I have had my car back from the bodyshop for two weeks. I know I should be enjoying the process and tinker away for the next few years. This way I may never be bored again!
But no! I’ve been imagining the build for almost a year. I want to push as hard as possible. I want to do at least one item per day. As the list is pretty clear in my head, but not written down anywhere, it is effectively a mad scramble without any obvious bearing at the moment. So therefore, in no particular order of priority or relevance or sense, the list of things done so far is as follows:
- Temporarily put on the new wheels and chucked out the old dummy ones. The old ones had spacers and 5 to 4 stud adapters. Whoever had put them on, had no concept of mechanic sympathy or torque values. It was several sweaty hours and some regrettable blasphemy to get them off.
- Fitted and aligned the engine lid
- Fitted the engine lid grill. Necessitated taping a nut to a screwdriver to get it onto the bolts. Joy.
- Fabricated fuel tank mounts and a new firewall. I had to demolish the old one. I don’t want to share why this became necessary…
- Aligned bonnet with reference to gaps and centre fill tank. Rediscovered the value of a fulcrum to get the top edge to sit.
- Fitted the doors. Not a one man job. Much pulling of hair, sweating, swearing and further regrettable blasphemy.
- Decided the pan looks terrible after spending months at the bodyshop. A few rust spots received deoxydene and then I painted the exposed areas with a rattle can. Before ye judge, most of it is ending up below carpet and in anycase, in High Heat Black I trust
- Removed pedal assembly
- Attached instrument cluster eyelid. Love it!
- Fitted the pull cables to the doors. This is basically 5mm steel wire rope covered in PVC, attached to the stock beetle door mechanism and one of the door hinge bolts. It is ridiculous how easy this was and how pleased I am how it came out. I was going to cover the cable in leather, but I think it matches the rest of the car better if left raw.
- Glued in the diamond pattern door panels with contact adhesive into the door recesses. My hands still covered in glue, but I’m happy and relieved! It’s done and looks exactly like I hoped.
- Secured fuel tank with stainless steel straps.
- Fastened the upside down dog bowl onto tank.
- Sat on loose seats and made engine noises. Brrrrm brrrrm.
So far so good. Just about managing an item per day. I may be doing the quick, easy items first though. Expecting things to escalate!
