Splitting the bug

After much looking around at ideas on splitting (floor and upper body) the bug, we have decided to make a rolling stand as others have done it. Here it our flimsier version of it:

We too the risk using casters rated at 50Kg each. Larger ones are just way too expensive.

Haussman brakets we used to attach the 2x3 (more like 1.5" x 2.5") wood bought from Citi Hardware.

Finished product.

Now for the actual splitting. All the electrical harnesses attached from the upper to lower end have been prepped. And after having removed all the fenders and the front lid, we decided to remove all the doors and the glass windows to make it even lighter.

Front windshield

All glass windows gone

Driver door gone

Grinding rusted out hinges on right door

Rear engine lid removed

All doors, windows and lids gone.

It's time. With all of us prepped, we went ahead and lifted the body from the floor and slid the rolling stand in:

Done!

Rechecking the rolling stand - it squeaked on receiving the load. 

Gas tank on rotten floor

More rust!

Rear swing axle shows much rust, we might have to rebuild this. The previous owner also decided to weld the floor into it. Bad idea!

Napoleon's hat is completely rotten.

Little toy model

Color Selection: 1974 Bizorrão

These here is the yellow we want with the same clean lines

image sources: SEBeetles

Fenders Removed

Here is a view of the car without fenders and step board. We had to remove the step board to try out the fenders. The ones installed was really badly done and isn't the right dimension at all.

Left (driver) side without fenders and step board.  

Rear left wheel well without fenders

Front left wheel well without fenders

Right side without fenders

Rear right wheel well without fenders.

Removing the rear fenders

Here we are removing the rear fender like we did on the front. The rear seems to have maintained its geometry well. The new fenders seems to fit just fine.

Front geometry is off

As earlier mentioned, this vehicle seems to have suffered some major collision up front at some point of its life before we got it. It seems that the rear axles do not align well with the rear axles and the front quarter panels are bent in so that the new fenders can be seen to be much further forward than the front clip as shown below:

The gap pointed out - it's more than a couple of inches

See the gap on the lower portion of the left fender

Gap of right fender

A view of the general misalignment especially on the right side.
Although it is not clear on picture.

Removing Front Fenders

The Tikarol, after receiving news that the goods has arrived its destination, was quite excited to see what updates there are with the project. So we decided to take the front fenders out immediately. Here is a short time lapse video of what we did which includes us doing a mock up of the new fenders even if the front of the donor car is 4 inches shorter (it might had suffered a major collision back in its days). 

Wasted temporary work on the lights.

Before taking out the fenders, I decided to take a short clip of the rear and front lights which we had temporarily put together which was suppose to server for registering the vehicle. Instead we figured we just register it next year seeing we will have to spend on registering it twice in 4 months if we do it now.

I put together a temporary set of LED lights for the rear which had only this button sized park light the original owner put on and nothing else. There was also this center light on the rear window which had a park light function and an annoying flashing brake function. This was rewired to light only on brakes - without the annoying flashes. Here is the video of the rear lights and fenders before taking it down.

The front lights were also rewired and fixed - this was on a previous post. But here is a video of it working before taking down the fenders.

Panels arrived

Panels arrived at destination. Checking out the goods. Apparently some of the "new" panels have not been properly stored and rust have already significantly damaged the metal and may need some work. Hopefully the next batch of items will be in better state. We still need: doors, bumpers, running boards, front clip, rear clip, rubber seals, latches for the hood. Supplier mentioned that the seals and the latches come with the panels as a set but I guess I understood wrong.

Checking the quality of the panel

New hood need metal work. Rust had eaten away almost thru this new panel

Used rear engine door with 2 long air vents which is what the seller says the 1972 should come with. It's got much rust as well.

Edges need some work - rust had eaten thru.

Spring is rusted too.

Trying out the fit of the hood.

We suspected the front geometry was off and is now confirmed by the hood. We can see a large gap in front when trying them on - though they are just placed on top.

It's confirmed the front of the donor car might have suffered a major frontal collision at some point or the metal works it was subject to the last time was quite bad.

:) Can't do it!

Rear fenders are a much closer match - condition of the body here isn't as bad as the front although there is a slight gap as well.

Floor pans

Temporary fix to lights to process motor vehicle registration at LTO

I'm working to temporarily get the lights to work. As it is when we got it, the bug electricals were pretty messed up. None of the original switches were functioning or were completely missing. Instead there were a bunch of those household wall light switches. There was a separate switch for park lights, low beam and high beam. Park lights turned 2 blue LED lamps in front and 2 tiny red LED lamps on the back. Low beam works only on the right side but left sealed beam must be busted. High beam works on both sides. I noticed that once I turned low beam on, the blue LEDs in front would extinguish.

I went ahead and checked. This thing has zero fuses installed. All lights are just wired directly into the positive wire directly hooked onto the battery. Park lamps didn't have their own ground and was going through the filament of one of the low beams which is what causes it to turn off when low beam was on. Flasher is not working or any of the original side markers. And there were no other lights working at the back besides the tiny LED park lights. There was some sort of a third brake light at the rear window which kinda worked. Brake lights were not working and I noticed wire got disconnected probably when we were taking the makeshift gas tank out.

Here is the electrical mess it came with

I had the front lid (is it called a trunk or a hood?) for easier work access to the electrical system. It was barely bolted in anyway. 

Brake switch was not hooked up

The insides of the side marker after taking it all apart. All rusted.

So after seeing all this, I decided to get some LED light to complete the read lighting and I did a bit of a rewire in front to get them light to be electrically connected correctly. There was a flasher there that was not hooked but I tested it and it works fine. I removed both side markers and they are all broken into pieces none of them belong to its place and it was so rusted the bulbs were just floating around inside.

After much cleaning and temporary mending and some bulb replacement, I got the side markers to work. I hooked LED lamps at the back, rewired the brake switch and get that annoying flashing third brake light to go stead on break and just shut on park. But still no fuse - i didn't want to spend too much on a temporary fix that we will tear apart anyways.

Shipment coming soon...

Items from Nardo now on its way. Should get here in a week's time. 5 boxes.

Shopping for panels and parts

Tikarol has gone shopping for lots of new panels and parts for the project. Pair of new front fenders, rear fenders, floor pans, rear engine hood, front trunk, side channels, rear tail light full assemblies, front head lights full assemblies, front side marker lights, and even a pair of mirrors!!!

(Above) Front and rear fenders - all four

Right and left side channels/members and floor pan

 Front and rear hood and trunk

Pair of rear tail light assemblies with matching gaskets

Pair of head light assemblies with chrome rings, adjusters, and semi-sealed beams.

Pair of front marker lights 

Pair of mirrors!!!!