As usual work has been pretty hectic, but I have still managed to grab a few hours working on the Ghia. I took delivery of the 911 fan that I had ordered from Sharpbuilt and placed an order for most of the remaining rubber trim that I need.
I also picked up some more parts from the chromers - I've had all of the trims from the door cappings polished, along with the roof gutter trim and some other parts. I also had the pedals and handbrake chromed as well. There are very few parts left now to get plated or polished, that said - I always seem to find more.
With the pedals back from the chromers I decided to finish painting the pan, there was only a small part under where the pedals are located that needed to be done, I decided to finish it off so that I could refit the pedal assembly.
I also dug out the Saco Hydraulic clutch kit that I have as well, with a view to finally getting it fitted up. I bought this kit as I am using a 911 clutch on a custom made flywheel - from what I have heard, the stock VW cable setup is simply not up to the job and the clutch is very heavy to operate.
The Saco kit comprises of a master cylinder that fits inside the front of the gear selector tunnel and is operated by the standard clutch pedal, and a slave cylinder that simply fits between the stock clutch release arm and clutch cable mounts on the gearbox. Also supplied is a fluid resorvoir and all associated hoses.
Fitting this kit on a type 3 is relatively straight forward as access can be gained to the gear selector tunnel via the inspection hatch at the front of the floor pan. Fitting it to a bug requires that you cut a hole in the tunnel as there is no inspection hatch on a bug.
I need to paint the front frame horns before I fit it all up, and also need to run some more pipework down the tunnel for the fuel and oil systems, this will hopefully be easier before the master cylinder has been mounted.
Lost Parts
The replacement syncromesh spindle that I ordered from Swan Porsche parts arrived very promptly a few days after I ordered it, but unfortunately it was the wrong type. This was not Swans fault as all they had to go on was a photo and a description - there was no part number on the part (which is odd as every other part in the gearbox seems to have a part number on it). After speaking with Warren at Swan, we decided the best thing to do was to return the part along with my damaged part so that they could match it and send me off the correct part.
It was posted off a couple of weeks back for next day delivery, unfortunately the parts never reached their destination. I've been chasing this up with Australia Post this past week, but they seem to have no record of the parcel at all (which is pretty annoying as it was posted by registered post). I guess now I'll simply have to fork out and buy another part.
This week I also went out and bought some parts to finish off the wiring. The sunroof motor needs to be connected up and all of the relays need to be fitted. I bought some modern type plug-in relays and bases, although I'm having second thoughts about using them - I might try and source some OEM parts instead as the modern ones look a bit plasticky. I havent been able to find an original style sunroof switch so I sourced a period looking metal toggle type switch to use instead. Looks like I'm going to have a busy week ahead...
I also picked up some more parts from the chromers - I've had all of the trims from the door cappings polished, along with the roof gutter trim and some other parts. I also had the pedals and handbrake chromed as well. There are very few parts left now to get plated or polished, that said - I always seem to find more.
With the pedals back from the chromers I decided to finish painting the pan, there was only a small part under where the pedals are located that needed to be done, I decided to finish it off so that I could refit the pedal assembly.I also dug out the Saco Hydraulic clutch kit that I have as well, with a view to finally getting it fitted up. I bought this kit as I am using a 911 clutch on a custom made flywheel - from what I have heard, the stock VW cable setup is simply not up to the job and the clutch is very heavy to operate.
The Saco kit comprises of a master cylinder that fits inside the front of the gear selector tunnel and is operated by the standard clutch pedal, and a slave cylinder that simply fits between the stock clutch release arm and clutch cable mounts on the gearbox. Also supplied is a fluid resorvoir and all associated hoses.
Fitting this kit on a type 3 is relatively straight forward as access can be gained to the gear selector tunnel via the inspection hatch at the front of the floor pan. Fitting it to a bug requires that you cut a hole in the tunnel as there is no inspection hatch on a bug.
I need to paint the front frame horns before I fit it all up, and also need to run some more pipework down the tunnel for the fuel and oil systems, this will hopefully be easier before the master cylinder has been mounted.
Lost Parts
The replacement syncromesh spindle that I ordered from Swan Porsche parts arrived very promptly a few days after I ordered it, but unfortunately it was the wrong type. This was not Swans fault as all they had to go on was a photo and a description - there was no part number on the part (which is odd as every other part in the gearbox seems to have a part number on it). After speaking with Warren at Swan, we decided the best thing to do was to return the part along with my damaged part so that they could match it and send me off the correct part.
It was posted off a couple of weeks back for next day delivery, unfortunately the parts never reached their destination. I've been chasing this up with Australia Post this past week, but they seem to have no record of the parcel at all (which is pretty annoying as it was posted by registered post). I guess now I'll simply have to fork out and buy another part.
More Polishing
I stripped the 911 fan down so that I can take it in to get it polished, this was relatively straightforward after I found out how it went together (I got a helping hand from a 911 powered Type 34 owner over at the aussieveedubbers forum, in the form of some exploded diagrams - cheers Grey57 !!). I also found out that the alternator that is fitted to the fan is an early type that requires a seperate regulator. I may try and either source another alternator, or simply get an exchange unit as I dont really want to use the regulator.
I spoke to Jim at Stateside regarding the fan-shroud. Ironically enough Jim pointed me to Sharpbuilt here in Aus - It's a small, small, world huh!!!!!!
Getting in touch with Jim again I took a look at his site to get his details - The site has been updated and now has a little about the history of Stateside Engineering and its racing heritage - definately worth look. For anyone who is interested in a performance VW engine I cannot rate Stateside highly enough - I've owned two units built by them - the current Type 4 unit and also the '65 splitty that I owned had a Stateside built type 1 unit in it - see June (or was it July?!) 96 Volksworld for full article on this bus. Looking at the site you will also notice that Rikki James' bus is also featured there - It doesn't surprise me that Stateside had a hand in that creation.
I spoke to Jim at Stateside regarding the fan-shroud. Ironically enough Jim pointed me to Sharpbuilt here in Aus - It's a small, small, world huh!!!!!!
Getting in touch with Jim again I took a look at his site to get his details - The site has been updated and now has a little about the history of Stateside Engineering and its racing heritage - definately worth look. For anyone who is interested in a performance VW engine I cannot rate Stateside highly enough - I've owned two units built by them - the current Type 4 unit and also the '65 splitty that I owned had a Stateside built type 1 unit in it - see June (or was it July?!) 96 Volksworld for full article on this bus. Looking at the site you will also notice that Rikki James' bus is also featured there - It doesn't surprise me that Stateside had a hand in that creation.
More Wiring
This week I also went out and bought some parts to finish off the wiring. The sunroof motor needs to be connected up and all of the relays need to be fitted. I bought some modern type plug-in relays and bases, although I'm having second thoughts about using them - I might try and source some OEM parts instead as the modern ones look a bit plasticky. I havent been able to find an original style sunroof switch so I sourced a period looking metal toggle type switch to use instead.
I also trial fitted the 944 brake master cylinder, the cylinder fits fine but the resorvior will have to go - it fouls the steering arm. I might try to get to a wreckers yard and source something more suitable - perhaps a combined brake / clutch resorvior. I need to visit a wreckers at some point as I also need to get a throttle body for the induction system.
