@mike-robinmc
Active 5 months agoForum Replies Created
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“very close to perfect”…. words of encouragement for when I get done with this project!
Sorry folks, it’s been a while since I added to my post. Work seems to always get in the way with the hobbies. 😉
One of the projects on this car was to move the steering wheel forward as much as permitted. The steering wheel felt a little too much into “my space”. OK, it wanted to rub slightly on my belly. Looking at the original position, it appears I could gain some space.
The concept looked pretty simple. If I shorten the lower steering wheel shaft (the one between the rubber steering pads on the shaft), I can loosen up the steering column U-bolts and slide it forward. So, I did some measurements and found a piece of pipe to weld the two steering rods together after I cut a piece out, at the correct shortened distance. Gave it a coat of primer and paint and she looked good to go.
Leaving the U-bolt assembly loose for the steering column, I installed the shortened shaft with new rubber pads and also new ground braids to carry continuity thru the shaft assy. Paint was removed where the ring terminals were installed on the metal so electrical continuity carried through the shaft.
And back in the cab, here is the finished location. Plenty of room for the controls and probably gained another inch plus.
Another thing I had to address was the car looked like it was lower on the passenger side when looking head on at the front. The chassis measured level so I know it was not the suspension. I suspect the original builder did not pay much attention or maybe built it on an un-even surface. There was about a 2 inch difference on fender to tire gaps for the passenger and drivers side tires up front. I pulled all the fasteners on the passenger side that would bolt the fiberglass to the VW frame. I ended up re-making some new front clamps too so the angle matched up and mated perpendicular to the fiberglass/bumper mount. I then leveled the body with the help of the floor jack. Did a quick few clamps with some vise grips and relieved the jack to double check level (and tire to fender spacing). Did some new drilling and bolting and I was good to go. So, after getting the body level, now the bumper was off! I noticed they re-drilled a new hole to make the bumper look level with the un-level body. I moved the bumper back to the original hole and son of a gun… it was now level. LOL
Thanks for the info Edward. The crush cage has some surface rust on it, but I don’t see any cracking. But maybe I should sleeve it anyway. As you will see in some of my future posting on this project, I actually shortened the steering wheel shaft (after the crush bushing) so I could have a little more “belly room” by having the steering wheel more forward and closer to the dash. I ended up gaining about an inch and half by doing this. And yea, when I saw the crush cage, I was thinking there is not much here for a car protecting us anyway! 🙁
Take care.
While tearing down the car, I found a fuel filter near the bottom of the fuel tank. The car had a nice clean one back by the carb, but it looks like this one was here since day 1 of the original build. Makes sense, as you need to pull the battery tray in order to see this one.
When I emptied the gas tank there was a lot of rust flakes in bottom of the gas and left over in the tank. I had seen how someone did some brazing on the bottom to fix some leaks so I decided that a replacement was best. Ordered one from JBugs when they had a sale going on so it wasn’t a bad price. I cut the original neck down per the assembly manual, welded with no leaks. I am going to give it a coat of 24 hour JB Weld and sand it down. Then prime and paint the filler area. I still have wash the new tank out with some MEK.
Lots of things going on in the next picture. One thing again that came to light before pulling the carpet was the fire wall area. You see there is a large gap at the top and they used gluing the carpet to hold the fiberglass up. Again, a really nice air leak to cool my legs in the morning! If you look close, there is an old gray “jumper cable” that was used for the positive lead heading back to the solenoid. Later this was removed and I had some 1AWG wire on hand so ran that back for my cable to the solenoid. One very interesting thing was they replaced the fuel line. They punched thru the floor with a grommet and ran a soft copper line from the front to the back on the underside of the car. Could be an issue if I run over something. But on top of that, there was a blue 10AWG wire that was hooked to the positive lead of the battery (not fused) and it was taped to and followed under the car to the back of the vehicle. This was there power source for the switch in the driver’s seat box for the fog lights. Imagine if this unfused wire managed to chafe and come in contact with the grounded fuel line! So that stuff was pulled out and addressed later in this re-build. The rest of the wiring is kind of a mess too as you can see. And look at the dressing of the chrome wire loom from the headlight in the lower right corner of the picture. It just meets up to the outside of the side of the hood fiberglass. More to do later I guess.
Well, I promised you some details on my winter project on our TD. I like bringing the car to work as my co-workers also have some collector vehicles. So, I wanted to only address a few issues. First, try and get the cab a little quieter from the engine noise. Second was replace the poor quality stereo that was installed, and last was to get the heat working better. It is not unusual for me to leave to work when it’s 40 degrees at 5am in the morning and then it will warm up a nice 70 degree day. It blew some heat, but I could feel a draft down by my feet when driving down the road.
Pulling the seats made me wonder how much heat loss is happening in the system. I’m shaking my head at this, and not a good spot for speakers either. But nothing that can’t be fixed.
The poor cutting of the front fiberglass “fire wall” showed how large the gaps were that the original fabricator did. Plenty of room for air to come in and make my feet cold! I’ll tend to this later in the project.
Next was to pull the old carpet. Unfortunately it looks like they used Liquid Nails or PL200 construction adhesive to attach the carpet kit. So, this was a bit of work to pull.
I decided to go with Kilmat as a sound deadener as it got good reviews and a box took care of the entire car. It’s easy to put in and will conform very well to the uneven surfaces.
More to come when I get a chance on this project. Thanks @billnparts Bill for the help on the pictures. I think this is working for me now.
