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56 Sort out

140K views 886 replies 58 participants last post by  JSL  
#1 ·
Ive been driving around in my 56 Ragtop for a good few years now.

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Over the years the engine died, so I replaced it with one from a bush down the end of the garden, just so that it would make it to BugJam and back. 3 years later, 3 BugJams, 3 Big Bangs, 2 Actions and 2 European Bug-ins later its still plodding along although burning some oil and leaving its mark where ever I park it. So Ive decided to build it a fresh 1200cc motor using all the tricks from the 'HOT 1200' thread on these pages. Ive been collecting parts and pretty much have everything I need to build her an nice new motor. While waiting for all this to happen and whilst my other car is being worked on down at Defcon3 I decided to sort out a few other bits and bobs on the car.

1) Replace the rag top
2) Freshen up the front suspension
3) Freshen up the rear (Suspension & gearbox)
4) Build and install new 1200cc motor
 
#2 ·
looks like a cool car, glad you had good luck with the spare engine! when my bugs engine died i had to put in a spare engine id never seen run shortly before heading off for 2500 miles round europe. it was 100% reliable the entire way!

looking forward to the engine build and be sure to stick up lots of photos
 
#3 ·
First up was the ragtop replacement.

As the inner headliner is original and tea stained I didnt want to disturb it. I spoke to a few companies about getting the outer skin replace (as it was too brittle to use anymore) I got back a quote of ÂŁ1000 with included a full headliner replacement! Not want I wanted on this car as it would look odd with a shiny new headliner. Or ÂŁ400 for just the outer but they couldnt guarantee that they would be able to save the headliner. So I decided to take the matter into my own hands and bought a second had outer skin off Andy54 on here for ÂŁ45.
I was dreading the job as I thought if it goes wrong I have no roof!! But eventually I started!

Here is the condition of the original roof.

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#4 ·
So I set about trying to remove it...

First I opened it and unhooked it from the bows

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The I undid the front allowing it to fold back on itself

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Then I had to pop open the headliner to get to this bow (The ends of this were a bugger to get to!)

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Once that was undone the roof was free!! WAHOO!

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#6 ·
Once they were clean I trial fitted the roof. Looks good!

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I then cleaned up the mech's and runners! OOooh shiny :lol:

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Modified the new ragtop slightly

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And installed it all. There were a few snags relating to the position of the holes in the roof compared to where the bows were, but nothing a little snip from the scissors couldnt fix ;)

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Dont forget to pop the headliner backup :D

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Who would know?

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And there you have it! A BIG pat on the back for me and a new fully working (Smoother than ever) roof for ÂŁ45.
 
#7 · (Edited)
Next up..... The Front suspension.

When I bought the car it was low all round. And the previous owner had fitted a 1 1/2 narrowed beam. Looked nice! But I wanted to raise the back up a bit, which I did. The result was that the steering was a bit twitchy due to the change in the 'angle of the dangle'. So one thing Ive been meaning to do is fit some castor shims to sort out the twitchy steering.

After being on a roll from doing the roof late last week I decided to attack the front end.

I removed the wheels & front wings for easier access. Managed to disconnect everything I needed to ready to drop the front beam.

Turns out it was only being held on by 3 bolts AND it did have a castor shim, but only ONE! On ONE side! Oooops!

The top of that the narrowed beam towers had also split! :confused:

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Doh!! Good job I DID decide to check it all out!

Next I took the petrol tank out to have a good look at it all...

50+ years of Swedish underseal! Hehehe

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#8 ·
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YUCK! But it has saved the car!

So I posted on here to find out the best way to get rid of it all and people very VERY helpful!

Armed with a heatgun and some white spirit I went about cleaning it up!

From this.....

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To this.....

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And from this.....

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To this.....

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NICE!!!!
 
#9 ·
Look how much crud came off!!

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It doesnt look like much in the pics but I can assure you it was A LOT!!

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So that part is now all ready for a bit of surface rust TLC and a paint with some good protection ;-)

Next I decided to clean up the beam etc

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#10 ·
After a long time soaking and jet washing the front end bits they started looking a lot better! Still gunky but much better!

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I have to admit at this point I was flagging quite a bit and the novelty of 'degunking' bits had worn off!

SO I turned my attention to something else Ive been meaning to do...

Say hello to my shed!

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Ive had some shelving laying about for a while now and I know Im not using the space in the shed to it full potential. So I decided to have a crack at it.

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The end result is MUCH better :D

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Ive got places to put stuff!! ;)

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#12 ·
Last night I got a call to go help a mate with his project

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And today Ive just been degunking and cleaning up the front end again!

Once its all dry tomorrow I will take some pics.

Im going to get my welder back in the morning so that I can attack the front beam. Due to the cracks etc Im planning on replacing the shock towers with laser cut end plates which should hopefully be much stronger! And possibly narrow it a tad more. Plus I have a tiny patch to weld on the bulk head.

Thats all for now.

Cheers,

J
 
#18 ·
Hey Chap,

I used a heat gun and scraper to get the thick stuff off. And then gave it a good few wipes with white spirit to get the remaining gunk off. Lots of elbow grease basically! :lol:

Knackering but quite rewarding in the end.

Let me know how yours goes!

J
 
#25 ·
SWEEEEEEEEET ride man, loving it!
I've got a 56 sweedish too (zwitts mentioned me ealier ;))
yeah that underseal does an awesome job of protecting the body, i almost felt guilty scraping it all off.
You planning a body off resto of the floorpan? i was only gonna clean my inner arches etc up and ended up doing the full works, its so addictive :lol:

Just be careful when cleaning your steering box up, during the cleaning of mine the seals must have become slightly damaged and have started leaking, now i can't find any replacement seals :(

keep it up man, gonna look awesome for sure!!!!
 
#27 ·
Cheers dude!

Nope not going for a full resto just yet. Am doing that on my 54 see the link in my signature. Im just sorting this one out so I can continue to enjoy it for the moment. Its the best bug Ive ever owned!

Man we should start a UK Swedish 56 club! Hahaha! All park up next to each other at the shows! Hehehe

Yup, my steering box has started leaking since removing it! :rolleyes:

Fingers crossed I can fix it some how ;)

Thanks for the post matey!

56 SWEDS UNITE! :lol:

J

Have you got any pics of yours?
 
#28 ·
Thanks man!

Just waiting for some bits to arrive before I can continue progress, but everyones enthusiasm is really helping me wanna crack on!

Should be getting some gauges soon too! :D

Hopefully I'll update it very soon!

J
 
#29 ·
Not much to report today, waiting on parts so just faffed about.

I did receive some gauges that I ordered today though so had a think about them.

I had some nasty drill holes in my dash for some reason? Maybe for the Elberspatcher (spelling?) heater controls?

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Anyway Im not one to cut my dash but couldnt figure a better place for this gauge, plus the ugly drill holes were there already so I took a deep breath and popped this guy in.

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I think it sits quite well. But getting it to work is another thing! :lol:

Anyone here running a fuel gauge on an early car? What sender did you use? My tank is out so could weld something in place. Look forward to hearing from ya!

Cheers,

J
 
#32 ·
Updates!

Right! Ive never welded before, but decided to give it a go and repair a panel :crazy:

So! Here we have the rusty area

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Cut out the rusty bit

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Make up a panel to weld in

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Weld it in grind it flush then plug some holes :rolleyes:

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Was ok for my first time I think. Practice makes perfect!

Next I ground back all the surface rust...

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#33 ·
The body was all ready for its rust protection and paint! :)

But before I opened the tin I decided to take the surface rust off some of the suspension components

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The sprayed the 'Aqua clean' to degrease them

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And eventually the 'Rust blast' which leaves a zinc coating. Weird huh! :)

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But then it was time for paint!! Wahoo!

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#34 ·
The inner wings! Not pretty but least I know its protected!
Im planning on rubbing it back a little to key it up and then spray a colour match rattle can over it to make it look nicer.

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And that was about it for this weekend! Just waiting for that last coat of paint to dry.

Next up is tackling the front beam once the new end plates arrive :D

Cheers,

J
 
#35 ·
Also while Im here

Ive taken the tank out as Im gonna paint that and give it a clean.

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While its out I thought it would be a good idea to weld in a fuel gauge sender bracket for they cylindrical type senders that Prowagen sell.

PLUS some fittings for larger fuel lines (so that its future proof)

Can anyone point me in the right direction or tell me what to buy to weld in for better fuel flow.

Not sure if Im explaining this very well.... You know the AN style fittings that allow you to run a larger diameter fuel line.

I figured if I weld them all in now while its out and block them off, they are there ready for the future....

Cheers,

J