it fit better and - oddly enough, it was too loose.  This simply meant that I could bring in some of the play on the floor stop.  I'll now go on a bender to find another one...

Once the floor stop was adjusted and tight, I pulled the brake return spring over the seat on the pedal cluster.  And then the brake pedal swung forward-pulled by the tension on the spring.  The stop on the floor had suddenly failed to stop the pedal.  I removed the OE pedal stop and retrieved a replacement new part I bought a while back.  First thing I noticed was that it was a good 5mm taller than the OE part - which is exactly what I needed.  I installed the new stop and it worked perfectly.

Which lead me to reach this point:  The cluster is installed, the proper gap between the master cylinder and the rod, the clutch pedal no longer experiencing the weird hang that it had in the past.  I don't know if it was the crap that'd accumulated on the floor (bottom of the pedal arm was scuffed) or if it was starting to make its way past the too short pedal stop and scuffing/hanging as it passed.  I'm officially closer to bleeding the brakes.

In other news:  I sort of volunteered to help out a new Type 3 owner in the UK with cowl drains that I don't need - and the discussion about the emergency flasher bracket/light came about...I dug out the three of the four knobs that I have and pulled the bulbs - I'll be on the hunt for a replacement the day after Christmas so I can test the switch I'll be sending out with the one on the left.  I'll have three switches for two cars and that suits me fine.

I'm anticipating being able to wash my hands of the disaster that was the first disc brake kit (not to be named) in the next couple of weeks.  I took a deposit on it and it's packed and ready to ship.  Sucks that I'll be losing 50% of what I put into it but I'm done screwing around with what has simply become a distraction.

Speaking of distractions...I am still on the hunt for a decent adhesive remover to clean up the inside of the car.  I'm on my fifth product with no positive results...maybe it's just too cold.