73 Square Auto

[T3PO]

Hi all! , bought this square from fellow club members (Airdiction) as always had a love of T3's. Started the resto a few weeks ago - have a long way to go and not as much time as I'd have liked as we have a mini dubber on the way in May!! Anyway....see the progress so far!
Day 1 - the collection! (not me in the photo...nor Dr Evil or Harry Hill!)

The start of the strip down





Split the body off & drop the engine & box




Plasma out the old rotten pans

Prep and base coat POR-15 on the replacement pans


This week hopefully (real work pending!) strip the yolk off the back and finishing bare metalling the spine ready for the new pans to go on!

[kyle]

dont look half bad 2 start with so it shud go back nice 2!

where u get the pans from?

[T3PO]

dont look half bad 2 start with so it shud go back nice 2!

where u get the pans from?

Off flea bay, some dude in Southampton.

[Danny Lord]

Resto looking good so far, looking



Danny.

[T3PO]

Welded the replacement pans on this evening. First ever go at welding, but progress none the less!!

[T3PO]

Finished welding pans, seam sealed and coat of POR-15.

[rustyt3fasty]

alright craig good to see you on here at last

[kyle]

is that por-15 stuff anti chip cus i rekon the under coat stuff (especially schutz) goes a bit dry n chips off 2 easily. its jus a suggestion

but looking good

[T3PO]

Don't think its particularly robust in terms of chipping, going to do a coat of Tetrosyl Stone Chip over this in black and see how they look!

[Editor]

Main thing is to have removed the rust first! I don't think POR-15 is any more tolerant to rust below it than Hammerite Smooth.

I was surprised at how the cold galvanising paint like Eastwoods sold (not sure if they still market to the UK). It's not a good primer, but it seemed to hold back rust even when left exposed outside.

A good coat of bitumen underseal should hold back water for many years anyway.

[T3PO]

Just got my 'birth certificate' back from Wolfsburg on the hope the square was built pre 73. Dohhh! April 73! - Looks like Mr Darling will be having a few more scheckles a year out of me!!

[T3PO]

Managed to get the front beam back on (acquired from T3madman!! Cheers Andy!). Have to overhaul brakes & lines, then on to the box & engine. Hopefully on to the body this side of Christmas!!

[Editor]

It's a shame the cut-off on historic class for road-tax chops off a few months of the Type 3 production.

Any Type 3 with a chassis number less that around 3132 065,000 or 3632 065 000 has a fighting chance on being a '72 manufactured car and therefore tax exempt. If owners with a hope get in touch I can get some supplementary confirmation from you. The VW birth certificate is fun to have though - what are they charging these days?

[t3madman]

Managed to get the front beam back on (acquired from T3madman!! Cheers Andy!). ......

Your welcome!

[T3PO]

It's a shame the cut-off on historic class for road-tax chops off a few months of the Type 3 production.

Any Type 3 with a chassis number less that around 3132 065,000 or 3632 065 000 has a fighting chance on being a '72 manufactured car and therefore tax exempt. If owners with a hope get in touch I can get some supplementary confirmation from you. The VW birth certificate is fun to have though - what are they charging these days?

€33 - the payment process was fun on the Wolfsburg Museum site - all in German, luckily my mac has a translator on! Certificate is quite nice and adds to my history folder but would have preferred tax exemption!!

[T3PO]

Mounted the box on to the yoke and back on the floor pan, chucked the wheels on for ease of moving around but they will be off come paint time!! Decided to crack on with the body as fed up of floor pans and POR-15!

[T3PO]

Have been manic with work and baby stuff, and only 9 weeks to my (supposed!) deadline of the new Tredegar House VW show. So have called in the cavalry to speed things up for me. Got the old girl on her side this morning to make the surgery a little less painful for us kneeling on cold workshop floors!

[T3PO]

Have managed to squeeze a few days in, in between stress of the TAX man & forthcoming births!!
Repaired the front valance, offside bumper mount & offside sill. On to all other offside repairs then flip over and repeat on nearside!!.

[T3PO]

Have had a full week on the square last week. 95% of welding done, & offered the shell back to the pans. Have a bit of tweeking to get snug fit on the pan edges before sealing & bolting up. Next on to the panels, doors and getting shut gaps sweet, followed by engine rebuild.

[T3PO]

Cracking on with bodywork at the moment, but also rebuilding what was a pretty rough engine. Looking to get to the Dubs at the Castle show in July, failing that Vanfest.

Some pics of the engine progress, crank has gone off to be re-ground & currently buying stack of replacement parts as our local club (http://www.volksoccurin.com) are planning a roadtrip to the Wolfsburg museum next year, so this lump needs to get me there and back!! Struggling to find an oil cooler the same as came off mine (I believe doghouse, but with pressure sensor on?? - any ideas guys?)

[T3PO]

Had the wheels back from blasting and powder coating, just waiting for the engine tin ware whilst working the body and preparing for paint.

[T3PO]

Project gaining some momentum now (and bills!!!) had the crank back from being reground & getting dynamo & oil cooler off Desi Type 3, so hopefully week or so to see if she runs nicely!!

[T3PO]

After an early start!! 1st coat of filler primer. Still quite a lot of work to get her straight, but looks more like a car now!

[stuvw]

good work chap keep it up

[SweNotch]

Nice job. Looking forward to see the result