Author Topic: the '55 Ragtop.....are we done yet?  (Read 101146 times)

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Offline josh

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Re: Project '54 Ragtop
« Reply #180 on: March 23, 2011, 12:36:01 PM »
how are the sema 4's on your car Josh, saw an earlier photo with you holding one up... are they all good or do they need work? I had heard about Matt's Parts in Edmonton, but mine are a little different style and am getting them out of Seattle, as Jeff Slater had some shells he could rebuild for me. The build's looking good!
b. waz

I haven't tested them yet but they look to be overhauled.  However I recently discovered they were later model, not that big a deal as I have a set of SWF orange lenses on the way. 
Matt is a super nice guy, talked to him on the phone the other day and he gave me a bit of a crash course.    I'll snap a couple pics when I swap the lenses out.
55 ragtop T1
56 kombi T2

Offline josh

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Re: Project '54 Ragtop
« Reply #181 on: March 26, 2011, 11:54:40 PM »
still pluggin away on the pan...

splicing in part of the clutch tube to fix my fuck up, had to make this coupling on the lathe cause I didn't have a full length



welded in the fuel lines, got a little carried away and built up a shoulder then blended it in to the framehorn







got the brackets welded in, these things are solid






will be running all "non stock" wiring for extra goodies though tunnel to keep it clean, mocking up line lock button on berg shifter here



dumb shits before me descided to grind off all headliner teeth on B pillars so having to replace strips





Here's the Aeromotive fuel reg I will be using, got lots of stuff to strip anodizing off and change up colors, -6 to the carbs -8 in and out :o



55 ragtop T1
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Offline Mike Scott

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Re: Project '54 Ragtop
« Reply #182 on: March 28, 2011, 08:52:13 AM »
Love this project Josh! Keep up the progress!

Mike
« Last Edit: April 26, 2011, 11:01:20 AM by Mike Scott »

Offline josh

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Re: Project '54 Ragtop
« Reply #183 on: March 29, 2011, 08:49:13 PM »
full 8 hr shift on her today....... cough cough no work  ;) ;)

started out with a trip up to a local VW repair guy who has a couple parts cars. I was after a bit more of the B pillar headliner teeth.... it turns out on later bugs the crimp strip is part of the stamping and not a spot welded part, luckily bay windows have something similar!

got them home and me being anal had to modify to match what I had already.... cutting the serrated teeth is fun with tin snips





mocked up the shit out back...







Was done with the access hole in pan by e-brake...





Drilled and tapped for some 5x.8mm counter sink screws for the other



this is what the fuel line brackets looked like on the underside..



and ground down...



Started looking around at all the welds I had done and not ground down yet...... early seat tracks done....



On to more plug welds.....damn I don't know whats worse, drilling them all out initially or welding up and grinding down









Got them all knocked down with the zip wheel just need a little more with the mini sander
55 ragtop T1
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Offline HotSauce

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Re: Project '54 Ragtop
« Reply #184 on: March 30, 2011, 08:58:00 AM »
Nice to see the udates still coming on this one.  PDT_Armataz_01_37
Luke I had your father

Offline Jeremy

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Re: Project '54 Ragtop
« Reply #185 on: March 30, 2011, 09:21:33 AM »
Looking good Josh. Keep the updates coming.
'59 Beetle
'59 Single Cab

Offline josh

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Re: Project '54 Ragtop
« Reply #186 on: March 30, 2011, 09:37:05 AM »
Hell ya!! With any luck will be blasting shell and pan soon, 6 weeks is the goal I have in mind....get this POS into epoxy and first prime. Been a while since she was all one colour :cool:
55 ragtop T1
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Stephan Schmidt

Re: Project '54 Ragtop
« Reply #187 on: March 31, 2011, 08:36:16 AM »
Build done right!  I wish I could weld :P

Offline josh

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Re: Project '54 Ragtop
« Reply #188 on: March 31, 2011, 07:43:34 PM »
Build done right!  I wish I could weld :P

Neither could I when I started this project! Get a machine and start practicing ;D
55 ragtop T1
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Offline Bruce

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Re: Project '54 Ragtop
« Reply #189 on: April 01, 2011, 01:28:37 PM »
Build done right!  I wish I could weld :P

Neither could I when I started this project! Get a machine and start practicing ;D
Ditto for me too.
First job you should try is floor pan halves.  The metal is thicker so it's easier to weld without burn through, and if your welds look like crap, nobody cares.

Offline josh

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Re: Project '54 Ragtop
« Reply #190 on: April 01, 2011, 02:48:40 PM »
Build done right!  I wish I could weld :P

Neither could I when I started this project! Get a machine and start practicing ;D
Ditto for me too.
First job you should try is floor pan halves.  The metal is thicker so it's easier to weld without burn through, and if your welds look like crap, nobody cares.

Yeah pan halfs are around .050" or 18g (whatever that is in metric) and a breeze to weld compared to body metal which is closer to 22g.
Best thing I can suggest is practice on scrap to dial in your machine before attacking what you want to weld. I will sometimes shear some scrap and dial in the settings first.
Also have your metal as clean as you can and fit properly before tacking... If you have to push on it in order to get it to line up you won't be happy with the end product!!!
55 ragtop T1
56 kombi T2

Offline josh

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Re: Project '54 Ragtop
« Reply #191 on: April 01, 2011, 11:00:45 PM »
got a pulley off of Rob last a couple swaps ago that had some damage to the blue anodizing so I striped it with easy-off oven cleaner.....




Hacked the studs off torsion arms and drilled out remainder....bit of a prick!





fuel lines finally done...



started on my gas tank with a -6 AN vent fitting....



Just wait till ya see what I have in the bag for the reserve valve set-up
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Offline josh

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Re: Project '54 Ragtop
« Reply #192 on: April 05, 2011, 07:09:51 PM »
My little one helped out with the tank vent today, she learned how to use a tubing bender, and flare blocks and here she is cutting the 3/8" SS for me =D>



She does nice work.....





Also got the front shock  mounts sorted....





You can see why I notched the towers like I did.....to give the shock clearance when coming down from a wheelstand Smile



I used some "keen-serts" (way better than a helicoil) in a 12mm course.....







Think I may put some in the upper mount of the aluminum for some extra strength (don't really trust alum threads)

oh and the little helper insisted I pose while she took some pics too...

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Offline HotSauce

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Re: Project '54 Ragtop
« Reply #193 on: April 05, 2011, 08:44:23 PM »
Instead of a pose you should take a bow for the amazing work and motivative thread you have done for all of us readers. PDT_Armataz_01_37
Luke I had your father

Offline buddy boy

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Re: Project '54 Ragtop
« Reply #194 on: April 05, 2011, 08:53:39 PM »
 PDT_Armataz_01_37

"only dead fish swim with the stream"

Offline Bruce

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Re: Project '54 Ragtop
« Reply #195 on: April 05, 2011, 09:08:06 PM »
Thinking optimistically, what is going to be your bump stop when you come down from those big wheelies?

Offline johnny main

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Re: Project '54 Ragtop
« Reply #196 on: April 05, 2011, 09:38:43 PM »
hopefully asphalt and not dirt

Offline josh

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Re: Project '54 Ragtop
« Reply #197 on: April 05, 2011, 09:41:33 PM »
Instead of a pose you should take a bow for the amazing work and motivative thread you have done for all of us readers. PDT_Armataz_01_37
Much thanks, havin' fun :cool:

And Bruce come on man, why ya gotta be like that? :P
55 ragtop T1
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Offline josh

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Re: Project '54 Ragtop
« Reply #198 on: April 07, 2011, 10:04:57 PM »
Wicked couple days on little shit that has been put off. For some reason my SD card for my camera crapped out! it's just a small one that I will take 15-20 pics on at a time then upload and erase/ start over.....says it's full with nothing on it!! So sorry for the shitty iPhone quality  on some of these

Was welding upside down getting sparks down every piece of clothing and a light bulb came on.....I built a rotisery and haven't flipped the car over yet





Made finishing the bottom side of the apron waaaaaaay easier!!



when I started this I didn't know how the bottom of the spare tire well was  shaped

Before...



after....





one side of the narrowed engine bay shelves in



Tons and tons of other little finicky welds and ass loads of grinding done all over not worth taking 100 pics of but........I can see the light at the end of the metalwork tunnel
55 ragtop T1
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Offline josh

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Re: Project '54 Ragtop
« Reply #199 on: April 08, 2011, 11:22:10 PM »
rear vent/louver panel that I removed to blast/paint behind spot weld holes filled (will get glued back on after everything is painted)







tabs made up and welded into fire wall and front tire well for wiring harness





engine bay shelves done





SSSSoooooo freekin' close to giving the welder and grinders a much needed break  :-\ Not much left to do metalwork wise!!!!!!
55 ragtop T1
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Offline stefan

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Re: Project '54 Ragtop
« Reply #200 on: April 09, 2011, 01:28:25 PM »
awsome and well done i wish i had your energy, looking forward in seeing the finished product! PDT_Armataz_01_37 :P

Offline josh

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Re: Project '54 Ragtop
« Reply #201 on: April 09, 2011, 07:34:29 PM »
awsome and well done i wish i had your energy, looking forward in seeing the finished product! PDT_Armataz_01_37 :P

Dude no wonder you don't have the energy to do your own projects!! you kick this shit all day for a job.......my hat is off to you sir! This ain't easy stuff
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Offline red snapper

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Re: Project '54 Ragtop
« Reply #202 on: April 09, 2011, 07:55:57 PM »
awsome and well done i wish i had your energy, looking forward in seeing the finished product! PDT_Armataz_01_37 :P

Stefan, I wish you had his energy as well.  :-*

Kick-ass work so far Josh!

Offline josh

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Re: Project '54 Ragtop
« Reply #203 on: April 11, 2011, 12:41:10 AM »
Super mock up time :D

Had a buddy over so used the extra hand and mated the body and pan again. the last notch I did on shock towers did the trick....







while he was still here, we stuffed the motor in (first time this thing has had one in it since I got it ;D)



Started laying out heart tail lights and wile I was at it mounted the OE Canadian dealer badge



Was gonna mount up the rear bumper but between the NOS bumper brackets and the Wolfsburg west bumper the holes didn't line up  wtf will have to dive in to see what is going on there........but at least my mounts ended up level ;)

Now that the motor is in I can start designing my breather box and mount the fuel reg
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Offline Jeremy

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Re: Project '54 Ragtop
« Reply #204 on: April 11, 2011, 09:45:10 AM »
How did those engine bay shelves work out with the motor in? What is the crank/rod combo on that bad boy?
'59 Beetle
'59 Single Cab

Offline josh

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Re: Project '54 Ragtop
« Reply #205 on: April 11, 2011, 10:47:03 AM »
How did those engine bay shelves work out with the motor in? What is the crank/rod combo on that bad boy?

They worked out awesome  ;D I'll try and snap a pic of the clearance it got me tonight. Motor slid in with valve covers on no probs. This motor isn't all that wide for a stroker.... I think the H beam rods are a 5.4 if my memory serves me correctly.
Combo is a 2332 cc so 84mm DMS welded/wedgemated crank, 94mm wisecos (notched for valves) in Jaycee long barrels. Compression is set around 10.8:1. Heads are CB's Comp Eliminators (hense the DTM shroud to try and cool this beasty on the street) :P
I think I'll probably go though the motor again before this is done just for shits and giggles. Have to tear into the trans and remove the pro rings and add some syncros so I can actually downshift....kinda usefull for the street. Never been into a transmission before so that will be cool.
« Last Edit: April 11, 2011, 10:51:27 AM by josh »
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Offline Trevor P

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Re: Project '54 Ragtop
« Reply #206 on: April 11, 2011, 09:09:12 PM »
Love the front beam.
Car is coming along great! PDT_Armataz_01_37
'53 Barndoor single cab
'57 Cal-look oval 2332cc / Berg 5
'70 911T

Offline josh

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Re: Project '54 Ragtop
« Reply #207 on: April 15, 2011, 06:22:57 AM »
working on gas tank now

the stock reserve lever doesn't support squat for horsepower with its 5mm pipe so here's what I have come up with for a super flow one...





It started as a 3/8" NPT 3 way SS ball valve but to make it more compact and to be able to remove it from tank I drilled out pipe threads and then took some swivel 90 1/2" AN fittings and turned threads off male fittings. took it over to the father in laws last night and practiced my TIG welding skillz. plastic handle was removed and brass insert retained but turned down. Silver soldered a 1/4" universal/swivel socket adapter on (to correct angle) then shortened and swedged stock lever to poke though firewall. will be building a "swirl pot" sort of thing to weld to the bottom of the tank so it has a good solid supply of fuel rather than fuel sloshing around and the pump losing suction.

Will hang out somewhere around here.....



This mock-up stage is a nice change from grinding  :D
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Offline josh

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Re: Project '54 Ragtop
« Reply #208 on: April 24, 2011, 01:09:41 AM »
more mock up lately, here's the room I gained on the engine bay shelves...







had the deck lid on and lined up but forgot to take pic

working on the bottom of my doors....vent window upper pivot screws snapped off on one side. used the old blob-o-weld trick and they spun out like butter with some needle nose



bottom flange was a little rusty between the inner and outer skin and I couldn't just leave it alone, so drilled out all the spot welds and buffed them up, used some picklex and welded back up will probably slop some POR15 inside and let bleed into the flange.



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Offline josh

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Re: Project '54 Ragtop
« Reply #209 on: April 24, 2011, 09:37:27 AM »
forgot I had these little allen head barrel nuts for the intake and exhaust... rather than the standard 11mm hex ones 8-[





when I was fitting the deck lid I forgot my 57 had stand-offs to clear the velocity stacks....may have to snag some of these shorties...



Designed my new breather box last night too, gonna be slick ;D
55 ragtop T1
56 kombi T2