'68 Deluxe

[Resto-raider]

Got some work done recently.
Had lots of small parts and engine plating powdercoated.
Came out pretty nice.

Cleaned the front wheel arch. Seamsealed the seams, and put a rust converter on it. Not that there was any rust, but it protects the bare metal where I damaged the paint while removing the undercoating.
After this I will put a fresh undercoating on and move on to the other side wheel arch.

Also replaced the stock steering wheel with a new one from Springalex, and put he indicator stalk back in. The dash has been repainted as well some time ago.

Last but not least I bought 2 Nos mirrors and replaced my used one for a new one.

 

[Resto-raider]

Got some more work done. I undercoated the wheel arch after having prepared it thoroughly.

Also fitted the Bosch foglight I bought some time ago. I used the original bumpermount hole because i didn't want to drill in my nice bumper.

I'll probably install the other one on the other side in a while.

 

[gninnam]

Good job 8)

What did you use for the undercoat??

 

[Resto-raider]

Thanks Gninnam,

It's a spray-on bitumen undercoating. It remains flexible.

 

[Resto-raider]

Last saturday I received all the engine parts for the new 1776cc engine.
Everything has been machined and reinforced for more power and durability.
My goal is not to have as much horsepower as possible but to have a strong reliable engine.

I weighed the piston rods and made them all the same weight. 595 grams currently, where there used to be an 11 grams difference between the heaviest and the lightest. Also polished them.

I also weighed the pistons. Difference between the heaviest and lightest 4 grams. It doesn't seem like much, but it all adds up in the end.

I bought a new lightened and hardened flywheel. This one weighs about 5 kilograms, instead of 8.
Obviously it has been balanced with the crankshaft and it has been reïnforced with 8 pins to mount.

Part of the engine stuff layed out below. Everything is new except for the enginecase and the heads.

I have been working on the cilinderheads yesterday. I am flowing them and aligning them on the inlet manifolds. That's a lot of work. Already 2,5 hours in and only half way with one cilinderhead.
A couple more nights and the engine build can kick off.

 

[Resto-raider]

The fuel coming from the fuel tank was black and it had residue that cluttered the carburettor and fuel filters. Now that the engine is out I removed the fuel tank to flush it. I heard something rattling and found this;

It was some kind of rubber hose that dissolved inside the fuel tank and made the fuel black.
The rope is what's usually in the rubber to strenghten it.
I'm currently flushing and derusting the tank so I can coat it on the inside to prevent future problems.

Also mounted the second foglight. I like it but maybe I liked it even better with one foglight. But for now I'm happy.

 

[68_early_bay]

Just read through your thread, and you're doing a cracking job 8) nice one 8) I bet you can't wait to get the 1776 built

 

[Resto-raider]

Thanks. It's true, I can't wait till the engine is running again. It's been long enough now.
Next saturday it's on and i'm hoping to make lots of progress.

 

[Resto-raider]

Really happy with my new R&R bed cushions made by Delilahs to fit the Rusty Lee bed.

The engine is ready and back in the bus. It runs but needs to be finetuned. And it needs a sports exhaust

Also bought a nice windscreen cover last week at a local show

 

[MetPeter]

New upholstery looking great! Like this earlybay 8)

 

[gninnam]

New upholstery looking great! Like this earlybay 8)

+1

Engine looks clean enough to eat on

 

[Resto-raider]

Thanks guys. The engine case has been machined so I cleaned it very thoroughly a couple of times. Same goes for the heads. I don't want any filings to ruin my new engine. I want it to last a bit longer this time :?

 

[Resto-raider]

Lizzie from Delilah's was very patient with me answering all of my questions over a couple of weeks eventhough no sale was made yet. Took the plunge and bought a full set of cushions for my Rusty Lee bed.
I am very pleased with the result. Great quality, fits perfect and all that for a very reasonable price.
I can only recommend Delilah's.

Here are some phone pics of the cushions in the van. Off white with brown piping and stitching.

 

[Myvanway]

Very nice. 8)

 

[MetPeter]

8) Cool dude!

 

[gninnam]

8) Cool dude!

+1 :mrgreen:

 

[Resto-raider]

Thanks guys. I'm well happy with them.

Next thing on the list is to fit my new 34-pict-3 carb that has been machined to a 39-pict-3 and a bigger venturi.
My new engine is completely done, but after 40km the carb started acting up and the engine would hardly even run anymore.
I also lost the accelerator jet (the curved one) so I took most of the engine apart and found it back in the inlet of the cilinderhead. Fortunately it had not fallen in.

Everything has been put back together now and the engine is back in the bus. Now I have to fit the carb and connect the oil hoses to the external cooler and I can start running it in. Then it's MOT time and time to enjoy it as soon as the sun shows itself.

 

[surfbus]

Why not go for 2 carbs?
Great ride!

 

[Resto-raider]

A double carb costs a lot more and is much harder to set up and to keep synchronized.
That's why whe chose a bigger original (machined) single carb. I believe we'll be seing a lot of engines with the bigger single carbs in the future.

Didn't do much to the van lately. Mainly problem solving with the new engine and running it in.
As part of the running in I took it to the MaiKäfer meeting in Hannover, Germany, and then drove on to the VW factory in Wolfsburg.
A 650 miles round trip. The new engine runs strong and has lots of torque, but unfortunately it blew oil into the engine compartment. I had to top up 2 litres of oil during the trip.

Turned out to be a tiny hole in the alternator support! :roll: You couldn't even see it with the naked eye, but at high revs the oil pressure went up and sprayed out of the hole. Now sorted and hopefully for good.

Some pics of the trip:

When we got to Hannover there were already hundreds of vans and beetles there. Hardly any parking space left.

In the late afternoon it started raining and everybody left in a hurry...except us. My van stands pretty lonely in the back there.

One of the nicest combo's of the show. A fully detailed and driveable pedal car on the back.

In the background the two towers where the new cars are waiting for their owners to come pick them up in person from the factory.

I went up inside the towers in a glass elevator. Pretty cool with a nice view of Wolfsburg

A view of the old part of the factory, the powerplant. Part of it is still in us as a powerplant, the other part is now a high end theater.

I'm taking the bus to Spain, Monaco and France in 3 weeks. Hopefully it will all work out. Looking forward to it already.

 

[lemur]

Great work and thread mate!

I noticed you state you bought 2 nos 68 rear view mirrors! does that mean you could have one for sale?
sorry if that's forward
Liam