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October 2007
I haven't updated the site in a
while; I decided to concentrate on the car instead of the
website! My main aim this year has been to get the car painted
before the winter. Before this could begin I had to carry out
all operations that involved drilling or fitting parts to the
body. These included:-
-
Having a pair of
roll hoops
made by a local company
Morgan Bros.
and adding brackets etc to fix them to the
chassis/frame. They were then chrome plated by Derby
Chrome Plating; fantastic job but what a price!
-
I didn't like the look of the
rear number plate lights I had seen on most spyders so I
decided to make my own from a 1963-1967 beetle unit I
purchased on ebay; have a look how I did it
here.
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I also made a rear
clamshell release lever
from aluminium and trial fitted the catches and striker
plates.
-
I don't like the look of all
that raw glass fibre in the cockpit and the under dash
area needs to be covered in for the SVA test so I used
the old aluminium floor to make
panels to cover these areas.
-
I decided to swap the
ring gear
in the transaxle myself but I
wasn't happy with the 'feel' of the finished result so I
sent it to VW transmission specialist COGBOX who
adjusted the backlash for me.
-
I drilled all the holes for
the lights and badges etc.
-
Finally I have almost
finished my paintwork which
has taken me from the beginning of June until October. I
have no finger prints and my garage is covered in a
thick layer of white dust!
'Summer' 2006
I have managed to get quite a lot
done over the Summer:-
-
fitted the
front suspension and
steering rack
-
fitted the rear
de-dion axle
together with trailing arms, panhard rod and rear drums.
-
fitted the
steering column,
incorporating a second universal joint in order to comply
with SVA requirements.
-
cut holes in the dash to house
the instruments and warning lights. I have made a steel
plate that will sit in front of the dash; this will be
painted in silver 'hammerite' as the original.
-
made a
cover to protect the
steering column where it passes through the front luggage
compartment.
-
fitted the fuse box.
-
fabricated
catches for the front
luggage compartment lid.
-
mocked up a fuel tank in
chipboard so that I could get one made by
NOR-MAL
FABRICATIONS. This included locating the filler cap in
the correct position and cutting the aperture in the luggage
compartment lid.
-
fitted the door
catches and
striker plates.
-
glassed in a pair of 50mm
diameter brake cooling ducts from the front air intakes to
the front wheel arches.
-
the engine has been stripped
down. Unfortunately although it seemed in good condition the
centre main crankshaft bearing has been 'pounded' into the
magnesium alloy case. This occurs because of over revving
and can result in loss of oil pressure due to excessive
clearance on this bearing.
-
made solid
aluminium knobs for
the dashboard pull switches and a solid aluminium
gearshift
knob.
April 2006
Fitted the front lights. My Spyder
now has eyes! I used Tungsten Carbide grit edged jigsaw blades
which cut cleanly without chipping the edges of the gel coat.
March 2006
Finally fitted the windscreen. I had
to make an aluminium strip that is bolted to the body and holds
the lower seal in place (I don't like using pop rivets so I made
some 'low profile' bolts from s/steel button headed bolts with
the heads ground down) . I also made some spreader plates to
make sure that I didn't put any undue stress on the fibreglass;
these were bonded internally using 'chemical metal'.
My screen came without the central tension rod so I had to
fabricate one.
I purchased a pair of 'COBRA CUB'
seats in red. Disaster! they were too wide and didn't fit. As
they were special order and could not be returned I had two
options; sell them on (at a loss probably) or try to alter
them. I stripped them down partially and cut and re-welded the
side frame members. It took a lot of work but they do now fit.
Here is
photograph of them
trial fitted.
February 2006
Drilled the holes for the wiper motor
and then tried fitting it but it wouldn't fit! The motor fouls
the bulkhead. I ended up making a
special bracket that allowed
me to move the motor to the other side.
I decided that the aluminium floor
pan was going to be too thin to pass the SVA test so I bought a
piece of 3mm thick sheet and cut this out using the original one
as a template.
January 2006
I seem to be spending a lot of time
cleaning up donor parts and refurbishing them but the car isn't
'growing'. Hopefully things should start coming together soon.
December 2005
I started cleaning up and inspecting
all the donor parts.
November 2005
I hired a car trailer again and took
my wife away for a 'romantic weekend' to collect the kit from
Martin & Walker who are based at Thruxton Industrial Estate;
next to Thruxton Racing Circuit near Andover.
The kit comes mounted on the chassis
with doors, boot and bonnet hung. Barrie Martin helped us load
it onto the car trailer. The pallet that it was resting on came
in useful!
I finished off stripping down the
donor vehicle and my other Neighbour Kevin had his scrap man
friend take the shell away.
September 2005
After searching around for a while I
managed to find a VW Beetle 1302s donor via a contact on the
VZi forums. They are
quite sought after for their rear independent suspension setup,
taller ratio gearbox (better for cruising!) and 1600cc engine. I
enlisted the help of my neighbour Mark who travelled down to
South Lincs. with car trailer in tow to collect a 'stalled'
project. When I got back I had to start stripping the car down
as there were certain items that I would need to take to Martin
& Walker for modification:-
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