The Cal-look Lounge

Marc just sent me some pics of his split window.  It's going to be a real project, but it's in the works.  Still has the window decals too!!

...Ed.

 :P :P :P
Great !!!!
I can't wait to see it on the road again.
I hope that you Ed (or Mike) can share with us her step by step rebuilt.
Thanks in advance,

Just to clarify, these pics are of Marc's red split, not of my old green split that's since been painted red.

I now believe in UNICORNS !!!!  :o :D

Wow! A piece of history there :)

awesome  pictures ed , it's cool to see old  cal look stil alive  :o :o :o
i remember this report with mark's car  8) 8) feb 75  :o :o

did mark change the rear light and the decklid ???  , not the same   ::) ::)

Wow, just awesome!

Lokks like it just needs some air in the tires and gas in the thank to be ready to go  ;)

Real cal look (guy) never die, they just get ... older!

 :o Two of my all time favourite cal lookers - Can't wait to see the progress on this one ;D

P.S any news of the old green split ??? ;)

Has it still got an engine or is that on the to-do list? What are/well the specs be?

 :o Unreal.

NICE.............another survivor  8)

That's unbelivable... a true piece of Cal Look history. Go Marc Go :)

Wow, that's incredible! I wonder what else is out there?! ;)

WOW ! great news.

However, Please Please do not let him over restore the car to a show car keep it real as it was way back when, far too many cal look cars are just too good now and with this car it shouild be as was, i know for most americans this is diifficult as they prefer to redo cars to a very high standard, but as this is a time piece it would be worth trying to clean and repair Oh and polish thoses BRM's first before stripping and rebuilding.

From the pictures i would be leaving as is and just cleaning and touching up, as it still looks awesome.

Godd luck Marc.

I didn't like to say but I agree with Russ - Keep it as a survivor  ;) :)

That is so cool. Imagine driving past a house with the garage open and seeing a guy taking pictures of some dusty looker. There are so many others out there like this that we just dont know about. Thanks for posting the pictures Ed and thanks to Mark for taking them.

So what are the plans for the car?

Freakin' wow!

I wonder how long it would have continued to sit if EdCraig wasnt harrassing him to do something with it.

WOW another survivor breaks cover , have to agree with Russell , make do and mend , what a project to have had gathering dust in the corner for 30+ years  8) 8) 8)

I believe Marc's plan is to restore it to it's original style and glory...along with a 48IDA motor.  However, I'll let Marc confirm this.

Yes...I was thinking the same.  Marc must have changed the TL's. 

I remember he had the car re-painted at one point years ago.  He probably changed the Tail Lights and Deck at that time.

Thought it only right to move these little pic's over - Thanks Fabs :)

Enjoy!

a couple more ;)

Been thinking about this all day. Does he have the other BRM and I'm sure we would all love to see the interior and engine compartment too.

Glad I'm not the only one dude  ;) :) Let see MORE!

awesome, hope he keeps it the way it is. What a cool car

WOWWWWWWWWW!!!! That's AMAZING!!! Have loved that car forever!

Here's a few more pics of Marc's car.  Note the Deano shifter in the interior photo.

...Ed.

PS.  Nice seeing everyone at the Bug in!

Wow that a clean lookin split keep us updated  will you Ed  8)

The more I look at this thread the more I want a split  ;) :)

Marc will update me with more pics as the restoration continues....so I'll keep you posted  I'm working on getting some pics of my old split too.

....Ed

cool look forward to seeing those dude - also does this mean you know whereabouts of the old green split  ??? :)

Clean it? Nah leave it dusty for at least one event  ;D

Yes. Located my split a few weeks ago.  Asking the current owner to send me some pics of it in it's current condition. 

I did offer to buy it back, but he told me that he wants to pass it along to his kids.  I'd love to have it back, but happy to hear he's keeping it his family.  Guess it's been in storage for 20 + years.

OK i have been away for some years.  I knew Marc when he Managed the AutoHaus on Whittier Blvd.

Where is he now?

He's living up in Washington now.

Shame but its cool he's keepin it in his family - am I right in sayin it had Gold Empi 8's on it when you sold it? and if so does it still have them on it?

All this is gettin me excited  ;) ;D

I'm in Washington.  Does Marc play on the lounge?  Anyway to get in touch?

Yikes.......I'm away for a week and here we are again.


First...thanks Ed for posting the pics I sent you.
 Frankly, I was embarrassed to show the world how neglected the car has been.  My friends and wife have been trying to get me to do something with the car for a while now, but it was some of the comments some of you made to me that made me realize the car is a bit of history and I need to restore the car to it’s former glory. It will be a driver, not a trailer queen. I enjoy driving my cars and the car will be "old school" as it was in that California Look issue of Hot VWs.

After I bought the car (thanks to Ron Flemming's help) I started collecting all the missing parts for the split window for a few years and since the paint was starting to show it’s age, I finally decided to do a complete rebuild………………that has never been finished!
I started a complete body off redo of the car while I lived in California and was 90% done when I towed it to Washington.  All it lacked was upholstery, some finish wiring, and sticking in the killer motor I had built for it.  At first I lived in an apartment and so the car sat in my bosses garage for a few months. He had cats with claws and boys with bicycles and bad things happened.
Later I went through a divorce that, to make a long story short, forced me to leave the car in the forest for a year with only a car cover to protect it.  It’s amazing what damage that can do in the NorthWest and I couldn’t bring myself to deal with it so the car just sat in my shop abandoned while I worked on other car projects.
Now my shop is filling with body parts as I take her apart again.

The pictures Ed uploaded here are of the car before I started taking her apart and a week later as I carefully disect the car trying to salvage what I can.

It’s slow going due to rusted fasteners, switches installed with epoxy (never thought I would be taking it apart again), trying to save as much as possible and trying to figure out the “clever” wiring I came up with 30 years ago. I ran everything through relays and circuit breakers.

Let's see..........what were some of the questions?....BRMs, yes I currently own the bare minimum quantity of BRMs; 4 for the road, 1 for a spare, and 2 for slicks. I used to own more, including the BRMs off the Underdog, but sold them to friends years ago.
What else.......the rear deck lid is the original one, I did change to the "heart" tail lights (because I like them), and after having someone "taco" my front hood, I replaced that and had the emblem "hump" shrunk out.....and added hood springs to prevent future damage. I also added porsche drum brakes all around and if they are still useable, they will remain.

I don't remember what trans the car had when I bought it but it now has close ratio gears and a ZF liimited slip ( I remember buying it for $162 back in the early 70's).
When I first bought the car, it had a 1700, single port motor that embarrassed a lot of dual weber cars at the street races. I soon replaced that motor with a dual 48IDA motor but not before the photo shoot and that's why there were no pictures of the motor.
The motor I built for the car just before moving to Washington was a 84mm DPR, Carillo SS rods, Aries 92mm slipper skirts, Fumio heads (and they cost me a fortune back in the 70's!), 48IDAs, Joe Hunt mag and whatever I can't remember. When I sold the motor (remember the divorce I mentioned?....It was crunch time and I had to sell it and a spare "racing" trans!!), I kept the carbs and the mag which I will use on the new motor which I haven't decided on yet.

I think that should answer most of your questions and I will try to post pictures as I go.

Thanks for the support,

Marc Buehler

Marysville, Washington

1951split@buehlerenterprises.com

Hi Marc,

Great post.  I think you answered lot of questions for everyone.  Keep the info coming!

...Ed.

Divorce sucks. I've been there and it suck the best parts out out of you, both emotional and Veedubial. ;D

Thanks for droppin in marc  ;D

Oh and Ed - I just read KS book AGAIN so sorry for suggesting you would "gold" empi*'s on your split ;) :)

Have fun with the built-up,Marc and keep us informed.

Thanks for your reply Marc , cant wait to here what you decide for your engine combo 70's inspired ??  8)
Great to read your report on what you've been through with the 51 , I did wonder what the late chrome hood support's were about .
Good luck and happy spannering  :)

It is really cool to hear the background on these old cars. Thanks for posting, Marc. You should build a duplicate of the engine you had before. 92x84 is not common these days.

WOW :o

Wonder which other cars are still hidden away?
 8)

Thanks John.

I think the seats are the only thing that hasn't been changed on the car since Billy had his time with the car........and although I will have them redone, I want to try to keep the same design.

.......and there are a lot of us "old guys" out there doing the same thing.
I was lucky to have been able to be a crewman on a nostalgic AA/Fuel Altered for a few years and everybody we raced with, all over Norh America were "old guys".
I was lucky to have the resources to build my dream car when I was in High school, a '57 Chevy, and most of my 55-56-57 Chevy friends....."old guys".
And now I'm lucky to still own a great car from my past (over 35 years ago)......

We're not alone, John.

Marc Buehler
DRA

A few months ago ago Marc appeared at our monthly meeting. (I am with the Cascade Kombis, we put the on the Vintage Meet here in Seattle.) At first he didn't say much, but once he told us what kind of VW he had a few jaws dropped. :o His good friend Bob deserves some credit for waking up the VW addict in Marc. He built a killer Ghia, and sounds like an awesome fabricator.
Don't be ashamed of your car Marc, you have held on to it all these years and that is what counts!

BTW, I have a extra set of 356 B fronts with hardware if you need em. ;)

Thanks Joe,

Bob was another crew member of the drag car and we towed that thing all over the country. You get to know someone pretty well when you're stuck with them in a truck for days, share a cheap motel room and wrench with them. He was responsible for my '57 Chevy project ....... and he loves to spend my money. <grin>
I know that as soon as he get's the Ghia painted, he will be over helping me with the split and I won't be able to stop him (not that I would want to).
I should post pictures of his '71 Ghia. He is quite creative.

and you should post pictures of your Ghia as well. I know you're a long way from having it done but I think everyone would be interested in your retro rod with an Okrasa 36hp motor.


Marc

Good having another DRA member here Marc!

  :o :o  Hey, you boosted my pic >:(... why I oughta....!!!! ;)

Never mind that "Old Guy" crap, Marc... at least we're still alive, right? ;)  I'm really glad to see you've come full circle. 8)

(http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff162/joeelectric/P1000534.jpg)


Not much to see with my car Marc, besides you're the headliner here. ;)

Marc,
Which AA team did you crew on? 

http://www.bradfordsfiat.com/

Joe,
Why did I think your car was a Ghia??  must be that old age thing again......sorry.

Marc

As Joe said, it's the Bradford car which is a remake of the original one from the 60s and used to compete against those other unstable, short wheel based altereds like "The Wing", "Rat Trap","Nannook", etc............and funny thing.....still does today!
The Bradford Fuel Altered Hot Wheels car will be released this month. I told Randy, owner and driver, his time has come and it's time to quit now that his car is a toy (no offense to Hot Wheel collectors).

Marc
DRA

Good answer! ;D

Ok....as promised.........here is this week's progress on the redo of the redo of the split. I was a little short on time this week as I became a grandfather, but managed to put some hours in today.

Took off all the fenders, removed all glass, removed the front wire harness and air pump controls, removed rear deck.
I used air shocks on the front so I could pump them up when I got pulled over for too low front end. At first I used a modifed fire extinguisher with a little valve which held enough air for 2 pump ups but on the last redo of the car, I installed a 12v air pump. I'll be doing something different this time.

and a few more:

Almost ready to remove body.

Great pics Marc!.....and congrats on the new grandbaby!!!

Ed

Great pics!  Please keep us posted along the way. Your car was ahead of its time back then. Good to see you are finally restoring it! Yes, and congrats on your new grandbaby. 8)

COOL - Thanks for the pic's Marc, also congrats on becomin a grandad - I just became an Uncle  ;D

Could we have alittle more info on that "Air-pump" system  ???

I would LOVE to have a cool old skool detail like that to my 66   ;) :)

Congrats grandad,I also like a little more info of that AIRRIDE   ;D system.
Have fun with the rebuilt.

Peter  ;)

cool pictures marc , thx for sharing with us , and i see that you never forget the vw scene ,  picture of vw gasser on the wall just aside the front fender

congrats for the grandad title  ;D ;D

fabs

I don't know what the law is now, but back then in California, the measurement from the street to the center of the headlight had to be at least 29" or you got a ticket (especially if you cruised the area around the Buena Park Auto Haus). I once got 3 tickets in one day!
I found that I could be 27" and escape the wrath of the local law enforcement but as soon as I ventured even 1/2" less, I became a target. It was an equipment violation which meant no fine but you had to go to a police station and get it signed off.
I learned that the Anaheim police department was the best place to get a ticket signed off because you parked you car behind the building and usually no one wanted to come out and look so they just signed it off. Of course if you keep coming in for the same thing, even the laziest cop (or overworked, busy officer  <grin>) is going to come out and see what is going on.
I used to use muffler clamps clamped on the shocks, holding them up but that wasn't reliable and in fact once, while I went in to get an officer to look at the car, one of the clamps let go and there was the car with one side up and the other down. He didn't sign off the ticket.

Anyway, Gabriel shocks made an air shock for the VW rear and some people found that if you turn them over, they fit the front end.....much better than clamps. They made a kit that used the vacuum from the engine to pump them up but if you had a 48IDA motor with a healthy cam, there was little vacuum and it took a while to get those headlights up. The trick here was to tell the officer that you couldn't turn off the motor because it had a bad starter and then stall him as long as you could in hopes of reaching that 29" in time.
I started using the air shocks on my '67 bug with a 48IDA 1835 motor and modifed a fire extinguisher to hold air which I stored under the back seat. If I was about to be pulled over, I just reached behind the seat and opened a valve and the car front end would leap to lawfull specifications. I had to be carefull not to do this when the officer was looking as it was pretty obvious. The tank held enough air for 2 lifts.
When I bought the split window, I decided to use the air compressor that Gabriel sold. That way the lift time was quick but subtle and I didn't have to keep recharging the tank. In one of the pictures, you can see the air compressor sitting next to the fuel pump under the gas tank.
In the car you can barely see the control with air guage bolted to side by driver.
The third picture shows the shock. The split's front shock is shorter than later models and is same size as a 356 Porsche, so I had to find something shorter with the proper stroke and made an adapter as shown. I don't remember what the original application was.

....and that's my story.........what do people do these days?

Marc Buehler
DRA

First of all this is a GREAT thread it's like we all are "meeting" a long lost friend. Very much looking forward to seeing the continuation of this revamp of an awesome survivor!

  As far as ride height these days the law doesn't seem to pay much attention to us VW guys. At least that's my experience. I think for the most part all of us just run the adjusters set to the height we want with or without the addition of lowered spindles and the occasional 2" narrowed beam  and don't much worry about any trouble. As for myself it's a stock beam with puma adjusters and stock spindles lowered to where it "looks right" and that's it.

 Again I must say this thread kicks butt and I look forward to meeting you.

I forgot all about the old air shock idea we were using.  I had them on my split too.  Similar design to what Marc had.  I remember having some flame cut mounts to extend the upper mount location.  Marc's system was a little fancier than mine.  I just had a valve mount in the truck to raise the car when necessary.  (Had to use it only once for a "lowered" ticket coming back from one of the Bug In's.)  I beleive John Lazenby had something about the same, but he had his hooked up to his manifold so he could raise the car while driving.  John can give better details than I can.

...Ed.

Well progress wasn't much this week as I had to get my '57 Chevy ready for a car show next weekend.
I did manage to "break" apart the body from the pan and it now has 2x4s between the body and pan as shown in photo.
The only reason I didn't completely pull it is that I don't have any place to put it yet.  I'm building a "cart" to put the body on now and it will be off in another week and then the real work can start.

By the way, my good buddy, Bob, and I will flying down for the "Classic" next month to help catch up on what's going on with the VW scene in So Cal.

GOOD NEWS!!! ;D 8) 8) 8)  Hope to see you guys at Nick's Friday night (June 12th) as well... your going to get an eye-opener for sure!

Marc,
Try to stop by the DKK group.  We are planning a reunion and would love to get reintroduced.  I'm in Vancouver WA now and heading down for the events.
i knew you from the Auto Haus days...

Steve Wilkerson,

John:  Exactly!

I remember there was one of Buena Park's "finest" who would park near the Auto Haus store and "pick off" the lowered bugs as they left the store......like shooting fish in a barrel.  I know the police were just doing their job and in their eyes we were driving unsafe vehicles (and that may be true!) but some officers of the law were obsessive.

When I first moved to Washington, I was driving a baja bug to and from work and there was one State Trooper who did not like baja bugs, in fact, he said they were illegal!........he pulled me over almost everyday......my horn was not loud enough.....my turn signals were not bright enough, etc., etc. I had one of those cages around my motor which attached to the shock towers and transmission horns and he wrote me up for not having bumpers. I argued and argued with him and he finally said that a bumper must be attached to the frame!......hello.......shock towers, frame horns?  The stock VW bumbers bolted to the body, not the frame! I ended up having to make these huge aluminum 8" wide "bumpers" that were 6' long and hung beyond the front and rear cages like large springs.........if I ever hit someone walking, they would catapult the victum into the on coming traffic! <grin>   Sheeeeeez.

Steve:
I will stop by.  Should I wear a pink carnation or will the fact that I'm a very big guy walking around with a one eyed friend (who wouldn't surprise me if he had a tee-shirt made that said something like "I'm a friend of Marc Buehler"   LOL)?

Marc
DRA

John:  Exactly!

I remember there was one of Buena Park's "finest" who would park near the Auto Haus store and "pick off" the lowered bugs as they left the store......like shooting fish in a barrel.  I know the police were just doing their job and in their eyes we were driving unsafe vehicles (and that may be true!) but some officers of the law were obsessive.

I've always tried to respect laws and the police who lay their lives on the line everyday.  Unfortunately like in so many things there are a few that give the bad name to many.

I have always been respectful to the men in blue but I remember once at the LaHabra Police Station, I went down to get a headlight too low ticket signed off.  They refused as with the "Sepect-A-Drop cranked all the way up I was at 23-3/4.  A quarter inch short.  I tried to plead.  and he proceded to write me another ticket for.  Improper fastening of the license plate.  One of the lower bolts was missing???  and he wrote me up for "windshield wipers"  I asked what was wrong with the windshiels wipers, They worked perfectly...  He said " I don't like them"...

I the scope of things.  I really don't think a 21 inch headlight centerline ever killed anyone...

The low law that should be inforced was body parts lower than the borrom of the rim.   flat tire = dragging steel.  and improperly adjusted headlights.

Cops can be ass holes for no resaon at times...

Amen to that

I guess it's about time to post some of my Marc Buehler Auto Haus La Habra photos from 1976... I was really holding on to them for the Cal Look Book #3, but this maybe a better location and time...

Sheeeeez, now what?  Can we talk about this, first?  <grin>

Marc

WTF's the hold up.... I've been waiting here impatiently for 3 hours plus  >:(  ;)

Okay, I found a few, but the money shot is still missing in action... These were taken at the (then new) La Habra Auto Haus store on Whittier Blvd, at the former Don Steves Chevy location. My guess is around late 1975 or early 1976? My 1700cc engine was on display, and the chick.... well, Marc do you want to explain that one to all of us?  ;D

Seriously cool pic's deano  ;D

cool pics Deano!! great...them smeels of 70's.... ;D

and story about policeman..are cool...
this story make me think a lot...but i think now it's terrible to ride a cal look.. and i don't want to talk about Italian law...
is it enought to say that here u can't modify ANYTHING?
for law...you can't change tyres from original... :'(
nevermind.... ;D

ps the split is  increible...!

pps the girl is incredible.... ;D

sanasegate... ;D

maybe  WAS.... now she could be too much seasoned... ;D
or maybe only more  experienced? ::)
who could know.... ;D

Worth the wait, Deano.... nice job! 8) 8) 8)

Excellent pictures.  Mid-70s, southern cali., all-VW store.  Only thing missing is some cold beers!

I am being a bit of a geek here but are those "Auto-haus" KC light covers on that Rail parked out front ??? If they are then I WANT SOME!!!! ;D

you are greedy dude.. ;D

Here are a few more.... The shot of my old '67 inside Auto Haus' showroom is when Mike and Julie Martin had it. Shows Mike's 1835cc engine in place. Rail is also Mike Martin's (same engine, taller manifolds), notice the holiday stuff on store front glass. And the last shot, I know Marc had something to do with... ;D

Do you have a matching frontal picture of the girl as well  :o

Yes, the '70s were high performance all the way....


I am going to post some more old photos of the Bug-In photos on another thread, just so this deal about Marc can return to its original theme...

(http://cal-look.no/lounge/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=8855.0;attach=30128;image)

Mum! You never told me you'd been to California!  :o :o

very cool pictures

I do!   <grin>

Thanks Deano for not posting the "money shot".........I'll have your money in a plain envelope at the Classic.




"I am being a bit of a geek here but are those "Auto-haus" KC light covers on that Rail parked out front  If they are then I WANT SOME!!!!"

Just find yourself some Auto Haus stickers and put them on.......that's what we did.


Marc
DRA

COOL 8)

Anyway lets get back to your old split Marc ;) :)

This thread just keeps gettin better. ;)



monkiboy, I see your tag line regarding SPG's. A friend has one in his garage...... great conversation piece. One of these days I'm gonna buy it.

most excellant photo's, I spent many a pay check in that store.
jim

Yep SPG's are the way forward ;D I am currently having mine rebuilt over there in the states - the plan is for a 2180cc ida monster  ;D

Now lets get back to Marc's split ;)

Ok, so here is the current progress on the redo of the redo.

The first picture shows the pan without the body.

2nd picture: it's hard to believe that this trans contains close ratio gears, ZF limited slip, etc, etc

3rd picture: What is this crap?  It looks like the pedal assembly melted??!!

4th picture: this is the pedal assembly after power washing.

Should be done by Classic, right?  ;D

Very cool to see these 'in progress' pics. Thanks Marc! 8)

 :o :o
 is it yours ???

and here's a picture of a DRA line up

And a few more pictures.....

The first 1 in this post is after pressure washing the pan.

2nd picture: pressure washing reveals more rust holes. It upsets me as this pan was flawless when I did the first restoration 34 years ago.

3rd picture: I decided to work my way from front to rear. Here's the front Porsche brakes removed. All the slave clyinders were new, but I will take them apart and check them and pray they are still good.

4th picture: Here the front end is basically disassembled. I need to take a day or so and do some cleaning and organizing before going further.

I will probably have the pan sand blasted once it's completely stripped. I will then start inspecting, fixing and painting it as I reassemble it.  At some point, the body will be media blasted and my best friend, Bob, will prepare it for painting.  I have a few parts I need to find and some chrome work will be needed.
I will post more pics as I go.

thanks for the interest,

Marc Buehler
DRA

Yup, it has the DRA decals in the windows. When I bought the car, it had the chrome wheels which I, of course, replaced with BRMs.


You guys have more pictures of my car than I do......LOL.



Marc

Marc, you have some serious hard-core mice where you live.... Yikes.

Thank you for the pics Deano!!!
Keep the pics coming!

FYI...
Porsche specialist Stoddard sells reproduction wheel cylinders. I just ordered some, but haven't received them yet.
Repros cost $72 each (x4 of course - ouch!)
You can buy the real deal (Porsche), too; but EACH wheel cylinder costs around $200-250!
 :o
http://www.stoddard.com/shop/SHOPEXD.ASP?id=18556

Cool thanks for the new update oic's marc - just out of interest are you keepin g the air shocks up front ??? I think it would be cool to keep the history of the car "as is" ;) :) or you could just sell it to me  ;D

You mean x6. ;)

Mr Brown does very good work rebuilding originals.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=585934


I bought this whole set from him.

(http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff162/joeelectric/IMG_2106_1.jpg)

I haven't made up my mind yet on the air shocks. In fact, I'm a bit confused as I thought sure the car had a Select-a-Drop on it (yuk) and when I saw it didn't, I figured some torsion bars had been cut. I pulled the bars and they are all there and intact, so now I'm trying to remember how low was the car and why.  I would rather put on some good quality shocks than the air ones, but...............

Marc

Thanks Joe, thats a very good deal!  I think when I take the cylinders apart, I'll find some pitting that I will be able to hone out.....at least I hope. It's good to know I have a back up source.

Marc

Sorry, I meant 4 for the front

Cool - I had a NOS seletadrop a while back and it took me ages to work out how on earth you actually fitted the thing - They look like a really bad idea  :-\ One thing I have noticed about your car and ed's split etc is They were not actually that low - compared to modern "built cars" - you must have just relied on the air adjustment, Anyway if you don't reuse the air kit I will take it  ;) :)

Any more pic's of the body now its removed  ??? :)

Cool - I had a NOS seletadrop a while back and it took me ages to work out how on earth you actually fitted the thing - They look like a really bad idea  :-\ One thing I have noticed about your car and ed's split etc is They were not actually that low - compared to modern "built cars" - you must have just relied on the air adjustment, Anyway if you don't reuse the air kit I will take it  ;) :)

Any more pic's of the body now its removed  ??? :)
[/quote]

The stories I spoke of earler in this thread (or maybe another) about being pulled over for being too low, using muffler clamps to get the tickets signed off, going to air shocks using an air tank and then to the compressor involved my '67 bug.
I put the air shocks on the split during the complete rebuild (that I'm redoing now) 30 years ago and have never driven this car with them on.
I've been looking at some old pictures and I think you are right, the split was not that low to begin with. So do I leave it the way it is or throw on some dropped spindles?  hmmmmmm...what to do, what to do.

I don't have any pictures of the body off right now as I just covered it up and have been concentrating on the pan.
Here is a couple of pictures of the car taken about the same time as the magazine article and a couple more, one taken during the first rebuild (in the late 70s) and one of what it looks like now. You work hard to do a good job, then never quite finish it, and when you get back to it, you have to take it all apart again and start over.

Those pictures of the car were taken at Hillcrest Park in Fullerton!!!!!! (yes?)  I have pics of my ol oval window taken in 1981 in the same damn spot!
Too funny.

Worm

The stories I spoke of earler in this thread (or maybe another) about being pulled over for being too low, using muffler clamps to get the tickets signed off, going to air shocks using an air tank and then to the compressor involved my '67 bug.
I put the air shocks on the split during the complete rebuild (that I'm redoing now) 30 years ago and have never driven this car with them on.
I've been looking at some old pictures and I think you are right, the split was not that low to begin with. So do I leave it the way it is or throw on some dropped spindles?  hmmmmmm...what to do, what to do.

I don't have any pictures of the body off right now as I just covered it up and have been concentrating on the pan.
Here is a couple of pictures of the car taken about the same time as the magazine article and a couple more, one taken during the first rebuild (in the late 70s) and one of what it looks like now. You work hard to do a good job, then never quite finish it, and when you get back to it, you have to take it all apart again and start over.


[/quote]

Cool pic's marc Thanks for sharing - And don't you dare put "dropped spindles" on there  >:( ;) :) I say restore it to "As was" condition when you first parked it up - Just my 2 cents dude  :)

I have also been saying for AGES that "modern built" cars are way too low and look nothing like how you guys used to do it  :)

I can't wait to see some more pic's  ;D

Yup, Hillcrest Park.


Marc
DRA

Cool pic's marc Thanks for sharing - And don't you dare put "dropped spindles" on there  >:( ;) :) I say restore it to "As was" condition when you first parked it up - Just my 2 cents dude  :)

I have also been saying for AGES that "modern built" cars are way too low and look nothing like how you guys used to do it  :)

I can't wait to see some more pic's  ;D
[/quote]


You know........I think I WILL put the front end back together the way it was (no dropped spindles). The roads here in the NorthWest can get a little torn up after the winter and I want to drive this thing without worrying about it. Besides if it stands like it does in the early photos, and why wouldn't it?, that's good to me.
Besides the fact that I weigh nearly 300 lbs now will lower it more......LOL

I have a bunch of pictures of building the car 30 years ago but then this thread is for "Current Pics of ........."  <grin>
Ok, heres one................



Marc
DRA

Besides the fact that I weigh nearly 300 lbs now will lower it more......LOL

300lbs... :o :o :o :o :o :o  I thought Bob's on Whittier Blvd. went away several years ago.  What have you found for a food suplement since then ??? ??? ??? ???

Of course I should tell you that my once 128 lbs frame is now just over 200 lbs... ::) ::) ::) ::) ::)

"I have a bunch of pictures of building the car 30 years ago but then this thread is for "Current Pics of ........."  <grin>
Ok, heres one................"

Stop teasing then - I think its time you started a new thread dude ;) :)

great thread mark it's cool to see  the car w ill be back on the road one day
and go to the same way in the 70's for the height of the car   ;)

rgd
fabs

You know......I was 128 lbs once myself.  <grin>

I'm trying to lose 50 lbs before the Classic (yes, next weekend)......................

I'm trying to get down to 135, but i think I might need to be dead for about 6 months to hit my goal...

Here are a few pictures of the disassembly.

The first picture shows the air shock
(http://)
The 2nd is of the air compressor
(http://)
The 3rd picture shows a box of front end parts after a little cleaning.
(http://)
4th picture is front end beam on bench after taking it apart
(http://)


I'll be in California for the Classic this weekend and doing some shopping for the car. When I get back, I'll take the rear of pan apart.

See ya there,

Marc Buehler
DRA

nice work marc  ;)

fabs

Good to see your making some progress marc :)

It's been over a month since I posted any progress on the split. My work required me to do some traveling and then my wife and I went on a cruise, but I'm back on it.

My goal today was to finish stripping the pan so I can get it blasted and prepare the trans for shipping.
Once the pan has been media blasted, we can fix the rusted areas, paint it and then start reassembling.

The transmission sports close ratio gears, ZF limited slip, steel side plate, etc., etc.  I built it some 30 years ago so I think it's a good idea to freshen it up. I have decided not to do it myself as I haven't kept up with things and besides, I hate doing transmissions.
I just happen to know one of the best VW transmission guys in the industry, Dave Folts, who really knows how to make a bullet proof gear box, so.....................

pic 1:  Here my good friend, Bob, helps me pull the transmission
pic 2:  Here we have the trans up on the stand so I can drain the oil and pull the axles
pic 3:  Now the pan is ready to be taken to the sand blaster (hopefully this week)
pic 4:  Here the transmission is boxed and ready to send to Dave Folts Transmission


Hope to have more next week.


Thanks for the interest,

Marc Buehler

Great pics Marc.  Good to see some progress on your car.  I think I'm about a year away from another VW project.  I just bought a C6 Corvette over the weekend!  ;-)

  Whats that in the picture of the bare pan you ask??  Oh nothing just an original BRM one of a set of "the least amount allowable" which if I'm not mistaken would be 7.  


  Marc, I was thinking the other day it's about time to be hearing some news on this great cal-look rebirth and low and behold here it is. Hope the cruise was fun and relaxing and glad to see Bob and yourself back at it.
Jason

I've been wondering where you'd got to mark  ;) Nice to see some progress  :)

 nice to have some news of the works

thx
fabs

ED!......A Corvette??????......Tell me you are kidding!.....That's a far cry from a split window.

Want to buy my BMW Roadster? It would fit in real nice with your fetish for 2 seaters and you would only have to put off that VW project for an additional year.  <grin>

.........................................................................
meanwhile I sealed the gas tank today. The tank was in great shape but I decided to keep it that way by using the POR product.
Plugged the holes, poured in the magic solution, swish, swish, drained it. I used a heat gun to speed up the curing (I wanted to eat dinner).

Tomorrow afternoon we stick the pan in the back of Bob's truck and haul it down to the sand blaster.

Marc Buehler


Ed.......Ed.......tsk, tsk.

Hey...these things happen.  Want to buy a Porsche 996?

LOL ED I Would have sold you My 2004 C5 Lemans Edition Convert with all the Bells And Whistes and 1,597 miles on it LOL It still has the plastic on the seats and Steering Wheel and the protection flim on the Radio Dial  LOL

thanks....but I don't think so!  LOL

Once when I was trying to tell my now ex-wife that I was leaving her for another woman, I told her "Hey...these things happen"..............that cost me big time! <grin>
It's always exciting getting a new hot rod......enjoy.

...

Split Window progress:

Loaded the pan into the back of Bob's pickup today and away it goes to the sand blaster.



Marc Buehler

Gee, knowing just how important your car is to the history of the California Look, shouldn't you have a police escort when transporting that pan in the open, on public highways? How could you......   ;D

I still have VW's in my blood, so another one will happen.  I'm now thinking about a bay window single cab.  It's a ways off, so lots of time to change my mind again.  Until then, my daughters '66 will fill my VW requirements!

Yikes! I keep forgetting that the history of the California Look is in my humble hands. I promise I will be more carefull from now on.

Marc

Dam right - Where were CHiP's  :D :)

 ;D

Marc, which POR product did you use inside of the fuel tank?

I'd like to know that one too  :)

US Standard Tank Sealer.
I've done 3 gas tanks so far with the same quart and I can probably do another one. Of the tanks I used the stuff on, only one was rusted enough that it leaked. The sealer fixed it. The split window tank is in very good condition but why take a chance?


http://www.por15.com/US-STANDARD-TANK-SEALER/productinfo/TSG/


Marc

It's slow going on the split window because I've been enjoying the summer in the Pacific NorthWest. I recently just got back from a week on a cruise ship, this weekend it's the hydro boat races, next week it's camping......you get the picture. But I am making progress ......I have to because my shop is a mess with VW parts laying everywhere.

Anyway, while I waited for the pan to get back from the sand blaster, I stripped the front end in preparation of re-painting it. The pan was picked up yesterday and even though we are experiancing record breaking temperatures (103 yesterday!!), I had to spray it with Ospho (phosphoric acid) to keep it from rusting.

picture 1 is the naked front end
picture 2 is pan after sand blasting
picture 3 is the pan with a fresh coat of Ospho
picture 4 the pan is now protected from rust and after making repairs, will be painted black.


Marc Buehler

nothing  to do with the split , but found this in a old magazine   :D

it was at carlsbad during  dkp 3rd national vw drag

rgd
fabs

Oh my.....................

I've never seen that picture or even knew it existed so I appreciate you posting it.
It's laughable now, maybe even embarrassing, but I sure had a lot of fun with that beast. I went through a couple of transaxles with it and with Dean Lowry's help, stuck in a Porsche trans. I owe it to Dean to say that he did not approve of the Corvair setup and constantly tried to convince me to convert back to VW which he eventually did.
The trans held up but unfortunately I did not have the money to gear the trans for drag racing and I had to run it with the freeway flyer gears. If I remember correctly, the car did the 1/4 mile in the low 14's using 3 gears.

marc what's the wheels on the car ??? ET mag , crestline , cal parts ???

rgd
fabs

Oh man.......I'm sorry but I don't remember.......Crestline rings a brain cell though. They had to be cheap because I spent all my money on bondo and fan belts. <grin>

Marc Buehler

also is it just me or do the fronts look like 14's :-\ Marc ??? :)

I don't remember having 2 different size wheels on the thing so I don't think so.
I think it's just the camera angle...............

 better quit eatin' them brownies, dude  ;) ;D

Shhhhhhhhhhhh ;) :)

But what I really want to know.... Is Marc related to Ferris?

Marc Buehler related to Ferris Bueller ?
Different spellings, but I guess we'll have to wait for the DNA results to make a definitive decision.
Inquiring minds want to know !
 ???

 :D well marc  ??? :)

OK, Ok, I confess.............YES I am!

Bueller
Buehler
Bueller
Buehler
Bueller
Buehler


I'll have another brownie............

 ;D ::)

I haven't had too much time to work on the Split the last month but I'm back at it now.
I've spent hours glass beading, wire brushing, etc. dozens of little parts so it may seem I haven't made much progress but it all has to be done at some time or another.
I have gone through the front end and all looked good.

pic 1:  glass beaded one of the trailing arms

pic 2:  installed the torsion bars

pic 3:  and finished putting on the spindles

and the steering box looked good.

pic 1:  reassembling the steering box after checking it out (I know it's kind of hard to see because its sitting in a vise which also got painted)

pic 2:  steering box done! 


Front brakes next.

COOL - Great to see some more progress dude :)

I have been meaning to ask you about the "spec" of your gearbox? I know you had a ZF diff but what else?  :)

4.375  ring and pinion
1.48   3rd gear- welded
1.14   4th gear
steel side plates reinforcement
polished stock axle

that's all I remember.....nothing unusual for 30 years ago.
I'm not sure what I'll end up with this rebuild......If I'm really going to drive it, I would be better off with stock 3rd and 4th gears.  Except for the occasional stop light demonstration, I doubt I'll be doing any serious drag racing with it......the car is more valuable just being one of the cars from the 1975 Cal-Look article than the quickest VW on the block.

Thanks for asking,

Marc Buehler
DRA

Cool thanks for the info/specs buddy - I just lined up a ZF diff for my 66 and I intend on building a 5 speed so I can add a 0.89 for highway cruzin ;)

I take it you had a "stock" 1st & 2nd  ??? :)

oh and did you run 185 pirellis on the back ???

Yes, stock 1st and 2nd. I don't remember there being any choice back then.
The car had Pirelli 165s on the back and 135s on the front.
I have a brand new set of Michelins, never mounted, up in my attic. I bought them 30 years ago to put on the split. I wonder if they are any good? I'm thinking they may not be safe but it's tempting.

Cool again thanks for the info buddy  :) Do you remember what box 1st & 2nd originally came from ???

I'd LOVE to see a pic of those Michelins dude  ;)

1966 type 1. Now that there are more choices available, I will have to get with Folts and determine what I will end up with.

have patience my friend, when I pull the tires down from the attic, I'll post a picture. I've got a ways to go before I clutter my work space with tires though.

..................and tonight, I sent the pan to my best friend's shop. It is a lot worse than I had thought and Bob is a very good fabricator and I know he can make it right.

The funny thing is when I put the car together the first time, I thought the pan was perfect but now seeing it with all the dents and the twisted side rail and the cracks (I'm not counting the explainable rust), I can't help to think either my eyesight was worse back then, I didn't know what a good pan was supposed to look like, or when the car sat outside in the woods for a year, a big, heavy bear who liked to dance lived in the car. <grin>

pic 1, 2 & 3 shows all the areas to be fixed.

pic 4: Here we loaded the pan in Bob's truck for it's 1 mile journey to his shop.


NOTE:  Yes, Deano, there was no police escort but we did keep the move secret and we were in constant communication during the 5 min. trip........"breaker, breaker one niner....you got your ears on?"

Thats handy as I already have a 66 swingalxe box  ;) I can't wait to see those tires but all good things come to those who wait lol  :D

I'm really glad to see more progress on this awesome bit of cal look history - keep it up dude :)

I want to know who owns the '57 Chevy 'post' sedan in the background. :D

No you don't! Last time you bought a complete car from the states you took it apart and spent almost two years putting it back together again! :D ;)

That's mine. It was a frame-off restoration like the split window I'm doing now.

pic 1: looked like this when I bought it (really not that bad)

pic 2: Here it is less than a year later - with the help of my friend, Bob, worked on it almost every day

pic 3: on display earlier this year - motor is 63 Corvette 327 with dual quads, etc.

pic 4: and because this thread is about a Cal-Look split window......wow, look.....isn't that a split window sitting in the background? <grin>

Thanks Marc! OK, back to the thread... :D

I love the picture of the decked out Chevy in the driveway, and a "spare" Split in the garage. You got great taste Marc.

   Hey Marc didn't you say you bought a spare hood for that '57 to cut a hole for something?

Just what I was gonna say - Imagine drivin down a cali street and see that  ;) :)

How ya doing, Jason......

Yes, a 6-71 blower.
Why I haven't done it yet is that the size of the motor is too small, being a 327, I would have to really underdrive the blower to keep the effective compression down. Then what's the point of putting it on? If it was bigger, say 383 CI or more, I could run the blower 1 to 1 and get the boost while having a reliable street motor.
 But I'm not doing anything until I finish the split.

Marc

Split window progress:

I stopped by Bob's house and he has already removed all the dents and straightened the side rail. He also has cut out the swiss cheese part of the pan.

pic 1: It's hard to see in a photo, but the dents are gone.

pic 2:  Because they don't make a replacement panel for a split window (do they?) We had to use the part that did match.

pic 3:  the swiss cheese part of the pan

pic 4:  the new piece held in place with clecos



Marc Buehler
DRA

Thats some nice CHEESE right there  ;) :)

Here is an update on the cal-look split window restoration.
Cleaning, scraping, painting seems to take most of my time in the shop. Thank goodness for my media blaster.

pic 1: welded, fixed and painted with the expertise of my best friend, Bob, the bare pan sits under my '57 Chevy. The body sits covered to the right.

pic 2:  closer look at pan

pic 3:  close up of reconstructed front mount area. A previous owner had cut a big hole where the trans nose goes behind/above the mount bracket.  My guess is the late moldel trans didn't fit and they just used a torch to cut out a huge hold.  I've circled the piece Bob made. Bob even put the bead in (arrow) where the shift coupler inspection plate goes.

pic 4:  I went up into my attic and pulled down some boxes of VW stuff and found myself pulling out this and that until I had such a mess on my bench that I had to stop and clean up........but it struck me funny and I had such an interesting pile of "stuff" that I had to take this picture first which shows what it looks like when you (or maybe just me) start working on too many things at once. <grin>


Marc Buehler
DRA

A major milestone now that I can actually start putting things together.


pic 1:  The front 356 Porsche brakes

pic 2:  The backing plate

pic 3:  The front end assembled minus tie rods and shocks, but MOUNTED ON THE PAN!!

pic 4: tie rods installed.

The trans is still at Dave Folts Transmission awaiting his magic touch. I stopped by there last week while I was in California and saw my trans moving toward the top of the pile of work to be done, so hopefully it won't be long.

Meanwhile, I'm collecting parts to build the engine....more on that later.

Marc Buehler
DRA

Great pics Marc!  Really good progress.  Not sure how you find the time for it.  In fact, if you become just to busy, I'll be happy to get all that stuff out of your way.  I'll even come pick it all up!  ;-)

Marc,

Great thread! Great history! You should compile entire contents and get it published!

Hope to see that car here at a future So Cal event!

Dan

Looking goood Marc  ;D

Glad to see the progress - it seem like every time I think to myself "I wonder how Marc gettin on?" you happen to post some new pic's  :D :D :D


Any thoughts on the motor yet dude???

Thanks for taking the time to post this stuff, Marc. It's great to see an original car like this go back together.

keep  up the good works  mark  great job  ;)

Billy who?  ;-)

Thanks!

I would love to duplicate the motor I built for it when I last redid the car which was 84 X 92, Carrillo SS rods, Arias slipper skirt pistons, Fumio heads, yadda, yadda.  When I sold that motor, I kept the carbs (but not the manifolds), mag, Porsche generator, and all the tin, all of which I plan to use on the new motor.
But I'm taking the easy route for this motor (at least for now) with a 82 x 94, A.J. Sims Pocket Port heads, not sure which cam yet, AutoCraft rocker arms (I still have a couple sets from 30 years ago).
I don't know which headers yet. Of course the car originally had Berg's (Four Tuned)  headers with his dual Quiet Packs on it but the "QP"s I've seen on some of the cars up here are crap.  I never liked the merged collector sticking out the back and then there is the ground clearance problem.  I sure am intrigued by the A1 side winder pipes. I do know I want them to be as quiet as possible.............what is the quietest muffler out there today?

Marc
DRA

First I dumped the wife who didn't like me working on cars and then I married someone who respects my interests and supports/encourages my projects...........hmmmmmm...or maybe she just wants to get me out of her hair. <grin> 
The secret is to just let the weeds grow, the front porch rot, and the house paint peel.........then lock yourself in your man cave and do your thing.

Ed, stop on by and we'll see what I have that you can use.......I've got a lot of Chevy parts!  LOL


Marc
DRA

Hey sounds cool but I am a little disapointed that your going for a "modern style" motor   :( But as long as the engine bay area doesn't look too modern  ;) Glad to hear your using a Mag ( i am too  ;)) I also want to find myself a porsche generator,

And I know what  you mean about modern Dual QP's - NONE of them look right - I do have a late 70's 1 3/4" Thunderbird header AND dual QP's but I am yet to see what it actually looks like on a car  :-\

I might end up getting one custom made for my car then make my own QP's  - not sure yet :-\

I can't wait too see this car when its done  :)

Just been re-reading this thread for the 1000 time and I only just noticed this cool little detail, if you look down in the drivers footwell you will notice what I think is a pressure gauge/switch for the front shock!

How cool is that  ;D

 (hopefully Marc will confirm this :-\)

You can probably remove all of that front air shock system now. It's been over 30 years and I'm sure most of the police force in the O.C. of your time are most likely retired and bouncing grandkids on their laps now!  ;D

I'll bet all of your height-legal problems were due to the Cal Look phenomena of the era. I too, remember driving to the local PD with my front shocks clamped up for a sign-off.

confirmed....it's the pressure guage for the air shocks.


As for the motor being modern style.....The only thing not available back then are the 94s and even the case I'm using was once used in the car.
But regardless, I hope to have the engine compartment exactly as it was except for maybe the manifolds as I'm having difficulty finding the same intake manifolds (Deano or RaceTrim short)......
I don't think you will be disappointed as it will be as clutter free as it can be......and very old school.

That's why I'm torn on which way to go with the exhaust system......what I ran back then and hated or something newer that you can't really see.

I appreciate your comments and concerns,

Marc

You can probably remove all of that front air shock system now. It's been over 30 years and I'm sure most of the police force in the O.C. of your time are most likely retired and bouncing grandkids on their laps now!  ;D

I'll bet all of your height-legal problems were due to the Cal Look phenomena of the era. I too, remember driving to the local PD with my front shocks clamped up for a sign-off.


[/quote]

Right you are! 
I never actually drove this car with the air shock setup. It was used on a previous Cal-Look car I owned and I decided to put them on this car for the reasons you mentioned.  I had to find shorter shocks to fit on the split window (the shocks are shorter on this year).  I believe I ended up using the rear shocks from a Peugeot and modifying them.
The car originally ran adjustable Koni shocks from a 356 Porsche and times have changed, as you say, so that's what I'm going back to.

clamps on shocks.!..............yikes, the things we used to do!


Marc
DRA

Thanks marc - I was just teasing about the motor  ;) I just don't wanna see ANOTHER modern style motor in an otherwise old skool car  :)

If you really can't find the manifolds I am sure I can help - I will send out a few emails later today - do you have ANY pic's of your old motor???

Thanks marc - I was just teasing about the motor ;) I just wanna see ANOTHER modern style motor in an otherwise old skool car  :)

If you really can't find the manifolds I am sure I can help - I will send out a few emails later today - do you have ANY pic's of your old motor???
[/quote]

I've got a few people on this side of the world looking for me, but if I can't find any by the time the motor is together, I'll have to use a pair of unknown manifolds I bought at the swap meet. They are a little taller and have been match ported to someone Else's heads but they may work and they only cost me $10. I really want to use the RaceTrim/Deano manifolds though so if you come across some that have not been butchered, keep me in mind, please.

I hope to start putting the motor together very soon and then you can see pictures of THIS motor.


Thanks

p.s dude that should read" I Just DON'T wanna see....." ;)

I might have a pair of dds manifolds for ya - let me find out :)

I really really can't wait to see this car finished ;)

Yeah, I knew what you meant...

manifolds:      That would be super. Let me know.

can't wait:    me too!!!  My shop is a mess with parts all over the place and I can hardly move around in my storage room and attic from me searching through boxes for parts.  Oh......and it's been a long time since I pounded through the gears in a hot 48ida VW. <grin>

Looks good Marc! You have officially passed me by. My trans is in, but I haven't put the front end together yet. When you're done send Bob to my house. ;D

Thanks Joe......

When I'm done, both of us will be at your door......<grin>

If you let it sit too long, it's no longer a fun project. It becomes a chunk of metal that's always in your way. I know, because that's why it sat for 30 years.

If you need anything, let me know......

Marc

How about a good tile setter. I'm knee deep in a bathroom remodel! ;)


I hear that. As soon as the bathroom is done, back to work on the toy.

Wow, I haven't posted the progress on the split window for 3 months!!  It's not because nothing has been done, quite the contrary.

Status, as of today:
Pan done with front end installed, brakes all rebuilt, sway-a-way adj spring plates installed, all new brake lines, rebuilt and modified pedal assembly....just need transaxle to finish it.
Transaxle is still at Dave Folts Transmissions in Ontario, Calf with problems. The case is well worn and so, I'm forced to uprate to a new case. I want to keep the ZF limit slip but the bolt pattern is different on the new Ring gear, but Dave was able to machine a new hole pattern in the ZF to match the ring gear.  Unfortunately, he discovered 2 broken bolts that hold the thing together and we are currently at a stand still while we figure out our options.  Dave really knows his stuff and spent a lot of time with me discussing gear ratios and ways to accomplish my goals.

The first 2 pics are the trans as I strip it down to ship to Dave.
The next 2 pics are the new stainless steel brake lines as I struggle to get them to fit.

Marc Buehler
DRA

and more............
By the way, you haven't lived until you have installed a clutch cable on a VW this old. the tube that the cable goes in is in the middle of the pan tunnel and you can't get your fingers in there and you can't see what you are doing. It's easy and probable that you will push your cable outside of the tube and down the tunnel over and over.

[attachment=1] I decided to modify the pedal assembly and add a bushing at the end of the clutch shaft as it is only supported by this little bracket (which wears out quickly).

[attachment=2] My homemade bushing.

[attachment=3] I decided to get an idea what it was going to take the clean up my BRMs. This is the worse wheel I own, by far. It is from the Under Dog and , of course, it was used on the race car because it wasn't in great shape to begin with.

[attachment=4] The good news is after sanding and polishing a 4 inch section for an hour, it did clean up. The wheels I'm using on the split are in much better shape.  My 2 "Under Dog" wheels will be used for slicks.

I spent a little time searching my storage area and found one of the motors I used to run in the car back in the 70's. I'll be using as much as I can from the old motor.

[attachment=1] Here is the case as I prepare to wrinkle paint it.

[attachment=2] The heads I had AJ Sims do for me. They look pretty nice but when I CC'd them they varied quite a bit. Having waited 4 months for them, I wasn't about to let them out of my site so I ended up flycutting one of them and that corrected the problem.

[attachment=3] I'm using a set of Auto Craft rocker arms from the old motor. After 30 years, they were in good condition except I had to replace the roller bearings.

[attachment=4] Here I'm setting up side play.

  Just absolutely great to see the progress Marc!  Once again I was just thinking about you and any progress... looks like things are moving along quite swimmingly. 

   So So very nice.  Really looking great.   

And I continue with the motor. After a trial assembly, I took the motor parts to a machine shop to be balanced. It took them 2 months to get around to it and then found out that nothing needed to be "adjusted".  You would think the motor would be the last thing I did for the car, but 4 months to get the heads, 2 months to get it balanced, etc. make me glad I started it when I did.

[attachment=1] I had been using the mag on a friend's VW drag bike so I decided to take it apart and check it out. Won't be doing that again. This is the base and the brass plates used for the advance mechanism. It's like a Chinese puzzle.

[attachment=2] And here is the motor going together. The original crank was a 78mm and needed work so I'm using a 82mm crank. I couldn't see buying a new set of 92mm cylinders and pistons so went with the 94mm ones.

[attachment=3] Getting heads ready to stick on. Never used head gaskets/spacers/ before (except on a 40hp) so this is a new experience.

[attachment=4] I usually use stock push rod tubes and never have any problems, but thought I would try these spring loaded ones with the double o-ring. I will be surprised if these things leak as the spring pressure is so much I could hardly compress them enough to get them on. Nice!

Ah Jason...............I got tired of waiting for you to ask <grin> .
I think you will be surprised on how much I've done, but you may have to wait another day to find out as it's getting late..............

Thanks for the encouragement,



[attachment=1] I even had an old set of chrome moly pushrods from Auto Haus.

[attachment=2] I have an original set of EMPI valve covers. These are 40 years old!!

[attachment=3]A little polishing and a new paint job and they came out quite good.

[attachment=4]Speaking of EMPI....I bought this oil cooler block off and what a piece of junk!  It's tapped at the back for whatever and includes a plug. The "pipe thread" plug will not tighten as the threads must not be tapered. I ended up epoxying the plug in. Then the hardware included isn't long enough so I supplied my own.  I also decided to modify the oil galleries  and now wish I had just machined my own......which I might still do.





More later.............................................

nice work
please post more pictures of the wheels
thanks

For a second, I thought you were pumbing the brakes lines through the clutch pedal opening.... phew. Nice work Marc!

Nice job, Marc.... it's cool seeing some progress! 8)

top work marc , great to see that the project advances  8)

and it's very coo to see the underdog wheels  :o :o, no stories about those one ???

rgd
fabs

I think Andy Marriot had a pair of the Underdog wheels too. http://cal-look.no/lounge/index.php/topic,7621.msg119861.html#msg119861

Great to hear from you marc - its all looking good, I especially love the "wrinkle finish" case  ;)

Interesting.....
 I was a partner with Ron Fleming and Doug Gordon the last year of the Underdog. I don't remember how or why but I ended up with wheels. I thought I may have snagged all 4 of them as I had a total of 9 wheels and I sold 2 of them to a fellow club member. But all the wheels on the race car were rough and I couldn't believe I would have sold the "dog" wheels to a friend for his very nice square back in that condition. It makes more sense to me that I only got 2 and the ones you mention could indeed be the missing pair.

Marc

Good news today!  Ed Craig found some manifolds for me, not the ones I wanted, but they should work. .....and  Dave Folts magnufluxed the 8 bolts on the ZF and found all but 2 of them were broken or had cracks!!!........but the good news is that he located some bolts that should work.

[attachment=1] The black powdered fan housing was from my old motor but I happen to have a 25 horse housing (notice the seam down the middle) that I'm going to use. I'm running a Porsche 12v generator that is the same size as a 6 volt unit.

[attachment=2]And now back to the body. I had to pull out all the house hold insulation that was packed into every crevice. In some places it was hard as a rock.

[attachment=3]When I was finished, I had foam and old insulation all over the shop. I also pulled out the head liner which upset me as I loved it. It was very well done.

[attachment=4]And here's the car being loaded for it's trip to the sand blaster. It was a scary trip as we left it on the make shift wooden cart that I thought sure would shake apart......it didn't.

I hope they wallnut shell blasting and not sandblasting. Stop them If they are sandblasting, Ask and I will tell you why.

[attachment=1]whew...made it in 1 piece and they unload the car at the sand blaster.

[attachment=2]The owner of the sand blaster took a liking to the car and offered to delivered it to Bob's house. My good friend, Bob, Will be doing the body work.

[attachment=3]One thing about having your car media blasted is that every sin the car has ever suffered is uncovered and exposed. It's scary!  Here is the rear deck lid. What the hell are all those holes for? and dents?  The car has had some questionable work done it before I got the car.

[attachment=4]Here we have the car on Bob's rotisserie.

I don't know exactly what they use. I know they have several types of media. This is not the first car I've had done there and it came out as expected.
What kind of horror story do you have.......I can imagine using sand would remove metal, not just paint and rust.

It has always been obvious the car had suffered some front end damage, but the spare tire hid it. After the media blasting removed all the bondo and fiberglass, the true extent of the damage and more important, the way it was fixed surfaced.

[attachment=1] This is the better side. Primer hides the damage a bit.

[attachment=2]This is the other side!  What a mess! 

[attachment=3]and this is the outside, after Bob has pounded it as straight as he could . It was covered with bondo and fiberglass.

[attachment=4]The front piece had been replaced but was never riveted or welded until now.

Run a file over the metal, And that will tell ya what they blasted it with! Who's doing the metal work on the car? Do you want it metal finished?

[attachment=1]Here Bob has formed a new piece to replace the disaster. It's not finished yet and only roughed in but already looks 1000 times better.


[attachment=2]and here is the inside. Bob is quite a fabricator and has built airplanes, several hot rods, pile drivers, and God knows what else. I'm extremely lucky to have him working on my car.

[attachment=3]This is a body mount with nutplate that was rusted so bad, that it was almost non existant. Bob recreated it from scratch.

[attachment=4]I'm still trying to figure out why someone would chisel out a hole here and then pop rivet a plate on. It's above the transmission nose.

I was under the impression that sandblasting sheetmetal would tend to work harden it, kinda like shot peening. Could
you enlighten us on the subject?

Also, what about using plastic, CO2 or soda media?  Your thoughts please.

Without wanting to take this further off topic, I'm also interested in soda blasting and all ther pro's and con's of the different media used to blast with, so I've created a thread here: http://cal-look.no/lounge/index.php/topic,11432.msg173726.html#msg173726 for us to discuss the different methods of paint removal! Danny, Marc, Phil, could you post your thoughts in there please? :)

   Marc

    Do you need the pair of Race Trim manifolds for your IDA'S . Let me know and I will mail them to you as soon as you need them. I'll trade you for a pair of tall Skatt Trak.

    Frenchy

Sent you a personal email................

The Underdog wheels or the 51's wheels?  and what exactly would you like to see?
At this point all my wheels have hair growing on them <grin> They have not been polished in 25 years.

Marc

As mentioned earlier, we were having problems being able to use my old ZF limited slip . Thanks to Dave Folts, those problems are
solved.

[attachment=1]Bolt pattern is different on newer ring gear so Dave created a N/C program and machined the new holes and counter bores

[attachment=2]Then out of 8 bolts that hold the thing together, 6 were either cracked or broken. These bolts are unique and not available. Dave found some similar bolts and modified them to work. Top bolt is the original, bottom is the new modified bolt.

   Marc I have your two Race Trim intake manifolds packaged up send me your address and I will mail them ASAP.

   Frenchy

Cool info on the ZF LSD - How about starting a thread on the rebuild/modification carried out - I only ask as I have located a ZF diff for PROJECT 66 that will probably need a rebuild - Keep up the good work dude :)

I'm just curious how you will do for refurbish your brms because I need the same kind of work on my set at home
thanks marc

That's exactly what I was trying to figure out with the Underdog wheel.....what it would take to make my BRMs presentable. I didn't think I could clean that wheel up but I tried a few things on a small area and was able to convince myself that it was possible. The wheels I'm actually putting on the car aren't nearly as bad.

What I plan on doing is media blast the wheels to remove the paint and heavy corrosion and then sand the wheels starting with a lower grit like 120, and then moving to a progressively finer grit.....just like you would do prepping a car for paint.
At this point I might turn over the wheels to a professional polisher to save time and my arthritic hand. If I think I can handle it, I'll then use a metal polish or very fine abrasive starting with Scotch Brite and ending with a buffer wheel and then polishing cloth. 
After that I will use Gibbs penetrating oil to help keep it from going to crap again.
I'll use a sealer on the inside to help keep air from seeping through the porous wheel and contaminating it from the inside. I suppose there is a topic on clear coating wheels somewhere on the Lounge but I've never had good results doing that.

Then the part I fear is having tires mounted. In So Cal it wasn't hard to find a tire dealer who had experience with these wheels but up here in the NorthWest I need to find someone who understands how fragile and valuable they are.  Maybe I will just hand mount them myself......I'm using tubes, of course.

That's my plan. I'm sure others will have different ideas.

Marc
DRA

  Marc I would suggest sending a PM to Bill Schwimmer. He would have some very valuable tips for bringing the BRM's to life. 

Thanks Jason

yes bill helped  me too his advice is to use Mother polish !

Hi Marc,
did you use modified stretch bolts to replace the originals or normal strenght (8.8) bolts?

Really dig the wrinkle paint at your enginecase, did you use a primer?

Greetings and go on and on!

I hate to sound like a stick in the mud, but it al most seems a shame to remove the layer of blue paint from the Underdog days.  Having said that, bringing the wheels back to life is commendable!

Gibbs is great stuff!

How about taking off the black but leaving the blue? That would look awesome!

I'll try to answer several questions here..............

BRMs: Bill sent me his phone number so I will call him when I get a chance.
I use Mother's Polish on the aluminum wheels on my other cars so I have some, but that's not abrasive enough to revive the wheels.
I'm not using the Under Dog's wheels on my car. I may mount slicks on them though and just paint over the blue again. The blue paint seems to be well established (hard to remove).
The lathe i may have access to is not big enough to mount a wheel, but that's not a bad thought and gave me an idea on making something to spin a wheel for sanding/polishing.........hmmmmmm

ZF Bolts: I don't know exactly what Dave ended up using but I have complete faith in his work and I know he was concerned about finding a bolt that would not fail. I know the bolts we were looking at were grade 12.

Wrinkle paint: Thanks, I guess you could say the wrinkle paint and chrome bolts, nuts and washers are sort of my trademark.  I do all my personal motors that way. No primer, but the case must be very clean. I use tape, paper and grease to mask off areas I don't want paint. I heat the case with heat lamps before and after applying the paint which is the paint that Harley Davidson uses on their bike motors. It holds up well and it's easy to touch up small areas.


Did I get everything?

Marc
DRA

Hey Marc, if you have access to a working beetle, that´s all you need. Walnut shell(or some other mild media) blast the wheels, mask up the parts you don´t want to polish, mount to car, put in 4th gear, turn up idle a little, start with 120grit, 240, 800, 1200, 1500, polish. I didn´t want mine superduper shiny so I stopped at 1500 grit and used Autosol polish. You can go on up to 3000 grit and use wax to polish if you want a true mirror finish. The shutter speed creates the illusion that the wheel is standing still in the pic, but it´s not!
Oh, and to point out the painfully obvious, yes these are chinese replicas...  ;)

    Marc 

    I have mailed your short Race Trim intake manifolds for your IDA'S today so in the next few days you should see them.

    Frenchy ( Doc Detail )

Fantastic, great news!  I may get this car done after all. I had all but given up on finding these things. Thanks to Ed Craig's efforts, I have a pair of Berg short manifolds that I would use but I really wanted to use what I had on the car back in the 70's, the Deano/Race Trim manifolds.

and..Dave Folts shipped my transmission today also. ......YES!

Frenchy,
PM me your address and I'll take care of you......and thanks again.

Oh and the next time I buy flowers, I'll buy them from your sister <grin>

Marc
DRA

Finally got my Dave Folts transmission. It's got all the good stuff, Weddle gears/mainshaft, ZF limited slip, 3.88 R&P,Erco side covers, etc., etc.  I had Dave replace the close ratio gears with stock ratios as I want to drive the car without going deaf.......and it's going to be noisy enough as it is. I doubt if I will be racing it very much as I'm too fat and old......but I do like to show off and I love the acceleration. I also hate the smell of gear oil and working on transmissions so I wanted a trans that was as bullet proof as can be. That's why I had Folts set me up. He knew exactly what I wanted and he's good, very good at what he does.

[attachment=1]
Here I'm busy cleaning up the rough flashing on the "Rhino" case.

[attachment=2]
Of course, I had to paint the case like I had it in the 70's and buzz off the paint on the ribs. Added chrome axle tubes and flanges.

[attachment=3]
With the pan still on saw horses, I shoved in the trans. Notice anything wrong?

[attachment=4]
I had the backing plates installed 90 degrees off, routing the parking brake cables over the axle tubes instead of under where they belong.

[attachment=1]
Brakes adjusted, bled.....only need clamps on boots, some oil, and.......wheels!


[attachment=2]
 Milestone!      Pan is on the ground and can be moved! Pan is now done except for a couple small items I'm going to change, redoing the wheels/mounting new tires, and finish rebuilding the Deano shifter.


[attachment=3]
This picture doesn't quite show it but the pan has a great stance with the front end sitting low. We'll see what happens when the body and motor are added.

Looking good Marc !
Thank you for the update !
:-)

Meanwhile a couple of miles away, Bob is working on the body, slowed while suffering from an injured shoulder.


[attachment=1]
For some reason, a prior owner cut out this part of the heater tube, under the rear seat. Even though I'm not running heaters, I'm having Bob replace them.

[attachment=2]
I never wanted to cut up the body by installing "Weber Windows", but because I have a damaged hand (Bob calls it.. "the craw") there is no way I would be able to work on the motor without them.


[attachment=3]
Bob made sure there are no fasteners or flanges showing in the engine compartment


[attachment=4]
 the "windows" from the wheel well side




Next week, I'm back on the motor, making my linkage, and doing some detail work

Cheers,

Marc
DRA

Whaw Marc,this is gonne be a bad ass car,can't wait to see it finished .Let the pics come.

(Bob calls it.. "the craw")
I gather Bob watches "Get Smart" ?
 :)

 Hi Marc- a word of advise, on the Berm's. don't let them roll off your work bench..( nervoussssss )  :o.  Once they get dented, they stay dented! Also, if you decided to send them out for polishing. make sure you inform the shop owner. don't polish the edges out. Otherwise, the polisher will round out the edges..

Ask Bill for details...

Art

Hey Mark, car is coming along very nice. Can't wait to see the finish product.

Ted

Who doesn't?   <grin> Would you believe................................

Marc

Not the Craw!...it's the CRAW!  ;-)

good job marc  8) , hope the car will be on the road soon

 ;)
fabs

Again looking good Marc - can't wait to see the updates on the body ;)

Boy I'm glad I found this thread! I've known Marc my whole life and am one of the "boys with bikes" he mentioned in his original post. Glad you still have the car, Marc and it's looking great!

That is one, ugly-looking shim!

I was reminded that I haven't posted pictures in quite a while. It's not that I'm not working on the car (I spend about 20 hours a week on it), but I'm at a point where every little thing seems to take so much time and I don't feel like I have anything worth showing or I forget to take pictures.....

[attachment=1]
Here is the OBerg oil filter with thermostat on top

[attachment=2]
Then when trying to mount the Mesa cooler, the Berg mount kept being in the way

[attachment=3]
so I whacked it

[attachment=4]
I mounted it in the only place I had that was low......and was not happy with it.

and spending an afternoon mounting the oil cooler only to decide to go another way has been the norm lately. I'm not even going to show the 4 different carb linkages I made and threw away. It took a couple of weeks to come up with the 5th version and I'm not 100% sure if I'm going with that one......but I did get it chromed so...........

[attachment=1]
So I bought a Setrab cooler which is narrower and deeper

[attachment=2]
I was able to mount it at an angle so it will catch some air.....I like it!


[attachment=3]
I have 2 Deano shifters that had seen better days, but some work, re-chroming and..........

[attachment=4]
now I have a better than "new" Deano shifter

[attachment=1]
the threads in the Race Trim manifolds were pretty bad so I installed inserts

[attachment=2]
now they are perfect

[attachment=3]
I love the braided shielded ignition wires but you wouldn't believe what I went through to get them to work with the chrome conduit and fit around the manifolds.

[attachment=4]
Meanwhile Bob had some other business to take care of and has not had time to work on the body for the last month, but will get it ready for paint soon.

The original dash panels were aluminum and when I rebuilt the car 30 years ago I made new ones, adding more gauges and had the new aluminum chromed. The years have not been kind to them and when I showed the chrome guy them, he told me I needed to make new ones out of steel.

[attachment=1]
Here's the aluminum panel sitting on a piece of steel so I could trace it.

[attachment=2]
cutting the steel panel

[attachment=3]
the steel panels ready for plating with the old ones above them

The gauges have also seen better days and although I have a collection of NOS VDO gauges, I didn't want to have
to mix a plastic body with metal ones and have 3 different style of bulbs.


[attachment=1]
you can see the rust I had to carefully remove. I don't even know if the gauges still work, but we will see

[attachment=2]
I had to repaint the bezels as they were chipped

[attachment=3]
and the finished panels ready to put in the car

Lordy! What memories these bring back1 Hi everybody! It's just Stan Davis from abo0ut a million years ago! I used to be in DKP in the early 70's. Knew Marc Buehler well. I'm now 62 and feel ancient so excuse me if i don't post correctly...trying to get the hang of this. Ran across this searching for Auto Haus stuff. I used to be the manager of the Orange store. So long ago....seems like light years.

  Don't forget the main subject in the shot's coolness as well as the Heart housing laying in wait there on the pan...

  Great Shots Marc thanks for the updates, looking forward to seeing more.

Holy Crap!!!!....Stan Davis!  Now the party is really starting.  Fasten your seat belts!!!

Don't pull the cork's just yet....I'm hiding the skeletons in the gun safe  ;D

awesome work marc , and those dash panel are really nice ,love them  :o :o
remember this picture ??? yes it was 35 years old now ........ :o :o

rgd
fabs

Nice dash yep !

Yipes!!!!  What a week....first Doug Gordon and now Stan Davis!!!!!!!!
I want to thank you, Stan, for all the great story telling material you gave me over the years.  You are by far one of, if not the most, "interesting" person I've ever known.
Wow!

I always wondered what happened to you and wouldn't have been surprised to hear someone had shot you........LOL

Marc

Cool progress Marc - don't surpose you wanna sell those old dash panels do ya  ??? ;) :)

(how cool would it be to own a REAL piece of Cal Look history!)

The panels shown in the '75 magazine article had only 2 small gauges (made by Billy Arroyo). Right after that I made new ones with 4 gauges, changed the lights and switches and had them chromed. It's these that I just recreated in steel. I may still have the original ones. which ones are worth the most to you?

Marc

Dude to be honest I would love ANY of your original parts  ;) It would just be sooooooooooo cool to have them hanging in my garage and you neevr know I might even get myself a split one day and I might even use them  ;D

Drop me a PM or an email at: monki772003@yahoo.co.uk

Marc,
I don't know if you remember me but I sure remember you.  My name is Steve and had a beige Ghia (bad habit).  I hung out at the LaHabra Auto Haus.  The things that still think about is the time you spent time, and explained the difference between mark up and margin. And I was so impressed when you installed power brakes in your bus. 
Remember the time Auto Haus got broken into...  That night I insatlled some rear shocks with snubbers to limit the squat,  I went down to see how they worked and was doing some burnouts behind the store...  Anyway the cops came and assumed I robbed the store...  Held me in my car for about an hour without telling why.   Luckily the jack ass who actually broke in left his wallet...

Anyway, Im now in Vancouver WA (20 years)

You going to bug in this year?  I'm driving my 59 vert down.  leaving tomorrow...

Thanks for the kind words, Steve.
 I don't remember you by name but if I saw your face, I probably would.
Installing power brakes on my '68 bus was a real challenge, for sure. I don't remember where I got the unit but I installed it under the floor with copper tubing back to the engine for the vacuum. I remember I had a hell of a time bleeding the master cyl.
So you were at the wrong place at the wrong time........bummer. Unfortunately the store was broken into several times over the years.
There was a sunday I was working on a project and needed some parts so I went to the store but when I entered the code for the alarm, I must have fat fingered one of the buttons. Here I was in my "work on cars' clothes piling up parts on the counter when I noticed several cop cars out front with the police kneeling down with guns drawn. I thought the place next door was being robbed and there was about to be a shoot out so I quickly ducked down behind the counter.......re.......big mistake! It didn't take me long after that move to realize that I was the object of their attention. To make things worse, I didn't have any ID with me so I was "detained" for quite a while during which they called my house to tell me that they caught a burglar in the store and to come down and secure the store???? Guess what......I wasn't home! Luckily a cop who was a regular customer stopped in to see what was happening and he identified me.

Steve, I moved to the Seattle area 24 years ago......and I will be flying down Saturday night for the bug-In. Maybe I'll see you there.

Have a safe trip......

Marc
DRA

At the Classic, I had quite a few people asking about my car so I thought I'd better post an update.

I've spent an embarrassing amount of time on my fan housing. I want to use the 25hp one with the seam running across the top, but the one I have was in bad shape and I keep trying to make it work. I won't even show a picture of it until I can make it look good.

With the body almost ready to go to paint, I decided to work on the BRMs.

[attachment=1]
This is what I'm starting with, but you can't really see all the pits in the picture


[attachment=2]
I first media blasted the wheel to remove the corrosion. Here is a wheel half way through that process.

[attachment=3]
I started by using a file to take out nicks, then 80 grit sand paper, 120 grit, scotch brite, 220 grit, and then various polishing compounds.

[attachment=4]
And the finished wheel on the right. Wheel on left has just been started. I sprayed a rubberized coating on tire mounting area

[attachment=1]
 I had cut a hole in the gas tank for a gas gauge back in the 70s so went ahead and installed the sending unit.

[attachment=2]
To calibrate the gauge, I set it up on saw horses and poured measured water in the tank so I know that 1/2 tank is actually 5 gal.

[attachment=3]
I love this wood steering wheel but it was water damaged, cracked and chipped from sitting outside for a year.

[attachment=4]
After a couple of days work, it turned out quite well

Bob and his wife, Linda, are helping with the upholstery. We are starting with the front seats which are in bad shape. The vinyl is old and stiff, the springs are weak and as it turns out, a chunk of foam was stuck in on the original seat and just covered with vinyl.


[attachment=1]
Taking off the old vinyl, reveals some pieces of foam stuck in places to make up for weak springs

[attachment=2]
Here you can see the original covering. Factory tags reveal these seats actually came from a later year VW.

[attachment=3]
Now stripped, the rusted and weak springs are shown.

[attachment=4]

Because the car will not have a heater and I live in the NorthWest, I'm heating the seats to help take the edge off in the mornings. It may not make a difference but it's worth a try.
I haven't taken any pictures of the finished seats yet but will post when i do.

[attachment=1]
After taking care of the rust, we weave nylon straps to tie the springs together. The bracket with the hole welded on the front is for the heat warming switch.

[attachment=2]
the green straps are used to pull the whole thing together so the vinyl can be pulled on

[attachment=3]
 special high density foam is then used. This stuff is expensive but I used it on my '57 Chevy and it made a nice firm seat.

[attachment=4]
The back of the seat.

Ron Fleming and Marc at Nicks' this past Friday night.....

marc you did a impresive job on the wheels

Who's that weirdo in the background? ::)

Yes !



But why wasting so much time restoring old wheels when you can buy new ones and give me the old BRM...



... ;D :D

Ron is such a super guy!!



Marc

Well at least you know which part of the world your dad was in last weekend.

mark here's some old shot of your car  , some are with ed 's car  ;)

rgd
fabs

and is this yours marc ???
you have some chromies wheels before the brms ???

Now that really is Cal Look Porn - Two of the best cars ever!  ;D

You never seize to amaze me with library of pictures you have (and be able to find).

Yes that is my car at the Bug-In. It had chrome wheels on it when I bought it. You can see part of the Der Rennmeister Association club banner in the picture and I can just barely see the DRA decal in the window.
I bought the car in 1971. Ran the kick ass 1700cc single port motor that came with it for a short while (great street racer until every one knew the car), stuck in my 162hp 1835 with 48s and then found some BRMs. So I would guess the picture was taken in late '71 or more likely 1972.


Thanks,
Marc
DRA

   Great seeing you again Marc!!   The progress looks great, I can't wait to see it when Bob is done.


  Keep us posted.....

     and,   Seat Warmers????     Sissy.

Is that a Union 76 (antenna) ball stuffed into your tail pipe at the Bug-In? Classy

Marc....Up for a DRA display at the '11 Classic?

Ha, sure looks like it......now if it was a Moon Eyes ball..............naw..there is nothing classy about having an antenna ball stuck in your exhaust.

Yes, yes.....there will be a DRA display at next year's Classic.........now if we can just find some members that still own VWs <grin>

Attention everyone:
We will soon be accepting applications for membership to Der Rennmeister Association  ;D :D

Ok, ED....do you want to be Grand Poobah, or should I?


Marc
DRA

Marc,
 Your car is really shaping up! What brand of seat warmers are you using? The ones I am installing in my seats were bought off of Ebay and I think I am going to change the rocker switches for a few small toggle switches (and hide them). How thick is the poly foam that is bonded to your vinyl (it looks like 1/2" judging from the depth of the pleats that are topstiched). I've never tried using straps to cinch down seat foam before...great idea! I am sort of "experimenting" as well with the seat warmers, only I used 1/4" scrim-back foam and houndstooth fabric for my insert. Hopefully heat will transmit through that easily.


Side note: I always wondered what fuchs would look like with bead blasted spokes and the recessed areas and outer rim portions polished like your BRM's are shown in the 3rd photo....Probably something better left unexamined, I guess! ;) I had strange dreams growing up, what can I say?

Andy

I bought the seat warmers from:

http://www.heatedseatkits.com/heatedseatkits/iheat2/
 (http://www.heatedseatkits.com/heatedseatkits/iheat2/)

[attachment=2]
The switch is located on the seat


[attachment=1]
don't know if they will do anything but we'll find out



Marc, the sissy  <grin>

 :P

hmmm ,is this your car or the girl that the photographer wanted to immortalize  ::) ::)....................... ;D ;D ;D


 ;)
fabs

Yes, please!

What car?........ :o


Oh I see it now.....I'm surprised my car wasn't cropped out.  ::)

Marc

I'm wondering if she is being rebuilt just like Marc's '51?

good question dean  ;D ;D

 :D :D Don't know if the result will be as good as the '51 !

yeah, you have to figure she is probably 60 plus years old now, weighs 300 pounds, grey hair, probably hunched over with crippling arthritis, hair growing out her ears............oh.......never mind, that's me.

Another progress report..............

Body goes to paint in a week.

I couldn't help myself and bolted the motor to the trans and fired it up.

I was flip flopping whether to go with the conventional and original QP muffler setup or the A-1 sidewinder exhaust but I remember always scrapping that pipe going into driveways and without bumpers, it would really be noticeable sticking out there....... so.....I went with the A-1 sidewinder exhaust. I'm glad I did as the quality on this thing is superb and I really like the way it's tucked in there. I opted for the tip to be on the outside to reduce noise or vibration from having the exhaust dumping under the body.
I was worried the 35 year old corroded 48's would just sit there and slobber fuel but they seem to work fine. I spent a lot of time trying to nurture them back to life (soak, scrub, pick, soak, scrub, etc.)  but, of course, the only way I'm really going to know is to drive the thing.
Hmmmmm, I could attach the steering column and put in a seat and call it a vintage dune buggy.

Next I'll fix a few minor issues, paint the fan housing, and then back to the wheels.

Marc
DRA

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Looking good Marc.  You are making good progress

Say Mark, is that a 1 3/4" header? Also, do have a close up pic of the muff supported by the head stud?  ::)  ;D Thanks.

Ted

The car is coming along nicely Marc. Keep up the good work. The A-1 sidewinder is a sweet piece. I have one on my car and I love it. Some say it is not cal-look or it doesn't fit the rule book...whatever ::)

No, Ted, they are 1 5/8". I'm running big valve heads but I decided I needed the smaller pipe for the street.

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As you can see, it's not hung off the exhaust stud, but attached to a tab welded to the header pipe.


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I had a bad day at work and found sticking the sound deadening mat onto the pan to be very relaxing

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Here is my pair of Michelin XZX 175 SR15 I bought 28 years ago for the car. It's tempting but I don't feel confident risking my life or the car using them.

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I also have a pair of XZX 145 SR15 and a 155 SR15...all never been mounted!

Diggin those tires dude  ;D

Ohhh man I would love to have those 175's and 145's for my GTV if you're willing to part with them!! Please!!

Thanks Mark for the pic and info. Your project is coming along really nice.

Ted

great work as usual

I finaly got all the body work done!

Great Reverend!!
Bring over the doors and hoods Sunday and we'll bolt them to the body.
Now I've just got to find a trailer so I can take the car to the painter.................Scott doesn't get off work until 6 but maybe we can borrow his trailer and tow it over behind your truck?

You don't know how much I appreciate your help....................

Marc

Is the car going back to red? Cant wait to see it done, Its diffently a Icon cal-look car !

Isn't a reverend supposed to be in church on a Sunday? ;)

Maybe he's on a mission from GOD?  ;)

porn car!!! :o

Original Cal Look car? Holy Grail! :D

I may have changed a few things but it has to be red. As of this minute, it will be Audi Brilliant Red........subject to change several times in the next week. ;D

Thanks Danny, I still have problems dealing with the car fame thing as there were tons of cars in 1975 that could have just as well been in that magazine article. Then I go to the Classic and there are a dozen split windows that are nicer than mine. That's probably why I don't post as much as I do. I think your car is much more interesting than mine.


Marc

audi brilliant red:
(http://images.dealerrevs.com/pictures/1653427.jpg)

He's probably going to kill me for posting this, but he's done with the body work on my car now, so............. ::) ::)

I've gone through 2 divorces. These things are NOT fun and can be very expensive (probably why I'm still working......sigh).
My current (and last) wife is great! But I was in no hurry to get married again as I hope you can understand.
My best friend, Bob, and his wife seeing how well things were with Robin and I, kept asking me when we were going to get married.
Finally I admitted that I really couldn't see a reason to get married again and that the only way i was getting married again was if Elvis Presley performed the wedding (I should probably have used the "when pigs fly" statement but...................).

A week later, Bob goes on-line and becomes a minister and buys an Elvis costume!!!!!
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The wedding was a lot of fun, everyone got a CD with Elvis music, I even wore blue suede shoes and we all lived happily ever after.



And that is why people call him Reverend!

I feel so deliciously dirty.........oh, you wrote "car".......I thought it said "star"!  ;D

And no alcohol was involved!

Looks great!!

Want to get rid of those 175's? I'm interested... seriously...

not sure right this minute, Zach, but I'll be sure to let you know.
If I do sell them, it will be with the 145s. I should have it figured out in a couple of weeks.

Marc

Legends  ;D

Marc,
It probably doesn't help you but I've got a tow bar if you want to use it.

That sounds good. Let me know!

How about VW Tornado Red?

Dodge Viper Red supposed to be the most vibrant red there is
http://gallery.viperclub.org/data/520/4427Dodge_Viper_SRT-10_in_Red_Side_View1.jpg

Here's the red on Sarge's '67, which I think looks good.   :)

That's also known as "Bright-Ass Red", Mike....

Sounds like a personal problem to me.  Oh, no that's "bright-red ass."  Darned dickslexia.   :-X

After a 30 year absence, (about), from the Bug In's ....look for the return of DRA in 2011.  Featuring the legendary Split Window of Marc Buehler in its newly restored condition, and the not so legendary, (but at least it's green), Karmann Ghia of Ed Craig.   

There Marc...now it's semi offical  You have a schedule to keep.  ;-)

I might just have to make it over to see that  ;)
How about a drive when its done Marc  ??? ;) :)

                                                                 When you come over, I can introduce you to Dave Rosique. He'd really like to meet you face to face.

Hey Bruce, it was good to meet you today at the Vintage VW meet and I DID see your car. That is a great color!

Sheeez, how many reds are there?
The car had the nickname of "The Tomatoe" at one time........maybe I'll just paint it plastic cup red!

Marc
DRA

I might just have to make it over to see that  ;)
How about a drive when its done Marc  ??? ;) :)
[/quote]

You got it, Lee.
Did you ever get those dash panels?

Marc

  Marc The Story about Bob just takes the cake and that picture is Golden!  What a friend you've got there as can be expected though for a guy like you.  Thanks for sharing that story and photo. Very much looking forward to seeing the body in whatever RED you go with. Keep us posted.
 Jason

It was good to meet you too!  Glad you found my car.  Sure looks glossy with a fresh coat of wax don't it?

Hey Zach, on the 2hr drive to the vintage show in Seattle today with my short geared Mexican Beetle, I was thinking about those 175SR15s, and how much I wish I could find a fresh pair.  Then while walking around the swap meet I saw a pair!  And they had some 145s to go with them.  Ding!  Hi Marc.  :)

You got it, Lee.
Did you ever get those dash panels?

Marc
[/quote]

I'll hold you to that dude  ;D As for the dash panels Russelll still has them for me, I am sure I will catch up with him soon,

It's amazing how someone (you, Bruce) knew who I was... simply because of the tires. I was surprised and impressed.

It should be mentioned here that I still don't know if I will be keeping or selling them. When loading the SUV with swap meet stuff, I had the room so tossed in the tires.
If someone had offered me more money than I think they are worth, that would have made my decision for me.
It was interesting on how many people know their tires though as I got many comments on how rare and what a great tire they are/were. Hardly anyone asked the price, they only wanted to talk about them. :'(


I need a rolling pan when I pick up the body from paint, so I need to buy tires, use these, or borrow wheels/tires soon. I don't feel comfortable using tires that are 25 years old but have thought of mounting them on the real BRMs for car shows and buying a new set, mounting them on a set of fake BRMs for everyday use. I'm leaning toward new tires on real BRMs and just devote my life to constand polishing and staying away from pot holes.  ???

I have several people who expressed interest on buying the tires (Zach is the first) but money and the possible safety concerns have not been discussed yet.


Marc

And you now have a schedule to keep also, Ed... ;D
I think if you have someone weld in a split window on your ghia, that would definitely make it legendary!!
(I like"legendary")

Marc Buehler
former president of the legendary Der Rennmeister Association car club ;D

Thanks, Marc. I've got 145/165 XZX's on the car now, but I really want something a tiny bit wider & taller. I promise that I wont sue anyone in the event of a tire failure! ;) Let me know, no rush :)

Marc...That has a good ring to it.  "LDRA...VW Club"  ;-)

Ed Craig

Founder of the Legendary Der Rennmeister Association.

Major Milestone!!!!
The car is now a super bright, flawless red!



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Here is the body being delivered to Fenders and Fins in Woodinville, WA

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The body is rolled into the shop

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A couple days later, the car is sporting red primer

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The car gets a final block sand

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Today we loaded up the pan

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and took it to the painters

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then we set the body on the pan

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and put, not the body.....not the pan.....but the CAR on the trailer!!

Tires look great ;)

Awsome, Marc!!!

WOW!!

Great progress Marc!!

 

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then waited for them to finish spraying colored bed liner to the inside of the fenders and bolt them on

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The car back at my shop. Believe me,  these pictures don't do the color justice.

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It's getting late and so the car is rolled into the shop

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I believe this weekend, the Chevy will be moved to the other side of the shop and the '51 will take the "throne"
I love the paint and am pretty excited to actually put it together.

Looks fantastic!  Love the shots of the rear end. What were the tire sizes again?

Wow Marc,

Looks great!  Glad to see your went with the bigger wheels too!  :-)

...Ed

Founder of the legendary Der Rennmeister Association.

The  photos are awesome, it is great to see such a historic car so close to completion. As for the fake vs real, old tire new tire dilema. I would get set set of the new Flat 4 Berm's & new tires to drive around. As much as I like my mag Brm's, the stress factor & maint. goes up tenfold when they are on the car. When I have my Flat 4's on I can drive & have fun.  Just a thought.   Car looks bitchen'   Bill

Looks awesome  8)

Blimey that a bright red ,  I need my Aviators just to look at my monitor  8)

awesome work
the car look great
congratulation marc

Very Nice Marc....!..Can't wait to see it with a motor..!!..... 8)

it's incredible to see the reborn of a true piece of cal look history   :o :o

awesome works marc

Looks great Marc !
 :o

WOW! thats all I can say WOW! :o :o :o

The color's PERFECT!! ;D 8)

Very exciting!  Congrats Marc, it's looking great.

Very nice, looks awesome!

Great,.......no: AWESOME
 ;)

Awesome, those are the pictures I waited for  ;D

gr
Wout

Holy shit that looks incredible!
I'm not usually a fan of red beetles but that is just beautiful!
What's the paint code or is it a secret?
Well done .... You must be stoked.
Jick

I bet you are a happy boy  ;) ;D

Wow that looks awesome! Red lookers rock  8)

So when does Russel Ritchie get it in the mail?  ;D

(http://media.scout.com/media/forums/emoticons/228/anim_smileyBARF.gif)

Sorry, Bates... this one stays put.

Na I want first refusal on this one  ;)

Thanks everyone for the encouraging comments and support.


======================
Mike: " What were the tire sizes again?"

145 and 175. The 175s look so skinny but that's the size I used to run.
=======================
Bill:  " I would get set set of the new Flat 4 Berm's & new tires to drive around. As much as I like my mag Brm's, the stress factor & maint. goes up tenfold when they are on the car."

That's good advice and it's exactly what I was thinking, Bill, and I know what tires I would run.......the exact same as Ed Craig is using on his Ghia.

========================
Jick:  "What's the paint code or is it a secret?"

No secrets here...it's Audi Brilliant Red.

========================
John:  "So when does Russel Ritchie get it in the mail?"

Ha, Russel and I had that conversation a year and a half ago and, in fact, he was instrumental in getting me started in restoring it.
The car may visit that part of the world but it's return address remains in the States.  ;D :D





Marc Buehler
Grand Poobah, DRA

I wish there was a Sarcastic emoticon. ;)

Looking Fantastic Marc.  keep up the great work.   You too reverand.

Right on with the ICON !!

How about shipping her over for EBI4 next summer - Just a thought ;) :)

That would be very nice!!!  ;D Let the new kids meet an icon  ;)

gr
Wout

The tire combo on Ed's car is Perfect...!!! I saw it in person....!!! I was really impressed with fit of the 155's...!!! and the 195's in back "VERY" nice ..!!!

i haven't seen a good picture of ed craig's KG yet, apart from the spy pics, but IMMHO you can't compare a KG with a beetle when it comes to stance and tyre size. a slightly flatter tyre suits a KG better than a beetle.

anyway, awesome progress nonetheless, that red is BRIGHT! i was slightly worried when reading about the colour of choice, generally modern hues don't do it for me, but your split window is making great progress. i'm sure the final result will be awesome!  :)

Wow, check out those tires on Marc's tow truck! Yikes.

X2

Very nice Mark, can't wait to see it done.

Ted

Marc went muddin' after he dropped off his split

Flotation tires............once in a while it rains in Seattle.

The car looks awesome ! 8)

Impressive, both in quality and time frame.
Excellent work Marc.
TxT

Marc I love your wheels and all the advice you give me for mines
thanks for sharing your work
I couldn't wait to see it by myself

Very, very nice Marc! See ya at the BBQ tomorrow.........  8)

BTW, nice wedding shot, I never knew Bob was so multi-talented. ;D

It's been a while since I've updated this thread so here is a catch up.
Once the car was back from paint, I intended to spend some time working on my house but Seattle's summer seems to have been cut short, making my house plans difficult and then there is my shop filled with all those VW parts in the way. The car won that battle (or is it just an excuse?) and I've been obsessed with putting the car together. Every little thing takes so long to do it right (or maybe I'm just slow <grin>) but it will all be worth it.

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Here I'm assembling the rear lights. Yes, I'm using the later tail lights with the heart shaped lens.....because I like them.

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I'm using LED "bulbs".

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My collection of license plates. The Washington 1951 plate (hard to find), the personalized California plate I was running, and the 1951 California plate.

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The back of car with fender beading, lights, deck latch, and plate installed.  Just needs glass

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I ran a third wire to the semaphores so I can make the light blink.

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Spent some fustrating time adjusting the semaphores so they don't hang up when going up or down. Here it finally works and lights up.

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Front Fender beading and "crotch cooler" installed

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"Crotch cooler" door closed. I took off the front hood to make it easier to work on the front.

Sweet !  8)

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This is the door window channel. They are in bad shape and since I can't buy replacements, I need to redo them.  The felt turned to dust when touched.

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I cut out strips from the headliner material I bought as it is very close to the original felt.

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Here I'm testing to see if the material fits and then after stripping and cleaning them, I glue the felt to the channels. The metal bar is used to push the material down in the channel.

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Glued but not trimmed yet.

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Before installing the channel, I use a NutSert to repair a bad mount.

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It was a struggle but I finally get the glass in and working........only to find out that I need to put in the doorlatch hardware first.

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I install the headlight dimmer switch. What I can't figure out is why the screws that I taped to the switch when I removed it are notlong enough now. I finally give up and use longer screws.
Note that the car didn't have the door limit straps or the dome light switches when I bought the car in 1971. I saw the switches in a catalog and even though I don't have an interior light, I figured they looked better than the hole they fill. I never thought about the door limit straps until we were doing the body work and one of the orignial rusted out straps fell out onto the floor.....found longer ones and installed them.

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Here are the headlight circuit breakers located under the gas tank location.

excellent work marc   8)

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The FatMat Rattle Trap insulation installed. This stuff is a third of the price of Dynamat and is thicker. I've used it on other cars and it's great stuff. I doubled up on the firewall.

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The installation of the headliner padding. If I had to do this again, I would mark a line down the middle so it would easier to keep it straight... maybe cut it and install it in pieces also.

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I used duct tape straps to keep the weight of the padding from pulling it down while I glued it. What a mess! Spray on adhesive did not work so I used 3M weather stripping glue which dripped and I ended up cutting out bits of it out of my hair. <grin>

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took apart the headlight assemblies and repainted them, etc.

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These are the notes I took on the wiring. Yikes!!

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One headlight installed and both dash panels are in place

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Turn signal switch, dash panels, ash tray and the starter switch installed.

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The hard core wiring begins using photos and the wiring notes. If everything works right off, I will be amazed.



Whew! ;D

Car looks great, Take your time and do it right the first time. They come apart so ez and take forever to put back togerther!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Nice car can't wait to see the car when done.

    Frenchy

Wow, a chromed back seat. That's a first for the California Look! Must be a Seattle thing....

    On the first screen of the thread pictures of the cars in front of the club house. My 1956 oval window light blue is parked between Ed Craig green split and Mark's red split. This was before I had it Cal Look. Great memories

    Frenchy

Hi Marc Car is looking Great But I have A Question I always thought the L Handle on the Deck Lid Pointed up when Locked? thats the way most of the Stock Splits I have seen have been???

Marc, you're doing a great job on that car... it's turning out awesome.


 ;D

Yes, it reflects the small amount of sun light we get up here and actually generates enough UV to necessitate sun screen-20.....up to 14 days out of the year.

That's a good question...............The handle can go either way and pointing down indicates a non stock split (yea, that sounds good)..........or maybe it has always been pointing down ever since I owned the car. I've seen them both ways and pointing up looks funny to me. Oh and it is unlocked when up or down.  I thought about modifying it to be vertical when locked and maybe I will try it someday on my spare handle.


Marc

I'll be dammed.......I didn't realize that. So cool.

Marc
DRA

Wow Marc,  The car is looking so good.  I can't wait to see it.  Going to be a fun Bug In next year!  We need to talk to Rich Kimball to see if he'll give us some room for our DRA...err...I mean legendary....(pause)... DRA display.  It'll be another red and green car on display 30 years after the first.

Frenchy...are you in too?!

..Ed

From the the legendary......D....R....A.

     Ed
     You guys crack me up I will be there Rich wants me to bring the 52 split to advertise the next treffen show. Soon or later I will have to do the ghia.

     Thanks !
     Frenchy

Thanks, I'm only doing this for the DRA display.

Let's see if we can get some more original DRA members to come, we could have a huge showing........with a To#¤ta Prius, Ford Mustang, a Smart car and maybe one of those Korean "ice boxes"....
Frenchy didn't sound very excited.......and I was counting on him.  ;D
I was hoping there would be more to share that huge amount of money that was left from the club dues and we invested in Microsoft.....
It's looking like you and me, Ed. What are you going to do with your share? I'm thinking of buying Russell's collection of cars and bringing them to the States.

I'm still trying to get the Reverend to make you a split window insert for your Ghia.

Marc Buehler
Exalted Grand Poobah of the legendary DRA

With my share.......I'll probabaly buy Sofia Vergara.

   Marc / Ed

    I will be in town on the 7th to the 9 th of October with my 1932 Hot Rod I will be talking with Rich Kimball about the DRA Display for the Bug In. On the Friday night October the 9th I will be on main street in Garden Grove for the Friday night cruise and Saturday morning for Donuts and Coffee in Irvine..

      Frenchy

All joking aside..I do think having Marc and his car at the next Bug in is kinda a big deal.  The car hasn't been seen in 25 plus years and is a icon in the Cal look and VW club world. I saw Rich at the last Pomona swap and mentioned this to him.  Rich doesn't know me that well, so I think your input would be good also.

Thanks Frenchy. 

    Marc / Ed

    I have talked to Rich yesterday on my way to Bakersfield to pick up a Call looker with a friend Don Musselwhite. Rich liked the idea to have club display at the Bug In next year. Bring your tables and jackets T shirts etc and we will give you a spot to display your cars. Call me if you need help with it. See if you can locate other members from DRA

     Frenchy
    Cell # ( 602 ) 7231047

Way to go, Ed...... >:(
Frenchy called your bluff.....

Now...not only do I have to finish my car, figure a way to get it to So Cal, find a place to garage it, where to stay, etc. but now I've got this almost impossible task of setting up a DRA display (The Legendary DRA, that is). Where in Hell am I going to find tables ? <grin> ;D

Do they have 440 volt power there so we can use the air conditioner for the circus tent? ::)



Grand Poobah of The Legendary DRA

Thanks Frenchy..you're a good guy :-*

I recently acquired a children's book from the early '70s called 'VW Bugs" by Ed Radlauer.  There were a lot of pics that I'm sure many on here would be interested in seeing, but I want to say that this car (in its green version) was in the book, looked like it had BRMS with whitewalls, of all things... it appears to be displayed as part of Love Bug Days at Disneyland or something like that... not sure if its the same car, as I can't see the license plate number in the first page's club photo.

     You are correct the car belongs to Ed Craig as I have the same book in my library.

     Frenchy

Yep..that was my car at Dismalland...err...I mean Disneyland.  It was for the premier of the movie...Herbie, the Love Bug.  The cars had to be decorated for the event, so mine was a 50's low rider...complete with painted on whitewalls and green dingle balls in the windows.  I have pics of the event I can post.  I'm currently in Las Vegas for our national dealer show so I'll do it when I get home.

Good news about the legendary DRA display at the Bug in.  Good job Frenchy! 

Marc...we would probably leave the DRA semi trailer back at the clubhouse this time and just keep the display simple.  Maybe just two cars this time!  :-)

 ;)

My suspicions confirmed!  I'll try to scan some pics from the book in a separate thread when I have a chance. ;D

    DKK Fred did your club have a display at the Bug In this past year? If not would your club like to have an area where DKP / DRA would have their display and possibly see if we can have more club from the days show up as well. Let me know

  Thanks
  Frenchy

Who is DRA?!  What the ...??!!   Has the world gone mad??   ;-)

One more.

No sweat.  Just joking more than anything.  There were a lot of good clubs back then.  hard to remember all of them.  I think my friend Frenchy seems to forget he was in DRA too!  ;-)   Actually, Frenchy...if you read this, can you post a picture of the design we used for the Bug in program.  Dame one we used on our t shirts.  (the one with your car and mine).  I still have the original photo, but don't have a copy of the final print.

Thanks!

Ed
founder of the legendary DRA.

so marc, how many cars do you want and hw many BRMS do you need plus the 2 i owe you......

I can pack 4 per container  ;D

Hi Ed,

Don't worry, I have seen some Ghis's with split windows and it is just wrong. You have to remember about Marc's filled quarter windows and that lovely engine cover on his corvaired bug. THE RED ONE IS LOOKING GREAT?

Rev. Bob

4 per container? That's going to take an entire ship! I think I'm going to need to build a bigger garage.

Marc ;D

OK, so I wasn't always so cool.....

The red one?  it's getting there! Thanks to the Reverend (and his lovely wife), I will have a headliner this week and hope to stick the motor in this weekend.

Marc

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It's Ok Marc.  Those were pre legendary DRA days.  Back when I was still driving "white lighting".  ;-)

Mark,

The split is looking great! Nice to see an old car being brought back to life!

Rick M

  OK  Marc....  how you been doing sir Happy Holidays and all.




  SO  how's the split coming along??

And Happy Holidays to you, Jason.

the split? .....well, I guess I need to tell the sad story.

You can see that my last progress post was October 6th and it was soon after that I was contacted by a prominent technical editor of a well known VW magazine. He tells me that I need to have the car done in a month. I told him that I couldn't, he says it's important.  I say I can try, but the car won't be drivable, he says it needs to be drivable and just do it.

So for the next month, I leave work early, take days off, cutting corners, throwing it together. Reverend Bob and his wife make and install the headliner and door panels. Bob and I both became sick but we continued to work on it every day. On November 7th, I actually drove the car for the first time in 30 years. It was only around the block and it was obvious the motor, shifter, and brakes needed some adjustments but good enough for some photos.

November 12th was the big day and the plan is to fly up in the morning and use the 3 or 4 hours of sun left before a storm arrives. But Alaska Airlines delayed the flight and we ran out of sun, the storm came and the deadline could not be met.
I was so bummed that I didn't even want to look at the car and covered it up. There are so many things that I did in that last month that I'm not happy with and now I will have to redo them (where possible).

Maybe someday I will be able to take interest in the car again but for now, I've started a new project.
My new passion is the '71 Ghia shown in the following pictures.

[attachment=1]
Isn't she beautiful?

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I know it will take some work but I hope to make it look just like Ed Craig's

Naw, just kidding!

Thanksgiving, someone wanted to see the car and I pulled the cover off the split and I fell in love with the car again.
My to-do/re-do list fills 2 pages and I've already taken care of the first page.

Here is what I've done since October…………

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Bob and his wife,Linda,came over while I was at work and installed the headliner they made.

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I didn't have time to have a custom carpet made so bought a pre-made one for a later year and modified it. I'll be replacing this as I am unhappy with it.

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Here Bob and I try to figure out how to modify the carpet to fit. If you're curious about the difference between a 51 and 55 carpet......it's about 4 inches!

No way Marc....I want to make my Ghia like your's.  It's super cool!

The frenzy continues……………


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I don't know how, but one of the rear windows was cracked so we had to find someone quick to make new ones. The new glass is thicker which caused us grief trying to install them.

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Side glass installed. Note the original DRA decal.

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Putting in the seats. The Reverend Bob made the door panels for me.

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Here Bob and I take a break.

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It's the middle of the night and putting the motor in.....or trying to anyway.

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Now that the body has been fixed, the cast valve covers hit where I've marked with tape. I had to find some stock covers and they barely fit.

[attachment=3]
 The "Weber windows" really help. I have a fused wrist and without these, I could not bolt down the manifolds.

[attachment=4]
Here is the "window" with the cover on.

Forget the split... whats up with the Ghia???  ;D

Marc, yes, things did not go as planned last month. For everyone else, Marc's car was supposed to be in our February 2011 issue, the annual California Look editon, but Alaska Air decided to screw things up royal. I probably flew 50,000 miles this past year, and the one time I didn't, or couldn't build in some padding time-wise, was this photo session to the great Northwest. Marc tells me that the day turned out beautiful, and it all could have worked out fine, but NO! The following day, and just about every day since, it has rained or snowed up there. So, I still have my ticket to Seattle sitting here waiting to get reused. So, this spring, we'll be back up there and try it again... Dean

Now back to our movie, still in progress.....

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I love looking at the motor............

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pure sex!

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Dash wired and kind of works......at least the gauges and starter works

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the "Made in Germany" tag installed

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had to modify the front carpet to fit also

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made a wiring cover using scrap carpet

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It's the night before the photo shoot

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and a little late night cleaning

And the last 3 weeks where I’m now redoing/fixing/finishing things
I've fixed the front weatherstrip, aligned the doors and they actually close now. I swapped the door locks (I had the locking one on the wrong door), I've installed battery cut-off switch, managed to knock out the door hinge pin and installed the passenger side mirror, polished out scratch in gas tank, and a bunch of other stuff.

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I Mickey Moused the wiring for the photo shoot and now, I’ve pulled it out and started over

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and that included rebuilding the "black box" I built in the 70s.

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the hood was bowed up in the middle so I'm using weights to push it down.

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and last but not least, look at the badge that I found...........

thanks, Dean...
You're right about the weather that followed...........there has been maybe 4 days that had 4 hours sun and 3 of them was with snow on the ground. Not a good time of year to be doing car stuff outside.

I'll try not to wreak the car before you get to it......... ;D

I'm ready to do some roundy round racing but I'm too fat and old to get into it (the doors are welded shut)......sigh!

Did you check out the cool Cal-Look bumpers?  Ed Craig is hounding me to sell them to him for his Ghia. ::)

Marc

Very Cool... Those bumpers are gonna replace t bars as the cool ones to have!  :D

Marc, that car is looking nice, can't wait to see it in person.

Ted

I've been wondering how things are going - its looking AWESOME dude, that motor is a bit of a tight fit  ;)

By the way what linkage is that your using ???

Like said above,your split looks "AWESOME" Marc.Too bad it didn't work out with the photoshoot    :(   ,but there will be a next time(I hope).
Have fun with it.
 ;)

looks like the linkage on the conda green split when it was still brown.
nicely fabricated, just wondering if bar can roll smoothly through the 3 clamps that bolt it to the shroud.

Looks spectacular :)

I've seen that linkage somewhere before, can't remember who makes it. Very nice and clean.

I'm all over those rare pre cal look ghia bumpers that Marc has!

Isn't she beautiful?

Frenchy's ghia is found!!! Nice one! ;D ::) j/k Frenchy. :D

Thanks Ted

I hope to have the car down there in May for the Bug-In......look me up and I'll give you the grand tour.................or were you referring to the Ghia  <grin>


Marc

Hey Lee,

Did Russell ever send you those dash panels?

I made the linkage......it's a work in progress. I wanted it to be as simple as possible and I've accomplished that. It seems to work OK but I'm tired of fiddling with it so if it gives me any grief, I'll replace it. Originally I had Teflon coated bushings to support the cross bar but I forgot to allow for the thickness of the chrome plating so used my back up brackets that weren't opened up for the bushings.


Marc

Thank you.
I'm sure there will be a "next time" - see Dean's comment.


Marc

Hey Mark, Looking forward to the grand tour......of the split. See ya then!  ;D

Ted

Looks great Marc.  Hope you can incorporate some of that Ghia style into the split window!  ;-)  You'll be very popular if you do!

I don't remember what kind of linkage Mahaffey had on that car but I suppose there are only so many ways to make something that works.

The trick is to have the 3 supports line up perfectly vertically and spaced equal distance from the fan housing. That's the problem I've been trying to solve and I think I've got it............but time will tell.

Marc

That's where I've seen it then, on older posts in this thread :D

Hey Marc - Na I haven't got them off him yet (to be honest I had forgot all about them doh!)  :)

That linkage is pretty cool - I have been thinking ALOT about a linkage for PROJECT 66 and I have been thinking about a 356 style setup  :-\ I have ALWAYS thought it would be better & easyier to control the linkage from behind the fanhousing - mainly due to the flex/twist of the engine when driving - Any thoughts ??? :)

it cool to see your car alive marc ,congrats

and here'sa pict of mike's engine  ;)

The same thought crossed my mind for AssHull's '67, can't have enough Porsche influence ::) But he already had Berg linkage, so we reused that. You would have to make sure it clears the doghouse (if so equipped), but other than that, I don't see a problem. It would really clean up the engine compartment.

You are amazing.......just mention the carb linkage that was on some car 40 years ago and....wam...you produce a picture of it!! 
I never was much for taking pictures back then but when and if I can find some old pictures, I'm going to send them to you for your archive.

Now that linkage on Mike's motor is about as complicated as my linkage is simple. Looks like he used levers like Berg but mounted on the fanhousing directly.

Lee:
I originally started making my linkage to be mounted on the back of the fan housing but I had the arms coming to the front of the carbs which made them very long, heavy, and changed the ratio drastically (I didn"t think the arms would fit going the other way).  After spending way to much time trying to come up with a bell crank to make it work, I decided it wasn't worth it and made what you see on my motor now.
You would have a hard time convincing me that the twist of the motor was a problem and that moving the linkage 4" could make it better. The only reason I can see to put the linkage on the back is to reduce clutter.
Bergs linkage has got to be the best with the ratio changing levers that give you full throttle with smooth normal foot pressure and throttle plates that return to idle without a multitude of springs, all mounted on a sturdy piece of steel......it's also ugly.

If you come up with something that works, I would be interested in seeing how you did it.


Marc

Cool glad I'm not the only one thinking about this setup  ;)

I am not saying it has a MASSIVE effect being on this side of the fanhousing but its just always Bugged me (excuse the pun) It just seems logical to me - is there any reason you could not put the levers/arm on the "backs" of the carbs  :-\ :)

This might start a fire fight.
But both those splits were originally in their first glory DKP bugs.
Green one, the famous baddest bug on the street, 2180 powered, BRMs, Brad interior, Becker paint and it did indeed start out brown, Mike Mahaffey’s.
Red one, the most beautiful DKP car when it came out, ( after Aronson’s white car was already on the streets ), Brad black interior and Beckers red paint, Billy Arroyo’s.
I am just stating a fact.

I've just read this thread from start to finish, and I'm so glad all the photos are still there.
Both splits are seriously cool cars, follow the rulebook (in fact, were setting the rules for others to follow) and its amazing to think that 50 years on, they still exist.

Why can’t I see new posts? Maybe if I reply?

I'm the same - even my own reply from a couple of days ago. Keeps saying Database error.