VW Bugtruck pickup

[markh]

Installed the motor for the first time. The seal will continue along the back edge of the bed to keep the heat away. Everything fit and went in as planned. After removing the tailgate and the rear support, the motor installed from the rear without jacking up the truck...super easy.



With the motor in, found the rear sat down a little more than desired so when the bed comes back off, the rear will get re-adjusted.

[markh]

Pulled the bed off and replaced the rear brakes lines and installed a new Bosch starter. When the body is pulled, I'll replace both front brake lines and the long brake line along the tunnel.

The top of the trans looks good but the underside still needs a good cleaning. The shocks are off and being painted. The compartment along the rear of the cab is not real straight but you'll never see it from the back, underside or from the top, so it works for what it is, just access for the pan bolts and a place to put a speaker box in later.
A rear shot with the motor mounted:





What the garage looks like with dust and parts everywhere.


Will be working on the rear cab filler and getting the top rails of the bedsides a little more straight. They have a couple dips in them that really show up but will be easy to correct.

[markh]

Back on Aug 5th I worked on roughing in the shape of the inside cab corner radius. Spent the last couple of nights doing some filler work to smooth them out. shaped in the filler...



Shot a coat of primer over it and I think they look just fine. When it's all set up, I'll sand down the primer and it should look even better.



Got the tops of the bed rails straightened out by making a relief cut on the underside of the top rolled edge of the rail and jumping on it a couple of times..I know real high tech, but it worked!

Many hours still to go on the bodywork. It's amazing what you'll discover when you start re-working a fender or body panel that has been worked over before. Found old filler, dents, wrinkles and creases that I never noticed when it was a solid color.

[markh]

Been busy on bodywork. The focus has been on the top of the cab and roof mostly but started in on the bed and the front end. The front apron was damaged at some point. Not severe but enough to create even more work.
The roof is getting close, just a couple of high spots to hammer out but I think I nailed the shape. The top rain gutter will need straightened out but that should be an easy fix.



Still have the lower section of the cab by the boxed area but not too much time will be spent down that low since the bed will cover most of the area. The lower cab corners still need some shaping but they too are getting one step closer.


Still more work to go on the front end....more than I wanted!

[markh]

Between rain showers, finally got a chance to roll it outside in the light for some overall shots. Also got a chance to sweep out all the filler dust and get a look at the tire locations within the rear fenders.


These next photos are shocking for comparison reasons. Against our full-size Ford, the bug truck looks like a mini!





Yep, more bodywork to go!

[markh]

Finally figured out how to mount my rear bumper. It's off a late 40's Chev pickup I grabbed from VR member Mundo. Used the original bug brackets, drilled 4 new holes through the blade, only to find it was 16" wider. So cut off 8" off each side.



Welded the bumper bolts to the blade, ground off the button heads and, this is where it ended up. Still have the old bumper bolt holes to weld up.



Fits much better than my earlier version I tried with the bug bumper blade. Also welded up the bumper brackets as they look like they are in two parts. After a pass with the grinder, they should look like a solid 1 piece bracket.



The rear apron filler is off but once it's done and mounted, I think it will look real clean in the rear.

Yep, still working on the bodywork. Fenders are looking better but there are still several high and low areas that need work. Once again, pull the bed back off and finish out the bedsides and the fenders, tailgate, rear of the cab, and so on and so on and on.....

[markh]

In order to keep the rear fenders in line and from flexing due to the new width, I've been trying to figure out a simple bracing from the outer edge of the fender to the bed. Plug welded these simple brackets on and then run thread stock there to the bedsides.


The steering box access cover was notched out to clear the steering box due to the narrowed beam. A simple bump out was needed.



Cleaned up the inner fenderwells and removed all the old undercoating. The front apron was far from perfect and needed some serious beating.Without fenders, the truck looks worse, but it's getting close to paint time.

[markh]

With measurements in hand and 30 degrees outside, headed out to find seats for the truck. Thanks to a totalled 98 Mazda 626, I now have tan leather buckets.A few nips and a tuck here and there, they sit right where I want them! The rear mounts will bolt through the pan. the front will require a riser from the original seat tracks. Something still needing done.



Six way power driver seat. Works really well!


Also scored the seat belts and all the plastic pieces to cover around the belt mechanisms if I go that direction.


Cleaned up the speedo as it was just too cold to go out and work in the garage. Now the odometer reads "Zero." Still need to cut up some folder tabs to put the green and red colors in for the bulb.


Should be able to get all the mounts done for the seats and get to more bodywork tomorrow.

[markh]

Countless hours on bodywork. No idea how much time has been spent on working out areas that I otherwise thought were "straight."
Rolled it out of the garage so to sweep out all the dust. Threw on one of the running boards to see where the rear would attach to the fender. The rear width of the running boards is really off. It needs to be straightened out some...no idea what to do there just yet.

The running board width is really noticeable in this photo:


Finished the inside fender wells and they are ready for paint.



The roof has really been kicking my a$$. Other than one last spot needing a touch of filler on the rear driver side, I think it's done...finally



Hope to have some color on it before the end of Jan...fingers crossed.

[markh]

Last couple weeks, the bodywork is getting the better of me. The driver side front fender was really bad so I scouted out a new one and proceeded tp fill the turn signal hole (again), worked out a couple minor dings and prime it. Looks just the same but better. Also, went to work on my front bumper but it has a slight twist, so I'm in the market for a replacement euroblade bumper.

Other than that, been working on the bed panels, seam sealer, tailgate, bumpers (as they are going to be painted to match) and some added bracing...NO paint...Just more welding, grinding, filling and primer crap!

Also cut in a door in the "floor" pan section of the bed, just above the clutch cable so adjusting any clutch play will be done from above. No photo of it.

This coming week, the goal is to finish blocking EVERYTHING and getting the underside of the bed pan, inner fenderwells and undersides of the fenders in paint. By painting the undersides of things, will make my painters job much easier. Goal is to still have color before the end of month. Crap load of work to go!

[markh]

It's painted!

The painter put a black sealer down and topped it with 4 coats of Go-man-go tangerine.

A very translucent paint that I've yet to see in the daylight but I'm loving the color. There's a heavy amount of copper, gold and a touch of pearl to give it a color shift

Enough chatting....

Here's a few photos after about 5-hours of carefully moving about the garage around an assortment of parts.






Ok, on with the photos:






No need to cut and buff this one!


Those are tri-bar headlights with built-in indicators and H4 halogens. Have the hood propped up a little to give everything to harden. He put the paint on all day Saturday so it's VERY fresh.


Needless to say, I'm very pleased with the paint job!

[markh]

Working on assembly. This is SO much fun, probably the best part of a project is putting it back together. Very rewarding.

Ran the wiring loom and started in with the new seals & grommets... (yes, I did some faux carbon fiber painting on the gas tank.) Not sure if it will stay, still need to pull it out for the work needed on the beam details, brakes and wiring. It may just get painted back to black, but have not decided.



Some dash assembly..(still need to clean up the turn signal lever.)


Outside chrome strips, door handles and more seals...


A lot of fun stuff to go.

[markh]

A break in the clouds...



I noticed the driver door needs a slight alignment to bring the bottom edge in. Must have "moved??" during painting? Should be easy too correct.


The front bumper in the photo above is an old one. Found and installed a Euro style front blade, a 67 only hood chrome strip and better headlight chrome rings. Also got the headlights and built-in turn signals working!



The front fender beading is done. The rear engine seal is in. Still need to pull the bed off and run the rear wiring harness and install some rubber pads for the mounting points for the bed. Throw the motor back in and finish assembly, brakes and wiring.


Was working on the templates for the glass last night and the front windshield (I wasn't 100% sure) has a very slight curve to it. Need to do some research if I can get flat glass to fit. Uh oh...anyone chopped a '67 and worked out the front glass issue?

[markh]

After much reading and learning, made an attempt at cutting down windhsield #1 myself. Used a wet saw with a diamond blade, and...surprisingly, it worked very well until I nicked the glass edge and cracked it. So, bought windshield #2. Took it, along with the other glass templates to a professional. It's hard to find someone "affordable" and willing to cut this thing. Had a quote from a guy for $400!!!! Just to cut my glass!! Plus another $300 to cut and temper the door glass!

Will report if there is a windshield #3 in the future.

Anyway, routed all the wiring. Everything seems to be working so far. Hi & low beams, turn, dash lights, and horn! The gas tank will need to be raised an inch for tie-rod clearance, so I will be making an aluminum frame to raise it.

Hung one of my tail lights, but had to pull the bed back off to finish up a few things there, wiring, brakes, etc.



Installed a new front bumper, the hood chrome strip and new headlight rings.


Last weekend, my dad came up to give me a hand with the brakes. Found both bleeder valves on the rear wheels were broke off. Tried to pull the driver side rear drum and no luck getting the stupid axle nut off, so that is on hold until next week (Mundo, bring your torque banger ratchet tool when you come over).
Pulled the passenger side drum easily; found the wrong pads which were virtually gone and the drums need turning, so a complete rear brake job is inline and possibly a new set of drums.

Also been getting ready to install the headliner but first glued up some sound deadning. Just got started ,there is alot of padding to glue up before I'm ready to tackle the headliner.





The wire wrapped around the rear view mirror is for the dome light door switch ground. The Chev dome light uses a "+" wire and is actuated by the switch at the light so the ground wire will do something else...possible a map light or vanity light for the sun visors?


Hope to get the bed mounted for the final time this weekend, install the motor and get it wired up. Finish plumbing the fuel system, install the door glass rubbers and hopefully the headliner and new windshield.

[markh]

Welded in the front mounting brakets for the seats and started to lay out the oatmeal carpet kit to get an idea of the color combos. Dropped in my SCAT quick shifter. E-brake lever was cracked, so pulled it and welded that up and it works like it's suppose to. Picked up some new sun visors and interior dome light so trying to get them to fit.



Goal before the end of week....FIRE IT UP!! Alignment, headliner installed, re-build the rear brakes and get them operatable and hopefully DRIVE IT for the first time. That's all...

[markh]

Wll didn't get everything done on my to-do list for the week. Brakes will come next week. But I did hear it run for the first time thanks to Mundo and all his motor know-how. THANKS Mundo! With a little tuning of the carb, re-routing the throtte cable tube, she'll be ready to go. Did get all the taillights working properly and the wires routed so the electrical is done aside from wiring the dome light.

Started the headliner but was distracted by the door panels. Sure, could have bought some, but thought I would make a go at it with some tan vinyl to match the seats.
Started with a basic template and made an insert and wrapped the rest with 1/8" foam. Trimmed a little, a little glue...


Glued down the rest of the material.




Wrapped the insert and BOOM! insta-door panel!


Ok...the door panels took me three days. Ok, this one took three days. I'm only half done with the otherside. Hey, I'm not an interior guy so this was a learning experience. I'm pleased with the end results though.

Also built a box for behind the seat to hide the battery, access the VIN and shifter coupler. The driver side will be a home for a future speaker or whatever?


The box will also get wrapped in the same vinyl as the door panels. You can see that the headliner. Just got tired of trying to figure it all out.

[markh]

Still finishing the rear cab area interior before I can throw in the rear window, but it's ready to go.. Look the bed is actually being used! Also need to finish all the bed wood aluminum trim and hardware.



Installed the tailgate and started working on the rear engine cooling tin. Don't ask me why I waited until now to do it, but it's finally getting done.


The top metal over the old blue tin will get welded, filled and painted. A seal will go around the inside of the bed to close off the compartment.



No worries on the cooling. The soft tonneau cover will be held on by Velcro strips along a frame I built earlier. When driving, the cover will be pulled back away from the top of the motor. Still working that out. Heading back out to the garage to get some more stuff done. Should be a productive weekend. More to come.

[markh]

Spent the weekend re-indexing the rear ride height. After pulling it apart twice, reached what I thought would be a good height but still need to go down one outer spline. Not a hard job, just a pain. Didn't get a photo of it outside at the new height, but it gives it more of a rake than I want.

Also installed the rear valance and rear bumper. Not as cool as Brian's truck roll pan with all the foresight, but it works for what it is.



The tailgate is not going to win any awards for being perfect, because it's as good as it's going to get. For a 60 year old piece of metal...it's fine.


Need to get the rear of the cab interior done so I can get the seats back in. That's the plan for this week...more interior.

[markh]

Need to throw in the rear window still.


That's done. Took about 3 minutes.





Next weekend the brakes will get done. THEN I will drive it for the first time. I did back it up into the garage under it's own power...so reverse works. Now it's more waiting until next weekend. Running out of things to do....finally.

[markh]

Brakes are finally done after all new wheel cylinders, pads and stainless lines to the rear. Still have front alignment, tighten up steering and re-install gas tank before it sees the road.

Been working on the tonneau cover and finishing the bed.

A sheet of Birch stained walnut with aluminium strips and s.s. screws.

Then to the tonneau cover itself. Made two panels, the front secured to frame, the rear is removeable for driving. The rear panel is stored in the bed when not in use.

Wrapped the front panel and that's done!

Will spend some time on the front alignment and getting everything tightened down for the next sunny day. Two more weeks to the Portland Roadster Show, I think it will be ready!

[markh]

Well, it seems I have maxed the bandwidth useage with photobucket. According to them the photos are viewed too many time per month. If I'm reading what Photobucket is saying, everything should reset on Wed, April 1st. Hopefully or I'll be looking at their Pro account. This sucks.

[markh]

Coming down to the wire. Four days until the show and still buttoning up loose ends.

Couldn't find a glove box chrome strip for a '67 so I made one out of the body chrome.

Finished installing the door panels, adjusting door glass and regulators, scrapers, the fender beading, installing all of the fender bolts, and the support bars for the lower edges of the rear fenders. They keep the fender from vibrating and allowed some inward and outward adjustment to align the fenders with the tires.

Only problem I ran in to (this is pre-road teting so keep this statement in mind) was in the adjusting of the passenger rear fender back edge had to be drawn in. Sounds simple enough..shorten the adjuster length. Well...

When I shortened the support rod (which is just a piece of threaded stock) it sucked in a "dent" on the outside of the fender at the mount. A day or so later I got to looking at it and realized I over adjusted. Relaxed the support and the dent mostly came out. Kind of sucks but what dent remains is hardly noticeable...no photo of that. It was "too dark" in the garage.


Was having a problem with the carb idle and thanks to 58lowlight, he sent me two. One of which I was able to clean up and throw a re-build kit in and she fired up and purred. Not to mention idles like it's suppose to.
To complete before the show:
-Finish the fender beading along the front edge of the fenders/running board area.
-install a diode or separate turn indicator bulbs in the dash to slow down the turn signal rate.
-Source a '47-54 Chev dome light lens and cover. (missed the biggest swap meet in Portland this weekend due to a bad alternator in the wife's truck.)
-Re-install the rear bumper grommets in the rear valance.
-Clean it.
-Buff it.
-Drive it!

Most of the items on the to-do list can wait other than cleaning it real good. What I'm looking forward to even more is getting it onthe road outside of the neighborhood.
Will post photos from the show next week!

[markh]

Well, we made it to the show. My lovely wife assisted with the unloading and check in. She was very excited and I was feeling good until we pulled in between all the trailer queen trailers that are probably worth twice what I have vested in the truck!


Managed to get it unloaded (only with slight incident) as the pass front fender just grazed the end of the side rail of the trailer while backing off. My wife was helping align the front wheel but forgot about the fender...
Anyway, got in line with all the others:


and passed inspection.


Then today, took the family and my parents to the show. It was a lot of fun. Even my teenage daughters seemed to enjoy seeing the bugtruck at such a fancy show. They bought shirts! (no the big ol burley guys are not my daughters)



But the best part of being there as a spectator, was watching all the people congregate around it, scratchin' their arses, making assumptions and trying to figure out what the h*ll!?!?! The little kids loved it because it was a Herbie truck!

I didn't do a fancy display board, just lifted the tonneau cover a little and rolled down a window.



Not knowing what to expect at the show, I did not enter it for the isca judging, only as an exhibitor. Everyone was telling me I should have, but my nerves were already on end from seeing all the other 300 show class cars surrounding it. Sunday's the last day and I'm going back to watch more spectator reactions, load it up and bring it home. I have a few last little tweeks to make before the first bug-in which I intend to drive it to that show. But right now, I'm happy.

[markh]

Post Roadster show, there were a few things still needing attendance before I was comfortable driving it any distance.

Went completely through the front end and made sure everything was tight and road ready. Found a couple loose bolts and that I stripped the threads on a tie-rod end. Pulled it off, replaced and re-aligned. Turned up the adjusters on the beam a little while I was down there as it settled a little too much with a tank full of gas.

Also needed to work out my turn signal indicator lights and found some 1/2" green indicator bulbs at Radio shack. Mounted them behind the speaker grill and now I have dash indicator lights right and left.


I tried an in-line diode to the stock bulb indicator but kept getting feedback or brake light override so this seems to work well.





Works great...the horn button, not the radio. Still searching for a good head unit.

Then this past sunday, it was a nice day so figured it was time to get it on the road and see what would happen. Put a good 25 miles on it driving around town. Only got it up to about 50 a few times but she wanted to go faster! (the other 3 came from driving it around the block a few times). It was a lot of fun. Plenty of thumbs up.





Happy to report, it drove straight down the road and nothing fell off! No rattles, rubs or vibrations and plenty of travel in the front beam. The only sound was on really hard bumps when the drag link would bump the bottom of the gas tank. I'll need to add another 1/2" or so to the tank frame for clearance but that's an easy fix.

Other than that, Mundo is coming over to double check the valves, timing and carb to work out a slight hesitation.

Looking forward to driving it to the next bug-in. Really looking forward to getting it out on the freeway to see what she'll do.

[markh]

Had a great time at this year's Woodburn Bug-in. Met a couple VR members and one crazy cat. Catbox. Well just before the show, I sent the truck out to get the front fender damage repaired. While the detailer had it, he cut and buffed out the paint. I originally didn't think it needed it but it sure looks mucho better!



A day before the bug-in, in a panic, I called Mundo to help me reset my carb and timing....'cause I screwed it up real good. He walked me through it and bingo, ran like a champ. good enough to drive it down to Woodburn. Stopped just north of Woodburn and met up with some other air-coolers to drive the rest of the way. Thanks to Catbox, he snapped some really good photos.



And at the show....




And the notorious catbox himself 'wedged' in the truck!


And another good photo curteousy of Catbox...
No, I'm not the guy with the open shirt and jug o' Dew, I'm the guy sporting one of the new VR green shirts in the background.



The truck won 1st Place in Type 1 Customs. To my surprise, also walked away with the Volksters Club Choice Award! (I think Catbox had something to do with rigging it?) Anyway, it was a really great experience to receive the recognition. I'm flattered. Had a great time driving it and meeting all the cool people over the weekend.

Now I think it's time to preview what's coming next!