New '66 Project

[BuginU2]

The dust covering the car and garage was too much.  It was time to pull the car out of the garage, wipe down all the surfaces, vacuum it up, snap some photos and roll it back.

I still have some high spots on the dash to take care of, but overall I'm pretty happy with the results.

[CatBox]

now you just need to put in the beam extender.

[BuginU2]

A year or so ago I tossed around that idea.... my wife didn't like that style and it was important to maintain her approval of the project.  

I am considering driving it over to the meeting on Tuesday.... just for fun.  Which means I'll have to get a minimal amount of wiring done, the motor and windshield installed, fenders and lights, the pedals and a seat.  

Even easier would to be hook it up behind the Ody and drag it over.  Yeah, I might do that.

[CatBox]

i can understand her not really digging the look as i prefer them with a built out finished rear section.  

this is a Heb style build but the same look works on the regular cars as well.  he removed the fenders and then used some electrical conduit to build out the rear so it doesnt look like a pinched off pile.



and this is what they look like with no fenders.  its still a good looking car but it is lacking something in my eyes.

[BuginU2]

I had a dream the other night that my VW was on "OverHaulin", except that instead of showing up at a shop to see my completed car I discovered it in my garage all done.

I'm going through serious VW withdrawl right now.  I need to get back home and finish sanding the body in prep for paint.

A decision has finally been made regarding the paint.  We are going to paint it in the garage... a neighbor down the street convinced me that it is feasible as he routinely paints restored choppers in his garage.

[CatBox]

cool, what color will it be?

[BuginU2]

I am going to paint it a color other than black, black primer, white, white primer, grey primer, or charcoal primer.

I hit a milestone this weekend.... I've completed sanding all of the fenders down to bare metal.  The body still needs the hood, roof, and driver's side to be sanded.  The dash is attached now and ready to be drilled for switches and fuel guage.

Lots of little things that add up to a long time before this project is done.  :(

[CatBox]

red oxide primer? :)

[BuginU2]

Well, I broke my own rule... I got distracted from working on the body and decided to tear down the engine to take care of the oil leaks.

The engine is stripped down to the cylinders.  I think I'm going to have to break the case over as there was tons of gunk and chunks in the oil strainer and I discovered a pound or two of sand packed into the area between the push rod tubes and the cylinders.  No doubt some of it has worked itself into the engine.  Might as well do it right this time.

Now for an important safety note.  When removing jacks stands from under the car, if yanking on them and kicking them doesn't make them move... smacking them with your hand isn't going to do it either.  Not sure yet... but there might be something bruised or fractured in there.  Ouch!

[CatBox]

as a general rule of thumb you have to use a jack to raise the car off of them FIRST and then proceed to remove the stands.

[BuginU2]

It was raised up... it came down to a clearance issue.  They weren't sliding out... caught up on something....and for some stupid reason I smacked the stand release with my hand... as if that was going to make it work.

I was having an idiot moment that lasted a couple hours.  I did enough stupid things in that time that I should be in the hospital today, but blind stupid luck somehow allowed me to walk away with only a sore hand.  If the pizza guy hadn't shown up when he did, there is no telling what would have happened.

[BuginU2]

It has been a couple fairly productive days/weeks for me....

A coule weeks ago I power washed the entire car and cleaned it up really good.  Over the past two weeks I've been able to almsot comletely finish sanding the body down.  The only area left is the roof.

THe dash is back in the picture again.  A month or so ago I resigned to using a fiberglass cover to cover the existing dash, but now I'm regretting that decision.  I am looking for a clip to replace the whole thing.  If I can't locate a clip, I will try to find a suitable section of metal and try filling it in again.

Today I was able to treat the engine compartment, under the gas tank, under the dash and the ceiling with rust bullet.

Could primer be too far off?

[BuginU2]

Score!  

I found a guy on TheSamba in Eagle Creek (no, not the "bus" Eagle Creek guy) with a complete dash section for only 30 bucks.

This should be fun.  I need to cut the new dash section off the clip I got and figure out how I'm going to splice this in.  Worst case scenario... I still have the fiberglass dash cover to save myself.

[flyfishinrocks]

sounds like your having a ton of fun!!  Looking forward to seeing some pics of reassembly, have a color in mind yet? I got a question for ya, how do you prep the area inside the vents above the deck lid for paint? I was thinking maybe media blasting, but it seems like the media would be a bear to remove.

[CatBox]

PUT THE HAMMER AWAY!!!!!!


it will only cause you more trouble, and if this one doesnt work out i still have the first on you took out that came with it...