An intellectual is someone whose mind watches itself

 One of my shipments arrived today.
NOS Right rear backing plate
311 609 440 B

NOS pair of hatch hinges
361 827 301
361 827 302

 NOS front 'Mickey Mouse' grill and divider plastic with foam
311 805 657

 11 of the upper trim clips - one of which is an oddball zinc coated version. I've only previously seen them in black like those in the background.
311 867 289 A

Three circlips for the Koln turn signal arm on a Koln ignition column - one of which will go into immediate use.
311 953 515 A

Not pictured:
NOS Koln turn signal arm, 311 953 515 A
a fuel check valve to replace one I sold a while back, 311 127 405
NOS frame head cover, 311 705 253
NOS VW Germany thermostat for flaps

You don't ever wanna step off that roller coaster and be all alone

I got a call on Thursday that the pan (and the pile of parts) is ready to be picked up from RediStrip.  I have not yet figured out when I'm going to go get it but it'll be soon.  I want to line up a paint shop to paint it so I can go get it and drop it off at the paint shop.  I figure it'll be another week or two at the paint shop - then it will come back and I can start the process of actually putting the car together.  I've debated using Rust Seal and doing it myself...but it's not quite warm enough yet.  Actually, the real reason is that I have the painting skills of a 6 year old and I'm pretty sure I can screw up anything that has to do with paint, no matter how simple it's designed to be.

I haven't yet received the CSP front brake kit but I imagine it'll arrive in time for me to keep assembly going on the car...it'll be shipped at the same time as a whole other slew of parts that should keep me busy for quite a while.  I'm also waiting to see if an inquiry for a clean set of heat exchangers and muffler is going to happen...the Vintage Speed exhaust is going to take a while and I'd like to start the engine in my garage on the stand...make sure it's tuned and such.

There is a small box of parts coming in this week from Germany - all stuff for the two cars - nothing for sale.  I've decided to focus on getting this car done ASAP so that I can get parts off of the shelves and on a car vs. collecting and squirreling parts, then selling some later.  I am getting a NOS turn signal lever for the ignition column I bought last month.  That means that I can take it apart, clean it and strip the paint - getting ready for a rebuild.  If that all goes well, I'll get another key made and stick it in Ferris when the time comes.  It would be nice if both cars had the same ignition column (Koln). 

The goal is to get this car up on tires this year...I am going to try my ass off to make that happen.

Background Tune: "I Took A Pill In Ibiza" by Mike Posner

Powder coated prizes

I picked up the powder coat lot this afternoon...this photo shows most, but not all, of the parts.  There are tie rods, engine tin, pulley shrouds, spindles, etc. not shown.

Still moving the ball forward...even if it's an inch at a time.

Someday, I'll get to putting the engine back together!

Looking for one thing and finding another

 Thursday night, I made the 100+ mile drive in a rain storm to buy a front beam and some engine tin.

The goal was to get a front beam that needed very little work and I could clean, repaint and mount it on the pan.

I arrived to find the last two beams available - rusted through to the point of being nearly scrap metal status.  Needless to say - I didn't buy one.  I did, however, find a nice set of early engine tins, a later set of tops and a nice 12 volt fan shroud - so I bought those pieces.

Fan shroud still has the stickers, is fairly straight and should clean up nicely.

The slightly later engine tin pieces.

“Our real discoveries come from chaos, from going to the place that looks wrong and stupid and foolish.”

The hinges turned out to not be right for the two cars...so it looks like I'm going to leave that pursuit alone for now.  They're not a 'needed' part and I really should focus a bit more on the stuff that needs to get done.

The first set of NOS tie rod ends came in today - they look perfect - I'm rather happy with that purchase.  The other three sets should arrive in the next few days.  One set is already sold so I've got one more set to figure out what do to with at some point.

I did some digging and found a rather odd assortment of parts and I'm waiting on confirmation.  Once confirmed, I should have a 'the other side' of a few parts.  I also may have found NOS seat bases - which, again, once confirmed, would be a huge win because they haven't been kicked in yet.  I'd then choose from the two sets I have to get bashed back into shape.

Things are happening but very very slowly.

Budget: a mathematical confirmation of your suspicions

The powder coat trip was a success.  I dropped off four crates of parts along with four black pulley shrouds (one of which isn't mine).  I'm down to wheels, control arms, the rear hinge cover and the seat bases (which will need work before they're powder coated) that will need to be powder coated.  After that, I think I'm done with powder coating...then I get to move on to painting the front beam, pan, rear subframe, and torsion spring plates.  Once those are done, I can begin the assembly process (*finally!*).

I found some NOS German tie rod ends so I bought all four sets.  I'll need two sets, I know of at least one other Type 3 owner that'll use a set and I'll either have a spare set or I'll sell them off as well.  I'm trying to both capitalize on the parts that I find and share the wealth.  This allows me to get the 'thrill of the chase' and prevent me from growing my stockpile of parts.

I've put 'feelers' out there for the rear drums...and if I'm lucky, they'll pop up somewhere.  I plan to focus on getting the pan completed, then worry about the body...which may open up a can of worms, depending on how much progress is required to get it completed.

So, out in the field is the pile of powder coating parts, the carbs that are being rebuilt, the parts at Redi Strip and grumblings of more NOS parts creeping toward me in a couple of weeks...I think the hinges that I wanted to get my hands on have found me.  I'm waiting for pictures to confirm they're correct.

A little progress

I'm making a trip to powder coating tomorrow morning with three bins of parts...this will cover the tie rods (not ends) and a couple of other parts relative to the front end assembly.  I found NOS German tie rods so those should be inbound shortly.  No news on rear shocks yet though...fronts seem easy to find but rears are a bit harder to find.  I have all of the rear brake parts minus the drums so I'll probably just get some repop rear drums to keep things moving forward.

I'm down to needing front brakes, wheels and tires...I'm debating dropping off the wheels tomorrow but I think I'll save it for the next trip.

During the down time while I wait for the stuff to come back from RediStrip - I think I'm going to work on getting the engine back together...I sort of stripped a few parts off of it.  The exhaust is still up in the air but I think Vintage Speed will come through before it's a concern.  If not, I've got that $50 eBay muffler to use for a while.

I recently received a box of parts from T3HQ with a factory exchange fuel pump, spindle bolts, door bolts, protection plates for the heater boxes and a few other random parts.

From another source, I received  a NOS set of ball joints, NOS preheat hose clips, NOS wiper arms and NOS wiper blades, 5 sets of NOS points for the ZV/JCU 4R3 distributor and a NOS distributor cap.

Right now it just seems like I'm spending money but I'm hoping to change that into 'making progress' in a couple of months.

The risk of a wrong decision is preferable to the terror of indecision.

I'm in a holding pattern until the stuff comes back from RediStrip in April...most of the parts I wanted to get rid of are gone - there are a few stragglers but I'll likely wind up scrapping them in a few weeks.

So I've been 'planning'  and I think the next course of action is to ensure I have all of the pieces for the front beam and the rear subframe.

Here's where I'm at as of today:

Front beam:

• Front beam with bushings/bearings (either at RediStrip or source another one)
• Tie rods (to be painted/powder coated)
• Tie rod ends (have the inner left, does that count?)
• Steering box w/ground wire
• Steering damper
• Ball joints
• Bearings
• Spindles
• Brakes (highly likely to be CSP)
• Rotor (will come with brakes)
• Brake hoses
• Bushings to body (top)
• Shocks
• Wheels (need to be finished)
• Tires
• Rubber collars
• Clamp pieces/hardware
• Clips, clamps, etc.

Rear subframe:

• Rear subframe (at RediStrip)
• Spring plates (at RediStrip)
• Spring plate covers/hardware
• Spring plate bushings
• Shocks
• Transmission w/axles and backing plates
• Transmission carrier
• Transmission mounts (2 rear, 1 front)
• Rear brakes (drums, shoes, hardware)
• Brake lines (hard and soft)
• Parking brake cables (311 609 721 A)
• Wheels (need to be finished)
• Tires

Now, to stay focused on the task at hand...anything that's not covered by either being at RediStrip or on hand means that I should start looking to source it so that I can get it together and be ready to move to the next step.

Looks like I can build up the front beam until I reach the brakes...which is fine because it'll be plenty heavy without them - I'd prefer to add brakes and rotors once the beam is mounted to the pan.

The rear subframe can be built all the way to brakes.  I'm hoping to have talked myself into putting rear discs (read: I have installed them) on Nigel so that I can swap all of those brake parts to Ferris.  If not, I'll have to find drums that don't suck and buy brake shoes.  I've got extra rear wheel cylinders and hardware.  The more money that goes out, the harder that decision gets...so I might wind up having to find drums.  Spending the coin on CSP front discs is going to be enough cash outlay, really.

Brakes, tires, then mate up with the pan and engine...seems simple enough, huh?  It would be huge if I actually get the pan back on tires with a functional engine/trans/brakes, although storing it until the body is done may pose a challenge.

I'll worry about that when I get there.

Chrome shop, round 1

I hauled ass over to the chrome shop this morning to pick up the parts before they closed.

The hub caps turned out pretty nice from about a foot away...

...then you get real close and see that the inner logo area isn't as nice.  Chrome shop dude said that he thought I was going to paint the logos so he didn't focus on that area with detail.

Not super happy with this result but it's also not the end of the world...I intentionally sent one set vs. all four for this very reason.  If I use them again, I'll be very specific about the logo area.

I will likely paint the logo area black and use these on Ferris because, overall, they look real good.

The horn bars turned out very, very nicely.  I am 100% happy with how they turned out and I will probably send in the third one once I decide who's getting the next shot at the few chrome bits I have left.

Close up shot of the horn bar.  These were both decent pieces with some pitting - pits are gone and chrome is really nice.

If I can get the door handles apart, I may refurb them vs. selling them at a loss and then turning around and buying NOS parts.

I've also got the locks for the doors that will need to be chromed.

It's progress and things are headed in the right direction so I'm happy overall.

I was taught that the way of progress was neither swift nor easy.

As planned, the parts were dropped off at RediStrip today.

We pulled into the nearest Home Depot that rents vans - to cross paths with the van driving out of the parking lot.  After conceding defeat, I inquired about renting a more expensive Penske van.  The rental associate informed me that the Home Depot van would be gone only an hour.  Craig and I decided to go find some breakfast while we waited and, after a little persuasion, the rental associate agreed to call me when it returned.  As breakfast wrapped up, I got a call that the van had returned, so we returned to the store and rented the van.

When we got back to the house, we quickly loaded the van and I joked about getting to RediStrip right when they left for lunch...and that's exactly what happened.  Craig and I sat in the van in the parking lot for 35 minutes before we got inside.  15 minutes later, the van was unloaded, I had a work order copy and we were off to return the van.

There are three paint cans with miscellaneous hardware, 2.5 fan shrouds, the bare front beam, the pan for Ferris, the rear subframe, spring plates, two shift rods, two steering column rods, backing plates, air control boxes, an oil breather stand, and a flap rod for the thermostat system.  I wound up bringing the fuel tanks back home because the price they gave me for the work was the 'we don't want to do it' price and they're not 100% necessary.  I can get them boiled out and powder coated later.

I received a call today that the chrome pieces are ready for pick up - two months earlier than expected - I'm going to attempt to pick them up tomorrow.

It's a good start to 2016.

The goal for 2016? Focus

I started the first wave of 'Spring Cleaning 2016' this week.  I took the parts that had been sitting in the classifieds the longest - along with a bunch of other random parts I'll never use - and put them on the table in the garage and took this picture.  I posted that picture on a Facebook group and in the classifieds.  Oddly enough, within 48 hours, I sold 70% of what was in the picture.  I gave a few things away for free just to get rid of them.

Phase 2 of this will happen later this week.  I'm going to place five ads in the classifieds: $5 per part, $10 per part, $15 per part, $20 per part, and free if shipping is paid.  I'm looking to clear out parts that are not absolutely necessary for the restoration and rebuild of these two cars...turns out there's a lot of collateral collecting that's been going on over the last five years.  I've also been hanging on to some parts with grand aspirations of rebuilding assemblies and attempting to have more of a hand in the restoration process.  I've simply got to let that shit go...I don't have time for it now and it's highly unlikely that I'll ever have time for it.  So those parts will also find new homes...either apart or together.

It's going to be a real eye opening experience to dig into this stuff once the pan and a few of the other large items are out of the garage.

A drop off to the powder coat guy is in order as well.

the grass grows, the paint dries...

The parts move is tentatively rescheduled for Friday - assuming nothing else goes wrong.

I scored this set of knobs very inexpensively via a Facebook group.  They cleaned up really nicely and with fresh blue dots, they'll look great on the dash.

Things were planned to happen...until they didn't

Today was the fateful day - the day when the parts were getting dropped off at RediStrip in preparation for the Spring assembly project.

But that didn't happen.

Two days ago, I started coming down with what I thought was a simple cold.  A visit to the doctor yesterday said otherwise and I spent the bulk of the day in bed, shedding a fever, chills, muscle aches and a sinus infection.  I hope to be back in shape by Friday.

Once I've recovered, I'll schedule the move again and get this ball rolling.  But for now, I'm resting and recovering.

planning is the first step of execution

The plan is to take this pan to RediStrip on 3 Feb along with the suspension parts, front beam and miscellaneous parts.

Everything will be stripped down to bare metal - including the internal cavities - leaving an ideal surface for new paint/coatings.  This pan has been the 'excuse' for not putting the car together.  I'm ready to tackle it and get this car back on tires.

I'm hoping to have some solid progress to report in the coming months.

Mufflers, part two

I recently 'won' an NOS Type 3 on eBay at an absurdly low price of $65.  It was listed locally so it arrived quickly (the next day).  I opened the box and looked it over.

Externally, they both look the same - the NOS Leistritz on the bottom, the eBay score on top.

The eBay muffler is 30% lighter in weight than the NOS Leistritz which means that something is different inside...

A little investigation to the guts revealed the weight savings. Looks like the lid to a Parmesan cheese shaker from a pizza shop - not what I expected to find.

 Look in the port - expecting to find equal length tubes and find...well, nothing.

 This thing has to be super loud when hooked up to a car - alas, I'll probably never find out because it'll either get sold or used for a pattern.

The muffler whisperer

Another inbound muffler...as if the two I have aren't enough, right?

I actually bought this in anticipation of having to cut it apart to send off as a sample for dimensional purposes for Vintage Speed.  After bidding and further discussion, that doesn't appear to be necessary so I've got a third exhaust.

This one looks cleaner than the other two in spite of the fact that it's a non-branded muffler.  Additional photos confirm it was manufactured in West Germany but no brand is identified in those pictures.

It's local so I should see it within a week when I can confirm its manufacturer.

The Notchback pop outs sold a few days after being posted in the Facebook group - good news for me and the buyer.

The good, the bad, the ugly

The Good:  The broken seat back is now fixed.

The Bad:  The janky seat brace for the pan is still in the car - it would cost around $300 to swap it out because of the spot welds and thin metal.  I opted to clean it up a bit and move on.  I'm not about to dump more money into this process if there's not a significant reason to do so and 'cosmetics' don't fall into that category.

The Ugly: Given the location of the flange on the muffler and the angle between the two pieces, the muffler is, essentially, a boat anchor.  The angle of the flange can be changed.  The angle of the adapter piece can be changed.  The physical location of the tube on the exhaust cannot be changed without significant work (where the cost comes in).

I'm going to contact Vintage Speed and see what the options are at this point.  If the next option is to spend another $500, I'm out.  I'll cut my losses (again) and stick with stock.  It will also prevent me from going off the rails again in the future - money spent on stock parts is always well spent.

Accomplishment without struggle isn't as rewarding

I pulled everything out in preparation of the arrival of the mobile welder tomorrow afternoon.  The seat back with the broken brace, the flanges for the muffler and the adapter pieces, along with the pan that'll get a new kick panel bracket.

The angle of these two pieces doesn't look too far off, until...

 ...you take a step back and take in the whole picture here.  The adapter piece for the heat exchanger is about as far 'up' as it's going to go and still have adequate space for a proper installation with the OE clamp.

What I fear here is that the right side is both the wrong angle and too high on the muffler for the adapter piece to be mated to it - especially when I compare it to an OE muffler.  I suspect  this might become a boat anchor and end my pursuit of this exhaust because I can't do this again at $500-600 for each attempt.  It's technically my error since I didn't realize that both the angle and location of the right side port was different from the left.  I didn't have an OE muffler at the time and based everything off of visual cues - one important cue that I missed was the difference on the right side...and it may have cost me.

 Careful inspection of this photo shows what I would have seen if I'd had an original muffler on hand when I sent the dimensions to MT at Vintage Speed.

One thing I noticed between the OE muffler and the VS:  The flanges that mate up to the heat exchanger are significantly shorter on the OE unit.  That leaves me wondering if I can modify those pieces and make it work if round one fails.  Guess I'll find out tomorrow.

In the event I bought a boat anchor in the custom exhaust, I have two NOS units to fall back on for now.

I wound up buying the third NOS kick panel bracket from Mario at T3HQ.  It's scheduled to be welded to Ferris's pan tomorrow afternoon.

Once this bracket is welded on, the pan will be transported to RediStrip where it'll be both media blasted and alkali dipped to remove all of the seam sealer, paint and rust...so that it can be prepared properly and painted prior to assembly.

It has been years since this pan has been flat.  In the process of moving the pan from the back of the garage to the front of the garage and then laying it down, I freed about 1/4 cup of media sand that was inside the tunnel.

The RediStrip process is supposed to eliminate most of the sand - I hope that's true.

Kind of a bummer that I've got $2k into this pan and I'll be essentially starting over with the strip and repaint but it'll be done.  It's absolutely unreal how much money I've got into this car given its current state.

Packing peanuts return...

The NOS mufflers arrived last night.  They look better in person than they did in photos.

Both have the OE stickers on them indicating part number 341 251 061B which indicates that they're for 65 - 71.

 Both mufflers were packed in peanuts, which means that they're stuffed with them in places they don't belong.  I think I got them all out.

I now have a lifetime supply of packing peanuts...which is a bummer because it took me almost a year to get rid of the previous batch.

tiny steps

Last week I found a local shop that does body dipping in an alkali solution that does not remove any metal - it just removes rust, paint, seam sealer, etc.  The lead time on this is about 12 weeks and the price isn't horrible.  I'm seriously considering taking the pan for Ferris and dropping it off to get dipped - remove the shitty paint job that was done a year ago and get it ready for paint.  I'd also drop off the rear sub frame and torsion plates so they can all be painted the same.  Might motivate me to get some shit done in the garage with what's left of the year.  I'm likely going to start a first run batch of weird hardware pieces and hard to clean parts like the fan shroud, oil breather stand, accelerator pedal bracket, some steering boxes, etc.  I think that if I can get some of this stuff cleaned and ready to be assembled that I can get some momentum going.

I've got to check on the progress of the body work...I think that'll get dipped too.  When it comes out, it'll either need more metal work or paint.  I'm hoping for the latter.