1963 VW Convertible Restoration

[theastronaut]

Started building the engine.  All of the clearances checked out during mock up except the deck height, so the pistons are at the machine shop for a quick hair cut. 

 

 

I set up the distributor drive end play while the block was still split. 

 

 

Bottom end buttoned up, checking the deck height. 

 

 

Picked up the transaxle from the rebuilder, scrubbed it down and painted it, then cut out the end of a box and used a hair dryer to dry the paint faster. 

 

 

Rear brakes assembled. 

 

 

With the trans and brakes done I had the frame 99% finished so I pushed it out for a few pics. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 20, 2017 by theastronaut (see edit history)

[theastronaut]

I hoisted the body up and dropped it on the frame.

 

[theastronaut]

I finally located a rear backrest, it arrived and I covered/installed it. 

 

 

The original distributors were cast iron, painted black, with a brown Bakelite cap.  I wanted to run a modern distributor for reliability and the adjustable advance curve but the polished billet housing and grey cap looked out of place. I dug through our leftover SEM dye and found a color that was close and tinted it for a fairly close match.  I also light sandblasted the cap for better adhesion and to give it a slightly textured surface to match the original caps better.  The body of the distributor was shot with satin black. 

 

 

 

Edited July 20, 2017 by theastronaut (see edit history)

[theastronaut]

I finally got the heads back from the machine shop.  I did a little bit of port work and had to open up the chambers a few cc's to drop the compression down to 9.4 to 1 (was at 10:1). 
 

Before/After.  

 

 

 

Windows, frames, and weatherstripping cleaned up nicely. Before/after shots.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[theastronaut]

Been working on the engine. Once I finished porting and cc'ing the heads and went to mount them I found out that the upper row of head studs were too short.  The '65 only head I'm using use matching one year only upper heads studs which took a couple of weeks to find.  I finally got a set last Friday and I'm done with the longblock now.  

 

 

 

The engine was missing the thermostat (most are) so I pulled one out of my parts stash and cleaned it up.  

 

 

 

I used a solid rocker shaft kit from CB Performance to get rid of the old wavy washers and clips that retained and located the rockers.  Had to shim each rocker to .005" side to side clearance, which required lapping some of the rocker stands and end caps to end up at the final tolerence.  Way more work than slapping together stock parts but it'll last longer and work better.  I also used later 1600 1.1:1 ratio rockers instead of the original 1:1 rockers. 

 

 

 

I also found out that the pistons didn't clear the webs in the block at bdc.  I had to grind away a bit of the skirt to gain enough clearance. Once I had ground enough away that the engine would make a full revolution I used clay to check the final clearance. 

 

 

[theastronaut]

Got a little bit more done.  Started a new project at the shop so I haven't had as much time to work on it, and I'm still wating on a couple of engine parts to finish it up. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 20, 2017 by theastronaut (see edit history)

[theastronaut]

Cut up a NOS Ernst muffler tonight and gutted it.  Made a smooth face for it on the english wheel and welded it back together.  I have four feet of polished 1.25" stainless tubing on the way for tips to replicate an Abarth four tip.  I also removed the pre-heater boxes on the upper pipes.  The intake heat pipe will have to be relocated to clear the filter pump. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fan shroud is on, flaps hooked up to the thermostat.  I restored an old Bosch Super Coil and hung it with the original bracket. 

 

 

 

[theastronaut]

Bought a NOS regulator, drilled and tapped an extra hole in the generator body so I could mount it, and detailed/installed it.  

 

 

 

 

 

And the stainless tubing came in for the tail pipes so I laid out their location on the muffler. 

 

 

 

Edited July 20, 2017 by theastronaut (see edit history)

[theastronaut]

Engine in the car and running.

 

 

[theastronaut]

After a thrash to get it finished enough to display,  I took the car to the local downtown Father's Day car show today, along with the '66 F100 we restored.  The engine was still on the engine stand Thurday... engine went in on Friday,  and it ran with no problems so I was able to make the show.  Gotta love deadlines! 

 

 

 

 

[keiser31]

28 minutes ago, theastronaut said:

Engine in the car and running.

 

 

Sounds nice, looks great, but that generator belt looks slightly loose.

[theastronaut]

2 hours ago, keiser31 said:

Sounds nice, looks great, but that generator belt looks slightly loose.

 

Thanks!  They loosen up once it's run a bit, I've already adjusted it twice in the first 500 miles.  

[theastronaut]

Forgot to update the thread here.  I put about 2500 miles on the 'vert before it became too cold to drive with no top.  I had forgot how fun VW's are to drive, and can't wait for it to warm back up next year.  I took it to Goodguys Southeastern Nationals hoping I'd get to drive it around the track (Charlotte Motor Speedway) but the only track tickets available were for Sunday night, later than I'd planned to stay.   The engine has developed a cracked piston or broken ring, causing a ton of blow by and pressurizing the crankcase to the point of blowing oil out of the vent tube.  I've yet to pull it apart to fix it but will later this winter.  While it's apart I'll track down and add the missing/left out heater parts from the original build.  

 

Here are a few pics from the few months I was driving it. 

 

 

 

 

 

[F&J]

Hi Astro NUT... a LOT went on whilst < (old school word!)   I was ahem, Away!  I still have a pile of VW cool old stuff saved for you, AND I JUST started tidying up in the house itself, where some of it was sorted out.  I will ask for a ship address son, but it may take a bit more time...we are in a MASSIVE cold snap and no end on the NWS week forecast! 

 

And.... I went out straight this whole season on estate hauls...even got a 61 WV Bug "barn fell on it Find" ...200$ LOL, TRUE!  sad as can be told....a 35,000 mile one!!  , still here..(. since a few months ago. he will get it in the spring..) But I went to look at it far a VW nut long time friend that "found me" on hamb of all places, as HE has no on-topic vehicle for that site!! He recognized me by something I SAID, not anything else!! Later! Bye!

 

I hope the pic works...some feature has changed since I last was here?

[AURktman]

Looks gorgeous!  That is one of the large number of vehicle on my short list to own.  

[theastronaut]

I finally dusted this thing back off a couple months ago to fix the engine. The rings went bad at 2400 miles, right after getting back from Goodguys Charlotte 2017.  It's back together now and I've put another 400 miles on it over the past few weeks.  

 

I also took it back to let the previous owner see it for the first time now that it's back together.

 

 

 

Last month's Cars and Coffee with a few VW friends. 

 

[theastronaut]

On to the next version of the car...  I've always wanted a slammed VW on Fuchs so this car checked that off the wish list.  I'm eventually going to sell it though, so I thought it would be best to go back to stock wheels/tires/suspension for that.  I already had a set of stock smoothies so I blasted them and have them in epoxy primer, ready for a slight amount of bodywork and high build, then paint.  It took awhile to figure out the correct color combination for a vert since most paint info I found was for sedans.  I also found a really nice set of original VW/Lemmerz anodized aluminum trim rings that would've been stock on a vert.  

This is what it'll look like when it's all done (this one isn't mine).  The wheels will have a darker red center and black outer lip.  I've bought a stock front beam and have it torn down for rebuilding/repainting.  The rear suspension is already back to stock. 

 

 

 

 

It's also going to get a Judson Supercharger.  These were available in the 50's-70's so they're a period correct add on.  They only make about 5 psi on a stock 1200cc, and might only make 3 psi on mine since it's a 1500cc now, but it'll be a cool addition.  I found 36hp and 40hp versions posted on Marketplace right after they were posted and luckily was the first to message so I was able to buy them.  I've restored the 36hp version and will be trading it for a complete 40hp kit to use on the vert.  The second 40hp compressor will be traded in to one of the Judson restoration specialist for parts to restore the other 40hp compressor.