e m p i wrote:Cool pics of the spaceman Looked like fun and I bet the satisfaction of the finished article is awesome. Gotta get under mine with a wire brush on an angle grinder at some point as I don't think my neighbours will swallow a sand blaster down the driveway
I'm liking the rotisserie as well, makes life so much easier. Good work fella !!

Shalom, Lee

Thanks very much.
The sandblasting was fun.
I'd nearly do it for a living.

I'm going to Busfest next weekend.
Alas not in a vw.
Never mind.
Some shopping to be done.

I have been sidetracked with my e39 530d.



So, after Saving the pennies.
Finally.
I had a couple of deliveries.
These came.

Huge Thanks to the Gentleman Rikki James.

Then a new roof rack. To be modified to accept a downsized Westy PopTop.
Purists look away now.






Then a huge mod/upgrade finally arrived.




It's about time the '66 got some new toys.

wow


you have been saving ya pennies mate


mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm Red9 SEXY and with big boy brakes too mmmmmmmmmmmm

Heaven


Look falward to seeing your updates in fitting the red9 system ......... note I beleive you need to remove the original brake pipe holding brackets on ya chassis leg ( easy only 4 spot welds on each bracket ) as the red9 system goes over where they are ...... but the system has new brackets on the sub frame to replace what you cut off





Mark

That's good to know Mark.
I plan on tackling the job next week.
Once I get the beam on, It's piping up the brakes then,
I've a new Bay Master Cylinder ready to go.
Originally I had planned to use a Servo.
I even mounted one with a convuluted lever setup.
Trev and Simon of Red9 say with the four pots, I'll have no need for a Servo.

I have my new workshop companion ready and waiting anyway.



The E39 M5 is out the window now for awhile. I'm wiped out.
I got the rack cheap though, 500 euro, never assembled.
It really is well made.
It's a credit to Creative.
some say I'm crazy to modify both the rack and the poptop.
What the hell.
I always preferred the Full length rack, It will camoflage the poptop nicely too.
That's the plan anyway.

So within A few weeks, I'll be actually driving and stopping hopefully.
Once I get windows refurbed, It's going to become a rolling resto.
I've been waiting too long to use this van.
Then when I get Money or skills to paint it,
I'll tear it down and give it a new coat..

Had an hour to spare today so have the old front beam taken off.
Got held up with the steering wheel removal. Wouldn't budge and I had no pullers.
As you all know, it needs to come off to let
the steering box and column down through the floor and off the bus.
So. On with the kettle.
Poured the boiling water down the centre of the wheel.
Off she came and box was off.
Hopefully I'll be able to have a go at fitting the red9 beam on Wednesday.
I've the day off :smt023
I'll snap a few pics while I'm at it.

Well. Today I got a good way towards sorting out fitting the red9 front beam.


















Just the Bevel Box and Steering rack and Column to finish.

More tommorrow.

Finally got the van on the move with the red9 beam doin' its thing.

It's a joy to drive now.
Few adjustments with tracking and camber.
Brakes next.

Might not look like it,
I did Actually tidy my corner of the unit I share, yesterday.
Have a few little roof leaks. note: buckets Strategically placed on the floor.
must fix it.

Tdi conversion begins next week.
Just need to collect donor engine, box, loom n stuff.
It's already out of the car (passat 110bhp AFN engine)
Then it's a matter of flipping gearbox upside down and
making up adapter plate to fit box back on again at 180degrees (upside down).
Oh, I gotta get the width of the adapter shaved off the face of the gearbox. about 15mm.
There'll be a few head scratchers like drive shafts and such along the way
with making it fit into the split engine bay.
the 1.6diesel i have fitted just is too timid for me, especially after going to all this trouble.

Looking awesome mate

Keep up the good work.
But can i ask why you got more fuchs when you already had some?
the only reason i can think of is that you went from deep fuchs to flat fuchs?

Love the roof rack by the way...looks awesome

Alright Blink. Thanks for your kind words.
I loved the 14's when I saw them.
They are mint and figured I wasn't gonna lose money on them if They ended up surplus.
I was afraid I wouldn't get the 16's which are 6j wide on the front without rubbing.
Having seen a few pics of splits with 14's on front and 16's on rear
example:

I'm happy to carry on with the 16's on rear axle and 14's up front.
I think they look grand.

So now it's a case of ditch the poptop altogether and cover up the hole. (probably won't do this)
OR
Cut the full length roof rack and make it into a two bow and a three bow. (more than likely will do this)

Hopefully my bus will look something like this when it's finished.

E V E N T U A L L Y

Bus is looking good there buddy. Personally I would rather butcher a roof rack than a roof every day of the week. That way if it all goes a bit wrong youre not left with a trashed roof just a rack that's a bit mullered. However note that if you cut it to a two bow plus three bow you will be short of corner pieces for the rails, some uprights and also a couple of lengths of rail too. You can probably buy these from creative.

Shalom, Lee.

Thanks Lee.
Never really thought too long about the poptop delete.
It's a bit of a no brainer.
I'll Modify the rack. It was a steal at 500 euro. 2nd Hand but Never even assembled.

I've a few jobs to be doing in the meantime.
Anyone Know of any decent thread/link on making adapter plates for gearboxes. ?
Figured I'd make It outta ply first.
Then get some machine shop wizards to fab one up from steel or Ali.

Awesome front suspension set up buddy! It sure rides Lights And sweet!

Ok Full Steam Ahead here with the flipped box and AFN tdi setup.
Busy collecting a few bits for the installation.

Had the engine running sweet off the key on a pallet.
(forgot to take a video, doh)
Clocks and ENTIRE loom are still connected to the engine.
VW man that supplied the setup pulled ALL the loom from the Passat.

Made up my own homebrew adapter plate from 15mm Mild Steel Plate.
Few Broken drillbits and misaligned holes later, I finally got it bolted it to the engine.

Still need to cut 15mm off the bellhousing of the gearbox.

Here's a few pics of the madness that is ongoing in the unit at the moment..

Offering the flipped box to the engine after adapter plate bolted on.


Oil Filter removed temporarily to allow 'box to mate to engine block.



Note The Ignition assembly and Dash Clock set still attached.



Two Plywood templates were used to make the adapter plate.


Porsche Boxster Linkage And Brackets Bolt perfectly to Tdi 'Box.







Video of Linkage working.
I'll be using my own already installed cables though.
Click the pic to play,
PhotoFucket are acting the maggot lately, hopefully it plays for you.


More Pics to Follow.
I've actually got two bolts through the g'box now attaching it to the engine block via the adapter plate.
I have to drill and tap 4 more, broke my Tap

Need to get the thickness of the plate taken off the 'box though.
So it's just on there to see how it is.

To be continued....

Ok. So finally got myself organised and got my table made up to hold the gearbox while i routered off the 15mm.

Turn your G'box upside down and trace 'round the outline of your bellhousing.





Then jigsaw out the hole and turn the wooden sheet upside upside down, facing down and put some sturdy legs on it.
NOTE: Make them MORE sturdy than what you see here. My table wobbled a little.



Then bolt the end of your gearbox to a base.




Your gearbox needs to be flush withe the top surface of your table.
Space it upwards or cut the legs off your table to suit.




The is the router I used.
I,borrowed it. The bit was a wood bit.



PUT ON YOUR GOGGLES.
No sparks. Just LOTS of swarf
I filled up the bellhousing with rags.
Swarf gets everywhere.
This is after the first "pass" with the router.
Take your time. And I only cut 3mm at a time.
The gearbox material is tougher than I thought.


Ok. All done.
It took a good while.
Maybe an hour solid.
Going slowly and making sure the bit didn't get too hot.
I didn't use any coolant. Maybe I should have.


The gearbox minus 15 mm.
Ready to,bolt to your already mounted adapter plate.


If you notice. There are two sections cut off the circumference of the bellhoising.
One was where the oil filter was fouling the new position of the starter recess on the gearbox.
As this wasn't going to be used(starter stays on opposite side, bolted from engine side) I chopped it off prior to routering.
Two, the position where the G'box sits now, rotated has no recess for starter.
So I cut a section off the gearbox to allow it to fit.
I will try to plate up these somehow.

I would however like to point out.
The plywood sheet I used as my "table top" was far too thin and flexible.
A section of kitchen counter top was used by Sid over on the brickyard.
And now I know why. No flex as you router.

Also when you have the gearbox in place under your makeshift table/jig.
And flush with the top of the table.
I would screw blocks of wood on the underside of the table, tight to the side of the gearbox, to keep the gearbox in position.
As. When you get down to the last few mm.
The box will want to move as you pass the router over it.
Maybe this is obvious to some people. I
just said I'd point it out.

Now it's not all plain sailing.
I need to come up with a way of gettin one or two more bolts onto the gearbox to bolt it to the adapter plate.
If you look to the right of the red line. There are plenty of holes.
If you look to the left of the red line. There are three red arrows. These holes are threaded and are not very big. Also they are enclosed. So maybe I will open them up and put a stud through adapter plate from engine side and try to get a nut in there from gearbox side somehow.
You will agree it's a big area not to have at least one bolt. Half of the circumference is say.
More head scratching.
Times like this I wonder if I should've opted for the cut and shut method as adopted by
BusBoy on the brickyard also.