Aircooled VW South Africa

Bit late but as not much has taken place we have little to report

Had a few supply problems with my steel supplier, sending the incorrect stuff, and having to send it back again and again.

Then having it powder coated to ready it for fitment.

Cleaned up the workshop ready to coat the deck timber and fit all the steel this week end.

Till then

Herman

Yes we have had time to do the wood this weekend.

Coated it with a deck sealer, but did not smooth the wood, in contrast we added some saw dust to make it ruff.

No need to slip and brake you back on the deck when wet.

Will be fitting into place when fully dry.

Metal strips also ready, can be seen to the left of MeFusco on the floor.





Hope to have it done by next week end.

Herman

Coming together very nicely!

Awesome looks fantastic cant wait to see the profile pics

Hmmm,....any plans for the unveiling ??can't really say he's beautiful,........he looks very MANLY!!

Haans

Thanks guys,

Can not wait to take that 1st trip.

Like a kid in a sweet shop......

Haans wrote: ↑Mon Mar 08, 2021 8:44 am Hmmm,....any plans for the unveiling ??can't really say he's beautiful,........he looks very MANLY!!

Haans

Yes it would probably be unwanted by means of Facebook spotters when he has to go to PE for upholstery fitment

Do not want to do unveiling half finished

Herman

Nice Herman, soon you will need to look for a new project.

Ran into a bit of a problem this week.

After having fitted all the brake pipes and having bled the brakes, we fitted the back wheels.

Would you know it, ... they were locked up, ....this could only be the hand brake we said,

but no, the hand brake was down. and the front wheel where running free. ????

Yes we fitted a Toyota proportional valve to the back wheels, could this be it. ???



Now as no port is marked we took it that the one at the top on its own would be the supply and the other two on the side would go to the back wheels.

BUT... NO

After googling for a few hours we finally had the info needed.

The two on the side with the top one being the MC supply the one below the Front wheels and the top one by it self is the Back wheels.

Have we tried it yet, ...No we have removed the valve from the back axle and fitted a 3 way split to connect the back wheels to the front supply pipe.

Now we will be fitting the valve up front as we do not want to run pipes up and down for no reason.

The load lever will be set at a set possession once we have tested all the different loads and best braking for these loads.

Then we started installing the wooden deck, but soon found out that although we all together only have two arms with hands in a single body,

we can not be under the truck and on top of the deck to hold the bolt on top and turn on the nylock nuts at the bottom at the same time.

So to hold the Allen bolt on top we have fixed an Allen key in the drill press vice and turned it upside down into the bolt, holding and applying wight at the same time.

What fun it works, .....so having tested a few bolts, we will do the rest this week.

So till then

Herman

Interesting process for tightening up the planks.
Have you considered using riv-nuts instead?

Tony Z wrote: ↑Mon Mar 15, 2021 3:59 am Have you considered using riv-nuts instead?

Yes I used to use then in the early days on building plants and factory's, but never found them to be 100% effective.

As a matter of fact still have a few sizes in bottles in the workshop.

Always had a few strip or go loose and had to be reworked.

Only time I found them helpfully was when I had a hydraulic crimp-er, but by hand tool not so much.

But thanks for the input.

Herman

I agree, they may not be a perfect solution, but it would definitely make your life a lot easier than what you are doing (alone) now. Plus, I doubt the wood will see much on the line of shear or tensile forces trying to tear out the riv-nuts.

I've definitely had bad luck with the smaller sizes, but M6 and M8 seems to work fairly well. Also, once you insert the bolt, it'll tighten up the riv-nut when you "torque" the bolt down.

Alas, have fun... looking forward to seeing the final product

So the system worker OK and got the deck done.

Was so enjoying it I decided to share the deck before final tail assembly to round it off.

That we will keep for the reveal.

So here goes ....






Thanks for looking

Herman

Very nicely done Herman!

Thanks Herbie,

So I have fitted the tail end to the deck on MeFusco,

This will be where the number plate will sit center,

with the number plate lights on either side and a Reverse /work Light to the right of those.

Its a bit of shaped Aluminum Fastrap with an filler section right at the back of black flashing.

Also became a nice little bench to sit and watch the world go by......

Still need to fit nuts onto the hard to get places on the deck, as its a two man job I will "invite" the kids here for a nice "lunch"

Fitted the Toyota proportionate valve up front next to the MC, and re routed the brake pipes.

Still have to bleed the air out again, but now the back wheel brakes work the way they should.

Probably make the bench , behind the seats, to cover the air brake equipment before upholstery time.

Will be a fold up so as to get into the needed parts and battery.

Still do not know what to do as far as the front bumper is concerned, noting I have tried so far works or looks like it belongs,

so fire away with some good ideas.......

Herman

So got the number plate lights and revers/load light working.

Also cleaned-up the MC area where the proportionate valve was fitted.

Got a few more impossible deck screws in but not all, they will have to wait for family "Lunch"

Will take a few photo's in the day time of the back end now we have it done.









Herman