Finally home and after a few days recovery I decided to jump in my very messy garage. Even with the best intentions my garage seams to collect stuff, especially during the winter! So to make space and due to lack of time, I’m stacking everything on the back wall and hoping I don’t need anything…
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Unavoidable delays
well, the project is on hold at the moment due to me being over 4000 miles away from it for 3 months. Work as always gets in the way of most projects but I’ll be back before the end of the year. Ive got time to plan a few things and it’s always good to…
Clutch and Engine
Managed another hour in the garage so decided to tackle the gearbox input shaft, again, because it’s been an nagging problem and could get expensive in the long run. The problem has always been the rusty input shaft. With the car being sat in the weather, with no engine fitted and no deck lid covering…
Finally some time in the Garage
Managed some time in the garage after a period of busy work and family life, which happens from time to time. Finally got the last ball joint fitted to the car and finished the front beam with the addition of the steering, shocks and wheels so I now have a rolling chassis but I still…
Stalled but not forgotten
Since my struggle with the ball joints things have stalled a bit but I’m planning my next move. My task list is getting shorter but I still have one more ball joint to fit because a bent one during my last try so I had to buy a new one! As soon as I get…
To come, Ball joints, Bloody Ball joints!
If you’ve had the experience of Beetle ball joints you will know what I mean by the title. My car has been sat on a drive since 1996 so these are being a right bugger to remove. So far the short steering tie bar is written off and I’ve had to cut out one lower…
More work on the bottom
Another good day so out of the garage and back on its side again. This time I decided to sort out the pedal mount problem with a big hammer and after a couple of hits the pedals fitted perfectly. The next job was to remove the seat sliders I don’t need, so a quick couple…
Outside work on the bottom
finally some good weather! A chance to get the chassis back on its side for a good scrub before paint. Getting the pan on the engine stand is getting easier but it’s just slightly at the wrong angle to make it a simple method of tilting the chassis. First bolt on the engine stand frame…
Rear suspension and Brakes
With the gearbox in position and all the bolts fully tightened it was time to fit the axels to the swing arms/spring plates. I’ve decided not to mess with the torsion bars yet due to the changes I’m making to the back end so the end caps have been cleaned up and not painted, also…
Rear Hubs, back plates and wheels
With both axels re-fitted to the gearbox and the small nuts loosely fitted on the gearbox, it’s time to fit the hub seals and rear back plates. Ive already cleaned these parts up ready to fit but there is a small drain hole that runs through the backplate and hub cap. Mine was fully blocked…
Progress, Gearbox and some wheels
This post is a combination of five evenings working in the garage due to mistakes and supplies of new bits. Since I had the rear of the chassis ready to go with some red oxide primer I thought I would take the opportunity to put the top coat on (non smelly chassis paint off eBay),…
Quick Catch up of work
Like with most people, everything stopped for Christmas but it didn’t mean I didn’t have a few moments to get jobs done. Managed to get some red oxide primer and black chassis paint off eBay so out came the paint brushes to give the bear metal some protection. I managed some little jobs as well…
Rescue of a Basket Case 