1971 VW Type 3 Fastback

[jim]

It's a big difference before and after, dif you use the arms that were originally fitted?

I didnt think you had these issues back in the day?

What did the fasty drive like after the alignment?

[broady]

I cant remember. Its been so many years! Never used too, I don't remember when it started, so I'm having to discount past experience other than knowing that it was right at some point.

Someone on another forum has just pointed out that 2.5 degrees is huge, I did question this at the tyre shop but it was all we had to work to so carried on.

In the rear axel chp. Youre looking at Type 3 sedan double jointed axel. That says +5 degrees, no ifs buts or coconuts. Agree?



I had noticed a mention of rear wheel specs in the front axel section but never gave them a second look until 2.5 was questioned.



5 minutes me reads. Someone at bentleys got fat fingers.

None the less, it still leaves me out of spec. But its a start!

[broady]

Here we are then, with my spare arm blasted I laid a few coats of paint on while i found the time to repair it.





So repair the bump stop I used a hole saw to cut the thin out and then cut the same hole in some good metal, the coupon was welded in and an M10 bolt welded on with a penny washed locked at the right height to fit the bump stop rubber over.







Another issue I wanted to sort while I was under there is to sort out my suspension knock. This was down to beetle shocks being fitted, the bottom bush was too short, so I turned some new ones and pressed them in.





So with both of these trimmed up to fit in the bottom on the trailing arm I stipped the old arm off the car and I started to build it up.



New bearings and seals ect installed.



I pushed the trailing arm all the way forward, and tightened it all up. This evening I finally managed to get out for a quick drive before the weather hit. I am pleased to report it is much improved, it follows the CROWN of the road rather nicely so ill take it for a wheel alignment on friday and just get it all double checked. But it seems to behave its self under accerleration and cursing. And the shocks don't knock either!

Other news to come, but thats the big one hit

[jim]

Nice work dude!

[07lilredwagon]

its nice when things just....work!

well done

JP

[broady]

A long time since I shared anything with you lot. I have since returned for a wheel alignment and its now running bang on.



After a couple of minor adjustments to correct the install of the new trailing arm, i was much happier driving home. Its still wasnt perfect though. In the straight a head position it was a bit twitchy and could end up pulling in either direction. But while on the alignment ramp id noticed a weep from the steering damper. So i replaced this with a new non leaky one and it has sorted the nuteral steer twitches. That's that battle over with!

In between other jobs I been working on my alturnate wheels, first job was away to the blasters. I then spent some time knocking the dings out of the lips and filing any rough edges as best I could.

WIth a coat of etch and then a couple of primer coats, rubbing down with 600g between coats.





The next job was to choose the colour.

First of all I went for the subaru impreza gold. But it was just too flat and light for me.



After some more research I found a couple more to try.

Ignore the runs in the paint! This was also too light for my taste.



But as they say, third time lucky, this one was just what I'm after.



So I got on with the job of painting. Three colour two clear.

[jim]

I think they'll go well with the blue

[broady]

Its been quite a while hasnt it. Ive been working on quite a few other projects in the mean time. Thought a few jobs have gone on with the fasty. I cleaned out the lug holes in the wheels, which I should have masked off before painting. Then have some tyres fitted. This is mainly to see how things look with these sizes and workout where I want to go. I have some ideas. But here it is before black bolts and polished centres. Lots of work to do aligning panels. But as ive got some new panels on the way I wont be worrying too much yet.

[broady]

Managed to get the ole bus out for a run this week. Nice to see the wheels on from a distance. I got the centre caps out the loft last weekend, so ill start polishing them. And I'm looking at getting a kit so I can black anodise the wheel bolts.

And its got me motivated to start chipping away at the job list. Ive been playing with the wing mirrors today. Ive got 5, of varying style and condition. So I'm trying to make a good pair.

Not the most sexy surroundings.

[07lilredwagon]

the wheels add a nice sporty flavor to the car...looks good!

JP

[broady]

Thanks very much. Ive slightly gone of them, well more the way the offset is wrong at the back. But ill ponder it a little longer. And ill also get them finished before I go deciding.

[broady]

Pottering along, I made a repair to one of my wing mirrors in the vein of "muddy" I removed the guff and cut a new M7 thread in.







A pleasing half hour pottering on saturday afternoon. Just need to rechrome it all now. But Ill wait until winter, the rechromers are currently shut and will no doubt reopen just as I'm free to use the car again!

[broady]

You may see a photo of this ole banger in next months practical classics.

[broady]

Right lots to update you on. Late last year I bought a sterring wheel to replace mine with as rather a large chunk has always been missing. I assume someone tried to lever the horn bar out.



A kind friend of mine rubbed it down and I repainted.





With it looking reasonable well, I got on with the fitting.



But curse word, the indicator self cancel tab is difference and the ring for the horn contact was also different. If only id bothered to check before all that work!

Correct style.



Incorrect



But back in the present, last week I managed to find the right part number steering wheel after 6 months of searching. And it arrived on friday.



Its got a few cracks but this isnt that unusual (based on the ones ive looked at in the past 6 months) I filled these out and then filled with resin.





This is as far as ive got with these so ill return to that in due coruse. But going back in time again, October I think I got my hands on a lovely pair of high backs. Well not lovely, but for £30 and 40 miles down the road I cant complain.



As you can see the passenger seat has taken some abuse when being removed. I knew this and was fully prepared to sort it out. But while being a bit lazy over winter I kept an eye out for a suitable pair of low back seats, if any appeared cheap id planned to buy them and use them as donors to make a good set from the two.



As luck would have it in early March this appeared on ebay, and another £30 later. They were mine. Well not quite, then this covid nonsence hit and I couldnt go an collect them. But as thing relaxed in the last few weeks I went and collected the seats. Luckly only about 40 miles away again.



So ive now got the seats in bits and the low back bases are not the same as the high backs. Which is a bit frustrating. The modifications are still smaller than trying to repair the original base. So ive made a start. Once ive got it something well worth showing. Ill update you further.

[broady]

Typo on the year, but here it is.

[broady]

On with the seats then, base removed from the donor seat and compared for differences.



The biggest differences were the seat supports were in a different place and the low back seat only had 1 lock tab for the seat back.









Time to start translating the parts then.





Action shot! This is just a doubler plate, but it needs to come out in order to fit the "highback" doubler plate which also has the sprung clip for seat back security.





Time to get brave and weld this in, it proved a challenge to remove so hopefully it hasn’t distorted.





The lower brace had broken away in two places, so I cut this off, cleaned up the end and re-welded.



The release mechanism was the last part of the puzzle to be moved, with the rods bent to the correct shape the catches are synchronised.



During this, I noticed my welds were becoming inconsistent again. Previously ive put this down to those days when you "just can’t weld" But this was changing on a minute by minute basis. So, I started to investigate and found gas escaping inside the welder, add this to an inconsistent wire feed and you get curse word welds.

ive got a retro welder and as such parts are no longer available. A bit of research found it was possible to do a euro plug conversion. I splashed out about £55 on this kit.



A couple of hours of fettling and massaging got the kit installed.





Finally here they are after a visit to the blasting shop, ready for a coat of hammered black.

[broady]

Has it really been 3 months since I posted in here. Well it hasnt been 3 idle months. Lets have a look see, so I painted those bases with a few coats of hammered black.





I also painted up the rods and levers to go with the bases. With those ready I turned my attention to the back frames. The drivers side has clearly had a whack at some point, once de trimmed I found this nasty.





I attempted to flatten this out in a hydralic press, but it wasnt just split, it was also twsited. WIthout making a jig it would be impossible to straighten. Luckily I had the pair of low backs with which to play. So I stripped one down to compare. The hope being that the lower frame was the same and it was just a case of welding the bow on to the top.





And that hope was fulfilled, Time saved, I just welded the bow from one to the other.





The passenger seat was much more straight forward. The realse tab was bent, this was easily straightened. I dressed the dings, cleaned it and painted it.



And this crack needed cleaning and welding. Otherwise it was just a case of painting it.



The adjuster cams were also a bit tired, so a local welder built them up with some weld and then I filed them to suit. This should stop the horrible wobbly seat backs were become acustomed too.



Thats as far as I got with these for now. I started to look at seat cover sets, but its currently looking at £400-500. Which is more than I want to be spending as I have other projects on the go.

[broady]

All the while ive been out and about in the car, something like 500 miles covered this summer just running about locally. The running issues come and go. It doesnt like starting hot, ive tried 3 diferent coils. Fiddled with the igintion many times, and slowly replacng components to identify the issue. The biggest change came with a new condenser, but it still doesnt run as smoothly as it should and it struggles up hills which it should cope with. While I continue to tinker it runs well enough for me to keep using it while the suns out. New HT leads are next, ill make these up in the week.



While browsing for tyres, I found this promo as tray. F560 tread pattern, I don't smoke so Ill use it as a change pot.



And heres a few shots of the running about, I also managed to get my hands on a set of hub caps. they're a bit pitted and the odd dent, but they clean the wheels up for the time being.

[jim]

you've done a great job of the seats, I didn't realise how much work went into them.

I love your gold wheels but the standards with hubs just look cool!

[andyg16v]

With the seat frames you just have to love VW and their use of common parts. Good save as I don't suppose many more sets would be available 😎