Day 91

Small progress yesterday.  Got my fuel selector valve all put back together.  It works!  So $75 (for now) is saved :)

Still no word from the transmission shop.  Kind of at a stand still now...

Day 90

Well, still very slow progress on the car.  I ordered some small parts and pieces from Wolfsburg West, so all of my small screws, nuts, washers, etc. should be taken care of for the entire car.  I'm sure there will be more small things.  I still need to get all the rubber components for the car, but no sense in having them now as the rubber will get hard and brittle while waiting.

Since the transaxle issue I am kind of on hold for painting.  But that's not a big deal, I had a few small projects that needed work.

The first one I completed was the wiper motor which was completely disassembled, checked for wear, new plastic bushings installed, painted, and put back together.  I got into the internal gearing and replaced the (remaining) grease that was pretty nasty.  I am happy with how it turned out.

Before

After

Clean, shiny and new!

The next small project I had was the original car jack.  This is a pretty cool, little piece of equipment that I remember using in college.  When I first got the car, my Dad oiled it up and good thing he did...because I needed it multiple times!

It was quite rusty back then and even before I refinished it, it certainly had seen better days.  There was no black paint remaining on the lift part and the blue on the base had faded quite a bit.  Now it will look great in the front trunk, hopefully never to be used :)

I also have a fuel selector (the backup gas gauge) that needs to be redone.  This was a device that allowed the driver to select "reserve" fuel when the engine started to sputter.  When driving down the road, if you ran out of gas you flipped the lever and had a reserve amount of fuel left...aka it was time to head to a gas station!  This one will be a bit more tedious and although mine is an aftermarket replacement already...it may be too far gone to restore.  New ones are available but are $75 a pop.  The rebuild kit cost $9, so I'm hoping that works!

I found a September 1958 6 volt generator online and had it restored here in town.  I am going to use it on my original engine when I get around to rebuilding that.  It was very difficult to find, so I decided to grab it before it sold even though I have no immediate need for it.  I looked for about a year before I actually got it.

That 9P date stamp is all I really care about...something that no one will see but I know is there!

I have my speedometer out to a specialist to get restored and that will hopefully be back soon.

I also bought and had shipped an original New Old Stock (NOS) VW stamped 36hp muffler and it came all the way from Belgium.  It is an original VW part from way back when that was never installed on a car.  These are incredibly rare and hard to find in this shape, so when I saw it I had to have it.  It will be for the original engine when I restore it, but couldn't pass it up!

VW stamp on both sides.  Will media blast and ceramic coat it when the time comes.

I'm waiting to hear back from the transaxle shop to see what the cause of my transaxle problem was.  Until then, I don't have much to do.  All my little pieces are organized now, I really need to just get to the blasting and painting!

Day 88, 89 - Moving Backwards...or not!

Well, I really have not done a whole lot on the car in the past two weeks or so.  I have been incredibly busy with work and also trying to time everything right.

I did upgrade the lighting in my blast cabinet because Caroline said she couldn't see!  So now she can blast to her heart's content and be able to see the parts.

I put in two 1500 lumen 27w LED flood lights meant for the front bumper of cars for forward projection.  They work great.

Once that was complete, I decided to take my bug pan out for a spin.  I needed to get some of the ethanol treatment I put in the fuel into the carburetor to help long term storage.  Well as I was putting it back into the garage, I couldn't get it into reverse and it started rattling pretty bad.

Here's a video of the problem.

I did some research and called my transaxle shop this morning.  I removed the engine, brakes, shocks, and transaxle and drove it down to the shop so they could look at it.  Right now we think it may be the reverse fork selector or something internal to the transaxle.  We will see what they find.

It could also be that I didn't have something adjusted properly (shifter, linkage, etc) and that prevented reverse from being selected.  The only problem with that theory is it was driving fine for the past couple months...so we will see what they have to report.

I was kind of down over the weekend because this is a big step backwards for the car.  I can't move it up and down the driveway by myself because of the slope, so I really need the engine/transaxle to be working when I want to do paint.  I had planned for the that the week of June 9th.

Keeping my spirits high and remembering it could have been worse when the car was all finished, which the transaxle is then a real pain to remove!

Day 86-87

Yesterday I got some good things accomplished!  I hung my plastic from the removable bars that line the garage ceiling.  Everything went ok, I just need to "drop" the plastic, tape it together, and I should be ready to paint.  I may make some further mods to this system, but so far I'm happy :)

Those stands are new and will be useful for body parts!

Today, I had hoped to do some real painting but the weather decided to ruin my plans!  We had dust and wind, which would have just made my life more miserable in the long run.

I did however get some important things done.  I have my original headlight buckets and want to preserve the stamping on them.  This is the nice one.

Note the tape.

Unfortunately, the other side had some rust that ran right through the part number.  I used my Evapo-rust product and it did a great job but while removing the excess liquid the paper towel I was using also wiped away the stamp  Shoot.

I looked at find a replacement, but they are $75-100 and the 34T is what I really care about (another date stamp!)...the chances of finding an original replacement are slim to none.  So, one of my headlight buckets won't have the part number.

My plan is to tape off the remaining part number and then blast, prime, paint the buckets.  They both have some rust and paint that needs to be taken care of.

I finished the long running project of sealing my gas tank.  I used the acid bath to remove the surface rust again and then a phosphate treatment after that.  The phosphate didn't appear to do much as it flash rusted again after I dried it.  No worries, the paint I used to coat the tank can handle much more than surface rust.

As it was draining the excess paint.

My elaborate stand.

Drip, drip.

The tank will now go off to media blast and I'll prime/paint the outside.

 While I was waiting for the paint to (drip) dry, I assembled my lights I'm going to use for painting.  These have great output and don't get hot!  LEDs rock.

I also used Novus plastic polish to get my knobs looking brand new.  It is a wonderful product that with a little elbow grease really did the trick!

After and before.

These are the original Bakelite knobs, not cheap plastic reproductions.

All of them done.  My fingers hurt.

 Some of the knobs are duplicates because I bought extra (original) ones.  Some of the knobs were broken, I bought new window cranks for better chrome, etc.  The knobs on those aren't removable.

And finally, because I cleaned my assist straps with brake cleaner and a red throw away rag...the red bled through onto the vinyl and wouldn't come off.  Besides that colossal screw up the straps were really in nice shape.  I wasn't going to have to do much to them besides clean them.

Well my cleaning made them worse, so I found a vinyl paint made my SEM and color matched them so they are looking brand new again.  Live and learn...

So now, I have a large list of replacement parts that I need to get for all my interior stuff.  I will probably wait on that since paint/body is my priority right now.

I plan on blasting my small items, dropping the plastic, and painting the small items in primer.  I will then use my single stage paint and get them looking good.  Then I'll ship the body off to media blast and have that done.

Whew....now to find some time for all of that!

Day 85

Well, we were gone last weekend so progress slowed.  But has since picked up at a blistering pace!

Today, I finished taking care of the cleaning of my bolts, nuts, washers, random parts from the interior.  I got a coat of clear on them to prevent future rust.

I've also been working with my sand blast unit to get some things cleaned up.  Most of the items now are natural finish pieces, but I am going to get very aggressive soon with all the small painted pieces from the interior.

Here's an example of how well it works!

Before and after!  Hard to beat these kind of results.

Another issue I had was with one of my window regulators.  The water rested in the channel at the bottom of the driver's side window so it slowly rusted out that area.  A pain really.  These pieces are date stamped and I tried very hard to find a correct, date stamped piece...and couldn't find one!

Not good.

 So I did the next best thing and bought a correct looking one and modified my old one a bit.

What the donor one looks like compared to the bad one.

Measured, cut and welded...so it is date stamped and functional!

 My front and back paint booth frames are just 2x4's and therefore are very precarious when free standing.  To prevent them from falling over, I came up with this design which allows me to have "feet" to brace the frames but also is easily positionable for storage.

Feet deployed.

Winding up

Stowed!

 And finally, the most exciting thing today was my run to the paint store!  $$$$ later and I have all the primer, activators, wax and grease remover, random parts and pieces that a guy could ask for.  I also ordered the small batch colors for the interior pieces, wheels, and such.

The only major purchase I have remaining for the paint is another $$$$ or so for the base coat and clear coat (and their associated hardeners).

I also have the gas tank soaking in another acid bath for one more overnight so it will be ready in the morning for my phosphate coating and then the Master Series silver.  That is the same paint I used on the pan which also serves as a great gas tank sealer!

Tomorrow I am going to mount the plastic on the booth, finish putting clear on the rest of the bolts, sand blast some things, and maybe some painting!

Day 83-84

The past couple days I have been focusing on my half walls for the paint booth.  These will be at the back and front of the booth, hold the fans and filters and give the booth a bit more structure.  I plan on taping the plastic to the ground on the sides.

I looked at a lot of designs for booths but I wanted something that was easily removable and reusable.  There are certainly cheaper ways to make booths, but I have to use it multiple times for my project and will probably want to take it down while doing other things...so ease of use was very important.

I used some ideas I found on the internet and have been just thinking it though as a I go.  It's turning out well so far.

I built the walls with 12ft 2x4's and framed the replaceable filters.

Mocked up the fan, needed to sleep on it a bit to decide how to get it tight to the half wall.

These fans are great because once I'm done painting those bases actually allow it to be mounted to a wall and the fan will swivel 90*.  I'm looking forward to that too, multi-functional!

And  today I mounted my removable door.  This will be a solid vertical post that I plan to put velcro on to keep the plastic shut but still allowing access in and out.

It has a hinge on the near side of this pic and then a pin on the other end to keep it up and out of the way when not in use.

Pin.

The "door" post.

This is the back wall and doesn't have a board running on top so I can get in and out easier.  The front wall has a long board on top for better strength since I don't need to get in from that side.

The pin also serves as a way for the post to stay in one spot, I drilled a hole in the bottom plate of my half wall.

I then took apart my fans and found that by using some particle board I could make a tight shroud to get all the airflow going out of the booth.

I used a carpenter's square with a hole in it and kept the pencil at exactly the radius I needed to get a perfect circle.  I then used a jig saw to cut out the hole.  I used zip ties to mount it so I can reuse the fan in the future.

Tight to the shroud, all the air going through the filter...success!

To replace the filters I just remove some of those little 1x1" blocks in the four corners.

Both fans installed.

I only have a few more finishing touches before I mount the plastic.  I need to get a power strip to serve as a centerpiece for my booth power and also complete the nut/ fender washer assemblies which will hold the 2x2 strips that hold the plastic up onto the respective boards.

Missing the nuts and fender washers on the bolts...

Then off to the paint store!

Day 82

Got back at it yesterday!  After being sick two weeks ago and then a very busy work week I was able to get some things done.

Quick update on progress.  The paint shop has gotten all my paint codes and put them into formulas ready for when I want to buy the paint.  That is a relief.

I have some things that need attention am researching the best method.  These are pot metal and hard to rechrome but some people can do it.

I sent the speedometer off to get overhauled.

The instructions said to not send with signature confirmation but I wanted to insure it...so as I went to the post office I realized it said "signature required" on the label which I assume is for the insurance.  I went to the counter and the lady said "Oh that's fine, we'll just cross it out" and marked it with a pen.

Needless to say that didn't change the fact that it needed signature confirmation and the guy hasn't been able to pick it up at the post office yet.  A true pain!

These lock cylinders also need replacing.

I had a helper show me how to sandblast things in my new (modified super duper) cabinet! :)

Proper safety gear?

And by busy week at work I mean...I got to go visit this place.  YEAH.

And yesterday's progress was all about the paint booth.  It's really the only thing holding me back right now.  I don't want to blast anything because I want to be able to paint the parts right away.

I've devised a system where I mounted 2x4s to the ceiling.  This gives me a mounting surface for 2x2's which I will wrap in plastic and then allow it to drape down to the floor.  This makes it easy to hang and easily removable.  I may want to collapse the booth in between painting...and this affords me the ability to do it!

First board mounted!

I used tee nuts which have barbs that dig into the wood and sit flush to secure the bolts on the other side.

I then took the 2x2s and drilled holes in them to slide onto the bolts.   I'll secure each board with a large washer and nut.  This way I should be able to lift and mount the plastic sheets by myself.  It will also be removable where staples into the ceiling are removable but not reusable.  This also prevents me from having too much repair of the garage when I move.   And of course I can take down my paint booth and move it with me!

I won't mention that I had to buy and return two different sets of bolts because I got carriage bolts the first time and too short of the right bolts the second time.  Third time was the charm.

Two sides done!

The full setup.

I am very happy with how it turned out.  I still need to build two half size "walls" for the front and back of the booth.  They will sit on the ground and be about two feet tall.  They will contain the filters on the back wall and fans on the front wall for cross flow ventilation.  This will give some structure for the filters to mount to and also provide a bit more of a frame for the booth.

After that, the plastic goes up and the painting can begin.  Now to find the time to do all of that...work really is getting in the way of my days off! :)