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1963 VW Beetle:Ragtop Resto.


63Ragtop

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The other thing that likes to die is the wiper motor. It works fine until you really need them, like a thunderstorm in heavy Auckland traffic. Then they cook themselves and fuck out.

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Opening the motor for possible the first time in sixty years reveled grease with the texture of smashed prunes.

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Still going.

After being a daily driver for the last three years, the clutch had reaaalllly had enough, I adjusted it one more time, and it was working sweet. I drove over to qualitat to grab a couple last parts, thought I'd pop in and see a mate at his work down the road, pulled up a couple blocks away and bang. No more clutch cable.IMG20210514123146_copy_1125x2000.thumb.jpg.da331b70f56d1d63b25cfb1156c4c317.jpg

Old mate helped me push it inside, dropped me off home, picked me up in the morning, took me back over to qualitat, and helped me sort the cable. Good cunt.

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Guess I had it cranked the cable a bit much and stressed it out. Anyway four hours later, I got the little loop on the little hook. Fuck.

IMG20210515121926_copy_2000x1125_1.jpg

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Which finally leads to this.

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Gotta take these off first and a couple other things, and out she comes.

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One very rusty dusty old (dated 1999) clutch. The bearing in the center there is all lose, don't think it's supposed to be like that ?

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Plate looks okay, again center section had a rattle.IMG20210613142045_copy_1125x2000.thumb.jpg.f4d552b9b9c4524ab42c7f090aa38da7.jpg

Bellhouseing was wet and grimey.

I bought new engine mounts when I good the new clutch, these polyurethane ones were cool when I was twenty, but I'm sure they make the noise and vibration issues even worse.IMG20210613142104_copy_1125x2000.thumb.jpg.739eb18c202b758fcef46b93c12cd26d.jpg

And the axle boots need replaced again, these only lasted 3years? Shit house. So I spent most of Sunday removing the fucked parts and cleaning the underneath of all the oil and road grime.

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And then the dreaded delta lockdown of 2021 happened a few days later. Dun dun duuuuun.

I've gotten pretty good at removing the engine now, super glad I made that rear valance removable!

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Decided as I couldn't do much else, I'll use the time in lockdown to tidy up the old tinwear.

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The layer of black came off easy, but the 20 year old vht engine enamel, not so much.

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Got through in the end, nothing but time and pressure, just like Andy Dufresne.

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Sprayed it satin black to stop it rusting, kinda like it, might satin the tin instead of gloss black, that's how they were factory.

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Spent an inordinate amount of time fettling the cylinder tin. These are shitty aftermarket parts like the fan shroud, and have never fitted anything very well.IMG20210908214734_copy_2000x1125.thumb.jpg.bbcb178e79d6786fc892d967fa832b6e.jpg

The tin on a vw engine is ducting for the cooling system. So poorly fitted tin is like having heaps of water leaking out of a engine.

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The big manifolds were always a struggle to fit, more fettling.

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The factory manifold preheating pipe holes were welded up years ago, IMG20210909235334_copy_1125x2000.thumb.jpg.ca26aca9b513a6af1bd330005be74d77.jpg

Made a start on deleting the last remnant of the heater system as well as adding 5mm hear and there to close up the gaps between the cylinder tin and the rear plate.

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For some reason the 1-2 side tin doesn't even closely follow the shape of the fan shroud, IMG20210915113918_copy_2000x1125.thumb.jpg.b436b39febb50633b05c7dc9bc8a5127.jpg

But 3-4 was almost perfect?

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Removing the heater pipes is going to declutter the engine bay so much, love a nice simple looking motor.

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IMG20210916154253_copy_2000x1125.thumb.jpg.4dd40009088cc780cac1e32045cae421.jpg

Possible better than sanding, but still very messy and time consuming.

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Lucky I built that extra bench, so good having another work area.

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Stripping the pulley tin, poor old thing was so bent by being forced to fit the other crap.

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Gaps looking saaweeet!

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Mock up for inspiration.

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Removed the pipe fittings from the fan shroud.

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Now these are the lower tins that wrap under the engine and direct the air under and out the rear of the car.IMG20210919230233_copy_2000x1125.thumb.jpg.d2f8788f81c43c9c93ccba856dcf8a68.jpg

These are OG old-school vw parts. After paint stripping, they had a lot of bad surface rust, cracks and thing broken off.

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One of my favorite things about this never ending project is learning and trying new things. So the tin got a couple days soaking in white vinegar.

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Did my best with what I had to hand, check out the high tide line.

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And then after a wee swim in a baking powder solution to neutralise the acidic vinegar, gave them a good hoon on the wire wheel, shit looks good as new!IMG20210923235001_copy_1125x2000.thumb.jpg.7ec6b4d4cfc836005663ae9603b3e7d0.jpg

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