Napoleon fix-up (part 1)

A turning point has been reached as things are now very slowing starting to go back together! Because this blog post documents the first significant metalwork repair on the car, I have opted to covered it in step-by-step detail (don't worry, im not going to be as obsessive about describing every single minor repair in the future!). I shall publish this task in several parts as I progress, just to make it more digestible. 

Enough of the intro, lets jump into the action.... 

Repairing the Naps hat from the previous 'balls-up' has been weighing on my mind ever since the incident. You may recall from this previous post that I had ended up with a rather large gap between the old metalwork and the repair section due to poor judgment on my part. Since that time I have attempted to make various repair sections, but the arbitrary angles have caused nothing but frustration and poor alignment. I needed to simply things and approach this from a different angle (pun not intended). So, I decided to recut the remaining naps hat at a 90 degree angle to the diagonally sloping top edge. Here is the proposed angle marked with gaffer tape:

Checking for accuracy using a set square;

Once cut and neatened up I was confident that I had an angle that I could trust. It was a known quantity:

The main reason that I failed initially was that I had not focused on keeping the bottom edge of the repair straight and true. So, I figured that making a jig was the way to go this time. Essentially, I joined 2 pieces of scrap box section together using spot welds on one side and beads on the other. With the beads ground down and a lick of primer added I had a nice flat area:

I then made a paper template stencil with the bolt holes carefully mapped out to match the factory dimensions (with additional cross-hairs to visually assist with alignment). Also marked out some guides for aligning the jig with the chassis tunnel:

A quick spray of red primer to contrast against the grey:

....and the jig was good to go:

With the jig clamped into place on the chassis, I was provided with a solid foundation to work from. I trimmed up the end of the repro panel (again at 90 degrees to the sloping diagonal) and positioned it on the jig, clamping it into place. This allowed me to accurately assess the missing gap that I needed to fabricate:

Once measured up I cut out the repair section from fresh 2mm thick steel. Before bending the patch into shape, I knocked up a diy former to ensure that the outer profile of the piece would accurately match the original. I then put the whole lot into a vice and when I was sure everything was lined up correctly I proceeded to progressively tap the piece over with a rubber mallet:

 This created a good 90 degree bend with a suitable bend radius:

The fabricated piece all clamped up, aligned and ready for the welding to commence:

After countless hours playing with the settings on my new welder to ensure adequate penetration, I was finally confident to make the first tack weld of this resto - a significant milestone:

All of the tacks in place just prior to filling in the spaces in-between with a series of stich welds. To mitigate any heat warping, I filled up my compressors and used the air gun to blast a jet of cool air onto the hot welds:

Once it was all fully welded up I carefully ground the welds down dressed the area to make the new section blend seamlessly. Also rough cut the excess away from the bottom edge of the new piece:

Lining up the end section cut from the repro panel:

and here it is all welded in:

....and ground down nice & flush:

Seeing this section coming together has been really motivating and has boosted my confidence no end. You know, I reckon I can do this! 

Coming up in Part 2: I shall be cutting the bottom sections flush with the jig ready to accept newly fabricated flanges, drilling a few holes and more... Oooooh, the suspense!

Back to the pan

So much of my time lately has been absorbed in researching, thinking and planning the next stages of the resto. However, I think it has been necessary for me to take a back step, reassess the priority areas and unblock some issues that were preventing me progressing. Ultimately I concluded that I needed to refocus my attention on the chassis and crack on with maximum vigor! Firstly, I had a brain dump and wrote out a check list (in no particular order) of all the odd jobs that need doing before the chassis would be ready for paint: 

I have now set myself up with a decent supply of Argon/C02 welding gas: 

  

With a new regulator fitted and plumbed into the MIG welder. It works like a dream:

The WW floor pan halves that I bought a while back were designed for a LHD car and I needed to consider how I would go about converting them to RHD and make it correct for for a '65 pedal assembly setup. Through my research it became apparent that there should be a small strengthening/reinforcement plate which supports the pedals. Some bugs appear to have this strengthening plate visible on the top side of the floor pan, but there was no trace of this when I dismantled the components from the old pan. Strange I thought... then I recalled cutting through what I thought was an old scabby repair patch last year and realised that it was actually the reinforcement plate (the layers of rusted crud were masking its true identity!). An intensive search on Google images and various VW forums confirmed that the plate sits underneath the pan on the '65 model. Luckily I have been retaining all the old scrap cut from the car to use for welding practice. This was this old chunk that I was looking for: 

I chiseled off all of the rust flakes and it all became obvious:

The plate itself is basic enough, so I will be making a new one out of 5mm flat bar. The long edge is basically seam welded to the point where the edge of the Naps hat and bottom plate meet. The short edge is seam welded to the lip of the chassis tunnel and there are also a series of spot welds that fasten the floor pan to the strengthening bar. The two (threaded) holes in the middle are for the mounting brackets, which sit on top of the pan � which is fortunate as it means that I will just needed to drill 2 holes in the new drivers side floor pan in order to adapt it to RHD.

The only minor problem was that I had not cut this piece of flush when I separated it from the tunnel. This obviously meant that the plate was now slightly shorter than it should be, but I did not know by how much exactly. After a thorough rummage through the scrapped pan offcuts I reconstructed the front edge of the old pan. I then clamped the plate to the old floor pan scrap being sure to line up the bolt holes: 

I then clamped the reconstructed mess to the chassis tunnel in its original position for assessment. This enabled me to ascertain how much of the original reinforcement plate had been trimmed off: 

and here is the view from the underside:

Turned out that the plate was between 8-9mm short:

Armed with this new knowledge I created a reference drawing to act as a pattern (see the red outline) for when I make the replica part. I probably spent far too long producing this in Photoshop, but if it's worth doing then it is worth doing right:

Bottom plate removal

Using a wire wheel attached to an angle grinder I cleaned off most of the dirt and surface rust from the frame head. This allowed me to see what I was really dealing with in terms of the metal work condition. Thankfully the frame head looked fairly solid despite being pitted in places. The same could not be said for the bottom plate which was in a sorry state. I agonised for a while as to whether I should try to patch it up or simply cut it out and replace with a repro panel. I choose to cut it out and replace as it was the more thorough option. The added advantage is that with it gone I will have better access to the front of the chassis tunnel. In the near future I intend to clean out all the accumulated rust flakes, dirt and grease from the inside the tunnel and then treat it with Waxoyl or similar to seal evering up. Anyway, I started by cutting around the spot welds:

I then switched to the angle grinder and ground down the seam welds along the front edge. It was quite a long process, but I was deliberately going slow to ensure that I did not damage any metal that I wanted to save:

 

 

For the smaller areas and tight corners I used a Dremmel, which I found to be surprising capable:

Here is the bottom plate starting to come free. Note the area at the top of the image that I separated by 'thinning' the metal of the unwanted bottom plate until it could easily be broken free:

So, after a few evenings of intensive cutting and grinding the bottom plate was off:

A comparison between the old panel and the repro one that will eventually be welded in:

I have heard other people mention that taking off the bottom plate is no easy task and they were certainly right! It takes a lot of persistence and at times I felt frustrated, but I resisted the urge to cut corners (both metaphorically and literally in this case!). I am feeling pretty good about the result as none of the metal that I am trying to save was damaged by the clumsy use of power tools. Slow and steady wins the race! 

Now I need to grind down the rough edges, clean everything up and straighten up those flanges.... 

Pan rotisserie (and other short stories)

Most of the past couple of weeks have been spent organising and equipping the new garage as well as clearing out the old one. I have now built a workbench, layed out a tool board, put up shelves etc. In between these tasks I have made time to continue cleaning up the chassis. I decided to start by removing the rough cut floor pan remnants away from the supporting lip that runs along either side of the tunnel. Initially I was using my air chisel, but found it to be quite severe and could easily damage areas of the old metal that I was keen to save. So, I opted to do it by hand using pry bars, long screwdrivers and hand chisels. I basically worked my way around the parimeter popping off the spot welds one by one:

 

In theory this should have been a quick win, but the reality was that it took 10 times as long owing to all the past botched repairs and inconveniently welded parts that had be stuck together in areas that should never have been joined. For example; one seat runner was welded to the tunnel rather than spot welded to floor pan.... and then there were repair plates that had been placed over severely rusted areas without the old rot being cut out first.... Anyway, little by little I made progress and took the excess metal off cleanly. 
 

Next up was a seized bolt that was holding the pedal mounts in place. I tried everything to get it turning � penetrating oil, heat, wire brushing � but the stubborn little thing did not want to budge! I felt the only way forward was to carefully drill it out. I started by centre punching the top of the nut and then drilled a small pilot hole. Using a wider drill bit I slowly widened the hole:

I then switched to my trusty electric saw and made a horizontal cut to get rid of the overhanging sides of the bolt:

When I got the cut flush I simply tapped the piece out:

It took some time a patience, but I was pleased with the outcome

The next task will be to wire brush the old paint, underseal and dirt off of the framehead and bottom plate so that I can assess how much metal work needs replacing. To make this impending task easier I decided to build a simple wooden pan rotisserie so that I could reposition and rotate the chassis as desired without breaking my back each time. I constructed the framework entirely from scrap timber that had been left by the previous occupant and thanks to the fact that I can now operate my power tools (electricity, beautiful electricity, I am loving all 240 volts of it!) I had it built in no time. The only problem I came accross was how to secure the rear frame horns to a pivot piece. The original bolts were simply not long enough to pass through a piece of wood and reach the internal threads. I looked about for equivalent bolts of the same diameter with a longer shaft, but they were either ridiculously expensive or had a different screw profile. I ultimately concluded that trying to force a modern bolt to fit could lead to the threads becoming deformed or weakened. My garage neighbor, Tony, then came up with a simple solution; take a thick length of dowell (slightly oversized), taper the end and screw it in so that it threads itself:

 

I was dubious at first, but decided to give it a go and was impessed with how sturdy it seemed. I added a piece in on the other side and cut the dowell to a desired length. I then gently tapped on the connecting wooden pivot piece using a rubber mallet. 

This joint should hold well for the duration of the pan restoration. 

 

Here is the finished product with braked swivel casters added and the pan mounted up:

Simple and effective! Now I am ready for the fun to begin....