Restoration Archive
March 2004 thru April 2005
MAY 2005: Welding on the passenger side sill and rear wing has now been
completed, the rear wing repair section and repair section to the wheel arch have been seam welded in, there is some
distortion to dress out yet but other than that it is all done. The sill structure for the drivers side has also been
inserted and welded in along with new lower hinge pillar section and repairs to the rear corner of the body mounting rail.
The wiring loom was removed and a tracer wire (welding wire) put in its place to ease installation of the new one. The
plastic covering of the loom had hardened so much that it had to be heated up to make it flexible enough to be pulled out.
The original tube to contain the wiring loom was good enough to retain and was left in place. Minor repairs were
needed to the heater box & heater down-tube as they were not in as bad as the passenger side.
The rear wing repair panel for the passenger side is now loosely in place and work is under way to make a repair
section for the area under the rear bumper. The rot in this area can be attributed to the lack of a drain pipe for that
corner, as a result all the water that entered in through the rear bonnet (deck lid) vents just fell into the rear wing
and collected as a pool and rotted the section out. Roy Kohrogi (USA) came to the rescue with the correct missing
early pipe, supplying it free of charge, for which many thanks. Roy also supplied an early foot pedal assembly (believe it
or not mine was damaged and not repairable) very little on this car seems to have survived in one piece! An even more
fantastic find and extremely generous offer was the provision of the missing small side Ghia badge which Scott Taylor
(USA) has offered to provide.
John has now stripped the two front wings salvaged from the 66 front clip he needs to use the repair panels for the
lower sill end sections and has been able to grind off the adaptor rings that had been fitted to them to accept BMC light
units, exposing the original profile. The front panel that Clive Richardson donated from his 68/69 auto has again
be stripped. It has rot in the area where the front badge mounts, but this needs to be changed to accept the 62 front badge
anyway, the bottom of the valance and the cross tube between the spot light bowls will also be repaired. The drivers wing
and front panel have been loosely offered up and seem to provide an indication of reasonable fit. The upper edges of the
inner front wings will need to be replaced to provide a good strip of metal to spot weld the wings back onto and a lot of
creativity will need to be employed to bring all these various panels back together into one complete front end. Only other
options were to pay up to Euro 2500 plus carriage/shipping for a replacement front panel, great to have found helpful
suppliers in Germany that would sell them but way outside my budget. Alternatively I could have taken up the great offer
of salvaged panels offered by Larry Edson (USA), but whilst they looked good to me John thought he would rather
make do with what he had if we couldn't afford NOS panels.
APRIL 2005: Having restored the front axle, rear transaxle, floor pan &
engine it was time to put them all back together. I decided to put the front axle on first and did this by jacking the rear
of the floor pan up to the level it would be if the rear transaxle was fitted, then I lifted the front of the floor pan up
and pushed the front axle up to it and did up the clamps - sounds easier than it actually is as the axle is heavy and keeps
pulling away from the floor pan. Once the front was done I put the chassis into the garage where the floor was level. Then
I put a scaffolding plank beneath the chassis under the rear seating area and rested it on axle stands. I then put packing
between the plank and the chassis (sturdy pieces of wood) until I had a perfectly level chassis (checked with a spirit level).
Once this was done I rolled the rear transaxle up to the back of the chassis and eased the gear coupling on the end of the
shift rod onto the end of the gearbox selector rod. Careful use of the jack then enabled me to raise/lower the floor pan
and engage the rear mount on the chassis with that on the transaxle subframe. I then bolted the lower transaxle subframe
mount back on, gave the gear level a gentle move to ensure the shift rod/selector rod were properly engaged and bolted them
up and fixed the cover plate. Finally I had the easiest engine-fitting session ever in my life, 3 minutes to position it
and then straight up and onto the back of the gearbox in another 2 minutes. Results look good, I am treating it as a "first
fitting" as I still have a list of things as long as my arm to do, including fitting the brake lines, tracking etc.
In the meantime bodyman John has fitted the new sill structure to the passenger side. He assembled the inner sill, heater
channel and intermediate sill as I complete structure on the workbench and then fitted it to the car. The outer sill, lower
door hinge, lower inner wheel arch repairs and heater pipe repair patch were then made. There is some work left to finalise
the repair to the rear wing after which the same repairs will be made to the drivers side, leaving me with a strucrturally
solid shell at last, even if it has no front end.
Mid-April: Reassembling the front & rear axles, repainted the rims Black (outer) & Pearl White (inner). I have also
found a source for the correct outer rim embellishers. Peter at CogBox rebuilt the gearbox as it was in bad need of it and
would not have gone into 1st or reverse. It now looks great, especially with the one piece axle boots. I reunited the box
with the subframe and then fitted the rear shock absorbers and wheels. Interestingly the gearbox is numbered 3131 which
lines up well with the original chassis number of 2910.
MARCH 2005: Progress this week has centred around exposing all of the rot
in the sill (rocker) areas of the car, concentrating on the worst side which is the passenger side. To do this the car was
squared up and then metal frame work attached across the door openings and underneath at the front and back. Next the bottom
of the A pillar was cut off as the whole bottom hinge mount area was fatigued and split and needed remanufacturing. This
enabled the lower section of the vertical heater tube, that rises behind the A pillar, to be cut off ready for remanufacture.
The outer sill was removed, along with the lower portion of the rear wing to expose the middle sill, this is a strengthening
membrane with embossed indentations in it to increase rigidity. This was all rotten and had to be removed also. Behind this
sits the horizontal section of the heater channel, which is roughly D shaped in profile. The heater channel was removed,
the curved section can be saved but the flat part of the 'D' needs replacing. This exposed the inner sill, the majority of
the bottom section at the front was rotten (this is the part that has the captive bolts for fastening to the chassis). John's
plan of attack was firstly to save as much of the inner sill as possible, then after inspection decided that the repair
would not be up to the quality we wanted. He has now decided to recreate the following sections by hand: bottom of the
vertical heater tube, bottom of the A pillar, new inner sills with the correct heater air vent openings, repairing the
length of the horizontal heater channel, creating new middle strenghtener sills (he made up a pressing tool to make the
indentations), fitting the outer sills, fitting the lower rear wing repair section & doing the same on the drivers side.
John intends to assemble at least the inner sill, heater channel, and middle strengthening sills as one assembly, then spot
weld them together taking all the old inner sill out and then and inserting into the body. Other progress has included:
fitting the inner wing repair sections, including transferring all of the fittings, and recreating the bottom section of
the spare wheel well carrier frame.
10 March: The car recently went across to the body shop and the activity has centred around getting it sorted ready for the main
work. As the car had been damaged on the front drivers side corner there was extensive crushing to the front inner wings
and damage to one of the bonnet hinges. To sort this the front wings
and panel were removed and then the inner wings straightened and the bonnet hinge repaired. Good news though is that the
rest of the body is straight. The front panel will be replaced with part of one from a 68 T34 and the wings with ones from
a 66 T34, both will need adjustments to replicate fit and features from an early 62. Having straightened the front inner
wings John thought they still needed replacing as they showed too much sign of damage and has made up new sections for them
including making a temporary press tool to replicate the bumper fittings. One side of the spare wheel well mount has been
removed (crushed beyond use) to help provide access and the whole assembly will be replaced using one salvaged from a 66
T34, although the bottom piece needs remaking. Rear boot was refitted and gives a good fit (off a 63 T34), will need the
KG badge mounting holes filling as the badge goes on the rear panel on an early 62. Doors were refitted along with the
rebuilt hinges. The door gaps were strange on the car - 10mm at the hinges, 0 at the rear. John removed a load of lead at
the rear aperture and this gives some gap back, when refitting the wings he will be able to adjust everything so that we
have a relatively consistent gap - overall he things the build quality on the car was poor and rough in some areas, but
reflects the approach of most manufacturers of the era. Doors are off again now - and John has stripped the A-posts
revealing fractured metal around the lower hinge area on the A-posts - he will need to remake these. He has also remade
the sections at the bottom and underneath of the A-post on one side and needs to do the same on the other side. The lower
section of the rear passenger wing has been removed to reveal the usual rot in the sill section that goes beneath it. Next
weeks work will be to remove the whole sill section (once the doors have been braced) and see how extensive the rot to the
middle and inner sections really is. I am pleased with the work so far - as the skills of John & Mark are fantastic and
even exceed what was done on my 1965 T34.
The rear transmission subframe (below) has come back from the powder coaters and looks excellent, it has been coated in gloss black.
The gearbox axle tubes have been removed - it was difficult to remove the spacer in front of one of the bearings but a little
careful heat made it easier (need to be careful that the oil doesn't catch fire). I haven't been able to remove the axle
shafts yet as the retaining circlip is too strong for my circlip pliers - need to get some new ones. Good job the gearbox
is being rebuilt - I have already found missing spacer washers in the axle assembly and can see that the thrust washer that
retains the axle shaft on one side is broken. Also had the heater control boxes (fitted to the car body on early T34s) blasted
- didn't have them powder coated in case it messed up the spring assemblies - will spray them black shortly.
FEBRUARY 2005: Chassis is back from coating and looking great along with
the wheels, petrol tank, front luggage tray, steering column and a few more pieces. The grey paint on the pre-coated chassis
shows the areas that were replaced - took parts from 4 chassis to repair it! Took the gearbox out of the rear sub frame
today, and going to have it checked over by Peter at CogBox in Northolt, London at the end of Feb as I don't fancy finding
out it doesn't work after I have finished rebuilding the car. Will strip the sub frame and respray whilst the gearbox is
being checked.
Another pic of the finished chassis and of the storage frame that was built to
keep everything tidy in the garage (above). 26Feb body finally was delivered to the body shop. The guy values his space so it
should be completed without much delay.
JANUARY 2005: The car came with aftermarket plastic covers stitched over
the originals and all 4 interior panels badly damaged. The original spec was red/black centre cloth panels/lower door panels
with the rest of the material in silver/beige leatherette. Whilst I had a lead on some red/black cloth material in Germany
it never produced any material. Lee Hedges in California stepped in with a great supplier who had made the seats for his
62 Convertible and his right hand drive sunroof model. Jose has produced the seat covers and side panels below in a good
match to the original silver beige and a leatherette match in red to the centre panels (which was available as an option).
The door panels have ingeniously been adapted from Type 2 door panels with the correct heat seaming and all looks fantastic.
The original Silver-Beige paint for the seat frames is not reproducible so I am going to see what the Pearl White I have
had mixed for the wheels looks like against the material when I get it.
OCTOBER 2004: Here's the system we built today to store the car body on
until work begins next year. The floor pan is on it at present and I will be using it as a work area to do the welding
(with fire extinguisher & water close at hand). We will be lifting the body up onto the frame in the next month after
removing doors/hoods. Also got the motor restored enough to share a pic but still needs minor detailing.
SEPTEMBER 2004: Due to the poor condition of the chassis I decided it
would be better to detach the front axle and rear subframe & gearbox. This will provide me with better access to the
floor pan. I felt this was vital as the 2 mounting bolts for the rear subframe carrier were rotted beyond repair. In
fact one had was so bad that it did not have a bolt in it to secure the carrier with.
The rear passenger section had a piece of plate riveted to it in place of the original floor and the rear drivers
side is badly corroded - I may be able to save the front drivers side with local repairs, but it may be easier to replace
it as well. The front passenger side is not too bad, but is dented and these will need to be removed once the repairs
have been done.
Progress may slow on the chassis itself whilst I practice my welding skills, but I will work on the rear axle assembly/
gear box and then the front axle in the meantime. The gear box looks to have had a leak at some stage - good news is it
has leaked oil all over the sub frame forks and they are well preserved, bad news is trying to identify where the leak
is coming from on an immobilised car.
All brake and suspension components (including steering damper) will be replaced, front and rear and I have most of the
components available already. Steering box and all tie rod ends/ ball joints will also be replaced.
Bought a set of tyres over the weekend - I think my challenge is to get the chassis totally complete by Spring 2005 -
I'd love to get it ready for the Volksworld show as a display chassis with seating in place, like the early brochure. To
achieve this I need to:
* Complete the welding
* Change the steering box
* Change, as required, all tie rod ends & ball joints
* Change steering coupling rubber (Got one)
* Change the steering damper (got one)
* Change the shock absorbers (got them)
* Change all brake components, cylinders/linings(got them)
* Change brake pipes & flexibles (got most/available locally)
* Check/change bearings front & rear (supposedly already renewed by previous owner)
* Clean up axle/rear sub assembly frame & repaint - has new axle gaiters
* Clean gearbox
* Replace clutch release bearing
* Fit replacement starter (Got one already)
* Finish off the engine/coat the exhaust & heat exchangers (all NOS period pieces)
* Respray wheels/fit tyres (new tyres already bought - Michelin XZX)
* Rechrome hubcaps/locate rim embellishers
* Re-assembly chassis/rear axle/front axle/engine
AUGUST 2004: I took the body off the chassis today, that feels good! Whilst
the centre sections of the pan are rotted out, all of the outer rails on both sides are perfect - so I can let in the pieces
from the various chassis I have accumulated over the last 12 months. Whilst all of the bolts came out easily I just could
not get the body to part company with the floor pan, I had two guys who were doing construction work on the house, myself
and my ever enthusiastic wife trying to lift the body off the chassis, but the floor pan kept coming with it. We had to
resort to sitting me on the front axle and transmission tunnel and then carefully wedging tools in between the gaps created
to break the seal. Any way job done now and plenty of scope for work over the coming weeks
MAY 2004: Currently disassembled awaiting floorpan replacements and
bodyshop negotiations to get front end repairs done. Engine longblock rebuilt. Decklid damaged & replaced with 1964 lid.
Have found many NOS & good condition parts (lights, switches, signals, gauges, accessories).
APRIL 2004: The engine was a reconditioned one from South Africa which was not correct and
had many broken & missing pieces. I was fortunate to find an original 1962 engine from a friends Notchback that had been wrecked.
The engine has now been stripped and I have fitted new main and big end bearings and also new oil pump, pistons and barrels and
push rod tubes. There was no wear on the crank or con rods. I found NOS heat exchangers & various authentic engine components
at the Stanford Hall event.
MARCH 2004: First work was a complete disassembly of the parts to see what condition
the body was in. I found the left front headlight & fender had 2cm of filler and had been badly smashed previously. The car
was originally solid Black, just like the first color sales brochure. After writing to VW for the birth certificate I
learned that it had been delivered to Denmark.
