New to forum! Pics of my recently purchased Sebring kit car

[hillmotorsports]

Ah yes....
Nothing like a cute, well proportioned blonde to make a car shine!
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Rosemarie and Paul Hill
Morrisburg, Ontario

(With way more projects than spare time!)

[wythac]

Always nice to see a build on a different type of kit car. Good starting point.

I would suggest that you consider "blanking" the dash with fiberglass so you aren't tied to putting the same gauges back in the same holes when you reassemble..

Have fun!

[mark tucker]

[WHYYYTRYYY]

Another Wednesday, another couple hundred pounds of crap outta this car. Pulled the engine, which is surprisingly easy when you cut every wire, hose, and cable leading to it.

Then tried removing transaxle. I pulled the CV shafts, removed every mounting bolt, but I am quite stuck on the shifter linkage. I can only pull the transaxle back an inch or two before it binds, and trust me, if that was enough space to squeeze a cutoff wheel and hack that shift rod off, I would have. I read in the Haynes manual that there is an access panel on the central tunnel. Well, because of this low-pro body laying on this chassis, I see no potential to access that spot. Does anyone have any good diagrams of the shifter rod setup? How does it attach to the transaxle? I'm not ready to pull the body off yet, just want to drop that transaxle tomorrow!

And the front of my frame is looking kinda crappy. Can this section be cut off the tunnel and a new one welded on? Do they sell replacement sections? Thanks

And to all the guys fixated on the blonde....answer all my questions in a timely manner to assist me in getting this car running and finished as soon as possible, and I'll end this thread with a 20 pic bikini photoshoot of her and her friends 'washing' the car

[Letterman7]

^ Done deal...


The shifter rod: held on to the trans shifter with a small bolt. You'll need to remove that in order to take the transmission out. If you cut that shaft, you'll have to take the nosecone off the transmission to replace it. Not a huge deal, but one you don't have to make. Since Sebrings have integrated fiberglass pans and body (a monocoque), cutting a small section off of the tunnel to get to the sifter coupling won't hurt anything. In fact, it's probably a good idea, just to check and replace the coupling anyway. And, you'll have access to the actual VIN of the chassis if you needed a year specific part. My old Sterling (the red one in the avatar) had the body molded over that part of the tunnel. I cut it flush to the back wall - zero issues.

Frame head: yes, parts to fix are available through most outlets. Not a job for the timid since the body will need to be pulled. The frame head is structural, so it needs to be properly welded and squared to the rest of the chassis. Yours doesn't look like swiss cheese; the gap I see looks like the fiberglass floor pan simply pulled away from the chassis (after what looks like a good bump, based on that dent on the head).

[WHYYYTRYYY]

[Letterman7]

Get the Bentley manual for your year chassis. Available just about anywhere, found mine on Amazon for cheap.

[WHYYYTRYYY]

[Letterman7]

Definitely. Haynes glosses over, Bentley goes into detail. Avoid Chilton at all costs..

[WHYYYTRYYY]

Ordered online, will be here tomorrow! If it's not crushingly humid, I'll have the engine blown apart by then too.

[Letterman7]

If you weren't "so" north in Jersey I'd swing by tomorrow. I'll be in Swedesboro picking up a piece of equipment.

[CarbonUnit2015]

Nice score! Went to a very good home. Great photos, thanks!

[mark tucker]

with that much rust in the pan aera I wood build a totaly new frame for it.I would not try to patch it. it does look nice but kinda dirty so might need to get it washed now......
my 356 dosent have an axsess for the shift joint either,Im gonna make one.

[WHYYYTRYYY]

Sorry for slow updates. The humid, 100 degree days in the garage haven't been motivating me to stay late after my shift these last couple weeks.
Blew the engine apart last week, threw most of it away, and powerwashed the case halves. Not in beautiful shape. I hate working with questionable stuff. And I see a potential problem already. None of the numbers on the case halves match. Should they? Is there any indication that those two case halves should be together?

And I will be pulling the body off in the near future to evaluate the frame. The bottom of the tunnel and rear section seem ok, but I already see that I will be cutting the front section off of the tunnel and replacing it. While I'm going all crazy in there with the cutoff wheel and welder, I think I'll move the shifter further back (maybe 6 inches or so) on the tunnel, and eliminate the ebrake handle completely.

[Letterman7]

Good question on the case halves. I would think they should match; in your case (!) it seems it's already been worked on before. If tolerances are fine, it's probably ok. If you're on Facebook, plenty of local VW sites to check for builders and new/used stuff. Aircooled Recyclers usually has an engine or two local.

[woodoctr]

You might want to back it up a little on "removing" that e. brake. Mechanical emergency brakes are required by law in most states. You can't just put a hydraulic park+lock even. I guess you could rig a pedal style cable/brake however what you've got is a lot simpler.

[jspbtown]

I moved the ebrake and shifter both back on my Avenger project.

I think posted some pics in my build thread. It was very easy.

[WHYYYTRYYY]

[WHYYYTRYYY]

[WHYYYTRYYY]

Pulled steering column and fuel tank out today. Also removed any remaining wiring and anything that that might hinder body removal.

Pulled the front wheels off for the first time. and found out how they achieved a 5 lug pattern. And both front wheels were missing a lug nut. Now I see why. Any one know what this crazy setup is? Looks terrible and is being replaced with all new disc brakes, so it doesn't really matter, but I am curious if this is a normal setup for any company?

Also, does anyone sell replacement fuel tanks for the Sebring? My plan is to just take current tank to a shop that can recreate its dimensions into a new aluminum tank. Not sure what that will cost, but we will find out I suppose...