Project 56..

[kev d]

 

[kev d]

Thanks

Hi Larry,

The stuff I used was called gravitex, it's good quality, available in black, white or gray, will go over pretty much anything & is paintable.
Only has a few important points:
It doesn't have any real rust inhibiting qualities so don't use it on bare steel, existing paint or a good quality primer base.
Apply in 2 coats for a thicker covering where you need it, go on too heavy & it'll just run & sag, also take ages to dry.
Make sure it's properly cured before painting, if it's still soft when it's painted it'll always stay soft.
Before spraying it make sure the surfaces are key'd & cleaned with panel wipe / mild de-greaser.
Before painting over it use a scotchbrite pad to key it then wipe off again.

[56BLITZ]

VERY NICE job Kev!!!

the brackets for the rear brake pipes fouled the rear boot floor so I had to cut them off, move them back & make new brake pipes...

Kev . . . are you are referring to the brackets that attach the brake line to the top of the diagonal arm pivots.

[kev d]

Thanks
Yep that's them, when I converted to IRS I didn't take into account the depth of the rear X members...
Moved them closer to where VW intended & funnily enough they don't hit anything..
Cheers
Kev

[BossHogg76]

Absolutely lovely Kev!!

[kev d]

Absolutely lovely Kev!!

Cheers bud

[kev d]

Managed to get a bit of garage time this last week & started screwing it together

Started with the gearbox, it's from a late square back so the selector shaft has the dimple for the shift rod on the underside & as it turns out is also 10mm shorter than a bug..
After about 1 1/2 hrs messing about trying to get the shifter to select all the gears I took out the box & swapped in a bug selector, should've done that to begin with..

Then I bolted down the body & finished the front beam off, Pretty much all the hardware is stainless & came from mark at flatlands engineering. If you've never looked at his website it's worth a look, everything is quality & not expensive
Looks good too

The rear brakes have been an issue..
They're early 944 & weren't 100% complete when I got them, no handbrake fittings at all or calipers, how hard or expensive are those bits when you need them
After 3 attempt I eventually got the CORRECT calipers!
Also hopefully found all the handbrake bits & should get them next week.

So I moved onto the wiring, now when I bought the car it had been picked pretty much bare & didnt have any loom left. Because I'd always planned to modernise the running gear as much as I could I bought an aftermarket harness from langys hot rods. It's made by Rebel & comes with a pre wired fuse box, every wire is marked with what it does every 6" or so & supplied wound into 4 main coils - front section, rear section & 2 dash sections.
Started off making an alloy bracket for the fuse box & mounted it under the rear seat then ran the wires up the tunnel for the front end.
Rear section runs up the boot floor then through to the inner wings each side for the lights, the engine wires will come out behind the fan shroud.
I'm not planning any switches on the dash so everything is likely to be on a small panel between the handbrake & gear lever.
Hopefully get a bit more done this week

[kev d]

Pics!

[kev d]

More

[kev d]

Bit more done today
I built up & fitted the steering column, it's a late t3 inner with the original outer sleeve cut down at the bottom so as to clear the crumple zone.
Top end has a late column bearing fitted with a drop of loctight.
Finally the steering wheel I got for an anniversary present @3 years ago!

Ran the wires out for the headlights too, used a bit of stainless braided hose to keep them safe & tidy.
Will need to decide on switch positions soon so I can order what I need. The plan of having them between the front seats on the tunnel won't work as there's just not enough room
Ordered an indicator stalk today so that's hopefully going to take care of that one!

[kev d]

More

[BossHogg76]

Looking great Kev, nice touches there

[kev d]

Cheers Rob
I've got a little more done to it now, bit more wiring & some other odds n sods, the steering box turned out to be fubar'd  after everything was connected so I've swapped that out.
Away tomorrow on a job for 4 weeks so hopefully I'll have some bits waiting to be fitted when I'm back!
Cheers
Kev

[kev d]

So I've managed to spend a bit more time on it, unfortunately it's mostly on jobs no-one will notice but me!
I've fitted the wipers & ran the wiring for it up the L/H A post, along the can't rail & down the B post. I'm trying to hide as much of the wiring as possible & keep things as simple looking as I can.
It's a late 2 speed motor fitted to the original oval mechanism, pretty easy swap & just needed a couple of trial fits to make sure the motor cleared the scuttle. Tested it on the bench, all went well so it got a coat of paint, new scuttle grommets & nuts then fitted.
Now I'd intended keeping the switches out of sight & came up with a plan to fit them between the front seats...
After a couple of other ideas I settled on a steel bracket bolted to the tunnel. The switches sit just below the level of the seat bolsters & fall to hand easily. once everything's tested the sides will be covered by trimmed panels.
I've also been cleaning & painting some other bits & pieces ready for when needed.
Hopefully I'll get the wings painted fairly soon & get cracking with it

[kev d]

This is the switch panel, I had to shorten the handbrake 2 1/2" but everything fits

[Nico86]

Great work!

[kev d]

Thanks😎👍

[kev d]

Got in the garage today & this happened
All 4 wings painted & loosely hung waiting for wing beading.
Just need all the other bits painted now!

[kev d]

Also managed to get the rear brakes built after finally getting all the correct handbrake fittings
Calipers are rebuilt & painted ready to go on, another piece of the puzzle done

[glassback kid]

looking good, love the colour, looks like its all coming together nicely.
what was involved in the later wiper swap? the motor on my 58 has just given up and i have a later assembly sat doing nothing

[Russell]

Kev

You mentioned stainless nuts and bolts, was talking about that the other day, did you use it on suspension items, as we were thing it would be a lot weaker than the steel ones ?

[kev d]

looking good, love the colour, looks like its all coming together nicely.
what was involved in the later wiper swap? the motor on my 58 has just given up and i have a later assembly sat doing nothing

Sorry for the late reply!
Didn't get a notification for some reason...
It was an easy swap, I re drilled the oval linkage frame for the new motor, (possibly 1 original hole & 2 new ones, been a while now..)
Also used the late crank that bolts onto the drive on the motor.
Don't think I've got any more pics of this, it's been a while since I did it now!
Definitely wasn't a big deal anyway, didn't take long to do & was working fine on the bench connected to a battery.
Just need to fit it onto the car to check clearance from the scuttle panel as its a tighter fit than the original.
Cheers
Kev

[kev d]

[ Attachment: You are not allowed to view attachments ]
Built up the headlights today.. Wasn't 100% about painting the rims but now it's done I'm very happy with them
Got the rear calipers fitted & brake pipes finished too, just need to double check everything's tight & bleed them.
Next will be back to the wiring, maybe get the doors painted & fitted too
Cheers
Kev

[Larry S]

Looks great Kev! keep it up.

[56BLITZ]

I like the painted H/L rings . . . very much!
Yer car is lookin' great Kev! 

[kev d]

Thanks guys😎

[Felix/DFL]

Very nice, really dig that green colour!

[vwhelmot]

Same here, digging the colour. Cool car.

[kev d]

Got it on the deck a few weeks back but it sat too high..
Both Spring plates were 1 outer spline out & the left also 1 inner.. Looks better now!
Also set the front beam, see how it looks when it's all built up but it's pretty near what I'm after right now

[Larry S]

looking good, keep it up! I bought some panels from Hookeys like you used, great quality and a good guy to deal with. thanks for giving me his info.
Larry