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Nov 30, 2022 14:31:47 GMT |
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Well the gauge repair place got back to me and the news is about as bad as it could be, in that they're all three goosed.
200 euros per gauge to fix them. Which is about what i was expecting tbh.
What to do? the availability of 6v gauges is somewhat limited. There's a repro Motormeter type one I could get for oil pressure, which is the one that really matters, but it's 110 euros and I also found a cheapy Jeep gauge that works with 6 or 12v, but it's sort of a waste of money if I buy either, then there's never going to be any incentive to repair the other two gauges.
And they do make a nice set.
I might get the oil pressure gauge fixed, since it's the one I really need and then get the other two repaired later on, to take the sting out of it.
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glenanderson
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 3,556
Club RR Member Number: 64
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'58 Karmann Käfer Kabriolettglenanderson
@glenanderson
Club Retro Rides Member 64
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Nov 30, 2022 21:51:13 GMT |
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I don’t know much about VDO gauges, but if they’re anything like Smiths ones their insides are normally fairly interchangeable. I’ve had successes in the past by swapping faces, needles and bezels between working ones of a different style to that I want with those of the ones that I do. They’re fiddly, but not impossible to fix yourself.
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My worst worry about dying is my wife selling my stuff for what I told her it cost...
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I don’t know much about VDO gauges, but if they’re anything like Smiths ones their insides are normally fairly interchangeable. I’ve had successes in the past by swapping faces, needles and bezels between working ones of a different style to that I want with those of the ones that I do. They’re fiddly, but not impossible to fix yourself. Ok, that's interesting to know Glen. I suppose, since they're already broken, I've less to lose. The trouble might actually be finding new guts for them, as new 6v stuff is very thin on the ground. |
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Been a while and the following all happened before Christmas. Starting a new job next week, so I suppose the pace of progress will slow (I mean, if it could possibly get any slower...) I managed to make up a fairly tidy little patch for the big hole, after some fussing. Always make the patch AFTER you really investigate how big that rust hole is. The finger sander arrived and I have to say it is an excellent tool, aside from a bit of an appetite for belts. I really wouldn't have been able to do anywhere near so tidy a job without it. Impossible to get the angle grinder in there. It let me grind old welds right off the surface of the metal, so cutting away old repairs didn't leave me with a bigger hole.  I had to do some finessing of my welder to get it going properly. I had a feeling that it wasn't working very well, as it never made the 'frying bacon' sizzle that I've seen on 1001 youtube videos. I think the gas hose was much too long and also mayhave been leaking a bit, due to mismatched connections on the welder and the gas bottle valve. In any case, it was much happier after some fiddling.  So yes, it is a bit crude, but it's a patch on an already plated up corner and it is only meant to be on there so I can register the car. That rear wing never fitted properly and I did at least discover why. It was because the last guy had welded the repair panel on in the wrong place and then had to bend the wing about to fit afterwards. It's a good bit better now, after some hammering. I'm thinking I may actually pay someone to do the heater channels and floor pan edges properly, fairly soon. I'm sure I could get new sills in there, but getting the doors to fit nicely and shut properly on one of these floppy old cars is a bit of a dark art. And it needs to be right and structurally sound, before I can even think about getting a new soft top put on it. I put a small plate on the other side of the car too, sprayed some smoothrite on there and decided it was good enough.  While that was drying, I thought I ought to take a look at the 356 brakes for the front. If you ever wondered what the difference is between these and VW drums, then this pic tells you.  They're massive alloy drums, with a pressed in iron braking surface. You have to watch out buying used ones, that the liners are still plenty thick and that there's no corrosion between the ally and the iron as it pushes them out of shape. These only just fit inside a 15" wheel. I wouldn't have thought about buying them, but I was told that it might make life much easier with the TüV to have an upgrade. Since these were half the price of a disc brake kit, I thought it was worth a shot. I did find I was missing a couple of small parts - a banjo fitting and the screw to fit it. I suspect these are (or once were) fairly standard parts, but I couldn't seem to find the banjo as an individual part, so I ended up buying a wheel cylinder that had them fitted. I can keep the cylinder as a spare.  Hope I don't need to be buying too many more erly Porsche spares. There are four wheel cylinders in the front and the fancy OEM ones are 150 euros each. Still waiting on the oil pressure gauge to show up before I start the motor. Also I'd better get myself a brake bleeder and some wheel nuts for the front and Porsches have nuts and VWs bolts. |
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misteralz
Posted a lot
I may drive a Volkswagen, but I'm scene tax exempt!
Posts: 2,037
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Excellent stuff. Looking forward to seeing it at Ninove.
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Excellent stuff. Looking forward to seeing it at Ninove. Oh heck, I will need to get my finger out for that! |
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Mar 12, 2023 21:08:20 GMT |
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Well...so much for Ninove.
Bit of a non-update-but-I'm-still-working-on-it report. Sorry...not even any photos...boring!
I've been spending most of my time away from home with a new job, which has really impacted on car time. Hopefully it'll improve when I can work from home a couple of days a week.
But today I was all jazzed up to go and work on the car, utterly convinced that I had all the bits i needed to crack on with fitting the 356 drums to the front. Yeah...right....I pretty much immediately realised that although I had all the special bits (fancy hydraulic fittings, copper washers), I needed 4x M6x12mm bolts and spring washers to hold each wheel cylinder in place. And had I gone down there on Saturday, like I was going to, before getting involved digging the moped out of hibernation, I could have simply gone to the shop and got some. So as every time I go there, it devolved into yet another session of meticulously cleaning crappy old oil and rust off things.
In this case wheel cylinders. Cleaned rust off around where the seals sit and degreased everything.
Followed by another session of trying to work out how it all goes together. Have to say, the pistons in the wheel cylinders are a little rattly. I was kind of wondering if the guy just sold me the "set" of all his old knackered ones, but
the new one I bought to get a fitting and a seal from isn't much different (aside from being longer and having a spring and an extra seal inside it). I'm just going to fit them and see how it goes. I know normally you'd just replace, but that's 500 quid, so let's just see if this works first.
I still haven't started the motor, as I was thinking it would be a far better plan to get the front wheel back on it, so I can turn it round and run it up with the motor pointing out the doorway. Rather than gassing myself.
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glenanderson
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 3,556
Club RR Member Number: 64
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'58 Karmann Käfer Kabriolettglenanderson
@glenanderson
Club Retro Rides Member 64
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Not gassing yourself is always a sound idea. 👍
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My worst worry about dying is my wife selling my stuff for what I told her it cost...
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Mar 19, 2023 10:00:43 GMT |
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Another weekend of frustration.
Despite my saying that OEM wheel cylinders for 356 drums are hideously expensive (144 euros each x4 thangyouverymuch), I discovered some copies for a far more affordable 38 euros a pop. At that price, I felt like it wasn't really worth messing with the ones i have, so i ordered new ones and the 16 bolts I needed to fit them.
I would like to be able to skip ahead to the part where I say "off I went to fit them", but as I was planning to take the moped down there, things got tricky. I had started it up last weekend with no issues and it started up again after some kicking, but waited until I had pushed it outside onto the road to completely quit. More kick start action with only the occasional burst of life. Then the kick start itself decided to pack up. Grrr....
I took the car, to give me time to think about what sort of relaible, electric start Honda moped I was going to buy. Or more likely a lawnmower style pull start for the one I have, as it's defintiely cheaper and probably more reliable that that garbage kick start. Can't even bump start it thanks to the drive system.
Went and picked up the brake cylinders from the post box and went to the workshop, all full of enthusiasm. Opened a box. Looked at the instructions. "Please be certain to thoroughly lube your new wheel cylinders with ATE wheel cylinder grease"....wait...what? I don't have any of that stuff (since I'd no idea it was a thing until that very moment) and any local motor supply places are closed by now, so home I go again to search ebay for ATE greas, a brake bleeder and a pull starter for a Motobecane.
Jumping back a few weeks; since I forgot to mention it at the time, I did get my oil pressure gauge back, wired that up and did some cranking, just to see what would happen. It worked too. The gauge went pretty much all the way up. Left me wondering how much oil pressure is too much of a good thing? I guess stone cold oil is going to be super thick, which will give a dramatically different reading to when it's hot.
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Actual slight progress. Bit of a guessing game assembling these from internet photos, making sure all the bleed nipples are facing up and the cylinders push in the right direction, but it all fits.  |
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Last Edit: Mar 27, 2023 6:40:15 GMT by horrido
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