Strip Search (or Tease, whichever you prefer)

Today was my first day off after working 13 days straight. The overtime is great, but I needed a break to spend with the family. I also wanted to do some work on the car, of course!

I focused on stripping down the black tub. I was happy to get quite a bit done, though there is still more to do. I tried to work back to front for the most part and started with the rear bumpers as well as the tail light assemblies. I tried to get the license plate light off but the screws were fairly well rusted. And, it wasn't until later that I figured out there were nuts on the other end of those screws. So, I applied a liberal amount of WD-40 and I'll get to them the next time.

The rear mainly stripped...forgot to pull out the soft top frame.

I pulled the four doors (two that were a part of the car and two more that the PO included) out of the tub (yes, out, not off, as they were being stored in there) and I will move them up to the attic soon. The steel hardtop was relocated to the red car along with the windscreen, which I put across the steel hardtop.

Wiring harness, dash and heater...that's about it. You can see one of the PO-supplied spare doors in the background.

I was also able to pull the wipers, wiper motor and associated hardware (this was a confusing dis-assembly...I'll have to figure that out eventually). I was also pulling rubber grommets out as I went, after snapping pictures of them, of course. Some of the rubber was in good shape...others not so much. I do intend to replace all of the rubber, however, but I'm sure the pics will help in determining what I need to order when it comes to it.

Rubber plug and fabric pad (?) that goes under gas tank. Plug covers access to frame hold-down bolt.

I re-located the bonnet from the driver's side of the car, standing up, to the front of it, standing up. This allows me to cover it while also allowing me to get to the driver's side of the car, so a better spot.

I didn't even try to get the rear differential off the frame again. The way I see it, especially after beating on it for a while with the sledge, is that I'll have to cut the frame apart. Since I don't want to do that until I KNOW that the red frame is good or at least repairable, it may be a while. But, I doused it with WD-40 again and we'll see what happens.

Almost clean. The red car hangs out in the garage.

Inside Jobs

Winter sucks! We had an abnormally dry summer/fall here, so the opportunities to work outside on the car were many. Then, reality and the new job set in and the opportunities were limited to the weekends.

Now, winter with its freezing temperatures, cold rain (no appreciable snow...yet) and early sunset have lead to serious limitations. The new job is good and I'm enjoying it, but building submarines is time consuming and tiring. When I get home, there isn't much else I want to do other than eat dinner, spend some quality time with the wife and kids and hit the sack (5am comes too early anymore).

I've taken to try and get things done for an hour or two in the evening between dinner and when it's time to get the kids ready for bed. This has taken some effort on my part because, when I start something, I want to be able to contribute enough time to it where I eventually give up vice having to say "it's time for me to be done." With practice, I've been able to get used to doing it differently and am accomplishing little things here and there.

Take, for example, this seat. Not pretty. The foam is a mixture between old and crusty and surprisingly soft and supple. However, none of it is good. I pulled the old hog rings and was able to remove the vinyl and padding without damage, really, to any of it.

45 yr old foam...not good!

The thin framing seems to be in pretty good shape if not quite rusty. I'll try some naval jelly or something to clean that up. I still have to take the back of the seat apart, but I expect similar results. The driver's seat (as it's bolted into the car, anyway) is broken a some point where the seat transitions from the horizontal to the vertical. I am hoping that I can just tack-weld it (when I get a welder, of course) as a fix.

All in all, I have decided on a course ahead pending deviations due to lack of significant parts, misunderstandings or other road blocks (or recommendations from you fine folks):
The black car, the '64, will be my base for the tub, body color (black) and interior (red).
The red car, the '66, will be my base for the frame, but will be painted black.
The engine (a '62, probably, based on it's number) and tranny (don't have that # yet) will be the basis for my motive force.
The black or red car's suspension, differential, and other frame-mounted items will be used based on which is in better shape or more easily restored.

I intend to stay as original as possible to a Mk1 because that's what the tub is, that's the motor I have and that's what I intend to title/register the car as. As I've said before (I think), I now have a Mk1 radiator (no radiator cap on the actual radiator as it has a reservoir bolted to the intake manifold...so cool). With luck and some NOS parts, I can return the Mk1 motor that I have to its original glory!