May be you should contribute to the "Let's Rock" thread...
Here's the German version:
Build: Zippy the Wonderbug
Re: Build: Zippy the Wonderbug
Aha! "Kraftwerk - The Robots". One of my all time favorites!
May be you should contribute to the "Let's Rock" thread...
Here's the German version:
May be you should contribute to the "Let's Rock" thread...
Here's the German version:
Re: Build: Zippy the Wonderbug
Little known fact but I was actually the 5th Kraftwerk. You don't hear much about me because the 5th member was tasked with guarding the jellybean bowl.
So dawn broke on a lovely day replete with comfortably warm temperatures, clear skies and dry ground, great for working on top of. Obviously, I chose to spend it in the basement.
This welcomed me:
A mess, but workable. I just needed to clear enough space to work on the spring plates. I cleaned up the ass end of the pan and got to work, installing the high falutin' spring plate compression tool supplied by Atomwerk:
But the grade .25 nut got it's threads in a bind, leaving me no choice but to get drastic:
This left me no option but to do it like the rest of the unwashed masses, using a floor jack:
It took me A LOT of tries to get everything sorted. First try, I didn't thread the cover plate's bolts and it was under too much tension to do after setting the plate. Second effort resulted in me forgetting antiseize on the outer splined end of the torsion rod. Third try was because I'm obviously just a masochist killing time the only way I know how. Eventually, I got it figured out though.
I took the time to swap the bolts for grade 8 hardware. You can see how bad the bolt had deteriorated due to trapped water and mud in those plates:
With the passenger side done, it was time to work on the other side. There wasn't a lot of room to work over there, thanks to a transaxle and engine hanging out in close proximity so I wasn't looking forward to doing it. To add salt, this one was even more stuck than the last. Heat, hammers and lots of levers were employed and at one time, I sunk to the level of threatening the plate with a cut off wheel:
But I stepped away for a bit to have a think. I used the time to prime the test wheel from the blast cabinet. First I had to weld a couple holes that someone had drilled in the wheel. I guess it was some goofball attempt at affixing a hubcap. There were only two spaced directly across from each other and one still had half of a wood screw stuck in it:
Eventually, I hit it with some sandpaper, air, alcohol and finally primer:
Then I went to hit the spring plate for a bit more. Eventually, I got that damned thing off:
So I hit it with the wire wheel, some antiseize and reasembled in reverse order of removal:
Leaving me with some lowered spring plates:
I've still got the front end to deal with, which I'm looking forward to even less as that involves more angles and maths. If I had the money, I would totally just buy one of those turnkey narrowed front ends that get advertised on the Samba. Since that's not in the cards, however, I'm just going to try to put it together in a manner that won't cause loss of life.
So dawn broke on a lovely day replete with comfortably warm temperatures, clear skies and dry ground, great for working on top of. Obviously, I chose to spend it in the basement.
This welcomed me:
A mess, but workable. I just needed to clear enough space to work on the spring plates. I cleaned up the ass end of the pan and got to work, installing the high falutin' spring plate compression tool supplied by Atomwerk:
But the grade .25 nut got it's threads in a bind, leaving me no choice but to get drastic:
This left me no option but to do it like the rest of the unwashed masses, using a floor jack:
It took me A LOT of tries to get everything sorted. First try, I didn't thread the cover plate's bolts and it was under too much tension to do after setting the plate. Second effort resulted in me forgetting antiseize on the outer splined end of the torsion rod. Third try was because I'm obviously just a masochist killing time the only way I know how. Eventually, I got it figured out though.
I took the time to swap the bolts for grade 8 hardware. You can see how bad the bolt had deteriorated due to trapped water and mud in those plates:
With the passenger side done, it was time to work on the other side. There wasn't a lot of room to work over there, thanks to a transaxle and engine hanging out in close proximity so I wasn't looking forward to doing it. To add salt, this one was even more stuck than the last. Heat, hammers and lots of levers were employed and at one time, I sunk to the level of threatening the plate with a cut off wheel:
But I stepped away for a bit to have a think. I used the time to prime the test wheel from the blast cabinet. First I had to weld a couple holes that someone had drilled in the wheel. I guess it was some goofball attempt at affixing a hubcap. There were only two spaced directly across from each other and one still had half of a wood screw stuck in it:
Eventually, I hit it with some sandpaper, air, alcohol and finally primer:
Then I went to hit the spring plate for a bit more. Eventually, I got that damned thing off:
So I hit it with the wire wheel, some antiseize and reasembled in reverse order of removal:
Leaving me with some lowered spring plates:
I've still got the front end to deal with, which I'm looking forward to even less as that involves more angles and maths. If I had the money, I would totally just buy one of those turnkey narrowed front ends that get advertised on the Samba. Since that's not in the cards, however, I'm just going to try to put it together in a manner that won't cause loss of life.
Re: Build: Zippy the Wonderbug
Hey, now that's a nice success - another milestone accomplished!
And messing with these torsion bars isn't all beer and skittles.
Glad you dismissed the use of that angle grinder...
Assuming you adjusted the torsion bars for some (slightly) negative camber too
it looks like Zippy will sit quite low with these spring plates.
The blasted rim turned out nice! And good to see the "welding cart" (as well as the "media blaster") in action. 
And by the way.. The deck for the hot tub is very well done too. I bet the family loves it!
Someways I'm missing "thumb up" and/or "applause" emoticons...
And messing with these torsion bars isn't all beer and skittles.
Glad you dismissed the use of that angle grinder...
That's exactly my course of action... At least since I grew older...schwim wrote:But I stepped away for a bit to have a think.
Assuming you adjusted the torsion bars for some (slightly) negative camber too
it looks like Zippy will sit quite low with these spring plates.
The blasted rim turned out nice! And good to see the "welding cart" (as well as the "media blaster"
) in action. And by the way.. The deck for the hot tub is very well done too. I bet the family loves it!
Someways I'm missing "thumb up" and/or "applause" emoticons...
Re: Build: Zippy the Wonderbug
Oh, it's going to be low. Lower than it should be and not a centimeter more.Maddel wrote:Assuming you adjusted the torsion bars for some (slightly) negative camber too
it looks like Zippy will sit quite low with these spring plates.
It was nice to get some use out of them. The blast cabinet didn't do so hot today. It quit passing media so I went with a grinder and some sandpaper.Maddel wrote:The blasted rim turned out nice! And good to see the "welding cart" (as well as the "media blaster"
They love it and used it today, in fact. Family fun time!Maddel wrote:And by the way.. The deck for the hot tub is very well done too. I bet the family loves it!
I need to make up some fun smileys for us. I'll see if I can't whip something up.Maddel wrote:Someways I'm missing "thumb up" and/or "applause" emoticons...
Re: Build: Zippy the Wonderbug
I did a bit more cleanup and disassembled a seat bottom to clean it up. The outside storage was not kind to my parts:
The rust looked more like the growth you would find on something that had lived it's life underwater. It actually had bulk to it:
I got it apart and put the base into the blast cabinet but it quit spitting out media so I went with an angle grinder and some sandpaper.
I cleaned it up and painted it with some rust converter-type paint.
Then I had to stop for the aforementioned hot tub family time and to watch the solar eclipse(full eclipse here, the family all had their viewing glasses on). I'll try to knock something out tomorrow as well, time providing.
If it seems like I'm hopping around with no direction or grand scheme, that's because I am. I'm still trying to get my mojo back on this journey. I'm trying to find a place to store all this stuff while keeping some kind of work space available to me but it's just super tough to see past the mountain of stuff to do. I'm hoping that as I keep whittling away at it, it will one day seem like a manageable affair.
'Till the next day!
The rust looked more like the growth you would find on something that had lived it's life underwater. It actually had bulk to it:
I got it apart and put the base into the blast cabinet but it quit spitting out media so I went with an angle grinder and some sandpaper.
I cleaned it up and painted it with some rust converter-type paint.
Then I had to stop for the aforementioned hot tub family time and to watch the solar eclipse(full eclipse here, the family all had their viewing glasses on). I'll try to knock something out tomorrow as well, time providing.
If it seems like I'm hopping around with no direction or grand scheme, that's because I am. I'm still trying to get my mojo back on this journey. I'm trying to find a place to store all this stuff while keeping some kind of work space available to me but it's just super tough to see past the mountain of stuff to do. I'm hoping that as I keep whittling away at it, it will one day seem like a manageable affair.
'Till the next day!
Re: Build: Zippy the Wonderbug
It's been raining to beat the band for the last few days so I needed something to do on Zippy that wouldn't require stepping outside. I looked at the top of the parts box and saw the hockey stick and clutch & accelerator cables and figured that was as good a plan as any.
I took the nosecone off, cleaned it, removed the gasket and replaced the mismatched mount nuts.
Assembly is the reverse of removal:
I imagine I already mentioned the reason it needed a new hockey stick. I suspected that a freehand drilling of the detent put it in the wrong place, causing my shifting issues. This is a picture of two sticks clocked identically to show you just how bad the PO did at locating that detent. They should be in identical locations:
I installed all the rubber grommets, greased & fed the cables.
And figured that since I had come this far, I might as well install the transaxle. It gained weight from the last time I lifted it 3 years ago. Either that or gravity is getting stronger.
I installed the shift coupler. It seems to be going into 4 forward gears with no issue. I'll have to adjust for reverse.
I also started installing the foot controls but will be taking it all apart a few times before it's sorted. I've also got to find all the stuff that I've lost over the years like the bowden tube, proper clutch cable wing nut, brake pedal stop plate, etc. I'm getting to the point where it needs stuff I no longer know the location of.
'Till the next day!
I took the nosecone off, cleaned it, removed the gasket and replaced the mismatched mount nuts.
Assembly is the reverse of removal:
I imagine I already mentioned the reason it needed a new hockey stick. I suspected that a freehand drilling of the detent put it in the wrong place, causing my shifting issues. This is a picture of two sticks clocked identically to show you just how bad the PO did at locating that detent. They should be in identical locations:
I installed all the rubber grommets, greased & fed the cables.
And figured that since I had come this far, I might as well install the transaxle. It gained weight from the last time I lifted it 3 years ago. Either that or gravity is getting stronger.
I installed the shift coupler. It seems to be going into 4 forward gears with no issue. I'll have to adjust for reverse.
I also started installing the foot controls but will be taking it all apart a few times before it's sorted. I've also got to find all the stuff that I've lost over the years like the bowden tube, proper clutch cable wing nut, brake pedal stop plate, etc. I'm getting to the point where it needs stuff I no longer know the location of.
'Till the next day!
Re: Build: Zippy the Wonderbug
Damn, nice work and great progress.
Every bit you do gets you one step closer to being done even if you only have time once a month.
Time is my biggest issue too.
.
Every bit you do gets you one step closer to being done even if you only have time once a month.
Time is my biggest issue too.
.
Re: Build: Zippy the Wonderbug
Hey Schwin,
It must be cold rainy and depressing in your area as it looks like Zippy has been hibernating.
For me, during the winter time I can barley motivate myself to do any VW work at all even just driving it..
Too cold, way to wet, and the grey is just depressing.
Are you planning to work on Zippy when the weather gets nicer?
It must be cold rainy and depressing in your area as it looks like Zippy has been hibernating.
For me, during the winter time I can barley motivate myself to do any VW work at all even just driving it..
Too cold, way to wet, and the grey is just depressing.
Are you planning to work on Zippy when the weather gets nicer?
Re: Build: Zippy the Wonderbug
Hey there sir!65VW wrote:Hey Schwin,
It must be cold rainy and depressing in your area as it looks like Zippy has been hibernating.
For me, during the winter time I can barley motivate myself to do any VW work at all even just driving it..
Too cold, way to wet, and the grey is just depressing.
Are you planning to work on Zippy when the weather gets nicer?
It has been horrible all winter and spring here. Just this week, we had our first decent days.
My plans for Zippy are somewhat muddled right now. The family is considering moving back to Florida which, due to finances, would require us to take only drivers so I'm seriously considering getting the pan running, then welding only the stuff needed to get the body back together(like heater channel bottoms, rear quarter with fender mounting locations) and leave the rest to do once the car is running and driving.
It's not optimal but to be honest, I'd rather have it running and driving in any condition than have to leave it because we don't have a place to store a project during the location change.
My first order of business is to try to make a front end from all the parts I have. I've been holding off on it because it seems like a job for someone with more smarts and tools than me.