The Viking Project - restoration of a 1965 VW beetle

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Xulfiqar (Xulfiqar) 2013-04-10 10:59:08 +0500 #81

nice - nothing makes a car feel tighter than a new or rebuilt steering box, btw which rebuilder?

nmshaikh (nmshaikh) 2013-04-10 16:46:22 +0500 #82

I totally agree. The steering box was rebuilt by Khalid with new worm, bearings and seal provided by yours truly. The worm is a NOS part. Add to the set-up a new coupling that I already have, and the car would be a pleasure to handle on the road.

Xulfiqar (Xulfiqar) 2013-04-10 17:39:17 +0500 #83

did khalid sb have the in/lb or ncm torque wrench to set the preload? Most mechanics in Pakistan lack such a finely calibrated tool.

This vintage VW would be having a wet grease in the steering gearbox, it looks like black grease mixed with oil but its plain oldschool NLGI 00 grease used in farm equipment too.

nmshaikh (nmshaikh) 2013-04-10 23:21:54 +0500 #84

I brought him one from the US. It is a Snap-on brand and it is almost sacred to him. It is only pulled out of its case for 'special' jobs and then placed back after thorough cleaning /wiping.

The grease in there is regular grease with some gear oil mixed. This is his favourite concoction and has been using it for years.

Xulfiqar (Xulfiqar) 2013-04-11 00:20:47 +0500 #85

nice - Snap On tools are the real deal.

but the grease that he is using is bad news - gear oil mixed with grease will become a useless mess, it regularly happens in Land Cruiser Birfield joints when the shaft seals let go, you can however get the original 00 grease from CAT, Cummins, even MB (they are applied to the oldschool door latches or other specialty lube shops easily.

This soft grease is also the factory fill on Toyota CV joints in all vehicles including the Land Cruiser front birfs. It was also filled in the old steering gearboxes of coronas, crowns and the earliest corollas.

nmshaikh (nmshaikh) 2013-04-11 00:52:15 +0500 #86

I will look into it. It is still not too difficult to remedy this. I'll have to go find the grease first. I am totally off the locally available greases that are fake and in some cases mashed potatoes blended in recycled engine oil!!!!

Xulfiqar (Xulfiqar) 2013-04-11 10:24:06 +0500 #87

^^ Contact a distributor of a certain brand and get your greases from there, I preferred to buy it in the 2 kg buckets they had if it were a grease that is used a lot (e.g. wheel bearing grease, CV joint grease etc)

nmshaikh (nmshaikh) 2013-04-23 02:55:03 +0500 #88

the new transmission mount

nmshaikh (nmshaikh) 2013-04-23 02:58:42 +0500 #89

NOS Hand brake cables have been installed.

nmshaikh (nmshaikh) 2013-04-23 03:05:52 +0500 #90

The stock transmission (gear box) was taken apart and the syncronizer rings were replaced with NOS parts. The packing may be crumbly but the parts inside are brand new Made in W. Germany...just as the Good Lord meant them to be.....The casing was hand scrubbed and cleaned prior to it getting a coat of paint. I was not present when the case was painted or I would have gone for a matt finish..preferably silver but we may still go back and fix that. You would notice that the transmission is missing most of the nuts. it is because every single nut, bolt and washer is being treated prior to it being used. At the time this picture was taken the nuts and washers were at the coating facility.

nmshaikh (nmshaikh) 2013-04-23 03:17:43 +0500 #91

a complete set of nuts, bolts, washers and plates were collected off the car or wherever they were damaged from my stash of genuine hardware and taken for cadmium plating. The process involves dipping them in a solution of Hydrochloric acid to remove all traces of oil and rust prior to them given a coat of cadmium by electroysis. It took longer for them to be delivered due to frequent power outages but we have them now.

nmshaikh (nmshaikh) 2013-04-23 03:58:15 +0500 #92

VW's came with hardware supplied by a number of companies. Among them Kamax is the most common. Other manufacturers that have supplied and their hardware seen when you take apart a VW are Dorn, Rasche, Dera, Verbus and Gebi. When restoring my cars I prefer to re-use original hardware wherever possible. For years I have been collecting used nuts, bolts and washers from the kabarias by the 'dalda tin' load to sort and save for my projects. I have seen the prices soar from maybe Rs 200 for a tin of nuts and bolts to almost 5 times that.
The other alternate is to use new stainless steel fastners which have the added advantage of being 'stainless'...duh! I hope this would be the last time these fasteners would be tightened on the car so original it is...

Xulfiqar (Xulfiqar) 2013-04-23 10:30:58 +0500 #93

::drool::

nothing makes a brand stand out proud.

BRANDED FASTENERS. btw why not yellow cad plated?

nmshaikh (nmshaikh) 2013-04-24 16:51:32 +0500 #94

The chassis has already been painted black and the transmission is fitted so the chassis can now be rolled around. The next step is to instal the body to chassis seal and secure the body to the chassis before the body work can start.

nmshaikh (nmshaikh) 2013-04-24 16:53:06 +0500 #95

The original fastners come in silver and while the yellow looked a better finish I opted for the silver

bravo122 (bravo122) 2013-05-01 02:55:26 +0500 #96

just curious
is this the same car roaming around f8 and f9 these days?
saw one same solor yesterday and from the looks seemed same as this one

saadabdulrahim (saadabdulrahim) 2013-05-01 04:03:49 +0500 #97

I guess you're talking about Ammar's Aussie Beetle. The one with F 38XX plates.

nmshaikh (nmshaikh) 2013-05-01 08:40:37 +0500 #98

This one is still at the workshop so it has to be another one.

bravo122 (bravo122) 2013-05-01 09:23:47 +0500 #99

dont remember its number but it has exact same color

@nasir uncle
hats off for another amazing restoration
any updates on ur oval ragtop?

nmshaikh (nmshaikh) 2013-05-01 09:43:12 +0500 #100

Thank you. The Oval ragtop is about done..we now have to lift the body off so the chassis can be treated and the mechanicals sorted out. Work is stalled on the Oval as Arshad is attending to Mujeebs project and it requires the measurements off my Oval.