The Cal-look Lounge

I know there's an In da Werks section, but just wondering what projects everyone has got on for the winter months. From a complete resto to  just parking it on axle stands, what are you all up to?

I'll start - the brakes in my car need sorting. Think there's a leak between the reservoir and the master cylinder, so that's my job I want to get on with. Then carry on driving it!

Replacing my mostly stock transmission with a much stronger one and repairing some rust are my biggest plans for the winter. I'm also hoping to have some spare time to fix some cracks/flaws in the rim of my Coach wheel and clean it up a bit. Maybe tinker with my brakes a bit, check all the front end bits, etc. No matter what happens, I'm planning on having my car back on the road and raising hell by March!

I wish...

Santa will have to bring me a garage first

 ;D :o :D

I just picked up a '66 Beetle from my dad a few weeks ago.  Like Neil's car, I think there is a leak between the reservoir and the master cylinder.   Other than that it's a driver.  Hope to get that taken care of before spring.   

Meanwhile I am awaiting a rebuilt trans for my '67.  Once that is done I plan to get the fresh 1915 ready for summer driving in the '67.

Brakes for me as well. Fitted disc brakes in the rear.
Also sorted out the rear suspension, after I took way to long to notice I had some of the wrong parts mounted. Should be all better now. Next is fitting an AN6 fuel line because the stock on broke just where it exits the fork... and mounting a electric fuel pump when the gas tank is out.
Oh yeah, and getting the 40s jetted. And replace the rubber oil lines with AN8 ones..
And maybe if I have a little winter left, try to get the dropped spindles to accept the 944 discs brakes so I can hopefully have some spring rate back in front..

Glauco

i do have a build thread "arctic alice" on mine, but dont felt like posting pics me sanding  :P
that being said, its finally at the paintshop and i may be able to get the body later today  :o
the pan is finished and can accept it right away, but yesterday night i disassembled the irs axles because of a suspicious metall ball rattling around in a box i kept the 944 parts in. turned out all the balls are in, but i ruined one of the (allen head) bolts and now have to cut the head off to be able to get it out :P

Start the build on the new back halved racer :) 2 year project I guess.

IRS pan, looong ratio gearbox, rear disk brakes, 2.2L engine.

Rebuild the ( stock)fastback's engine, while still hoarding parts for an eventual big engine for the 67

Fit 2165 motor, change brakes, not a lot but when the car is stored outside, there is no motivation...
Really need a garage

I?m planning to change the Body on my Ragtop Bug.
There?s some work needed on my lightblue Body and I bought a 60?Ragtop Body from a friend.
That one is welded and mostly solid and was cheap. So I thougt I can continue driving the next seasons just with another body. (and have no Change in the Registration)  ;D

Finally finish a top-end rebuild on a sweep-the-floor 1776 engine which I first built in late 2004. Stock non-counterweighted crank, Engle 100 cam, and various dual carbs. I originally used a pair of 1300 dual-port heads with 35/32 mm valves which I bought in a engine parts purchase about 25 years ago. At the time I assembled the engine I just had the combustion chambers bored for 90.5, but the machine shop kept the original 1mm high ledge/step around the perimeter which is from the original 1300 head design. I had removed the engine about 3 years ago due to an oil leak at the flywheel end, so that still needs to be addressed with a new double-lip main seal. The engine ran decently but in the meantime I've read a lot on theSamba and learned a lot. I wanted to redo the heads. Intake and exhaust ports were already done back in 2004 per the "How to Hotrod your VW Engine" book instructions.

So- with the heads off- my original deck height was approx. 0.060" using shims, but with that ledge/step in the head the actual DH was more like 0.100". CR was in the high 7's. After reading a lot about that ledge on theSamba in the last 2 years, I had the ledge machined out last winter, which left me with 43cc combustion chambers after I had already unshrouded the valves back in 2004. I wanted to reduce the DH slightly to about 0.055" with a different set of cylinder base shims, and with a planned CR of 8.5:1 I reshaped the combustion chambers to a target 49cc. Used a carbide burr on a high-speed electric grinder. I looked at many photos of 90.5 heads on theSamba to see the various combustion chamber shapes which were listed at 48 or 49cc, especially those which were modified by pro shops. I zoomed in on a good photo until the cylinder diameter on the computer screen matched the actual diameter on my head. I traced the combustion chamber edge of the worked head onto a translucent plastic margarine lid using a sharpie marker, then cut out the inner section of the shape and also the outer diameter so that the lid fit closely into my head. That gave me a template which I could simply flip over for the outline to show the grinding line on the adjacent combustion chamber. I ended up with a "lopsided egg" shape with most of the material taken off the plug side. I only spend about a few hours a month with all this work in the past 2 years, but I finished all 4 chambers' reshaping last month. Am now smoothing out the rough surface with 100 grit sanding rolls. Next is to lap the cylinders into the heads, redo the rocker geometry since the heads are at least a millimeter closer to the case due to the deletion of the ledge, and shorten the pushrods accordingly.

Target for the completed engine is late winter for a first warm day installation into my '77 Std. Beetle, with dual Dell'Orto 36 DRLAs and 30mm venturies. I only have about 1500 miles on the shortblock so I see no need to get into that.

got the body back fromthe paintshop  8)
pics later

Have garage built at home
Get back on to Notchback after 18 months of house renovations
Buy a large turbo

Oh yeah, I also want to fix my stupid turn signal switch, it used to be difficult to move and it wouldn't self cancel so I pulled it apart and lubed everything up and now it won't stay in position.  >:(
I'm really hoping to have my car just a little more refined for next year all around. It's just a bit too exhausting to drive at the moment, although I doubt I'll be adding any serious sound-deadening for now.

Keep walking by my car and just no real interest in doing anything. Same with the 84 Okrasa and the Porsche Carrillos.

I've felt the same way about my 67 for the last couple years. Still love the car but I don't have much interest in it anymore. Nevertheless, I would like to get the alloys detailed this winter and have a set of SB12 headlight rings rechromed for it. The car I'm intetersted it working on this winter is my '65 notchback. I dragged it out of a field a couple years ago where it had been parked since 1983 or so. I've collected most of the pieces to put together a nice 2110 for it as well as a "built' transmission and a set or BRM knock offs. I'm really hoping that if I had a decent VW that I wasn't afraid to drive and leave in a parking lot it may reignite the fires.

Just going back to make something VW related would be the goal.
Man, how could live consume so much time just to have the normal shit done?

That was kind of the point of this thread. Sometimes life does get in the way, sometimes we just have other priorities - jobs, kids, elderly relatives and so on - and sometimes we realise that we're not as young as we used to be when we'd wag a day off because we were too busy Volkswagening or throw an all nighter to make it to the next cruise night or race meet.
The jobs I need to do on my car are relatively simple but I just need time to get it done in a day!

Same thing for everyone. Family, job, house get in the way, sucking time and money we use to spend on VW. I just need to rebuild an engine to put back in my 68. Whatever make it reliable to go on any drive as it always been and go enjoy it.
I need to finish the inside of the garage of our house to move parts and tools here and be more comfortable to work at home.
I still have the fire, but more on idle than full blown  ;)

Nothing really Cal look based but they still are all aircooled VW  :)
Spare time at moment is used on trying to finish this 1303 I picked up couple years ago but didn't start on until this summer, so far it has gone from stock to not quite so stock, plan is a "normal looking beetle with nice wheels" to anyone that doesn't really know any better ;) then IRS my daily 67 cabrio as I got a good deal on a better geared IRS box with ZF fitted 8) and also race car is getting new rear suspension as well which means also turbo & dry sump tank has to be moved so new intake and exhaust fabrication & bunch of other small stuff that's in way ::) :o

Looks nice and solid! A bit of polish and it would look really nice as this!

Yep an unwelded UK 1303 is a rare car nowdays :o

Polishing is way down on the list ;D :D

Put the '61 all back together after rust repair and sunroof installing. Will try to keep the patina and make the new paint blend in. Restore brakes all around, discs in front and 68-brakes in the rear, detail and fit the polished fake fuchs, fit the 2165cc (must get hold of better gear box first) and finally give it the right stance with some rubber rake. I hope it's going to be a long winter  :D
(http://forumbilder.se/H8VGH/dcfc4df5-785f-4301-a447-6b390c7fe96c.jpg) (http://forumbilder.se/H8VGH/dcfc4df5-785f-4301-a447-6b390c7fe96c)

Good to see another one getting saved 8) 8)

We've just come out of our winter, and mine is going again for the first time in 7 years.  :)
Not lowered/raked, no Webers and crap paint, it has to deal with gravel, dirt and trucks.
Rego is next, then I plan to drive the wheels off it for years to come.
 8)

[attachment=1]

[attachment=2]

Supposed to get the body back from paint in January. I have 2 weeks off at Christmas so I am going to get everything organized in the garage and ready so I can mount the body back on the chassis. I am also going to restore the speedo, headlight buckets, switches, and other parts in preparation for it.

Larry

I got really concerned about driving my car on the street,  boost is addicting , So rather than getting tickets for wreckless driving I decided to make my car into another full fledged race car. I tore my 2387 down and bumped the cam up , freshened everything else inside. I had a brand new set of Super Flow heads in the box so I sent them to my friend Dave Kawell for a little love . While waiting I have rebuilt the transmission and built a new GTX3576R turbo  . Since I wanted to race I decided to lighten the car and remove the torsion assembly and install a ladder bar setup . My race partner John Toomey found me a Wiks front end . I have just finished tacking the new roll cage and ladder bar mounts up and sent my coil overs out for re-valving . Next I am removing the body to weld everything on the cage easier . Hopefully I will have a car which has much more adjustment built into it and is lighter . Mike McCarthy

I have just got back from my last day working on the bus this year.  The car is two hours from me and with family etc, i get to work on it for one weekend a month!  Next time will be January if the weather is ok, in the mean time its a case of collecting a few panels ready for the longer days.

Nothing, refit the rockers, service it and give it a wash and polish around March

Vws have taken a back seat while I build me a house, or more importantly a garage with a house attached.

Now you see it

(http://i.imgur.com/MB3UcmS.jpg)

Now you don't

(http://i.imgur.com/3dmuQ93.jpg)

Building starts proper at xmas

Should be the last winter on this,almost finished.

Henk!!!

(http://i67.tinypic.com/2bqsua.jpg)

Wow! Where?s this?
Have you moved back to Ireland?

What happened to the bug?

I've gotten the shop finished and heat installed. What I've decided to do is pull the engine, find that damn oil leak from hell, replace all the engine and surrounding tin, and tear apart the top end and get rid on those damn 3/8 cylinder spacers and pulling some compression out of it.....

And I've been trying to make a decision between:

(A) Doing the Mike Lawless coil over rear end narrowing project so I can get some bigger tires and some traction, or:

(B) Pulling the turbo off and just driving it NA.... (and yes I know, NA sucks LOL)

Yep moved home in July, wanna take a step back from the rat race and retrain myself so hopefully once the house is built I can put ideas into actions.
Bug is still in London, going over with a box van before Xmas to gather it all up

Priority #1 is fit double valve springs which I think/hope/pray will solve most/all my recurring problems.

Then either replace/upgrade DRLAs or invest in sorting them out once and for all (if there is such a thing).

And a deep sump.

And fit DTH drip tray.

And get line loc working properly.

And ...

How much do you use the car? What do you use it for? How close is your nearest drag strip now? I like the Mike Lawless conversion but I seem to remember you talking about autocrossing the car at some point?

Have you got a garage in London? Can I have it??  ;) ;D

Wow good luck with it all!

If you want a hand loading it up, give me a shout, as I?m back in that area again

Would your old landlord rent out half of the garage? As I need somewhere to store my 67 over winter!

I've been auto crossing the heck out of the car since moving back to Missouri with a track/parking lot about 30 minutes away (and they race there almost every weekend) and having a lot of fun doing it.... The 2 drag strips I've got are about 1.5 to 2 hours away in opposite directions (NHRA track in Rogersville, MO (hosted a day of the rocky mountain speed week) and MoKan in Asbury, MO)? IF I leave the turbo on, I need more tire whether I'm drag racing, auto xing or even just driving it down the street. So, it's just a matter deciding which direction I want to go with the car...???.or if I can have fun with less HP than I'm use to....LOL

Thanks Tom may take you up on that offer if I get there and find nobody home to help.

I tried renting the garage for years, landlord wasn't having it though, shame as room for 4 cars comfortably and pretty secure too.
Your only option is to rent a room in his house and commandeer the garage while you're there 😁

You should look at my combo for streetable power. If you drove it you?d know what i mean about a smooth tractable power band. It?s got the right cam, along with the right compression chambers valve size and right boost.

I've got a Laufer's mystery cam in it right now --- and three more on the shelf. So when I get tore down I'll make a decision on what's going to happen...

i thought i could just slowly finish my 63, but no, i had to buy this  :P

Karl its like a disease :D ;D 

i know, i am sick since 1983  ;D

 :D

I'm doing my best to infect the youth with the Cal Look sickness too! We're getting a '71 1200 to restore at school, and we've already got most of a 15-second 1641 motor to go in it. It's going to take a while, but hopefully it fires up the next generation of car enthusiasts.

Good effort, its has to help 8)

Sounds like a good use of your winter! Hopefully you'll end up with a nice and quick little late looker!

Try to do this over the winter.

- New Engine
- Rear disk brakes
- Short swing axles

But sometimes time is in the way.

I  converting my 67 to 12 Volts and try to finish my 1776 single port engine until spring.
Also I'm thinking of Pedrini wheels instead of the Rivieras for a change.


Gesendet von meinem EVA-L09 mit Tapatalk

My winter project is fitting a dub shop micro squirt kit to my 67 bug.
The dizzy just has to go.

Got bored doing nothing over winter and fitted this in my bug

[attachment=1]

Bus box? Irs as well?
Lee

well, in the end the stock rebuild will not be that stock anymore, 88s and a cheater cam should wake up a little the poor engine pushing a heavy late type 3 with a slushbox, I willl be able to outrun those mopeds at the stop light finally ;D
[attachment=1]

No got mine back from Peter and fitted it so I can move the car.

Bus box is Danny’s new spare for little Lizzy I picked up for him while I was there

That was a bit of a tease!

I've not touched my car at all over the winter,  but I have been busy - the school project Beetle has been delivered to school, the body has been cut free of the floorpan and the pan is in the process of being stripped down ready for soda blasting and new pan halves.
Unfortunately the latest photos are on my new phone which I dropped and broke while breaking up a fight at school on Friday...

Part one on my list is just about done, 1st start up today and cam burn done ;D  Going to upset some locals & there "fast" modern cars with this as my daily :o :D ;D


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQnuDTanyjU&feature=share

Richie Webb builds a car without Gasburners? Has hell frozen over? :o

Seriously, not what I expected from you at all until the engine view! Then it all made sense! And you know what? I really rather like it...

 :D :D ;D

 :D

Thanks :)


All my cars are built with a purpose in mind, this one has a different purpose ;D 

 I have had a fair few non VW turbo cars  :o over the years and figured there was no reason I couldn't have one based on a Beetle 8) It has a decent spec for a road car with porsche 5 speed, 944 brakes all round, adjustable front end for ride height & caster & camber which I have made or modified from other cars myself, bigger anti roll bar,urethane bushings all round, bigger torsion bars, csp torque bar with a lot of work to fit the 7x17s under stock wings ;) Most of it is used stuff I had already or bought off ebay, swap meets or used parts for sale groups etc over last couple of years as I had a plan of what I wanted and stuck to it ;D

I wondered if there would be a host of Porsche bits underneath! It's not Cal Look, but I still really like it! Maybe we'll do one like that at school after the '71 weve just started?

My 56 is getting painted! the interior of the body is done. Along with the inside of the fenders, doors, hood, and deck lid. hopefully will be back in my garage in the next few weeks starting to get assembled.
Larry

I am not sure using child labour to do all your projects for you is legal? :D ;D

It's ok, they're "learning"!  ;D
Actually, they're not doing too badly, they've stripped the car down, split the body from the pan and we're getting the pan blasted over half term. They're doing pretty well so far!

Paint has started....L378 Prairie Beige, I do have a thread in the In Da Works section but it is my winter project so I thought I would add a couple...My goal this winter was to have the garage organized so I can assemble the car after paint and to have the car painted and it looks like both are going to happen.....
Larry

old beetle with nice wheels....... that's quite the sleeper spec there! i love it!



i've been slowly putting my beetle back together
looking more or less like this at the minute....

(http://i.imgur.com/mowWp89l.jpg) (https://imgur.com/mowWp89)

its had a few new parts.....


New frame head (mine had a fist sized hole behind the lower beam tube!!)
New narrowed beam (ordered 4in but its more like 3in which i noticed after i cut a set of leaves, live and learn, trust no one)
New correct bolts to allow for caster shims
New caster shims
New Limebug dropped disc spindles
New Febi ball joints
New zimmerman discs (currently running drums)
New wheel bearings
New Polo rack and pinion bracket from Alex on here
Used polo rack and pinion and tie rods
New brake hard lines
IRS brackets welded in
IRS trailing arms which will get brakes renewed
IRS gearbox
New gearbox cradle and HD VW OEM mounts
New poly bushes for spring plates and IRS arms
New spring plate covers
New gene berg mid mount
New 5.5in steel wheels powder coated satin black
New full pan set of pan bolts and special washers
New chassis gasket
New complete custom wiring loom
New OEM fuse board
Fibreglass bonnet (searched for years to find a short bonnet in the uk!!)
New Hookys engine bay side panels (thick metal and well made!)


So the engine side of things...

Repaint of my 911 fan unit.
New MS2 or 3 v3 ECU (building slowly)
New 30mm oil pump
New AN10 lines through out and socketless fittings
New VWSPEEDSHOP SP1 manifolds (without throttles) and stainless AN fuel rails
New VWSPEEDSHOP 52mm billet throttle body (beautiful!)
New VWSPEEDSHOP intake pipe work

Bought a '54 oval from Norway. Was stored since 1977. Factory color is Iceland green put had a respray years back in ceramic green. Put some CB spindles on it and Erco's from a clubmate. Runs nows, replaced brakelines, master cilinder etc. After this season I will do a full resto.

[attachment=1]

Started to polish it. Will get some life back in the paint.

[attachment=2]

Very nice Jesse. That sits perfectly, and the wheel choice is just right too.

Jesse,

Just throw in a big motor (and brakes) and drive it man.... ;D