August 67 (68 model) Beetle Cabrio restoration

[Buggeee]

The build embodies the patience of a saint, dedication of a monk, and loyalty of a good dog. Un-freaking believable really. Otherworldly.
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1966 Sportsmobile Camper https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...mp;start=0
72 Super Duper http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=672387
(adopted out) 61 Turkis Pile https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=728764

[Puppy67]

Had a crazy busy month with general life stuff, but time for an update.

All the small parts are finished and in colour, wrapped up and safely put away again. The body was looking good, all seams sealed and smoothed, so time for the next step. I want the underside to be as protected as possible from the weather, stone chips, speed ramps, etc. so...... lots of masking.

Then the inner arches, Cabrio stiffeners (lowest point on the body), underside of parcel tray, well, the underside in general got a good coating of a paintable flexible polymer. Whilst at it, the inner cavities (e.g. doors, rear quarters) also got a coating for increased protection and sound deadening (making sure to keep drain holes clear).

That was then given another coat of primer, just to ensure there was no colour difference between the treated and untreated areas.

A final inspection and look over before the next step. Colour!

[Puppy67]

Colour!!!

Pretty!!!

[Puppy67]

Several coats of colour laid down looked good, but with a few coats of clear added it's lovely.

This shot shows the light textured finish from the polymer coating in the arches. A nice sharp edge was achieved even though it will be hidden.

I'm loving the finish out the gun, but next week it'll be getting a final cut and polish.

[finster]

that's beautiful! what's that colour called?
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"we're here on Earth to fart around" kurt vonnegut

nothing lasts, nothing is finished, and nothing is perfect...

[Puppy67]

Thank you. It's custom mixed, but based on LA3V Indiana red, lightened a touch to be closer to Glasurits Inca Red (see below) without being hung up on getting an exact match to anything. To say I'm pleased with how it's turned out would be an understatement. It's almost time to get all the boxes of parts out to start the careful reassembly, and that's exciting.

.

[Buggeee]

Wow
_________________
1966 Sportsmobile Camper https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...mp;start=0
72 Super Duper http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=672387
(adopted out) 61 Turkis Pile https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=728764

[Busstom]

Remarkable! I just read your whole thread from front to back with great interest, and surprisingly I had a post earlier on within it

I hadn't checked this thread in forever until I just spotted it over here in Reader's Rides again. The body is looking spectacular and the extent of work you've done is unreal, I honestly would've ran for the hills had I discovered that workload that you uncovered back then. This is very inspiring and I'm anxious as all get-out to see the finish line.
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My name's Steve and it's pronounced "Bust 'em" (cuz people think I'm Tom) 😏

[Puppy67]

If I didn't have the history with the car I may well have run for the hills too.
When it came back from it's initial soda blasting I did look at cutting my losses and replacing it. I soon realised, even ignoring the "connection" I have with this car (20+ years, several trips across Europe, courting my now wife, etc.) every car I found also needed work or just didn't feel right. I decided not to add up the receipts or log the time taken, but instead just do it, and do it right the first time.

I managed a visit to the paint shop today, and I'm happy to say it 100% confirmed my decision to leave that job to them. Just, wow! The photos really don't do their work justice, it really is stunning. Not just the depth of shine, glass like polish, and beauty of the colour, but the attention to every last detail, right down to smoothing in the seam sealer impressed. It's going to almost be a shame to put carpet in and cover some of it.

Anyway, I still have a few of the smaller bits to finish before reassembly (pedals, a bit more work on the air filters), and also give the paint a bit longer to harden, but current plan is to start the build early December. Now that's a job to be savoured and enjoyed.

[finster]

yes, you don't want the screwdriver to slip!
_________________
"we're here on Earth to fart around" kurt vonnegut

nothing lasts, nothing is finished, and nothing is perfect...

[HUGO bOSS]

[Puppy67]

[Puppy67]

I know, it's not December yet.

Anyway, we started sorting boxes to check what was where, what needed ordering, etc. and got a bit carried away. Brake lines and starter wiring need to be sorted, handbrake, shifter, etc. all need to be done before we drop the body on, but it's nice to even get this little bit started.

[Puppy67]

Just a few more progress pics. Not quite the progress I'd hoped, but it is now all painted, and the quality is worth the wait. In the meantime I've also been collecting parts for a nicer engine, but those pics can wait.

[Puppy67]

.... and that's all of it finally painted.

[john morris]

Amazing build so far! Congratulations!

[Puppy67]

[Puppy67]

This is the start of a "catch up" series of posts for what I've been up to with the car.

For me, it was engine time.

Towards the end of last year I decided to take advantage of a 20% off deal with VW Heritage and the thanksgiving discount offered by CB Performance.
I decided to get the forged 76mm crank, H beam race rods, cut to length pushrods, rocker parts and a few other bits direct from CB as the UK sellers didn't hold any stock and quoted twice the price with 12 week lead time.
I also wanted a Mag case rather than Aluminium. Everywhere in UK was out and only had aluminium, so I sourced one cut for 90.5 barrels from CSP, along with a few of their other goodies.
Heritage supplied the barrels and pistons, cam , lifters, case hardware, head studs, 123 \tune+ distributor, etc.
Greg Tims at Performance Workshop sorted me with a set of his Super stock polished and ported heads, machined for 90.5 and flycut to 55cc chambers (based on my 0.040"-0.050" deck height goal and target compression).
It turned out the hardest bit to get was a good lightened flywheel (I didn't want a cast one!). Originally this was on my Heritage order as they said they would have it in 2 weeks, then another 2, then another 4, then eventually they cancelled the order. After a lot of searching I found VW Speedshop had a genuine VW flywheel that was checked, lightened, balanced and 8 dowelled. This was further checked for balance with the crank by a local specialist.
By this point, the rest of the engine had been built, checked, stripped, fettled, and rebuilt several times over. This 76x90.5 was my first full engine build after all so I was triple checking everything!

With most of the parts to hand, some of the first jobs were oil flow mods to the case, swapping the pickup tube for the extended version (trimmed to suit the CB 1 1/2qt sump), cutting a groove for the extra tang on the double thrust cam bearing, and enlarging the drain groove at the main seal. I also removed all the gallery plugs and tapped the case so a thorough cleaning could be carried out. One other minor case mod was to the underside of the oil cooler tabs. The surface was a couple of degrees off parallel to the top, so it was made parallel and radiused into the rest of the case smoothly.

So far so good.

[Puppy67]

The H beam race rods (direct from CB) cost the same as Unitechs would have in the UK, so I decided to go for the H beams as: A, I could convince myself it was sort of a "free" upgrade, B, they claimed they would clear everything and be a drop in fit with a 76mm stroke.
I must admit, during initial checks I was a little disappointed that the 76mm CB crank was at the smaller end of tolerance for rod journals, so as a result the rods were on the slightly loose end of fit with the bearings CB had also supplied (Kolbenschmidt). Thankfully the Silverline set I then bought to try (having read that they were usually a bit tight) were spot on. The rods, however, were perfectly balanced both end to end and total weight as far as I could measure.
Despite claims, when checking I decided some minor clearancing was still needed as it was a bit too close for comfort in a few spots, but nothing too scary for a first time engine builder.
The lifter bore faces also required minor work to get proper clearance between cam and lifters (was 0.032" - 0.038" - I opened it to 0.050" with a minor skim and chamfer, taking just a little at a time until happy).

[Puppy67]

Three of the Mahle Forged B pistons were within 1 gram of each other, the last was 4.2g heavier than the lightest.
Whilst within the VW 5g spec, I decided to get them closer. From both shaving a few select areas of the pistons and minor internal chamfering of the wrist pin ends i got them within 0.1g.
Much closer than strictly needed for a mild build, but I got "caught in the moment" and decided, if you're doing it anyway, do the best you can. Even if it makes no real difference to the engine, I've got the satisfaction.

As I was using elephant foot adjusters the rocker arms were ground back and chamfered to improve clearance, geometry and oiling to the feet. Shim setup on the shafts would be sorted later when the heads arrived.