1968 Project, moving along nicely - updates
May 19, 2009 9:14:19 GMT -5
Post by thatmacguy on May 19, 2009 9:14:19 GMT -5
As some of you know, my 1968 has been in the shop for a while now. It was already a fairly big project from the planning-stage: We were looking at a drivers-side-pan and possibly a frame-head base panel, depending on how much rust they encountered. Also planned was installation of a completely new front suspension - everything from the steering-box (replaced last year) down, plus the steering coupler. This included a number of upgraded parts: front disc-brakes, adjustable front-sway bar, urethane bushings, etc. The new beam is also adjustable. I was also getting two new front fenders and a front-end repaint. I wanted to replace both front fenders because they were different shapes, one being original and one being an (old) after-market. This wasn't something most people would notice, but it drove me nuts. In the end, however, they determined that my current fenders were of higher quality and they would rather re-sculpt one of them to match the other one than use the current after-markets. I have a few fenders to sell (will put that in the appropriate thread).
Of course, as these things go we did end up doing a bit more work, but the process is finally getting near completion. I'm working with City Auto Body ( www.cityautobody.biz ) up here in Grand Haven. They have the best reputation in this area, and I have to say that so far I've been incredibly impressed. They are very "perfectionist" oriented. They decided, once they started pulling things off, that they would prefer replacing the entire frame-head assembly and re-do some of the older patching "while in there anyway." I'm perfectly happy with that. And while some of this work wasn't technically necessary, I'm one of those people who would rather pay a bit more to get the job done right. In some cases they replaced more than they really needed to simply because it was labor-saving to do so (easier to put in an entire new panel, for example, than to fabricate just the small-portion they actually needed). Where they have been fabricating parts those they have been making for me look cleaner and better than any of the after-market parts I've received for this project. (I think I'll start a new thread about after-market parts sometime soon, something scary has happened to the after-market parts scene since that last time I did this, which was about 15 years ago, give or take a year or two. Nearly every part I've ordered has turned out to be complete and total crapola). I'm very lucky that these guys don't just assume parts are correct. They make sure everything lines up and works properly before they start and welding. You'll see why this is so important below:
We didn't run into trouble until we hit a major part-fitment issue with current after-market frame-head assemblies. Whatever you do, DON'T BUY A RECENTLY MADE FRAME HEAD ASSEMBLY. After we discovered that the distance between the "chassis support panel" and the center of the suspension-mount was 1/2" TOO LONG on my replacement frame-head, I had to do a lot of calling around. The company who sold me that frame-head discovered that all their current assemblies measure between 12.75" and 14" (it has be be exactly 12.5" or the suspension won't fit on the car properly at all). I started sending pics around to parts suppliers, and found that even the frame-head assemblies at Wolfsburg West were not properly made (the distributors are pretty sure that all the currently made assemblies are actually all from the same supplier). We finally gave up and decided that city-auto (in this case Joe), would have to cut the existing one apart and fix it. Which he did. He then discovered, when attempting to mount the suspension (off the car), that the threaded holes that the four bolts which hold the suspension in place weren't even parallel. There was no way to run the bolts into the part. So after many hours of work to get that part to fit properly, it turned out to be unusable anyway. So the car sat and sat until I could finally come up with a good frame-head assembly, which we got from aircooled.net. This was an older part made clear back in 2001, and it is vastly superior to the others we found. I also ordered a german one cut-out of a beetle, and that one is in pretty good shape also, but Joe decided he would rather work with the after-market one from aircooled.
I'm also looking into getting different front seats. I actually had some on order, but of course they are out of stock for at least 3 weeks on the model I wanted. That's OK, it gives me a bit more time to consider other alternatives.
Here are some pics! I hope to see you at the Drag Strip in a couple weeks, but it is still a bit "up in the air" as to whether the final bits will fall into place in time.
Of course, as these things go we did end up doing a bit more work, but the process is finally getting near completion. I'm working with City Auto Body ( www.cityautobody.biz ) up here in Grand Haven. They have the best reputation in this area, and I have to say that so far I've been incredibly impressed. They are very "perfectionist" oriented. They decided, once they started pulling things off, that they would prefer replacing the entire frame-head assembly and re-do some of the older patching "while in there anyway." I'm perfectly happy with that. And while some of this work wasn't technically necessary, I'm one of those people who would rather pay a bit more to get the job done right. In some cases they replaced more than they really needed to simply because it was labor-saving to do so (easier to put in an entire new panel, for example, than to fabricate just the small-portion they actually needed). Where they have been fabricating parts those they have been making for me look cleaner and better than any of the after-market parts I've received for this project. (I think I'll start a new thread about after-market parts sometime soon, something scary has happened to the after-market parts scene since that last time I did this, which was about 15 years ago, give or take a year or two. Nearly every part I've ordered has turned out to be complete and total crapola). I'm very lucky that these guys don't just assume parts are correct. They make sure everything lines up and works properly before they start and welding. You'll see why this is so important below:
We didn't run into trouble until we hit a major part-fitment issue with current after-market frame-head assemblies. Whatever you do, DON'T BUY A RECENTLY MADE FRAME HEAD ASSEMBLY. After we discovered that the distance between the "chassis support panel" and the center of the suspension-mount was 1/2" TOO LONG on my replacement frame-head, I had to do a lot of calling around. The company who sold me that frame-head discovered that all their current assemblies measure between 12.75" and 14" (it has be be exactly 12.5" or the suspension won't fit on the car properly at all). I started sending pics around to parts suppliers, and found that even the frame-head assemblies at Wolfsburg West were not properly made (the distributors are pretty sure that all the currently made assemblies are actually all from the same supplier). We finally gave up and decided that city-auto (in this case Joe), would have to cut the existing one apart and fix it. Which he did. He then discovered, when attempting to mount the suspension (off the car), that the threaded holes that the four bolts which hold the suspension in place weren't even parallel. There was no way to run the bolts into the part. So after many hours of work to get that part to fit properly, it turned out to be unusable anyway. So the car sat and sat until I could finally come up with a good frame-head assembly, which we got from aircooled.net. This was an older part made clear back in 2001, and it is vastly superior to the others we found. I also ordered a german one cut-out of a beetle, and that one is in pretty good shape also, but Joe decided he would rather work with the after-market one from aircooled.
I'm also looking into getting different front seats. I actually had some on order, but of course they are out of stock for at least 3 weeks on the model I wanted. That's OK, it gives me a bit more time to consider other alternatives.
Here are some pics! I hope to see you at the Drag Strip in a couple weeks, but it is still a bit "up in the air" as to whether the final bits will fall into place in time.
We are a bit obsessive. It also went in for a front-end alignment today on the way home and they didn't encounter any problems with any of the new front suspension hardware, at least not yet. (I was pretty paranoid that something would be wrong). With the front suspension lowered a bit I definitely need that second set of caster-shims though. The new paint on the front looks great. I went with the single-stage and am very happy that I did. I'll be spending the weekend tidying-up and trying to force this crapola carpet-set to fit properly (the body-shop had to give up half-way though when they discovered it didn't actually fit the car. See post above). Appearance isn't an issue, it will look fine if I can get it to fit properly. I'll probably have to build "patches" from my old carpet set. 
