16V Turbo VW Cabriolet Build (for the wife)

[TheBandit]

Originally Posted by entropy

Try just a bit of lube on the pressure shoe and see what happens.

Curiosity got to me last night. I was convinced the frictional aspect of lubrication or roller would not make a difference in bend flattening. I made one 90deg bend unlubricated and one with liberal amounts of white lithium grease on the wiper (.375OD tube, Ridgid 400 bender). Both bends flattened the same amount to .340, indicating I may be right about friction not having a significant impact on the flattening.

I did, however, come up with an alternate theory. I think the roller style bender reduced the bend flattening due to where the roller applies force to the tube. With the wiper style bender, the force against the tubing is a pressure distributed along the length of the wiper, but looking at my dies I see more noticeable wear at the leading edge (the edge that is furthest from the centerline of the bender). That indicates most of the force is applied at a position with considerable offset from the centerline of the dies. With the roller style bender, the force is applied at the line-contact position of the roller die. This has less offset from the centerline of the bender than where the wiper sytle dies apply force. If my theory is correct, this offset is what makes the difference in bend flattening.

To test the theory, I "modified" my Ridgid bender by removing the spring pin holding the wiper and offsetting the wiper against the opposite side of the spring pin (image attached). This generated additional offset for the wiper. Then I made a 3rd test bend on the same .375OD tubing. The result: additional flattening down to .332in (vs .340in without added offset). This is consistent with my theory that the offset affects the flattening and that added offset is detrimental. Perhaps the effect is similar to buckling, where length can make a big difference, and the further this force is offset, the more likely the sides of the tubing are to pooch out. The roller may simply enable a reduced offset, since doing so on a wiper would result in gouging / surface wear.

Sorry for the hijack.

[TheBandit]

Originally Posted by juicedz4

Boy that looks nice! Where did you get the clamp and the rock guard? I sure wish I could have turned my Nova on a rotisserie when I was running the fuel line - great to have that access!

[CarterKraft]

For sure that looks awesome! Source of both please.

What hose are you running? I when to order some the other day and freaked my self out with the ethanol compatibility of the stock pushlok offerings. I ordered Gates Barricade hose and am trying to convince my self I can make it look NOT like a lawn mower hose.

[juicedz4]

Finally back in action here. Was a busy last half of last week / weekend.


The gravel guard just came from summit. https://www.summitracing.com/parts/rsd-ggs38s-20


The clamps are from McMaster. I used a bunch of them on the cavalier, they work great. Ive even used them between hoses not mounted, just to keep them tidy. A ziptie through the hole works to keep them in place. http://www.mcmaster.com/#catalog/122/1567/=141tpmu

If that link doesnt work search for "Snap-In Plastic Clamps" or part number 7429K43.

Im not 100% certain which size these are as I had them in stock from previous projects. I have a couple sizes on my current order and can verify probably next week.


EDIT: missed the question about the hose. Im using the Aeroquip pushloc hose.

Dan

[juicedz4]

Finished up the fuel hard lines over the last couple days. I ended up putting a small bend in the "upper" line so they would be staggered along the rocker. It was easier that trying to put an S bend after the mount. To mount the lines I welded a small piece of steel at an angle between the rocker and floor. All thats really left is adding nutserts to the floor and bracket for the mounts (vs just screwed into the sheet metal).








A while back I posted a pic of the shaft collar I machined to retain the lower steering column bearing. I finally thought to take a pic of it installed last night.




Finally I started considering the brake line routing. To keep things super clean Ive decided to run the front lines through an existing hole behind the strut and run them through the frame rail and then into the cabin. The two lines from the master cylinder will be braided stainless and run to a flat spot on the drivers side of the brake booster through bulkhead fittings. Sorta like this on the routing. Ill use the stainless rock guard on the lines as well as grommets where they pass through the holes to keep things safe. I think it should work well.






Dan

[juicedz4]

Does anyone reading this have a decent source for stainless -3 bulkhead fittings? I found a couple places looking late last night, but thought Id ask as well.

Dan

[Graham08]

Very clean work on the plumbing!

I don't have a good source for the -3 bulkheads in stainless, even looking at JIC stuff. McMaster skips from 1/8" to 1/4", and most of the other places online start at 1/4".

[juicedz4]

I found them here:

http://www.stainlesssteelfittings.co...m?1=1&CartID=1

[juicedz4]

Super boring update. Had a little project ADD.

Got the car back "wheels down".

Spent about 90 mins scrapping the sound deadener



and then a bunch of time with thinner cleaning up some of the glue on the floor and firewall areas, as well as cleaning up the welds and remants of welding fires. The firewall is almost ready for some master series silver and seam sealer.





Dan

[juicedz4]

Stainless -3 bulkhead fittings for the brakes showed up monday. They look very nice.



Got them mounted to the firewall and held some random lines I had lying around in place. Ill need to get a set of custom ones made at some point. If possible Ill stop by the place this week and see if they have metric bubble flare ends, or if I need adapters for the master.






No pics, but I spent a couple hours getting the inside of the firewall cleaned up and ready for primer and heat barrier coating.

Dan

[juicedz4]

Got two coats of master series silver on the area of the firewall where I did all the welding and cutting. Also cleaned up a bit more of the glue off of the floor, its almost good enough.





Between coats I worked on a couple other little projects.

Picked up a 6" carbide burr a couple months ago to clean up the weld on the lower radiator "hose" since I still dont have a back purge setup. Now its in my pile to take to the coater.






Had one more groove near the shock tower I wanted to fill, so I welded it up and ground it smooth.





I think that about finishes up the welding in the engine bay. Ok, other than I still need to revisit the oil cooler mounts and I cant decide if I want to mess around with the top of the rack mounts or not (thoughts on closing them in?). I sprayed a little rattle can primer on quick to get an idea how its going to look...










Dan

[juicedz4]

Been a while since Ive done any work on this project or updated anything. Ive been busy on a house garage remodel, getting the lift installed in the shop, etc.


Back at the end of sept I tested out the dolly I made to roll the chassis around on. It works well enough for the handful of times Ill probably use it.




I also finally scored a matching Lucas front caliper, got it cleaned up and powder coated, and reassembled with new seals. I still need to source some new bleeder screws.




Picked up the ARP hardware for the diff ring gear




Got the smoothed out knuckles and hubs back from the coater and assembled them with ARP studs, new bearings, ball joints and hardware, and the MMP big brake adapters.






Also finally made the rear stub axle spacers. I picked up a pair of aluminum "coins" from McMaster for $14 and drilled a few holes, using a transfer punch to, well, transfer the holes. A few places sell them but for this thickness with hardware it was approaching $70. For $20 with hardware (still need to order) these should get it done. Ill probably clean up the saw marks before I have them coated.








It felt good to work on a fun car project for a change. It also clears a ton of half finished parts off of my bench. Now that the garage remodel is pretty well wrapped up Im hoping to get more time on this in the next several months.

Dan

[entropy]

Originally Posted by juicedz4

That's it?
4-bolts and done?
No interlock boss?

I guess they knowed what they was a dooen at the factory, but... Wowzerz.

E

[juicedz4]

Yup, thats it, heh,

I guess thats all they thought they needed on a <2000lb car in 1970 something when this was originally designed.

Dan

[juicedz4]

Finally getting back to this after a busy fall: remodeling my attached garage, work trip to Italy, and a week in Phily at Thanksgiving for my daughters dance competition, typical holiday bs, and finally picking up what seemed like months of random project nonsense in the shop.


Picked up the powder coated surge tank weeks ago



Got the car flipped up the other way and finished welding in the battery tray.




Ive been avoiding trying to clean up the area around the back of the spare tire well and what Im calling the rear roll pan for basically ever. I finally decided that the roll pan added no value and it would be easier just to remove it. I got a good start on it, about half done right now. Likely Ill finish the final trimming of the lower half once its on the lift later this week.

The mess I started with






And after. So much better. I may weld in a small piece near the bottom of the wheel wells, still undecided until I can get the bumpers on.




Dan

[juicedz4]

Finished up removing the rear roll pan.






The subframe is now completely welded to the chassis, which was a pain with all the dripping paraffin and fires. But its on there!

This pic was taken before i rolled the car the other way to finish the other floor tie in plate and rocker welding.



I think I mentioned it before but Im taking time to grind any misaligned uni-body panel edges. Im sure no one will ever notice, but I just cant help it. Here is one example from the rear frame rail / wheel well area.






Also manged to get the last of the undercoating stripped, aside from a few small spots still stuck in tight corners. And finally, started striping the rest of the OE primer in order to do the Master Series Silver coating and then regular primer. Im hoping to have the bottom all stripped and primed in the next week or so.



Dan

[juicedz4]

I was just going to "see how much it would suck" in a few spots. A couple hours later I stopped and had done pretty much the whole floor pan. Now I feel like I should do a few spots inside....we'll see. It wasnt too bad, but it def took a certain technique to fight the fires and smoke from any seam sealer or wax left between panels, especially the ones where gravity wasnt helping.





Dan

[TheBandit]

Dude you are going way above and beyond what's needed. Flip it over, paint it, and get to work on the drivetrain/wiring so you can drive this thing!

[juicedz4]

haha I know. I just couldnt help myself. Im still hoping to try and get the bottom in primer this weekend.

Dan

[juicedz4]

More progress!

Thrusday I finsihed up any stitch welding and did more primer removal, weld cleanup etc.

Inside welded up. Its fun to see all the welding from the outside.



Good penetration (maybe too good?)



All cleaned up and ready for primer.




Sat brushed on two coats of Master Series Silver




Sunday the wife and I got the "booth" set back up and wrapped in plastic.

Ready!



Primed with two coats of 2k primer.






Super stoked to finally have this at least in primer. Now I can get it on the rolling dolly and get back to the engine bay. Im hoping to start doing filler later this week.

Dan