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My '59 Beetle Xmas Pressie Part II

82K views 263 replies 33 participants last post by  psimitar 
#1 ·
So a recap of where I'd got too before reaching 500+ posts on my original thread.

Where she began in a farmers field in Victoria, Oz.



How she sits now in me driveway.

 
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#58 · (Edited)
Been a slow week of fixing the Beetle but have managed to weld up the oversized valve holes in the wide 5 steels and re-drilled ready for modern size valves. No pics of that as forgot and not all that amazing.

However I have finished repairing the semi-W decklid :)







Nice solid metal again plus by using my blowtorch method to pre-heat the metal I got good plug weld penetration using 6mm holes in the hinges. :)

Gotta make up some steering stops due to tyre rub at full lock, and that's a no no in Oz. So one welded to the framehead and the other to the beam upright by the steer box.

Just trying to get some steel organised for the shortened subaru sump and reckon I may make me own running boards as I can't be arsed phoning around the Oz VW shops to see if they sell quality ones and not cheap mexican ones. Then the welding gas can be returned :)
 
#59 ·
Shortened Subaru sump

So one of last big jobs b4 the gas bottle is returned is shortening the sump on the EJ22 motor.

Here's the first stage of welding tube over the bolt holes. Bit of a different approach as pushing the outer skin to the edge of the sump gives 1/2litre of volume so the wings don't have to be so big and the sump can be shallower.





And a new meaning to the term 'tinworm' :D


Thanks to an Aussie VW member I don't need to make steering stops now as longer bolts in the front backplate hole will act as a stop on the LP steering knuckle. :D
 
#61 ·
So a few updates of the shortened sump.

Sizing up the pick up pipe for shortening



Baffle plate welded in



And the pick up pipe and support bracket shortened and welded up



Woulda got the bottom plate done this weekend too but in-laws interrupted me both days to help around the house :(

Oh well, hopefully get it done tomoro :)
 
#62 ·
Finished the EJ sump :)

Got the sump finished for the EJ22. Do wish I had a TIG welder tho as the MIG has a habit of leaving a few pinhead holes here and there even tho the welds look complete. So bit tricky plugging them up. Seems to be watertight now tho :)



Next is to make up some running boards. Just trying to find out the width of the rear of a running board on the tech forum as my rear wings aren't identical in dimensions here and need this dimension to also panel beat the rear wings into the correct shape ;)
 
#63 ·
Making some sunvisors

So after the dosy gardener threw a few things out whilst I was overseas I'm now making new sunvisors in the fashion they were originally made back in the early 60's.

So make up some cardboard templates of how I want them to look. Closely fitted to the rear view mirror to minimise sun creeping past


Then make up a hardwood former of the main curve of the visors.


Then bend some 6mm steel rod around the former plus some varying diameter bars for the tighter curves and hey presto


Gonna weld a plate into the passenger side so I can stick a mirror in there. Modern touches to an old car :)

Also started on the DIY running boards and bending the outside edge 180degrees back on itself worked out quite well :)

Me Birthday tomoro and then away for rest of week so more next week ;)
 
#64 ·
The beginnings of DIY Running Boards

So after the stupid gardener threw my orig Running Boards out as trash, he's fired now :), and the fact that repro ones are either shite quality and expensive or bloody expensive over here I decided to have a bash at making them myself.

So far I have got as far as Folding the outer edge back on itself ready for the outer curve to be bent into it.

Bending a 10mm lip over to 90 degrees


Flattening it back on itself


Just need to glue and screw the clamping wood strip to the hardwood curved strip ready for some radius bending :D
 
#68 ·
So I found a way :D

Had to drill thru the steel to be able to properly clamp the sheet for bending but it worked a treat and a bit of plug welding ain't hard :)



This is the hardwood former I used and glued n screwed it to an additional piece of wood for a flat area to clamp too.



And this is how it looks after laying all the measurements on it



Oh, and here is my Birthday present



It's a Devilbiss Professional HVLP spray gun kit. Even with postage from USA it was a third the price of what I could buy it over here :D
Now I just need an industrial compressor for the 13CFM required cos Oz doesn't like supplying DIYers with reasonably priced specialty gear :(
 
#72 · (Edited)
Dude they're spot on!! How did you bend them?

If you look on the previous page you can see the wooden former I used to bend the metal over. It was a piece of 25mm radius hardwood for interior dado rails or something. Then by clamping the steel between this and another piece of wood I then just used the flat end of a lump hammer to slowly hammer/bend the steel over the former. I also placed the other long edge of the steel against the raised edge of a concrete patio so it didn't shift everytime I whacked it. The 90 degree bends were done using some square shouldered wood. Ends were just traced from a template and pie cut b4 bending in sections.

I tried welding at last. Mixed results and lots of FAIL but managing to fab some new seat bases slowly.

Do make sure your welds have good penetration as seat frames are crucial safety items and so you don't want the welds breaking in the case of an accident :)
:D
 
#73 ·
Uh I toptally missed those pics on the last page sorry! Great job though they really look good.

Yeah I'm being very careful about the welds on the seat bases don't worry. I just meant I had to keep starting over as some were just not penetrating at all! Can't figure out why as this is the same metal I was using the other day which worked really well! It was clean and cut right back with a grinder!
 
#74 ·
Uh I toptally missed those pics on the last page sorry! Great job though they really look good.

Yeah I'm being very careful about the welds on the seat bases don't worry. I just meant I had to keep starting over as some were just not penetrating at all! Can't figure out why as this is the same metal I was using the other day which worked really well! It was clean and cut right back with a grinder!
if the underside of the metal is rusty/painted/dirty then it won't weld properly. If that's not the case then the weather in the UK lately may also effect things as the metal is so cold. Try heating the weld area with a blowtorch before you start welding and see if that helps as after all welding is just melting two pieces of metal together and why you get blow thru due to too much heat in the metal. The opposite means lack of penetration :)
 
#75 ·
Yeah I was starting to wonder if the weather was so cold it was stuffing the welds. The surfaces are gleaming clean. No rust and cut right back with a dremmel to bare metal. I'll give the hetaing a go I remember you saying about that just didn't the blowy with me.
 
#76 ·
First HD DIY Running Board finished

Chontay - Hope the heating method helps you :)

As for me I managed to get the passengers running board finished off today :D

So made up some C channel strengtheners for the board


And how they look plug welded in


Closer view of the strengtheners


didn't get a photo of the holes for clamping the former all welded up and ground back.

Best get on with the drivers one then :)
 
#77 · (Edited)
DIY Running Boards finished :)

So got the drivers running board finished yesterday. Both fit well and here's a pic of them all done




And just to think that these only cost me $17 in metal, few bucks in welding wire n gas and 12 hrs of my time including making formers and templates. Made from 0.9mm hot rolled galv bond so should last a fair while after some KBS paint too.

Just need some rubber mats from Wolfburg now to finsh em off and the postage will be more than the fricking mats :eek::rolleyes:
 
#78 ·
They look great dude. That's what I love about learning to weld is all the stuff you can do on the car nice and cheap (that's not to say on the cheap or crap). Turns out it was the weather here being so damn cold that stopped my welds taking the other week. Now it's slightly above freezing we're sailing ahead! Look forward to seeing these runners finished.
 
#79 ·
Well will be a while b4 I get hold of the WW rubber mats but I'll just KBS paint em black for double rust protection with the galv and pop em on as is for the MOT/RWC :)

Glad it was a heating issue. I remember many moons ago trying to solder my stereo install at xmas and it was so cold that the solder wouldn't melt properly and I had to leave it a few days till it warmed up outside. I burnt my finger on the solder iron and didn't realise until a few hrs later indoors once I'd wormed up.
 
#81 ·
Sorry for no updates lately. I have been doing stuff but cleaning and painting the wheels ain't that photo worthy.

However, got a new speedo to play with for some electronic gadgets for the subaru engine and quick photoshop of changing the dial colour to Lace, darker than Ivory, Who likes?





Should have the wheels back on next week maybe. Gotta let outer rim dry before masking up for inner area.

Still should now paint the running board mounting panels ready for the wings n boards :)
 
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