Ah well... I've got parts on order to get all the chassis components rebuilt along with disk brakes front and rear. Few little odds and ends also on the way. 
74(ish) Linton
Re: 74(ish) Linton
Wow. I haven't dropped the kind of cash on a vehicle like I did just now in a long time. Ah well... I've got parts on order to get all the chassis components rebuilt along with disk brakes front and rear. Few little odds and ends also on the way.
Ah well... I've got parts on order to get all the chassis components rebuilt along with disk brakes front and rear. Few little odds and ends also on the way. Re: 74(ish) Linton
Only a month and a half gone by... not too bad for me getting back to a project. It's been a rough holiday season and, quite frankly, I just didn't want to work on anything. All that's done now, so it's time to get back to work.
Ever since I mounted the seats, I've never been crazy about getting in and out of this little thing. I was okay with where the seat was, but then there's the line of sight through the windshield that was filled with more steering wheel than there should've been. So? I had to borrow something from my wall to play around with some numbers...
That steering wheel was what was in my '72 Beetle when I first got it. It wasn't all that bad to drive with, but it won't ever win any beauty pageants. I'm sure it'll make its way back to clock duty, but until then it's solving a problem! Then it was to get back to the cage. I'd be lying if I said that it wasn't a little bit inspired by some of Joe's previous work.
... added a bump for some additional headroom...
... and that's were I fell off track again. I threw away a few pieces of tube that just didn't look right to me. Trying to get a nice "roof" line without going too tall seemed all too difficult. I like the lines of where this ended up, but I'm now wishing that I was about six inches shorter. The seats came out, seat tracks cut down, then seat tracks got removed all together... it comes down to I either need smaller seats or I need to start cutting material. Neither of which I really want to do.
Ever since I mounted the seats, I've never been crazy about getting in and out of this little thing. I was okay with where the seat was, but then there's the line of sight through the windshield that was filled with more steering wheel than there should've been. So? I had to borrow something from my wall to play around with some numbers...
That steering wheel was what was in my '72 Beetle when I first got it. It wasn't all that bad to drive with, but it won't ever win any beauty pageants. I'm sure it'll make its way back to clock duty, but until then it's solving a problem! Then it was to get back to the cage. I'd be lying if I said that it wasn't a little bit inspired by some of Joe's previous work.
... added a bump for some additional headroom...
... and that's were I fell off track again. I threw away a few pieces of tube that just didn't look right to me. Trying to get a nice "roof" line without going too tall seemed all too difficult. I like the lines of where this ended up, but I'm now wishing that I was about six inches shorter. The seats came out, seat tracks cut down, then seat tracks got removed all together... it comes down to I either need smaller seats or I need to start cutting material. Neither of which I really want to do.
Last edited by neohic on Sun Jan 24, 2016 9:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: 74(ish) Linton
Well... one step back today, but also one step forward. I ended up cutting out the rear of the cage for now to think about some things. It was really the rear spreader bar that had to go to make way for the seats to move back another couple inches. I'd really like to put one back in as it would add so much in terms of side impact strength, so I'm sure a replacement with a couple of bends will be in its future.
The next thing on my list was to figure the front spreader bar/steering column mount. After looking closer at things, I had a little bit of a bind in the column. Seems as though the body lift from last year screwed up the location of the front of the column. The hole was originally put there by whoever had the body in the first place. It needs some cleanup anyhow.
I'll come back to that later also. Today I really wanted to get something accomplished after removing the entire rear of the cage. Why not move outwards? My original plan was to have some side protection but I've never liked the look of tube along the side of the interior. Made up a pair of these...
... along with some mounts...
... to hang the new "crash bars" (for lack of a better term) underneath the body.
I'll come back add some triangulation to them once the body is off and out of the way. As for now, it'll wait for another weekend.
The next thing on my list was to figure the front spreader bar/steering column mount. After looking closer at things, I had a little bit of a bind in the column. Seems as though the body lift from last year screwed up the location of the front of the column. The hole was originally put there by whoever had the body in the first place. It needs some cleanup anyhow.
I'll come back to that later also. Today I really wanted to get something accomplished after removing the entire rear of the cage. Why not move outwards? My original plan was to have some side protection but I've never liked the look of tube along the side of the interior. Made up a pair of these...
... along with some mounts...
... to hang the new "crash bars" (for lack of a better term) underneath the body.
I'll come back add some triangulation to them once the body is off and out of the way. As for now, it'll wait for another weekend.
Re: 74(ish) Linton
Back at it today! Redid the rear of the cage and I'm happy with it again. Not sure if I really need to add a spreader bar behind the seats again or not now... thoughts?
I found the couple inches of headroom that I needed too. Can't believe I didn't do this in the first place, but I've got no problem redoing something for the better.
Finally a comfortable seating position! Very happy I can use the bigger steering wheel too. It's a little more cumbersome to get in and out of the car with it, but it's a lot more comfortable with it than the 13". Yay!... the white wheel can go back to clock duty!
Then there's the gauge layout... not sure what to do here. Granted, I knew this was coming, but I can only see the top and bottom half of the speedometer. On the other hand, I've got my priorities set with the tach front and center. The steering column is finally securely mounted too.
... as is the front of the body and the fuel tank.
At this point, I just sat and thought about things. I'm pretty sure I'm done mocking up the cage other than the seat belts. Plenty of room for mounts though and it'll be easier to work on those without the body in the way. The hood came off to shed some light on some comfort features up front. Foot rests!
I had my wife come out and have a seat in the buggy with me. What I really wanted to see was where she was comfortable at with her feet and legs and what her thoughts were on what would make it come comfortable on a road trip. She's comes up to 4'10" so of course her feet came nowhere near the foot rest on the passenger side. She really liked the seat placement though and really didn't feel a need for it. Should I find my way to the right side of the car, I'll be happy it's there. Both seats are comfortable for me to sit in now! Interior space sure shrank for a 6' guy after adding about 60' of tube!
This will probably be the last time it'll look like this for a while. Next on the list is to blow it all apart so I can fully weld the cage and then work on the chassis. Really happy with how everything came out.
... as for the list...
I found the couple inches of headroom that I needed too. Can't believe I didn't do this in the first place, but I've got no problem redoing something for the better.
Finally a comfortable seating position! Very happy I can use the bigger steering wheel too. It's a little more cumbersome to get in and out of the car with it, but it's a lot more comfortable with it than the 13". Yay!... the white wheel can go back to clock duty!
Then there's the gauge layout... not sure what to do here. Granted, I knew this was coming, but I can only see the top and bottom half of the speedometer. On the other hand, I've got my priorities set with the tach front and center. The steering column is finally securely mounted too.
... as is the front of the body and the fuel tank.
At this point, I just sat and thought about things. I'm pretty sure I'm done mocking up the cage other than the seat belts. Plenty of room for mounts though and it'll be easier to work on those without the body in the way. The hood came off to shed some light on some comfort features up front. Foot rests!
I had my wife come out and have a seat in the buggy with me. What I really wanted to see was where she was comfortable at with her feet and legs and what her thoughts were on what would make it come comfortable on a road trip. She's comes up to 4'10" so of course her feet came nowhere near the foot rest on the passenger side. She really liked the seat placement though and really didn't feel a need for it. Should I find my way to the right side of the car, I'll be happy it's there. Both seats are comfortable for me to sit in now! Interior space sure shrank for a 6' guy after adding about 60' of tube!
This will probably be the last time it'll look like this for a while. Next on the list is to blow it all apart so I can fully weld the cage and then work on the chassis. Really happy with how everything came out.
... as for the list...
-
Mike-Presley
- Posts: 107
- Joined: Mon Dec 27, 2010 6:00 am
- Location: Barstow, Calif.
Re: 74(ish) Linton
Everything continues to look great, can't wait to see your buggy in person at a run.
Re: 74(ish) Linton
Thanks!
Picking away at the list. Body is off, main cage is welded, and I added more to the list.
Winter slumber.
I'm going to have to drive it like this at least once!
Ran around with blue tape to make reminders of holes to fill, holes to make, and other such things to remove.
Picking away at the list. Body is off, main cage is welded, and I added more to the list.
Winter slumber.
I'm going to have to drive it like this at least once!
Ran around with blue tape to make reminders of holes to fill, holes to make, and other such things to remove.
Re: 74(ish) Linton
Side crash bars done. Filled holes in the floor and added more where they needed to be. Scratched off a few other small things on the list too.
Went to the local salvage yard in search for some seat belts too without any luck. Right now I'm leaning towards just ordering up a set of three point belts and being done with it: http://carcraftstore.com/3-pointretract ... ssset.aspx . I like the idea that they'd be fresh and new, but I'm sure a cheap used set would work just the same. We'll see. I'd like to find something soon so I can get the cage 100% finished and out of the way so I can get working on the chassis.
Went to the local salvage yard in search for some seat belts too without any luck. Right now I'm leaning towards just ordering up a set of three point belts and being done with it: http://carcraftstore.com/3-pointretract ... ssset.aspx . I like the idea that they'd be fresh and new, but I'm sure a cheap used set would work just the same. We'll see. I'd like to find something soon so I can get the cage 100% finished and out of the way so I can get working on the chassis.
Re: 74(ish) Linton
Seat belts came in super quick! I had them earlier in the week and found the time this morning to make up some mounts. Pretty straight forward... tab at the top and a bigger tab at the bottom. The belts and mechanisms themselves are a nice quality. Everything around the belt spool at the bottom is covered nicely without any of the rotating assembly exposed. That's really what I wanted... no risk of anything getting snagged in there should anything be stowed behind the seats. The female end of the belts have a large plastic cover on them that's kind of stiff though and makes for a goofy kink when wrapping around a seat. I would bet a hair dryer would make short work of getting them the right shape. Anyhow...
Then I took it all apart to the point that I could flip the chassis over for final finishing on the bottom. Feels really good to finally be at this point!
... and it wasn't super sketchy at all getting things to this point by myself.
Then I took it all apart to the point that I could flip the chassis over for final finishing on the bottom. Feels really good to finally be at this point!
... and it wasn't super sketchy at all getting things to this point by myself.
Re: 74(ish) Linton
PAINT!!! Just over six years after shortening the pan, but it's paint none the less!
There's a ton of trash in the paint where I rolled it on, but it's getting bed liner on the floor pans too. Really happy with how the bottom side is turning out though! I used Rustoleum as I've had really good luck with it in the past. It's currently still drying, but I'm helping things along.
There's a ton of trash in the paint where I rolled it on, but it's getting bed liner on the floor pans too. Really happy with how the bottom side is turning out though! I used Rustoleum as I've had really good luck with it in the past. It's currently still drying, but I'm helping things along.
Re: 74(ish) Linton
Another work day that seems slow with not much to do but watch things dry. Ah well... needs to be done!
Made a tape line at the rear and around the front beam mounts. Used course scotch brite pads to rough up the finish. Half prepped:
I've used the Herculiner bed liner in the past with really good results. I've had zero issues with it over the last six year in the bed and along the sides of my Jeep Comanche. It really comes down to the prep. Application goes fast especially in a flat position like this.
Nothing finer than bed liner! I'll let it really dry over this week and then it'll get flipped back right side up.
Made a tape line at the rear and around the front beam mounts. Used course scotch brite pads to rough up the finish. Half prepped:
I've used the Herculiner bed liner in the past with really good results. I've had zero issues with it over the last six year in the bed and along the sides of my Jeep Comanche. It really comes down to the prep. Application goes fast especially in a flat position like this.
Nothing finer than bed liner! I'll let it really dry over this week and then it'll get flipped back right side up.
Re: 74(ish) Linton
Alright, so I didn't let it sit for the week. Everything was dry and looked great, and I needed something to do this morning. So it got flipped...
... and then I lost all sense of accomplishment. That needed to change.
Bed liner next weekend I suppose and then new parts start going on.
... and then I lost all sense of accomplishment. That needed to change.
Bed liner next weekend I suppose and then new parts start going on.
Re: 74(ish) Linton
Another round of bed liner! It's getting warmer outside and it was super nice to have the door open while working out in my shop. The sun went high enough that it cast a shadow into the shop and all my heat suddenly went away. Ah well... the torpedo heater worked really good last time so it went back to assume its position.
I taped off the VIN also in case of any impromptu future reference.
Mmm... more progress...
I taped off the VIN also in case of any impromptu future reference.
Mmm... more progress...
Re: 74(ish) Linton
Oh, what a day. Suspension and steering systems are now complete. I need to make up the hardlines for the brakes, but everything else is in place. Had to make up a few tools today out of wanting to just keep going and not run into town. I did the ball joints that needed an adapter for my ball joint press (piece of pipe with a plate welded to it), and then I needed bearing race punches for the front calipers. I still had the spindles and drum brakes off of the chassis, so...
... they were obviously the perfect size.
Shocks were next. Three of the four went just fine, but I can't believe I never notices the right rear lower mount.
Left...
Right...
Ratchet strap, block of wood, and a BFH made short work of shaping that up. Otherwise, everything else just dropped in place as it should. All I have left of the parts I recently ordered are taillight parts (lenses, gaskets, and trim), and a trigger shifter.
Nice to have some big progress like this... even if all you notice are the bright blue cheap-ass Monroe shocks. Transmission seals, lug bolts, and front sway bar bushings on their way.
... they were obviously the perfect size.
Shocks were next. Three of the four went just fine, but I can't believe I never notices the right rear lower mount.
Left...
Right...
Ratchet strap, block of wood, and a BFH made short work of shaping that up. Otherwise, everything else just dropped in place as it should. All I have left of the parts I recently ordered are taillight parts (lenses, gaskets, and trim), and a trigger shifter.
Nice to have some big progress like this... even if all you notice are the bright blue cheap-ass Monroe shocks.
Transmission seals, lug bolts, and front sway bar bushings on their way.Re: 74(ish) Linton
Little bit more today... hit a road block. My goal was to get the brake lines done. I got close though... maybe half credit for showing my work? Ran short on one line, kinked another, and should've grabbed one more union.
Ran short on one line, kinked another, and should've grabbed one more union.