The end of the year is closing in on a slow year for progress

I've been working on some rather random parts sales/trades in the past couple of weeks.  I traded a couple of parts that had very little value to me for some parts that have a much greater value.  I'm helping a couple of people source parts and services during my 'dry spell' so parts are being collected and made ready for a departure.  I'm happy to help others out and slim down my parts stash at the same time.

The parts I asked Mario to hold a couple of months ago are finally on their way - should be here any day now...I would know exactly when if the USPS would update their tracking information.  The tracking used to detail every movement of the parcel, now I'm lucky if it tells me once or twice before the box randomly shows up.  It was last scanned in NY a week ago so it'll show up any day now.  Probably when I'm not home...which means I'll have to chase it down at the post office.

I had an email chat with the Vintage Speed guy, Mr. Lee, and he says they can make a 'custom' Type 3 stainless exhaust that will allow me to use both upper and lower heat exchangers.  The lead time is 6 weeks and I owe him some dimensions with photos.  Looks like I'm going to sell off the exhaust I just bought because I really want to have both heat exchangers.  A little more research would have saved me a lot of time/money.

I'm also debating putting the Airkewld brakes up in the classifieds - who knows - maybe someone is more willing to resolve Pete's half baked product issues.  I also think I could fix what's wrong with them over the Winter since there won't be much else going on.  Still pondering what to do...would be nice to be able to use them vs. lose the money though.

I sold my last DV profile ignition switch yesterday...I hesitated to sell it because it's just so damned nice.

It's what I'd call 'super NOS' condition...very nice condition all the way around.

No progress on the car of late - still working on the yard - but I'm still hopeful that I'll get the brakes bled before the snow falls.  I know, I'm running out of time.  The temperature has dropped 25°F in the last three days (it was 82°F on Monday and 65°F today) and that, along with the panicked look on neighborhood squirrel's faces, means that cold weather is coming.

It's a real harsh reality that I didn't even start the car ONCE this year.  I'm planning on draining the fuel tank because that fuel is getting closer and closer to varnish than fuel at this point.

There's always next year...where I can hopefully make some progress.  The Winter will be spent getting things painted, collected and sold as needed to slim down to the things I really need.

Details create the big picture

This image is out of the Type 3 Workshop Manual, printed in 1965, that shows the stock engine set up.

I noticed several things that never caught my eye in the past - little details like the location of the spark plug wire holder on the left side engine tin - or that the vacuum line for the carburetor goes up and over the carb body - not around it.  It appears that the engine tin is grey vs. black based on the contrast with the black hose and air intake bellows.

This image was taken tonight after I made a few changes to the engine bay.  I'm trying to get the engine to more closely resemble the stock engine image above.  There are a few things that won't match the above image perfectly - like the oil breather that appears to be grey in color vs. the black that became standard.  I made an attempt at getting the fuel lines under the oil pressure sender but there's no way that was going to happen - it might be due to the oddball extension bit that's on my oil sender bracket.  I'm not 100% sure why it has the extension but I'm not going to screw with it right now.

I have a 4 rib boot for later when I get super anal about the appearance - the 2 rib works just fine and I've got a handful of them.  I only have the one 4 rib and it'll go on a finished car.

I'm waiting on my 'anti-siphon' valve before I connect the new fuel line and clamps (not pictured in the early car manuals).

I wound up swiping the fuel pump, stand and gaskets from my spare motor...it's now more 'torn down' than built up.  I've got to fix that - I've taken too many parts off of that motor at this point.  It's time to start putting things back on it so that I can test run it again in the Spring.

Vintage Speed exhaust

Amazing how fast this thing showed up...it's real pretty in person too.

I sold the stock exhaust today - which helped cover most of the cost of the Vintage Speed.  Now I get to figure out how to mock up the adapter for the small heat exchangers.

Watching things progress slowly

Due to digging up the yard to install new drainage pipe and the beginning of a new landscaping project, I've done virtually nothing with the car in weeks.

I did, however, finally buy a Vintage Speed muffler.  I'm hoping to get that project moving along - making an adapter for the upper heat exchangers on this muffler.

Other than that, it's been relatively quiet.  I'm not buying part lots anymore or hoarding parts - in fact, I'm still paring down what I've got.  I sold off some extra turn lenses last week and I'm hoping to have a guy who's going to buy the heat exchangers that are for a later car - he lives down state and plans to travel up here at some point.

Looks like next year is the year that I'll be able to get things rolling...the major house renovations will be done and I should be able to make some head way on getting the pan for the 65 back together.  Until then, I'll continue to collect parts relevant to the build for both cars and listen to the crickets watching my progress.

A tuned up part returns home

I sent one of my distributors out to Tim Barany for a cleaning and tune up.  We touched base when I was at OCTO in June.  A couple of weeks after  I sent it out to him, it came back in super clean condition.

I was able to score a couple of spare parts at the same time.  I also had Tim install one of the NOS vac cans to spiff it up a bit.

The used vac can went into the classifieds on TheSamba.com.

In addition to the return of the distributor, I also received a 1967 only brake fluid reservoir and the lines.  My plan is to use the existing lines as a template to bend up new lines.  I think I'll wind up making a bracket for the brake fluid reservoir until I get to a point where I can cut and weld on the existing partition with my spare piece.  I'd like to get this car out on the road a few times this year and I'm running out of days on the calendar.

I've still got the front beam build up to get done as well...too many things on my list to do and not enough time to do them.

Sometimes the horse would rather drown than drink

References a thread I started that got out of hand rather quickly.

Hilarious failure of basic business ethics, professionalism and customer service standards.

3500 views, all potential customers.

Inching toward storage

It's about.fucking.time.

Front brakes are installed, new hoses and ready for the next phase.

I wound up rebuilding a NOS outer right tie rod end to replace the one I smashed, in addition to replacing the Meyle ball joints with Febi/Bilsteins.

It was a decent amount of work for the short time I was in the garage today.

The CSP kit installed.  Finally.

I have to figure out how to get the hub caps to seat squarely on the hub, install the speedometer and get the car aligned.

One thing that bugs me about the CSP kit is the hub bolts are not symmetrical.  Minor issue since I won't see it when the wheel cover is in place.

Hope is the last thing a person does before they are defeated.

A couple of days ago, in between grilling steaks for dinner and eating them; I figured out how to remove the broken bearing and complete the build of the passenger's side spindle.

Tonight, I pulled the Airkewld brakes off of the car and began the process of installing the CSP brake kit.  The driver's side went on fine.  The passenger's side, well, didn't go as smoothly.  I'd damaged the outer tie rod end in my haste to remove the spindle and it was going to need some guidance on removal.  I bought what I thought was a nifty little tool made to remove stubborn tie rod ends.  The thing they fail to tell you on the package is that it will also try to eat the steering arm while evicting the tie rod end.  It finally popped out and I put it to the side - figuring that I'd deal with that issue later.

Now it's installation time for the CSP spindle.  Bottom ball joint is installed and I'm starting the thread on the top one when I notice that something isn't right.

Fuck.

The threads on the ball joint (which is brand new and has never seen street use) have shredded off.  The nut wasn't tight - so it wasn't yet a matter of over-tightening it.  I confirmed that I didn't cross thread the nut and concede defeat.  I don't have another one.  It's a Meyle brand part - I'd heard about quality issues on some of their other parts but figured that I'd somehow evaded the decline in quality since I hadn't experienced any issues.  Turns out, I'm just another statistic.  I don't think I'm going to get another one.  If the threads came off that easily - how strong are they on the other 3 ?  Looks like I might wind up eating the cost on these and replace them with something else.  The sunk costs on this car are getting a little out of control.

Off comes the spindle because I can't leave it hanging there by the lower ball joint.  The car is now back to sitting on jack stands again with one installed spindle.  This is getting really, really old.  In lieu of throwing tools around, I just picked up the stuff on the floor and shut off the light.

I'm either losing patience or desire.

Any man can make mistakes, but only an idiot persists in his error.

I planned to get out to the garage last night to build up the passenger's side spindle...but I fell asleep at what I suspect is right around the time Ross Perot likely takes a bath.  I didn't get anything accomplished yesterday on the brakes.

So today, after some vacillating, I headed out to the garage and pulled up the right side spindle, cleaned out the threads, and went to it.  All four bolts threaded fine but the longest one started to bind about 3/4 of the way.  I pulled it out and started with a different bolt but it wouldn't thread no matter what I tried.  After spending 15 minutes trying to get it to thread, I decided that I should just stop while I'm 'ahead' and do something else.

Time to try again with another spindle.

Picked up another one, cleaned the threads and the test bolt threaded just fine all the way to the head on all four holes.  I placed the bracket on the spindle and started with the long bolt first.  The first half was normal.  Then it got tight. And then it got warm.  I tucked my tail between my legs and backed it out slowly after letting it sit for 15 minutes to cool.  Last thing I need to do is snap a fastener in a newly powder coated NOS spindle.  I eventually got the bolt out intact and found nothing amiss but decided that I'd remove the other three bolts entirely and start with the long bolt first-with some grease to lubricate.  Made it almost to the end before it started to get tight and warm..but I persisted and snugged it up before installing the other three bolts.  I installed the steering arm and lock nuts before moving on to the hub/rotor.

I packed the bearings with grease and put the inner bearing on its race in the hub.  And in what I'll call one of the dumbest fucking things I've ever done, I flipped it over and put it on the spindle.

Without the grease seal.

As soon as I felt the bearing seat on the spindle, I happened to glance over and notice the seal sitting on the bench and a sincere feeling of dread and disappointment washed over me.  I pulled the hub/rotor off of the spindle, wiped the grease and, for some reason, tried to pry the bearing off of the spindle with my fingers.  I knew it wouldn't work but my hands decided to try anyway...and then the bearing came apart and rollers went flying across the bench.  Chinese bearings are packaged with the CSP brake kit and they're apparently not very durable.

An hour and a half after I began, I gave up and came back inside.  It's too hot in the garage (over 85°F with nasty humidity) and I'm tired.  Apparently getting the same amount of sleep in 24 hours as the average domesticated cat didn't work out for me.

So there's a spindle sitting on my workbench with half of an inner bearing stuck to it.  And a bolt that may or may not come out intact.  I decided it was a good time to let it go and come inside.

At this rate, I'll stretch this project out until Winter...

CSP front disc brakes

I picked up the spindles today from powder coat and the driver's side is now built up.

These things are definitely heavier than the Airkewld discs but they were also a hell of a lot easier to assemble because the brackets are made properly.

 Rear shot of the built up spindle.  I didn't put the bolt covers on the caliper because I need to torque the bolts down properly and I don't have the correct tool (on order now).

There are still some tight tolerances for the calipers around the hub.  Nature of the beast in trying to get that wide bolt pattern and keep the track close to stock.

Only uses two 1 mm spacers per caliper (no guessing like the Airkewld kit) and the bolts go in just like one might expect.

Much higher quality machining on the brackets and the fit was top notch.

Miscellaneous distraction

Bought a nice pile of parts from a local contact today.  The goal is to keep the stuff I need/want and sell off the rest of it.

There is another box full of carburetors and five heater boxes in addition to this stuff.

Bits and pieces, literally

I received a box with late small heat exchangers and the bits from the stock muffler attached.  They had to sit for a few days, soaking in Fluid Film, before I could separate them.  Once they were loose, I ran them over the wire wheel to clean them up.  Now, I've got to get a couple of flanges and a VS exhaust to fabricate the correct pieces.

I dug out the sectioned early front beam to test my abilities to remove the bushings and bearings.

I learned a few things in the process - namely that I don't have the correct tools to do the job properly.  I'm going to have to figure this part out before I can get too much further in the process.

The three destroyed pieces removed from one of the four corners.

Inbound delights

The spindle bolts from Paruzzi arrived yesterday - nice to see that they're exactly what I hoped to see in the package!

The NOS ignition arrived today.  It's a DV key profile (66/67) and in very very nice condition.

Perfect Bakelite back piece - no cracking, no damage and it's not loose.

Front block is also in very nice condition.

Overall, I'm very happy with the result of this purchase.