So I got it back on the 24th February, 18 days to go until we set off for Ninove.

Where are we?

- Four rejections from the DVLA to retain the original number plate.
- Two rejections from the DVLA to get it registered with an age appropriate plate.
- No engine, untested gearbox.
- No handbrake.
- "Interior" to fit.
- No tyres.
- Various other bits to finish, hubcap clips, electrics, bumpers to fit (all bolts sheared), all rubbers, door alignment etc etc.

So best crack on.

Back from work sharpish on the Monday I set about building up an engine, I have a few in various states of disrepair.......

But I do have a 1600TP with twin ICTs that was running in my bus a couple of years ago, mostly complete bar the bits I robbed off it for the newer engine. So time to start to pull it together, out came my spray booth
and I got to spraying the heat exchangers ready to go on, also did two hub caps, the accelerator pedal and master cylinder cover at the same time, think I might need to age these two a little
While I was waiting for the paint to dry I had a go at fitting the petrol tank, in the SC it sits at the back of the treasure chest area and not in the engine bay behind the engine, a slightly awkward space to work in for a large human!
Carefully protecting the immaculate paint job inside the treasure chest I proceeded to fit, fairly easy job apart from the tank straps continually pinging off at the back, must remember to fit some cable ties over those ends before I do too many miles.

By 10pm I had the tank fitted and the engine pretty much ready to go in, a good nights work.
A bit of a clean up and it'll be in.

Tuesday 26th, 17 days to go.

The previous Friday I had chased up my DVLA application, even though I had applied to the HMRC for my NOVA it had not been approved, I rang the helpline and they said they were waiting for the import invoice, import invoice?? what from 1960? if I had that information I would have the original number sorted I contacted Tony and he did me a handwritten receipt and sent it over straight away and I emailed that off in hope.

So today I spoke to the HMRC who confirmed that my NOVA application had been accepted so I excitedly rang the DVLA who confirmed they had rejected my application on the Monday as it still wasn't on NOVA so I needed to wait for all the paperwork to come back to resubmit.....

To get over the disappointment I threw myself in the garage as soon as I got back, handbrake cables and engine fitting on the agenda.

Poor pictures but the handbrake cables were too long. So a quick look at Schofields, 3 options:-

1955-59 3168mm long
1959-60 3330mm long (the ones I have)
1960-63 3460mm long

So I ordered the early one, must be that I thought

Okay, so lets get the engine in.

While I was doing some work at Dave's I grabbed a flywheel (which measured at 200mm friction face) and test fitted it, amazingly it fitted without requiring any clearancing, odd I thought but given the unknown past I wondered if in the late 60s someone had fitted a 12v engine, although it came with a 6v starter and engine, but who knows.

Well I do now, get the engine lined up, push towards the bell housing and no chance, so it does need clearancing after all! As it's already 10.30pm I best not get the grinder out so call it a night, no pictures but it did happen......

So all in all a pretty crap day, 16 days to go tomorrow, no handbrake, no engine, no registration

Wednesday 27th February, 16 days to go.

So armed with my dremel I attack the gearbox casing, couple of friends around to help, Stu who picked up a bus at the weekend and is keen to learn and Ted (ted698) off the forum. Whilst Ted is wiring up my gearbox links and Stu is fitting the shorter hand brake cables I set about the gearbox, easy going really with the dremel, just not sure if I've got enough off.

Engine in and no, not enough. So out again and another go with the dremel.

Engine back in and it's nearly there. A few turns of the flywheel for the last bits and it's in!
(Photo taken in daylight next day)

Stu is struggling with the brake cables, the short ones are too short and the long ones too long!
A long message conversation with VWJim and it looks like the handbrake control tube doesn't stick out far enough at the back, although I've checked with Matt since and he installed the new one in exactly the same place, anyway back to the story.

So I made and fitted a collar to the triangle below the handbrake which I thought would cure it! No, it fouls the heater tube, that's enough for tonight.

Thursday 28th.

Take your wheels to work day!
Loaded the wheels into the daily and took them to work so the mobile tyre guy we use can replace the tyres.

I'd ordered a set of Ovation 682 ( https://www.vintagetyres.com/shop/ovation-vi682)

But purchased them from Hotline Tyres ( https://www.hotlinetyres.co.uk/) as they were half the price of Vintage Tyres! £190 delivered for a set of 5.

Got them back home and fitted them up.

They look like this when fitted:-
Pretty sure we did other things on the Thursday, didn't just stand around.....

For the handbrake cable issue - I'm guessing you've fitted a big-nut (fully synchromesh) transmission? If so, your options are

1/. Extend the stock cables (shortest ones) with a length of threaded bar the same thread as the ends of the handbrake cable and a pair of matching threaded bar connecting nuts (Screwfix sell both), plus a couple of ordinary nuts to use as lock-nuts. Cut the threaded bar long enough to make up the shortfall and use the connecting nuts to join it to the end of the handbrake cable. Double-nut the connecting nuts with normal nuts to stop them unwinding
2/. Cut the later too-long cables at the handbrake end. Overlap the cut ends to take out the slack and use wire rope clamps to secure, or loop the cables to take up the slack and secure with the wire rope clamps.
3/. Cut the later too-long cables to length at the handbrake end, discard the off-cut threaded ends and fit wire rope fittings with threaded ends.

Option 1 is quickest and easiest. Option 3 looks best, but is hardest to get right. I've been running with option 3, but have this evening pulled the cables out to replace with stock cables as per option 1 above as I couldn't get the cable lengths even, so had uneven handbrake effect.

The previous owner of my truck avoided the problem by doing away with a handbrake altogether when they fitted a big nut tranny. They even ditched the mechanism in the drums (lever, spreader bar etc). They just looped the disconnected cable ends at the wheel end around the torsion bar. The previous owner ran a VW garage.

Or make tube extensions to take the extra like pictures on here
http://widefive.net/front/

type21f wrote: ↑Wed Mar 06, 2019 6:37 pm Or make tube extensions to take the extra like pictures on here
http://widefive.net/front/

Do you mean the bottom of this page? - http://widefive.net/front/?page_id=10


The threaded bar is an easier option, particularly if time is of the essence, and you can get the parts from most DIY places... https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewt ... 49#7798749

I wish I'd done this the first time round. (Picture from the above link.)

Thanks Who.Me? and G in fact I’ve already sorted it! Don’t forget I’m days behind! I’ve stuck with the original small nut gearbox.

So on the Wednesday night I lay in bed thinking what can i do with the handbrake cables, then I had a thought, so back out to the garage, not that you want to know but I don’t wear pyjamas, good job there was no one around

The ferrule at the end with the grease nipple is 16mm wide, the handbrake tube through the chassis is 12mm, all I need is a non-compressible pipe 16mm OD, 12.5mm ID, simple. Fortunately I have a friend who goes to bed late and runs his own fittings/hose/pneumatics/pump business ( http://www.magair.co.uk), so within 15 minutes I had a 3m length of pipe ordered and being delivered on Friday.

I called over to collect it from him, borrowed a hacksaw to cut it on half so I could get it in the car and set off to sort it out.

Back home and ready to work!
I cut off 2 short lengths, reamed out the inside to 13mm and stuck them on, sorted!
So if anyone else has the same problem I’ve got 2.9m of pipe available

LOL..
I knew you would solve this!
G

Friday 1st March, 2 weeks until we set off for Ninove.

My documents arrived back from the DVLA, so I took them to work with me, included every piece of paper I possess for the vehicle as well as calling over to Rod Sleigh in Telford and picking up yet another confirmation that the SC was manufactured in February 1960, dropped it in the envelope and took it to the post office and sent it special delivery, thinking this time, please this time!

Friday night is a short working night as the pub was calling. But Stu came over again, we managed to get the brake cables sorted as above and also tightened up the rear hub nuts, so armed with a new breaker bar from Halfords, as I broke the last one sorting the Brasilia in the summer, and a length of scaffold pole we set about it. Passenger side F tight and split pin fitted, over to the drivers side, get it F tight but the hole doesn’t quite line up, so give it a little more and boom, my new breaker bar is broke and the split pin isn’t fitted

No pictures as the pub was calling and a broken breaker bar is pretty uninspiring.

Saturday 2nd March is rugby day, Leicester Tigers at home, train at 10am, pub by 12 and we won! It’s been a while since I’ve been able to say that!

Home, curry, laze about in front of the TV. Plan to spend all Sunday in the garage, go to bed dreaming of a test drive

Did you take it back to Halfords..
Tools should not break!
On their Professional tools they replace with receipt.
I remember trying to break the drive shaft nut free on the front of the UR quattro and braking the breaker bar I bought that very day!
I took it back and they replaced it.
I then tried again with scaffold bar and lifted the car off the ground and bent the bar but the nut adhesion broke!
The bar bent and I took it back and they replaced it.. the sales manager WAS IMPRESSED!
I still have the final replacement.

type21f wrote: ↑Wed Mar 06, 2019 10:18 pm Did you take it back to Halfords..
Tools should not break!
On their Professional tools they replace with receipt.
I remember trying to break the drive shaft nut free on the front of the UR quattro and braking the breaker bar I bought that very day!
I took it back and they replaced it.
I then tried again with scaffold bar and lifted the car off the ground and bent the bar but the nut adhesion broke!
The bar bent and I took it back and they replaced it.. the sales manager WAS IMPRESSED!
I still have the final replacement.

I got Lisa to take it back for me on the Sunday while I worked on the SC, the lady in Halfords asked what I’d done to break it and when she replaced it said “tell him not to do the same again” let’s see!

LoL..well done L

Sunday 3rd March, less than two weeks to go.

Plan is to get the SC driving and test the gearbox, brakes etc so I can then move onto other things.

First up is the accelerator cable, simple job you think? Never! So lying under the SC I'm looking for the tube out of the back of the engine, I've only gone and put it in without pulling the rubber seal over the top of the tinware so I can't get to it So armed with a 17mm spanner I undo the engine again, 20 minutes later I am back where I started, then onto the fuel pipe, fairly straight forward and it is soon in.
Excitedly I drop 5 litres of petrol into the tank (forgetting I could do with some to put straight in the carbs, pipe off shelf, mouthfull of petrol later that is sorted ) and run into the house to get Lisa to video the historic event

https://youtu.be/YQENFiBQHfA

Safe to say the little bugger is fighting me all the way, when I get the video up you will hear me say "well, maybe not" can't believe I didn't swear to be honest, anyway 15 minutes of checks and it looks like the ignition switch is duff, good job I paid £20 for a key for it

I wire in a temporary switch to power the starter and with an hour gone altogether we're off, a few turns, drop of petrol down the throat and it bursts into life. I reverse it out the garage and up the drive and back again in forward, we have lift off!

https://youtu.be/BsxaNDQNZ8Q

Out for a test drive and get all 4 gears, everything feels fine, happy days!