George’s Cars

There are 2 things on the rear axle i don’t understand, well i don’t understand what they do anyways.

Part number 1 in the pic, what does it do?

I was doing a little more work tonight. We got took the rear drums off the car. I had been dreading this job. I have heard so many horror stores about how tight the nuts are on but for me they popped easily enough then again i did borrow a inch drive T-bar and 36mm socket from my neighbour who happens to be a bus mechanic. If his stuff is good enough to do the nuts on the hubs of buses the little VW buggy should be no problem for them and it wasn’t.

I managed to strip the rear brakes and I need to buy new rear cylinders for the brakes, i was hoping to use the old ones but they need to be rebuilt and its just easier to buy new ones. I do have the brake backing plates to clean and reuse on both sides.

Next job was to try remove the rear bearings, there are many different ways to do this but all of them come with some words of warning. I managed to make a modification to a puller tool that removed the axle tube and bearing in one, now i can use a traditional bearing puller to remove the bearing from the axle tube. I didn’t get this far yet, I had a long day at work and I have another long day tomorrow so 21:00 was long enough to stay in the garage.

I got a little more done on the buggy today. It seems to be going slowly at the moment. I’m making progress but only a little at a time.

Today I got the rest of the gearbox taken apart, the bearings out of the axle tubes and got the axle tubes cleaned, primered and painted. I also cleaned the rear drums and got them painted too.

I also got the front hubs built and installed on the car. I was hoping to get the front wheels on but JuskBeetles sent me the wrong brake pads. I hate being so close but yet so far.

I also got my first real injury of the build today. I took a wire brush on an angle grinder to the back of my hand. It goes through rust and paint like a hot knife through butter so you can imagine what it did to the back of my hand!!!

I bought new wheels for the buggy. they are in the uk but i’ll be collecting them next month when i’m over there. Now all i need is the right adapters. Nothing that is good is easy!!

10×15 and 7×15 US mags c/w 275/60×15 and 195/60×15 tyres

Got the gearbox semi back together tonight. I ran out of time before I got it back in the car but its another step ahead.

A little more progress tonight. Dad and myself spent about 2 hours in the garage and got a few jobs done. We got the rear transaxle back in the chassis. Got the rear spring plates and bump stops back in. I didn’t set-up the rear suspension, i just guessed at it. I need to have the weight of the engine and body on the chassis before i’ll be able to set it up properly. The longest job was putting the rear hub oil seals back on the axle tubes. Typically the first one took about an hour to do, the second one took 10 mins. I always say it would be as easy build 2 as it would to build one. I have tried to convince the wife but she doesn’t see it my way!!!

The next few jobs, the steering box and track rods, the rear brakes assembled and the handbrake cables shortened and I’ll be able to drop her onto her wheels. Then the bodywork can begin.

Tonights photos, phone camera again, sorry!!

Well kinda. I managed to get a rolling chassis today and got her down on her wheels. I then did what most buggy builders do, i put the body on the chassis just to see what its like. Its a waste of time but i’m sure we all do it. Its nice to see a vision of the final car and i do mean vision because to everyone else its nothing but i can see the end product its just buried behind the blue blur!

So to get the rolling chassis today i had to sort out the track rod ends, the steering damper and the steering box.I also ran the cables but i didn’t get around to shortening them, being honest i could have done it but i need to think about it a little more first!!

We got the engine on the stand too. While I’m going to be getting on with the bodywork, the father is going to start rebuilding the engine, its not getting a full rebuild as i would like something more powerful down the road so this engine is being designed to get the buggy running and i’ll build another engine as the budget allows.

From the look of the clutch someone has put some TLC into the engine but we’ll see as it is stripped.

I also found a perfect mould for the rear light pods!

Honestly, i wasn’t drinking it when i came up with the idea!!!

The two options of seats i’m thinking about.

Last photo for now. Alma & Evin enjoying the buggy.

More time in the garage tonight and I started a new section. I should start putting in we here. This started off as my project but the more and more I get into it more my father is calling it “our project”. See Dad I’m happy to give you the credit you deserve!! Cathal was helped out tonight. The body was lifted on and off about 20 times to having an extra set of hands made the job much easier. He also bought my MR2 so I have a little more spending money for the buggy.

So tonight was all about getting the side pods to fit and it wasn’t a straight fit. First up I fitted them with the buggy upside down on the floor. Marked the sidepods using the body as a guide.

I used this to follow the line of the body to mark the sidepod.

It worked fairly well, you can see there is a nice channel for the edge of the pan to fit nicely.

I cut out channels to allow the whole lot slide on and off the body fine. BUT i had a problem, the side pods naturally went in over the chassis so I had to space them at the rear to get the look right.

I’m happy enough with the final look. Its held on by self tappers at the moment but they will be removed once its glassed.

Dad also started stripping the engine.

Well Dad stripped the engine today and we discovered that it is a 1300cc engine after all. We knew it was a 1300cc crank case but the PO said it may have been upgraded to 1600cc with new pistons and heads.

So i have two options, find a set of 1600cc pistons and heads and upgrade it myself or stick with the 1300cc for now and do the 1600cc at a later stage. Now naturally 1600cc would be nicer than 1300cc but the budget is starting to run thin and unless I can get a cheap 1600cc or pistons and heads from a 1600cc I might have to stick with the 1300cc for now.

Dad got a little work done on the engine today. He finished stripping it and started cleaning it.

I also found out the engine is a mexico one, not sure if this means anything.

This gives you an idea of how bad it was. Its not finished yet but its a great start.