My starting point (Goal May 2024)

Forgot this one.   This little guy took a few nights of work but I wanted to use as myluch original as I can.

You are definitely on your way Eric !!...............Bruce

Nice Erik, hopefully your son's really going to be into helping.  (mine is not, he's not a gear head like me.)   even with your work travel, you have a good shot a beating me with your build.    I hope you make it.

Where do you live ?
I would pay whatever the extra is to have the doors and hoods mounted ,  that will save you  tons of hours and stop you from being frustrated….

Looks great!  Building is the fun part!

Just an option, there are reconditioned front trailing arms with new ball joints available that may not be much more than blasting and repairing yours.  Here is one source.

Also, if you are going to build a traditional Speedster (not widebody), you may want to consider narrowed rear trailing arms.  On my CMC there is less than a finger width clearance between the rear fenders and the tires with 4.5" wide wheels.  Something like this.

Hope this helps.

Be absolutely that when you have reassembled the chassis and floors that you are on a perfect horizontal plane, this is important for correct engine & trans fitment later on. A full tear down of a donor with cleaning, replacing chassis components and the actual full build you'll need to figure on around 400 man hours, with a year's timeline you're looking at a minimum of 8 hours of actual hands on weekly.

@imperial posted:

Where do you live ?
I would pay whatever the extra is to have the doors and hoods mounted ,  that will save you  tons of hours and stop you from being frustrated….

Which ever kit I order will have them pre-hung.

@Alan Merklin posted:

Be absolutely that when you have reassembled the chassis and floors that you are on a perfect horizontal plane, this is important for correct engine & trans fitment later on. A full tear down of a donor with cleaning, replacing chassis components and the actual full build you'll need to figure on around 400 man hours, with a year's timeline you're looking at a minimum of 8 hours of actual hands on weekly.

Understood.  I have help on some items when I need.  for instance the welding I will hand off to the dad, when I tear down the tranny and engine I will have an accomplice as well.

Goals are good. Failing to plan is planning to fail. That said, don't kill yourself for an arbitrary goal.

If the son doesn't care enough to help, maybe driving it to prom is probably more your thing than his (coming from a parent with 3 adult children). The date's mom might feel otherwise as well.

A Speedster is a great way to wreck a $125 updo. If you think that's inflated, those are flyover-country prices from 15-20 years ago.

@Stan Galat posted:

If the son doesn't care enough to help, maybe driving it to prom is probably more your thing than his (coming from a parent with 3 adult children). The date's mom might feel otherwise as well

I can understand that...   he is 17 and has a schedule already full.   He would come out if I ask but I expect perfect grades and I don't expect them to work if they are working towards a goal.   He is ranked top 10 in the state for track and he is talking to colleges like Yale, Maine, UPenn, Kent etc. for football.. I give him a pass on the dad stuff like this.   I gave his brother the same deal when he was in high school and he had offers from every Ivy and patriot leauge school to play football but for some reason he chose to play for URI 🤐, guess it is better then Marshall where he almost picked.

Side note, hours tonight spent pulling ball joints, what a chore...

CMC here - mine was called a deluxe kit since the doors, subframe, and front kick panels were "factory" installed.  Installing the hood or trunk lid was not an available option.  I just wire brushed (on drill or motor) my suspension parts and painted them.  I used Oven Cleaner on transaxle - nasty stuff but it works with pressure washing. I have a CMC Classic body, a '71 VW  IRSchassis with OEM Porsche 2L 4 bolt Fucchs with 185/65x15 Bridgestone tires and on the driver's side, I have a pinkies worth of clearance (a finger on the passenger's).

Well, URI football is certainly a powerhouse in the southern New England League, for sure.  😉

The school has a lot more going for it, though.  And no matter which of the satellite campuses you visit, you're never more than 20 minutes from the ocean, so there's that.

@Gordon Nichols posted:

Well, URI football is certainly a powerhouse in the southern New England League, for sure.  😉

The school has a lot more going for it, though.  And no matter which of the satellite campuses you visit, you're never more than 20 minutes from the ocean, so there's that.

100% I have no issue with URI except the cost of visiting LOL....  he actually took his scholarship for dorm and he and two linebackers rent a house by the ocean.  I just sort of had my heart set on Holy Cross for academics. 

Fingers crossed my youngest gets his official offer soon to play for URI and save me a decision everyweekenf of football season.

Over in the central part of the state sits Brown Univ in East Providence, not very far from a section of the Upper Rhode Island Bike Path.  I was riding down there with a few friends and we decided to go caffeinate at one of the cafes near the campus.  My buddy, Charlie, was in the middle of the group and as we rounded a corner he almost took out Emma Watson, of Harry Potter fame, who was a student there at the time and waiting for the walk light.  We all apologized, no one was injured and we offered her and her friends coffee but they declined.  

As we got up the street and out of earshot of her group, Charlie finally asked, "Hey, who was that, anyway?"

All suspension components have been blasted today, what a relief not grinding and wire wheeling.   Might still do a little wheel clean up but a lot of hours saved. Also started welding up one of the only two bad spots.   Another couple weeks all the original parts will be ready for paint and the pan ready for cutting.  Then reassembly starts and set aside for the transmission and engine rebuild while the body is made.

The photo is before the second round through the cabinet

FWIW, an Ace soda blaster is about $100. And I’m still on the first 5gal of soda from when I bought mine. The only drawback is that it takes a pretty good sized compressor to keep up with it. (Or, lots of time waiting in between blastings)

I really like the finish it puts on parts. And it’s easy to clean up.

@dlearl476 posted:

FWIW, an Ace soda blaster is about $100. And I’m still on the first 5gal of soda from when I bought mine. The only drawback is that it takes a pretty good sized compressor to keep up with it. (Or, lots of time waiting in between blastings)

I really like the finish it puts on parts. And it’s easy to clean up.

Yea that looks good.   I used a friend's at a machine shop and his media is fine so it was tought.  BUT FREE.  I want to buy one but the compressor is killer.

What is tought, please ?

Cemetary monument companies often do sand blasting on auto parts etc. and reasonable.

@David Stroud IM Roadster D posted:

What is tought, please ?

Tough.  Sorry.  Using fine sand on these castings is tough.   Took a while and needed cleaned and done again where I missed.

Steering column, I have searched columns and found the older bugs had the key separate but I am wondering if anyone has found a better solution or another option since 15 years ago?  The post I found was closed so figured I would ask here to keep the build in one spot.

The older 65 - 67 column allows you to use the self canceling VW directional switch and has the trigger switch on the back side of the stalk to use with high beam relay. Don't use a column with the crush cage as they tend to be weak from being 55 years old.

@Alan Merklin posted:

The older 65 - 67 column allows you to use the self canceling VW directional switch and has the trigger switch on the back side of the stalk to use with high beam relay. Don't use a column with the crush cage as they tend to be weak from being 55 years old.

Is there an aftermarket option that looks new?   Only curious...I like the idea of OG stuff but in case I come down to the wire of finding one I want a back up plan.

Go to ididit.com and look at classic straight, floor shift columns.  I've used these twice and they are wonderful !  They use a common GM turn signal switch..........Bruce

Couple weeks it should be shortened and off to blasting.    Found out it is only $350 to blast and $350 to powder coat so it was an easy decision.   

Then I will blast these parts again and determine if I powder or paint.

I have an ididit column, the signal light works ok as self cancelling but if you want the dimmer at the end of the signal arm while they offer that feature I can tell you that the button is not my favourite.  It is rather stiff no matter how much I adjust it and that is a challenge not to mention that the hub area size is bigger if that concerns you.

You can also get it with a U joint like IM does if the column needs to goto the center of the tube frame in a dog leg fashion.

Welp.... small set back today. Decided to take a break from the chassis and grinding fitting and pull the engine apart.  Only to f8nd the bottom of the block around the oil filter deteriated!!!!  See photos.

Not sure if I will buy a new one or buy another donar, I really didn't want to go with too much new, I like the idea or OG.

Water. My brother found the same when he pulled the motor out of a Chenowith buggy he bought.

I’m pretty sure anyone who’s ever built an engine will tell you to toss all that and build a new one, with new parts. Justin at Blackline Racing he told me less than 2/10 magnesium cases he sees can be rebuilt. Once they’ve been through ten thousand heat cycles, there’s just no way to properly line bore them. And very few machine shops have the proper jigs to insure the crank and cam bores are exactly parallel.

I discovered that putting a magnesium engine or transmission case on a concrete slab can lead to this.

@dlearl476 posted:

Water. My brother found the same when he pulled the motor out of a Chenowith buggy he bought.

I’m pretty sure anyone who’s ever built an engine will tell you to toss all that and build a new one, with new parts. Justin at Blackline Racing he told me less than 2/10 magnesium cases can be rebuilt. Once they’ve been through ten thousand heat cycles, they’re just no way to properly line bore them. And very few machine shops have the proper jigs to insure the crank and cam bores are exactly parallel.

Well I think a new one is what will happen..    don't feel like another donar just to have the same thing happen.   He'll maybe I will just get a complete ending layer this year and just worry about the chassis and all components for now.

If I do the new I will go with more HP too.

Give Pat Downs a call if you want a new engine. He can set you up with a near bulletproof motor with great torque and good hp. It doesn't hurt that he's the current record holder in the 1/8th and the 1/4 mile in a N/A air-cooled VW.

https://patdownsperformance.com/