Project 1972 basic beetle 1200; mahoosive project

[DaveDorson]

I've been told I can buy every single nut and bolt I need in stainless for about £100 when it comes to reassembly.

I'm currently considering this.

[Asimo]

Be very careful using stainless fasteners, give "galling" a good googling. 

For example, I used stainless nuts when I re-fitted the rear bumper to the van about four years ago. Last year I had to remove the bumper (because I had reversed into my house) and had a real fight because the nuts seized onto the mild steel bumper studs as I was undoing them. The bumper was new when I fitted it, I had used coppaslip on the studs and new stainless nuts. It took ages to get the nuts off and the studs are  quite ruined where the thread has been torn off so no bumper still.

[DaveDorson]

11 hours ago, Asimo said:

Be very careful using stainless fasteners, give "galling" a good googling. 

For example, I used stainless nuts when I re-fitted the rear bumper to the van about four years ago. Last year I had to remove the bumper (because I had reversed into my house) and had a real fight because the nuts seized onto the mild steel bumper studs as I was undoing them. The bumper was new when I fitted it, I had used coppaslip on the studs and new stainless nuts. It took ages to get the nuts off and the studs are  quite ruined where the thread has been torn off so no bumper still.

You're not the first to mention this actually, thinking about it.  

Perhaps finding someone who can supply zinc plated, or getting mine all done is the way.

 

No work on the car today, I've just had a tattoo done so decided to keep away for today at least.  The other Dave spent today chopping up the 996 shell.

(There are some good cuts so we salvaged them). 

He's had a lead on a twin turbo with no engine and gearbox(same age and model as this one), so that might be heading in soon which will actually make more room for us as it means the engine and gearbox will go in it and it can fuck off out the unit so we can get more done.

I may get down tomorrow after work to photograph the carnage 

[bunglebus]

Sounds like you need a DIY zinc plating kit, doesn't look too hard but you need a bit of space to set up the tanks etc.

If you have a sand blasting cabinet you'll probably end up plating all sorts of bits

[DaveDorson]

6 hours ago, bunglebus said:

Sounds like you need a DIY zinc plating kit, doesn't look too hard but you need a bit of space to set up the tanks etc.

If you have a sand blasting cabinet you'll probably end up plating all sorts of bits

I did look at them, but from what I gather they're not actually massively durable, otherwise I'd have ordered one already.

[alf892]

On 20 July 2020 at 10:53 AM, Asimo said:

Be very careful using stainless fasteners, give "galling" a good googling. 

For example, I used stainless nuts when I re-fitted the rear bumper to the van about four years ago. Last year I had to remove the bumper (because I had reversed into my house) and had a real fight because the nuts seized onto the mild steel bumper studs as I was undoing them. The bumper was new when I fitted it, I had used coppaslip on the studs and new stainless nuts. It took ages to get the nuts off and the studs are  quite ruined where the thread has been torn off so no bumper still.

Copaslip shouldn't be used on stainless apparently......promotes corrosion!

[DaveDorson]

Chassis dropped off to and delivered to the blaster today.

 

Nothing else to report.

 

Sorry.  

[JimH]

Hells bells. You don’t have to look at them for long to realise why torsional stiffness was just something that happened to other cars.

[bunglebus]

They're actually pretty good, the central spine is very strong.

That you can bolt a fibreglass body straight on there and go flying through the sand dunes should tell you all you need to know 

[DaveDorson]

Still sanding the decades of paint off at the moment so nothing exciting to report.

[DaveDorson]

Oh and we chopped the 996 body into cuts and scrap.

[DaveDorson]

DaveJ, the Porsche is heavily accident damaged so all the good stuff has been removed for sale and another shell is inbound that's suffered a catastrophic engine and gearbox failure. 

 

We don't just cut cars up at random.

[dave j]

17 minutes ago, DaveDorson said:

DaveJ, the Porsche is heavily accident damaged so all the good stuff has been removed for sale and another shell is inbound that's suffered a catastrophic engine and gearbox failure. 

 

We don't just cut cars up at random.

I guessed it was a wreck, must have still been a strange feeling cutting up such a car! 

Put the Porsche engine in the Beetle, a bloke down the pub told me they fit as its only 4 bolts, his mate had one... ???

The number of times I have heard that is unreal! 

 

 

[DaveDorson]

1 hour ago, dave j said:

I guessed it was a wreck, must have still been a strange feeling cutting up such a car! 

Put the Porsche engine in the Beetle, a bloke down the pub told me they fit as its only 4 bolts, his mate had one... ???

The number of times I have heard that is unreal! 

 

 

It did feel a bit wrong, but we're keeping others on the road by doing so, so there's a method to the madness.

[DaveDorson]

So I bought these.

 

To make quicker work of the paint removal.

 

They are quite expensive but they work well.

 

I'm also waiting for some twisted knot wheels to show up and some flap wheels so I can get stuck in on those horrible inner arch area's and try and clean and dress the welds a bit better.

 

 

 

[DaveDorson]

Also while doing some very important design work for a project, I used my Swiss army knife to take this apart and check the jets.

Of course they are completely wrong for my application, and in typical Weber fashion the emulsion tubes are stuck fast so I need to borrow an ultra sonic cleaner in an attempt to shift them without causing any damage so I can get a baseline jetting figured out.

And yes, I know these carbs never work on an air-cooled beetle.. that's usually because people don't understand manifold pre heat nor do they understand how carb jetting should work and try and jet them square.

[rusty_vw_man]

1 hour ago, DaveDorson said:

Also while doing some very important design work for a project, I used my Swiss army knife to take this apart and check the jets.

Of course they are completely wrong for my application, and in typical Weber fashion the emulsion tubes are stuck fast so I need to borrow an ultra sonic cleaner in an attempt to shift them without causing any damage so I can get a baseline jetting figured out.

And yes, I know these carbs never work on an air-cooled beetle.. that's usually because people don't understand manifold pre heat nor do they understand how carb jetting should work and try and jet them square.

I love a bit of Weber action, had one on a T25 and a MK2 golf as replacements for knackered pierbergs. Much maligned, but I’ve always found them cracking once you have set them up and rejetted them.  

[DaveDorson]

1 hour ago, rusty_vw_man said:

I love a bit of Weber action, had one on a T25 and a MK2 golf as replacements for knackered pierbergs. Much maligned, but I’ve always found them cracking once you have set them up and rejetted them.  

I've managed to get them working really well on EA82 inline 4 VW engines and Wasserboxers, but never tried to get one working on a T1.

I think people forget about what happens to air velocity when you open a second choke and how that impacts a carb when jetting these, which is much of the reason they are either lean, or rich as a pig and never quite right.

[DaveDorson]

Never trust something sold as good and ready to fit.

Blew the lines through for the power valve and took the filters out the carb 

Scale and rust had been blocking the shit out of everything.

[DaveDorson]

The result is that this carb would have had absolutely no load enrichment, so that explains the jets absolutely terrible for the intended application.

There's a reference hole in the secondary ventury with a small route up to the powervalve.

When required, the valve is pushed into the needle which allows additions fuel.

 

This carb will not have been doing that, as the chanel was blocked with shite.

 

As the enrichment tubes are stuck at the moment, the carb bodies are sat in my mates ultrasonic now and all the bits are bagged up.

[rusty_vw_man]

11 hours ago, DaveDorson said:

Never trust something sold as good and ready to fit.

Blew the lines through for the power valve and took the filters out the carb 

Scale and rust had been blocking the shit out of everything.

This is what I dislike most about the current ‘scene’ - buying stuff that’s supposed to be good from other enthusiasts* but turns out to be either total shite or a shed load of work. 

Should have just bolted it on, it would have run badly, perpetuating the ‘all webers are shit innit’ myth....

[DaveDorson]

1 hour ago, rusty_vw_man said:

This is what I dislike most about the current ‘scene’ - buying stuff that’s supposed to be good from other enthusiasts* but turns out to be either total shite or a shed load of work. 

Should have just bolted it on, it would have run badly, perpetuating the ‘all webers are shit innit’ myth....

absolutely.

 

I buy and sell a bit of VW stuff, anything I've not gone through myself and would use, is sold as for spares or refurbishment.

Everything else is priced appropriately.

Carbs are always sold as needing to be properly set up and installed before they grumble, but if it's a good one, I supply details of the jets, I go through them and replace what's needed.

[Mike D]

Try and find a Weber 28/30 DFTM off a fiesta / Escort 1400 cvh. I ran one in my old wizard 1600 on a 32/36 manifold, just ported the phenolic spacer to match. It ran unbelievable well. Vac secondaries too

[DaveDorson]

1 hour ago, Mike D said:

Try and find a Weber 28/30 DFTM off a fiesta / Escort 1400 cvh. I ran one in my old wizard 1600 on a 32/36 manifold, just ported the phenolic spacer to match. It ran unbelievable well. Vac secondaries too

I've got a few ideas in mind for making this carb work well with what I have planned.

[DaveDorson]

So it's all gone a bit quiet, because the floor pan only came out of blast today (I asked them to stick it in when they're doing something else to keep the cost down) and it's getting a coat of zinc primer now to stop it turning into dust.

I've been told it's not terrible, bit of peppering around the battery tray and a corner needs replacing, which is basically what I expected.

Unfortunately, we also had a 12 plate Zafira come in with a totalled engine that needed replacing, so having just done that I thought I'd get some more time on it.. but then I got a call asking if I'd get my painter friend to respray an E Reg Toyota Corolla.  The brief for that was just make it all one shade of white and presentable, so we quoted 30 hours of prep plus the paint expecting not to get the job..  Suffice to say it's coming in over the next few weeks to get painted..

 

Bugger.

[bunglebus]

Floorpan sounds pretty decent though. Is it worth removing the bottom plate and giving the gear linkage, fuel lines and heater cables some attention?

[DaveDorson]

2 hours ago, bunglebus said:

Floorpan sounds pretty decent though. Is it worth removing the bottom plate and giving the gear linkage, fuel lines and heater cables some attention?

Gear linkage bushes are all good.   I'm going to run stainless line outside the car for fuel, because it'll likely get used in VWDRC sportsman and have a bit more grunt than a stock beetle... If it goes wrong I'd rather the fuel was outside the car.  

 

Plan is to run it in the recessed area where the body and pan mount with rubber lined P Clips and some -6 fittings for the flexible line (which will be stainless over braided ethanol safe lines)

[DaveDorson]

I'm currently debating whether or not to repair or replace the floor pans.   

 

They've not faired too badly.

[DaveDorson]

This stalled a bit.. but a new job working from home with an uplift in pay means that things are now less frantic (famous last words!) so I can get back to it. 

 

I suppose I'd better give an update.

 

I chucked some epoxy on that blasted chassis to stop it getting any worse and them tucked it out the way until I'm ready to replace the floor pan halves (if a job is worth doing..)

That meant I can turn my attention to the body shell again.. and, well.. oh dear.

 

 

underseal, glass fibre, rot..  MOT exempt tho m8, so I won't bother sorting it properly..

Joke.

It's a cheap panel at £40, and although it's not perfect, it's also not fucked.

You may remember, some of the rear metalwork is missing from this car.. being a UK car, and typically modified in the style of the late 1980's and early 90's, it's got rot in the bumper mounts, the rear valance was absolutely nailed too, full of filler, rot, glass, tacked in bean cans, more glass fibre, more filler..

So I chopped it all off.

Luckily, I managed to get some water damaged panels a while ago..

 

Over time I've been collecting a few bits and bobs for this.. plan is a slightly bigger engine, modified for full oil flow and filtration, (weak spot on these) so I got a vented decklid so I can get more air to the carbs and to help feed the larger cooling fan.

 

The wings are Days Moulding wings and I've a set for the front too, they're actually better than most of the steel reproduction ones you can buy so I'm happy enough to use these.

Eagle eyed viewers will note, it's got a later "bubble" rear valance fitted.

As I'll be putting in a larger CC engine with bigger carbs, I'll also be installing a merged header exhaust, and this should help hide some of that away a bit.

[Datsuncog]

Can you fix mine, mister?

No, in all seriousness, great to see the work's continuing on this one - my teenage years spent obsessing over VolksWorld mag has left a lasting fondness for Beetles, and I've no doubt it'll be cracking once it's done. Nice one!