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1967 VW Variant.

  • 24-07-2020 7:50am
    #1
    Moderators, Home & Garden Moderators Posts: 5,047 Mod ✭✭✭✭


    I am starting this thread about the 67 Variant that I was lucky enough to gain ownership from Alpha Beta.

    And so that he can continue with the best thread on boards, his own one:), I will be posting up any relevant info of the variant here from now on.


«13456730

Comments

  • Moderators, Home & Garden Moderators Posts: 5,047 Mod ✭✭✭✭kadman


    What I have done so far is to assess the current condition of the car.
    so....

    I freed the 2 seized wheels so that nI can move it in and out of the shed as I need to.
    I brought loads of sand with me from the south coast , tucked up in the wing areas, front and back.

    I am inspecting the main trouble areas associated with Type 3 Variants. Mainly heater channels, A and B posts, windscreen
    areas, and front inner wheelhouse, and under rear seat ares. Plus the floor pan of course.

    When I was negotiating ( well giving Alpha his asking without any hassle to him) I as happy to take the car, if I did not
    have to split the floor from the pan for repairs. A 20 minute inspection of the car led me to believe I would not have to do this.
    Of course thats if under the muck it was reasonably OK. I took a chance that it was. And indeed it is better than I had hoped.

    So far inspection has revealed that I need to repair the two corner rear tails of the shell, the front spare wheel well area,
    and one front bumper mount. All this without splitting the shell.:)

    More to follow


  • Registered Users Posts: 64,548 ✭✭✭✭unkel


    Pics!


  • Moderators, Home & Garden Moderators Posts: 5,047 Mod ✭✭✭✭kadman


    unkel wrote: »
    Pics!
    Drivers door panel after a sponge and soapy water.

    [IMG][/img]nYJCIui.jpg
    Seat came up as well after a minute or two

    3aApJyd.jpg
    Drivers side front beam showing vw manufacturing number.

    eXtLnkd.jpg
    And top of heater channel showing shiny solid metal.

    EVvs0Yv.jpg


  • Moderators, Home & Garden Moderators Posts: 5,047 Mod ✭✭✭✭kadman


    Oil looks like it was changed yesterday.

    bxJryVU.jpg

    Rear passenger side panel unmarked, not the usual condition.

    1rxNOqP.jpg

    And underneath the leather inspection cover, nice shiny rust free wing bolts.

    5hzYJcN.jpg

    Abd dynamo is unmarked from its 50 year slumber

    tanJBj6.jpg


  • Moderators, Home & Garden Moderators Posts: 5,047 Mod ✭✭✭✭kadman


    Wing surface rust treated with genolite and a quick rub 5 minutes later with fine scotchbrite pad.

    EcCPSsC.jpg

    For 53 year old german metal this is in amazing condition. Far superior to whats available today.

    Majority of repro vw panels are paper thin. There are some decent made panels out there, but its not whats widely used. Cheaper crap is the norm


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  • Registered Users Posts: 16 falcof8l


    There is an Irish VW Aircooled group on FB, you may get assistance from there also.

    Good luck with the project.

    B


  • Moderators, Home & Garden Moderators Posts: 5,047 Mod ✭✭✭✭kadman


    falcof8l wrote: »
    There is an Irish VW Aircooled group on FB, you may get assistance from there also.

    Good luck with the project.

    B

    Thanks, but I am well familiar with the VW aircooled variety, and have worked on all of them many, many years:)

    But it would be interesting to know folks opinions on which routes they would take on the journey.

    My own current plans are to get the mechanics and engine going, then the body.

    Which entails door,wings,front boot, and rear hatch removal. Strip down these parts and make any necessary repairs ready for paint.

    Then to make any repairs to the body shell with these parts off.

    Maybe pass on all the parts to a neighbour crash repair chap with a modern spray booth. As he only has to spray parts, it should be a cheaper option than a full car respray.I have already spoken to him, and he has offered me spraybooth time., for myself.

    Then when its driving, move the shell to the booth, just to respray the roof.

    Bring home re assemble, job done


  • Moderators, Home & Garden Moderators Posts: 5,047 Mod ✭✭✭✭kadman


    Pancake engine design.

    Vw 's pancake engine design made it possible to increase luggage space area in the type 3 range.
    Boxer engine similar to beetle engine, except the cooling fan has been taken from the upright position
    of the beetle engine, and moved to the end of the crankshaft at the pulley end.
    This made the pancake engine low in height, about 40cms, IIRC.

    The engine in this car is free revolving, and in ok visual appearance. The dynamo looks like new:)

    I notice that the automatic chokes have no live feeds to them from the coil. This
    means they were inoperative. This would have made this engine difficult to start,
    especially in colder months.

    tanJBj6.jpg


  • Registered Users Posts: 942 ✭✭✭outfox


    Best of luck with the project. It will make for interesting reading here.

    Can I ask what this is for? Is it to pull moisture out of the metal?
    kadman wrote: »
    I brought loads of sand with me from the south coast , tucked up in the wing areas, front and back.


  • Registered Users Posts: 9,611 ✭✭✭ba_barabus


    outfox wrote: »
    Can I ask what this is for? Is it to pull moisture out of the metal?
    I think it's a left over from the previous owner :D


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  • Moderators, Home & Garden Moderators Posts: 5,047 Mod ✭✭✭✭kadman


    outfox wrote: »
    Best of luck with the project. It will make for interesting reading here.

    Can I ask what this is for? Is it to pull moisture out of the metal?

    From driving along the beach on the southern coast of the emerald isle.
    Its from having fun and enjoying the car:)


  • Moderators, Home & Garden Moderators Posts: 5,047 Mod ✭✭✭✭kadman


    I expect to remove the plugs after plenty of lubrication with WD 40 this week.

    Clean and gap them. Check the distributor and rotor, and clean and gap the points.
    Change the coil, and connect the auto chokes.
    Oil looks new, so I will crank the engine with the plugs out, and get the oil around the engine.

    Then compression test all cylinders . If its good then I replace the plugs, and squirt petrol straight
    down the inlet manifold.. Check the dissy for spark.

    If good to go, then fire it up. I will know within 5 minutes whether this engine will fire or not.

    Sounds like a plan.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,301 ✭✭✭John Hutton


    kadman wrote: »
    I expect to remove the plugs after plenty of lubrication with WD 40 this week.

    Clean and gap them. Check the distributor and rotor, and clean and gap the points.
    Change the coil, and connect the auto chokes.
    Oil looks new, so I will crank the engine with the plugs out, and get the oil around the engine.

    Then compression test all cylinders . If its good then I replace the plugs, and squirt petrol straight
    down the inlet manifold.. Check the dissy for spark.

    If good to go, then fire it up. I will know within 5 minutes whether this engine will fire or not.

    Sounds like a plan.

    Record the attempt to start it please!


  • Registered Users Posts: 9,611 ✭✭✭ba_barabus


    This is really making me want to get a proper project


  • Registered Users Posts: 3,153 ✭✭✭ratracer


    kadman makes it sound even easier to do than wheeler dealers!

    I envy your training and skills, the most I can do is look in at these projects in admiration. I really love seeing any vehicle being restored, preserved and used as it was intended in the first place.


  • Registered Users Posts: 8,172 ✭✭✭jmreire


    kadman wrote: »
    Thanks, but I am well familiar with the VW aircooled variety, and have worked on all of them many, many years:)

    But it would be interesting to know folks opinions on which routes they would take on the journey.

    My own current plans are to get the mechanics and engine going, then the body.

    Which entails door,wings,front boot, and rear hatch removal. Strip down these parts and make any necessary repairs ready for paint.

    Then to make any repairs to the body shell with these parts off.

    Maybe pass on all the parts to a neighbour crash repair chap with a modern spray booth. As he only has to spray parts, it should be a cheaper option than a full car respray.I have already spoken to him, and he has offered me spraybooth time., for myself.

    Then when its driving, move the shell to the booth, just to respray the roof.

    Bring home re assemble, job done

    Sound's like a plan........;)


  • Moderators, Home & Garden Moderators Posts: 5,047 Mod ✭✭✭✭kadman


    Record the attempt to start it please!


    Thats the plan,:)


  • Registered Users Posts: 7,699 ✭✭✭saabsaab


    When you get the plugs out you could squirt a little 2 stroke down the bores?


  • Moderators, Home & Garden Moderators Posts: 5,047 Mod ✭✭✭✭kadman


    ratracer wrote: »
    kadman makes it sound even easier to do than wheeler dealers!

    I envy your training and skills, the most I can do is look in at these projects in admiration. I really love seeing any vehicle being restored, preserved and used as it was intended in the first place.

    The only training I had was an interest in all things mechanical, well nurtured by my dad. he was my teacher, old school.

    Its really a process of eliminating all the components one by one, after you have established each component works as it should. If it doesn't, its a possible issue,

    Fix it and move on to the next.:)


  • Moderators, Home & Garden Moderators Posts: 5,047 Mod ✭✭✭✭kadman


    Record the attempt to start it please!


    Just like my last one,


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  • Moderators, Home & Garden Moderators Posts: 5,047 Mod ✭✭✭✭kadman


    Picture showing the dynamo pulley cover.

    MWxvEkd.jpg

    Notice the sticker with the recommended tappet setting of 4 thou.
    This was the initial setting for all valve tappets on all VW engines between services.

    Problem was that the VW engine performed so well , even when it was not serviced at the regular periods.

    That it went for longer periods without setting, that VW increased the valve tappet settings to 6 thou
    to accomodate lazy service owners:)

    Properly serviced classic VW engines with valve settings of 4 thou are a sweeter running engine.


  • Registered Users Posts: 8,412 ✭✭✭Markcheese


    kadman wrote: »
    From driving along the beach on the southern coast of the emerald isle.
    Its from having fun and enjoying the car:)

    Amazed all the salt in the sand didn't rot out the body ...

    Slava ukraini 🇺🇦



  • Registered Users Posts: 8,172 ✭✭✭jmreire


    The most common rust area of the Beetle was underneath the battery, but they could and did rust in other areas too. But the centre frame, on which everything depended, was made of a very heavy gauge metal, and aside from surface rust, I've never seen one rust through.


  • Moderators, Home & Garden Moderators Posts: 5,047 Mod ✭✭✭✭kadman


    Well amazingly there is no rust all anywhere on the floorpan, and the battery tray
    is spotless.

    There is no similarity at all between the beetle Type1 and the Type3 floorpan.
    As you correctly point out the beetle has a central spine down the length of the car,
    and two floorpans, one either side of the spine, placed in from above.

    The type 3 floorpan differs in the construction. It has a central spine, but a single full size pan
    attached to the central spine, from below.

    So that if you look under a type 3 floor, you cannot see the central spine. If you
    can the floors have been replaced.


  • Registered Users Posts: 8,172 ✭✭✭jmreire


    kadman wrote: »
    Well amazingly there is no rust all anywhere on the floorpan, and the battery tray
    is spotless.

    There is no similarity at all between the beetle Type1 and the Type3 floorpan.
    As you correctly point out the beetle has a central spine down the length of the car,
    and two floorpans, one either side of the spine, placed in from above.

    The type 3 floorpan differs in the construction. It has a central spine, but a single full size pan
    attached to the central spine, from below.

    So that if you look under a type 3 floor, you cannot see the central spine. If you
    can the floors have been replaced.

    Yes, the Beetle and the Variant were two different vehicles though, so different construction. But they shared a lot of design features...torsion bar suspension, and "Y" ( loosely described ) shaped Chassis either end of the centre spine, Fantastic car, and very popular with commercial travellers, and Vet's. We serviced quite a lot of them, and even had one Karmann Ghia customer


  • Moderators, Home & Garden Moderators Posts: 5,047 Mod ✭✭✭✭kadman


    True for the suspension, but type 3 had torsion bar suspension all around,
    using round torsion bars on front beam and rear axle.
    Where as beetle torsion bar suspension on the front was actually made up of seperate leaves
    in the tube of the front beam, and round torsion bars on the rear.

    The variant was initially a hard sell for Volkswagen, according to the leading salesperson for vw back in the day.

    Main dealers had to be encouraged to drive the variant as a dealer car. Thats why many variants were owned
    and run by VW leasing company, as this one was


  • Moderators, Home & Garden Moderators Posts: 5,047 Mod ✭✭✭✭kadman


    Here is the full pressed steel floor of the type 3.
    And as you can see the central spine is not visible as the floor pan is a single complete pressed panel.
    here is one i prepared earlier,

    ghkrWKW.jpg


  • Registered Users Posts: 11,318 ✭✭✭✭carchaeologist


    Excellent thread here Kadman, it looks a very solid and worthwhile car. Will certainly enjoy the progress reports.


  • Registered Users Posts: 8,172 ✭✭✭jmreire


    kadman wrote: »
    True for the suspension, but type 3 had torsion bar suspension all around,
    using round torsion bars on front beam and rear axle.
    Where as beetle torsion bar suspension on the front was actually made up of seperate leaves
    in the tube of the front beam, and round torsion bars on the rear.

    The variant was initially a hard sell for Volkswagen, according to the leading salesperson for vw back in the day.

    Main dealers had to be encouraged to drive the variant as a dealer car. Thats why many variants were owned
    and run by VW leasing company, as this one was

    Yes the front ones were flat strip's but held together in a "shape" for want of a better description, but you know what I mean. I well remember using masking tape to help them keep their "Shape" before inserting them into the axle beam.Rears as you say, were round splined bars, not the kind of suspension that was very popular at the time...Morris Minor's had it as well for the front suspension. Again round bar's with splined end's running along the chassis rails. Same system basically, but most cars of that era were using coil spring suspension. With most of our customers ( Farmer's mainly ) the Beetle was first choice, then came the commercial salesmen and Vet's. But they were a really good car IMHO, be nice to see yours when its finished.


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  • Moderators, Home & Garden Moderators Posts: 5,047 Mod ✭✭✭✭kadman


    Off out now to crack open the plugs....hopefully, and do a compression check to see
    if its in a condition to fire.

    Wish me luck:)


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