Day 43

Another great day in bug progress.  I got to work first on getting the body/pan bolts out of my rust removing solution and wire brushing them.  They were probably the worst bolts and washers I had so far this entire project because they were rusty and also had a bunch of undercoating on them.  Some are back for a second soak.  Others turned out okay.  And yet others will need to replaced entirely.  I'll be looking for original bolts for this purpose.

I also got my front drums mounted and realized I didn't do much of a tutorial on the rear drums or putting the pedals in.  So I figured I'd do it for front drums.

Cleaned, painted, ready to go!

Installed the inner bearing race.  Used a special tool to seat it properly.

The ball bearing rides around that surface.

Packed the cavity with grease.

Greased and put the ball bearing in place.

The other race makes a perfect circle for the bearing to ride around.

Installed a grease seal to keep all that goop where it needs to be.

There is an outer bearing as well, it goes by the same process.

That went well.  I also attempted at bleeding the brakes with a power bleeder.

Rigged up the reservoir temporarily as it usually rests on the body, not the pan.

Headed back to the store!

I never got it to work quite right, always drawing air in the system from around the bleeder screw.  So, I will try again tomorrow with the manual method and rigged up a broom handle so I could reach the brake pedal and do it single handedly!

Should also have my tie rod in tomorrow so I can finish up the steering.  Then I need to wash my wheels so as to not mess up my nice finish....and I should be rolling....and maybe stopping!

Day 42

Well, I had to work at the aerobatics place today so I couldn't do much work on the car.  I didn't have much work to do anyways, until my parts showed up.  When I got home they were ready sitting on my doorstep.

I installed the clutch pedal shaft pin and installed the pedal assembly.  It turned out to be about a 2 hour process, but it is in, adjusted and I'm very happy with it.

Blue tape = touch up.

I also installed my wheel spacers which were a snug fit (by design) but I was prepared with my 1 1/4 inch pipe and 2lb sledge to drift them on.  No worse for the wear and the VW prescribed method!

The one down side to the parts order was that my tie rod ends (to replace the ones I broke when removing them) were not the right brand.  They would have worked.  But they looked different than the other tie rod ends.  One was black and three were blue.  So 3 out of the 4 would have been normal...and the 4th would have stuck out like a sore thumb.  If I was in a pinch and needed it done, sure slap it together to make it work.  But for them to look odd and it be a brand new restoration I just couldn't deal with.

So I had to send them back to the vendor and order the whole tie rod.  In the end, I will be out about $75 for my little screw up.  Not a huge amount but I can't wait to get it installed so I don't have to think about it anymore!  Should be here Saturday, hopefully.

Tomorrow, my new outer bearing and retaining nuts come so I should be able to get the front drums mounted.  I will also have to take down my tires and get them cleaned up a bit and I may have a rolling chassis soon!  WOOOOO!

Once I finish up that stuff I can start prepping the body for the media blaster which means....more scraping undercoating off of the body and fenders.

Day 41

Well...I have officially run out of things to do!  Actually, just waiting for a few more odds and ends to show in the mail and the pan will be finished.  Weird to say that, but it looks good and has been going smoothly so far.

I am waiting on some front bearing spacers for the front wheels.  Also waiting on my outer bearing to come in.  The tie rod ends and clutch pedal pin.  After that I can hook up the steering and attached the pedal cluster.  Will attached the steering damper too.

Today I finished up the brakes.  And got the rear drums loosely mounted.  Still need my mega strength to get the 230ft/lbs on that nut back there.  If you remember correctly, that was the tough nut I had to crack back when I disassembled everything!

Front

Rear.  Notice at the 3 and 9 o'clock position the retaining springs (refurbed the old ones)

Shiny!

Day 40

Another day down!  Quite productive today although by the looks of it, it looks like I sat on my butt all day.

I made a run to the tool store to get some things I'm going to be needing in the future.  A power brake bleeder (for one dude makes it much easier) and a race/seal driver set.  Some random odds and ends here and there.

I also cleaned my wheel bearings and for being so old they were in surprisingly good shape.  I did however find one outer wheel bearing that needed replacement.  Unfortunately, this ball bearing style is not produced any longer.  I could upgrade to the newer roller bearing style but I'm trying to keep the car as original as possible.

Those flat spots on the balls there are not good!

After a trip to the bearing store with no luck I found the proper bearing online as "New Old Stock" or NOS.  This is basically something that hasn't been used but was produced many years ago and has been sitting on a shelf since.  I found this one on my VW website and actually found a spare inner bearing on eBay for $13.  Good deal!

I also got my rear brakes set up.  Unfortunately the spring kit I got didn't have the right hold down pins, so I have my old ones soaking in deruster overnight.  I'd like everything as fresh and new as possible, but the new ones just didn't cut it.

Also attached the emergency brake cables.

I painted my brake drums on the inside edge so those will be ready tomorrow.  I need to finish up the brakes, wait for some parts to get here and then I can mount the pedal cluster, tie rods, and some other odds and ends.

My parts piles are getting low = a good sign!

Used parts, I put them in the boxes when I replace them with new or don't need them.

New parts.  And in reality, most of these I actually ordered too soon so it will be months before they get used.

Day 39

Today was a very productive day.  I started at about 1045 and finished up at 6pm.

I finished the brake lines on the entire car, so they are bent and in place.  It wasn't too hard of a job, just time consuming and took a bit of effort.  I think it came out well for my first time!

Darker green lines that run from the brakes up to a brass T fitting.

Green line running along side the tunnel

Master cylinder and front lines.  Also backwards tie rod on the left side of the picture.

I also go the wheel cylinders mounted on all four backing plates, so I was able to run the lines and next I will able to setup the brakes.

Safety wired the bolts too, the wheels aren't falling off this project (yet!)

I put the heater control cables in which control a flap in the back near the engine to direct heat into the car.  You know, in the summer time here and stuff.  So with the placement of the ivory knob I am now in the "finishing" phase of the car....YEAH RIGHT!

This spins...

Which then moves this cable (and another one on the other side) backwards and forwards.

One minor set back I did have was with the tie rods.  I put the right one on backwards.  Oops.  I had to get a tool from the auto parts store to remove it and in doing so, ruined both rubber pieces on the tie rod ends.  I ordered two more and the lovely price of $38...at least it's not the $59 that the whole tie rod cost new!

When bolting on the new master cylinder I remembered I had a rubber piece that came off the old one.  For the life of me though I can't find anything online that resembles what this could do besides maybe an old master cylinder boot.  That means when I disassembled it I had two boots...which is not factory and not surprising :)

Day 38

WELL WELL WELL, it certainly has been a while since I've last updated.  I have been incredibly busy.  I went to school in Dallas for 2 weeks to get a full type rating on the plane I am flying.  We then were busy with two trips after that took a lot of time.  In my spare time I have been working at the aerobatic flying place in order to pay down my debt down that I used for parts.

So, this being my first day off in a long time, I got back to buggin!

In between trips I did get this reel mounted, which should keep the hose off the floor and stored when not needed.  I also "permanently" mounted it to the floor using rubber isolation pads and heavy duty concrete anchors.  When I move, I can cut off the bolts and be good to go!

Today, I pressed in the bushings for my king/link pin suspension.  It went fairly easy and no major hiccups.  I also had to ream out the king pin bushings using my fancy new tool that cost $100.  I'll probably never use that tool again, but couldn't bear paying someone else to do it for the same price!

I also got to mount my sway bar and contrary to internet help, it wasn't as difficult as people painted it.

And finally, I got my backing plates mounted on the front and back (below) for the brakes.

Next step will be to install some wheel cylinders for the brakes and then run the brake lines!

Day 37

Well, I'm back from training...albeit for one day!  But I couldn't just let the bug sit in the garage and not work on it!

I got the pedal assembly put together.  I KNOW I had the securing pin for the clutch pedal (the hole all the way on the left) but for whatever reason I can't find it in my parts.  So, it'll be ordered on my next parts order...just a pain (and $1.25 ;)

Also got the steering box mounted.

And I got a new solenoid for the starter so I put that on and put it back on.  It isn't year correct (it's actually a 1964 starter) but it works.  I can get a proper starter but they are about $550 and for that kind of money it'll have to be saved for a greener day.  I can't justify spending that much money right now when I have so many other things to do.  Especially considering no one can see the damn thing unless they really, really look!

Brakes will be next.