May 10 2005 « on: May 10, 2005, 09:19:55 AM »
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Next was to instal the new tank, Turns out the later tank also has a different venting system than the old one, with a little fussing all fit well and the cover was installed.
Matt was kind enough to smooth out the rear apron, I had trimmed it down (removing the lower portion) and welded on some nail wire to give it a factory rolled look. Next it was time to prime.
wet sand and some paint later...
After that it was onto wiring the eng bay. For the most part I'm retaining all the stock wiring with a few mods to the turn and tail lights as they are now Euro spec. Also the battery has been moved to the drivers side as you can see the large + cable running along the frame rail. Also the stock 911 ignition box, voltage regulator and other electrical needs to be mounted.
Details! I love this shot! This is the new decals we now have for the Buses. The decal sheet comes with these plus all the sliding door,steering colum, coil,valve lash and others. This finishes off any paint job with that factory look.
The last shot is just with the tail and reverse lights instaled.
Here you can see the shape the shift rod must be in to work, The rod now runs under the heater tube and then just behind the front beam it moves upward to the shift box.
I used two greasable bearings to support the new shift tube and the orig 911 shift coupler at the trans end.
As for the universal joints, Well I looked around and found the best solution was a pair of 3/8 universal joints (you know the ones in your tool box) With some mods here and there including roll pins added so they can be removed and a rubber tube to cover them from road grime....they work great!
Here you can see the trans end of the shift rod, the rear bearing is not yet bolted in.
This is the front end, here you can see the shift rod runs up thru the stock tube guide and into the new 911 bushing and shift box.
Now it's back onto the motor end, I started on a new engine mount as you can just see here. I have to make this mount clear the exhaust, tow hitch, apron and other things so it's a little tight under there.
Also at this time I'm finishing the mounts on the oil tank and building the exhaust.
Here is a under motor shot, you can see the bottom of the enging mount and how tight everything is. I have to fit some mufflers under there somewhere?
Here's a close up of the mount.
This is the mount that I came up with. It took a good day to build it but it seems to work very well.
Here it is on the motor.
Last is the shifter, I took the orig 915 shifter box and shifter cut and lengthened the shaft to put it back in the stock location.
The trans shifts great and I cant wait to go for a spin! :rockon:
It sure looks big once out!
And the Motor and exhaust.
Next it was time to cut and trim the 76 hatch section, This took a while!
I then marked out the area I wanted the hatch (over the carbs for easy tuning) and cut a rough hole.
Then trimmed back the hole and fit the outer hatch rim, tacked it in place.
After a lot of welding and grinding it's in place. Here you can see the different style of ribs. For the outer small ribs I cut them on a taper and made them look like the factory ends.
And a little filler..
May 7 2005 « on: May 07, 2005, 10:40:14 AM »
<hr/> Wed Night I filled and sanded out the inspection hatch area and engine bay.
Thursday night I added some more filler and primed both areas. Here's a shot of the primer going on.
The engine bay was in good shape so just some light scuffing was needed. The drivers side battery tray (thats where the battery will be now as the oil tank is on the pass side) needed a few holes welded up, seems the prev owner cut some holes in for?
Friday night I was able to sand out the primer and get some paint on it.
It was a little hard to get in some of the areas but with the small touch up gun that I bought from KMS tools ($19.99) I got most of the areas. It's no show quality job but it's all one color
The inside cargo area looks much better now.
And a little black on the oil tank...
