My 71 Auto Rebuild and Identity Change :D

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BIG F@ TW@
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My 71 Auto Rebuild and Identity Change :D

Post by BIG F@ TW@ » 28th May 2009 - 12:18am

I started this thread years ago on Volkszone and though I'd transfer some of the info onto here :D





Well the time has come to finally get of my arse and crack on with my type3. It used to be my daily hack between 98-05 but after we did Spa in 05 he left the road and has been having a well earned rest.

Well I am now married with 2 boys and we have upgraded to a Pashat which is nice, but it aint no aircooled :D

Me and the missus took the boys to meet Chug yesterday for first time as they are only just over 3.5 months old, they didn't bat an eyelid when i started him up....... :elvis:

We have started by removing the stickers and I've stripped the carpets/seats etc from inside so i can have a better look, I'm really hoping that I wont find much badness as I don't weld. But he is a very solid motor and has needed very very little since I've had him.

I plan to change colour to something satin or olive green, I've got some chrome bumpers to go on, and will be getting the wheels powder coated as I have sold the centreline style ones.

I've also got a gorgeous ceramic coated tuckaway exhaust waiting to be fitted :D

Here's some pics of before and during:

When I first bought him way way back in time
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Halfway through change
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as he was in his prime (except for the roofrack which i drilled and fitted later) :D
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he has some nice accessorys:
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as he is today:
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Post by BIG F@ TW@ » 28th May 2009 - 12:18am

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some ideas for transformation, I have some NOS side trim waiting to go on, along with loads of other cool stuff I've been collecting whilst he's been resting: (sold now)
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Post by BIG F@ TW@ » 28th May 2009 - 12:19am

Here's what's been done so far:
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we decided to do as good a repair as would allow a year or so of use before the BIG resto would begin.

It's booked in with the Bolwagen boys here in Sheffield to have the big air box cutout from under bonnet and the vents welded up under windscreen.

I'm liking the third one too Graham, sorry Steve, bit too GREY!
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Post by BIG F@ TW@ » 28th May 2009 - 12:20am

OK......this wekend janski came over to lend a hand as I had a brand shpanking new ceramic coated tuckaway zorst ready to fit, been waiting ages as had to have a new cylinder head as stub snapped when taking off old zorst :(

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table of goodies ready to fit, next to my daily B3

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a true family affair with the lads observing

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scraping time

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all fitted..........dont know who the tramp is!!!

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this is the rear view, all tucked away lovely.

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trial fit of GT rims

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perfect fit :D

Now its ready to go for MOT so i know whats what.
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Post by BIG F@ TW@ » 28th May 2009 - 12:20am

well you can see from the length of time from the first post to this one how hectic my life has become with 2 brand new children :D

But it is def back on track now and I have spent the last year or so collecting parts etc that i need, 2 rust free doors, a rear hatch, 2 chrome bumper and tons of other bits n bobs.

Dont know why the pics have gone so small by the way?

Anyways back to business, yesterday janski came over from Bury with a trailer and we towed Chug over to his and onebobbob's unit in Darwen lancs (cheers lads) the idea is to complete and paint ready for EBI, but in reality it will be MOT'd much sooner so I can start driving him and sorting out any niggles, but as he was my daily for years, I know there isn't really many issues.

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loaded up and ready to go

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his new home for the next few weeks

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started by taking the doors off and stripping them down to swap panels over etc as the ones fitted are excellent.

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whilst doing that I also started to strip the rear hatch for removal.

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the new doors fitted no problems, all windows work, hinges goood etc so very happy.
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Post by BIG F@ TW@ » 28th May 2009 - 12:21am

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i had a reet good dig around the door apertures when the doors were removed, all very solid and rust free.

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passenger dooor fitted, and rear hatch bolted up too.

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you can just make out the ceramic coated tuckaway exhaust in this pic.

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whilst trying to put back window back in to keep it secure whilst parked up the rubbers were just splitting as they are dry and knacked, so we created a panel van instead.

and this is how I had to leave it as work beckoned, all i need to do for MOT is sort front indicators and change headlights as lense cracked.

cant wait :D

on the list is paint (nato green) white stenciled numbers army style. Moving the roofrack back about 6 inches, it's bolted down through the roof so the holes need welding up and new ones redrilled.

carpet set needs ordering and fitting, wheels are red powder coated GT rims not decided on tyres sizes yet.

even though it has a very solid front beam, i like the idea of fitting a narrowed type one beam as I can fit dropped spindles, just needed to do more research before i jump into that one. When the current beam was fitted, we had to guess the splines for dropping and ended up with it slightly lobsided!! will be sorted on the next visit.

right off to bed now as it's 3.15am.
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Post by BIG F@ TW@ » 28th May 2009 - 12:22am

Found some more pics:

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previous seats now sat in a T3 crewcab at Airskooled in Darwen

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current handles, just need a bit of jiggery pokery to fit as the mechs are slightly different as you can see
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brand new 34ict twin carb set, got this for a bragain price again back when US exchange was at a high :D
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Post by BIG F@ TW@ » 28th May 2009 - 12:23am

Well I have been working on Chug since Friday 6pm, managed to get the headlights sorted (crystal sealed beam units) had to custom fit them in to the headlight rims, worked a treat.

Few other bits and bobs to check over. wired in front indicators, fixed the horn.

Next job was to sort out the front suspension, needed to level it out as one side higher than the other. Problem was thst the pinchbolt on the lower arm had sheared off when first refitted the beam, so had to adjust the inner splines. Never attempted before but was quite straightforwards.

Also on my list was removal of all the wings, to check along the mounting panels, as some bubbling has appeared where the wing beading sits between the body and panel. What I found behind was inner wings that had been waxoyled when new, so they are in very very good condition.

There are a few areas that need attention, but nothing major, and the boys at Air Skool will be taking care of this.

I got to grips with the red oxide primer to give a good base along the areas I had stripped back.

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crystal H4 lights

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wings removed

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rear passengers

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rear drivers

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passengers front

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drivers front

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rear passengers area needs attention

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passengers front wing mount area needs attention

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drivers rear needs a tickle with the welding wand
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Post by BIG F@ TW@ » 28th May 2009 - 12:23am

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under bonnet area, note the airbox has already been removed as it had rotten away.

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drivers inner with tank removed

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passneger inner with tank removed

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bubbling had started here

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first coats of oxide primer, removed the brake fluid reservoir to get better access.

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the petrol filler neck hole will be plated over as I want the petrol filler under the bonnet.

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prepping the wing mount areas.

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bit of a crusty area
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Post by BIG F@ TW@ » 28th May 2009 - 12:24am

spent another day yesterday, decided to give underbonnet area another coat as welding hasn't been done yet.

After another brushed coat I found some huge tins of red oxide spray......so the finish is now much smoother.

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this shows how solid the front apron/valance is.

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i gave the brake pipes and reservoir area and clean up too, coated the pipes in zinc spray and replaced the knackered flexi pipes too.

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this shot shows the underbonnet petrol filler neck, as the one in the glass wings I was never 100% happy with as it couldn't lock etc, plus this was I can smooth off the wing.

All in all a good 8 hours spent, hopefully the welding wil get done this week.
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Post by BIG F@ TW@ » 28th May 2009 - 12:27am

OK thats all the previous posts transferred over, I'm bask to it this weekend, going to relocate the roofrack, which involves welding up the holes and drilling new ones further back.

Hopefully some of the welding has been done as it's the only hold up before the MOT now.


I'll start to prep the body for the satin black paint too, going to simply rattle can the whole lot except the roof which will be glossy red. Windows will be tinted red too.

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Post by BIG F@ TW@ » 9th June 2009 - 11:59am

OK Dokey,
This weekend I did Friday 7 till 2am, Saturday 8am till 2am, Sunday 9am till 1.30pm then drove back to Sheffield to work at 4.30pm till midnight. Feckin knacked! But feeling like car is getting there finally.

I was determined to leave on Sunday with the whole body (minus the roof) painted satin black, and I wanted to give all areas a red oxide basecoat first before at least 3 layers of black.

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Passenger side closing areas done, I really wanted to ensure ALL areas had the same attention. As it really pisses me off when you get overspray, or thin spots where the paint hasn't reached etc.

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the only bad area to be found on the body anywhere, the guy who welded the other areas for me patched this over but he's not really a fabricator (is he janski?) so after he had patched OVER it janski is redoing it correctly this week.
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in this pic you can see the only external filler on the car and it's where the fresh air vents were.
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Post by BIG F@ TW@ » 9th June 2009 - 11:59am

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i couldn't wait to get the bootlid on to give me an idea of how the cars gonna look.
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janski getting to grips with the hole:
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my spray area.

Back again on Friday night, but this time I have Sat & Sun off so can spend 2 whole day plus Friday night refitting everything. Only need to put a couple of final coats onto the bonnet first.
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