The Ragtop Express

[TPB_Karl]

So I’ve started tearing down the engine. The slotted screws for the cooling tins were not very fun to remove...







Good thing I split the case, because I found this little gem along with some other small remains from the guide for the fuel pump...


Before tearing the engine down, I measured the end play, which came out to 0.14 mm, and the main bearing saddles don’t look disastrous. But you can feel a ridge with your fingernail. Still, this engine will be reassembled with the same internals it was taken apart with. The plan is for a bigger engine in a couple of years.



Then I spent a day at a friends garage and got to borrow a hot water pressure washer, small parts washer, and the vapor blasting cabinet.



The vapor blasting cabinet works wonders. Here’s the cam plug as an example.



The heads also got a once-over.



Even the valves!



I lapped the valves to the seats before reassembling everything. The valve guides were really nice on the intake side, and a bit loose on the exhaust side, but not catastrophic.





Quite a difference!



I also blasted the pistons and all the rocker components.

[TPB_Karl]

Back in the garage, I was ready to assemble a short block.


…almost, anyway. I thought I could drop in the crankshaft with the distributor shaft in place—immensely difficult. If the distributor shaft has to come out, the bakelite guide for the fuel pump has to come out too. Yeah… you probably know how that usually goes...


Eventually, it was out, the case halves cleaned again, and all parts in place without issues.



I also honed the cylinders.


Then the fuel pump and carburetor got a bath in the ultrasonic cleaner and new gasket kits.





The distributor got new contact points and a light cleaning.





A pair of old valve covers from “the stash” got a coat of black paint.



This engine is by no means rebuilt—just cleaned and reassembled with fresh gaskets. It’ll live, as long as it lives. I had previously planned a 130–150 hp engine build, but I’ll build a “Stage 1 engine” first in a couple of years which can go in my bus when this one is taken apart and turned into a proper “Callooker.” I’ve got a case to send off for line-boring and have started collecting parts and sketching a build plan. Dual relief case, deep-stud, large oil pickup, and M8 case savers.


I also got a set of super-Chinese IDF 40 carburetors that will go on that engine.

[TPB_Karl]

So back in the garage after a week on vacation. Of course, I managed to do a little shopping at Custom & Speedparts in Hyllinge! Always a pleasure to visit that store!
An 8-dowel 69mm crankshaft ala CB-performance. Perfect for the upcoming "mouse-motor" 36mm, big washer chromoly gland nut, Schadek 26mm oil pump plugged for full-flow, and a few other bits and pieces.


Some pictures from the store:




Back home, the first thing on the list was to check the new piston rings, file the ones that needed it, and lap the piston against its respective sealing surface in the heads.



Once that was done, all pistons were mounted in the cylinders, ready to drop into the case.



During the week, I read "How to rebuild your aircooled VW engine", where it mentioned that exhaust valves commonly drop a valve head from the stem when worn. Since new valves were so cheap, I replaced all the exhaust valves.


With that done, it was just a matter of putting together a longblock.



I can't recommend the black valve cover bails. They were almost a centimeter too short for the valve cover. So I had to use the shabby originals. I’ve used chrome bails before and they’ve worked just fine.



Both sides done and a new oil cooler in place.


New gasket in the oil filler cap…



It’s starting to look more and more like an engine!


But here I ran into trouble…



Some aluminum hose from a local hardware store solved it.




Once on the ground, the endplay was set to about 0.14 mm (same shims as before), and a new rear main seal was installed.

[TPB_Karl]

New clutch disc since the old one was completely worn out. The engine was filled with oil and was now ready to be mounted in the car!



But before that, both heater cables were replaced since they had been cut… (One end of the cable is slightly longer than the other. That one goes on the car’s left side.)



Some other preparations before the engine goes in. New seals in the engine bay.


Fuel hose with aluminum filter holder.


A REALLY serious repair of one of the heater boxes with chemical metal… Budget version, deluxe...
With that, it was time to drop in the engine!


It went in so easily! Very easy when you’re two people and use a motorcycle jack. After that, wires, fuel hoses, and heater connections were hooked up.



I also finally got to install the stainless steel tailpipes. Mmm shiny…


To start the engine, we need fuel. So the fuel tank came out and got scrubbed underneath. Also blew out the worst of the dirt.



Quickly cleaned up under the trunk and installed the tank with a new rubber hose underneath. Also a new gas cap and a new gasket under the fuel sender.



The next step is power to run the starter motor so I can test start the car. The battery terminal looked like it had seen better days, to say the least…


With new cables and terminals to the battery, it was just a matter of turning the key. I removed all fuses except those for the coil and starter motor since the fenders aren’t mounted and the wires are hanging loose.



Unfortunately, no start! Even though the battery measured 6V, the voltage drop was too great to turn the starter. The battery is junk and a new one is ordered… (Yes, I WILL convert to 12V..)
A local club member came by with a spare starter motor which sounded much better than the old unit… So that went in! He also helped me do a rough wheel alignment on the front end.


Oh, how close I was to taking a test drive today! But next weekend I’ll probably be able to take a proper test drive, and then it’s getting close to inspection if everything goes as planned.

[TPB_Karl]

Some setbacks, but alot has happened and progress has been made! I even think this will have to be two updates..
While waiting for the ordered 6V battery, I cleaned the floor mats. Quite a difference it made... The mats went back into the car together with new boots for the shifter and parking brake.








First off, I never managed to get hold of a 6V battery..(There appear to be a national shortage) Since I was planning to convert to 12V later, I didn’t want to buy one that was too expensive. The battery I ordered online on a Sunday still hadn’t been shipped by Wednesday. So, I canceled that order and instead ordered all the lightbulbs in 12V and bought myself a 12V battery from a local autoparts store.
I already had an electronic ignition kit lying around (Thanks to David Ruiz), and earlier this summer I got hold of an alternator kit at a good price. At this point, it would be quicker to convert the whole car than to order another 6V battery..

First, the engine came out so I could switch to the alternator.








Then the bulbs in the speedometer and fuel gauge were replaced. These bulbs had a small solder blob I had to file down. The solder kept the bulb from going all the way down into the holder, so they could twist and lock in place. This resulted in them making poor contact and flickering sporadically..


I had big problems building oil pressure in the engine, even with the 12V battery in the car. The engine coughed to life but the oil pressure warning light was still on..
To troubleshoot, I tried swapping the sensor. Same problem..
I pulled out the oil pressure sensor and put some paper outside the hole, turned the key but no oil came out..
I got a tip from a friend to feed the pump oil via the hole for the oil pressure sender. Lo and behold—It worked! Lots of oil came out when cranking.


The ignition was set and the carburetor adjusted! Cheers in the garage! I also made a spacer for the carburetor with the help of a paper template. That spacer turned out.. functional..



To be able to get out for a test drive, I wanted to get the fenders on and the rest of the electrics! Starting with the rear fenders.





Polished up the T-bars and mounted them too!

[TPB_Karl]

The other side as well, of course!


The license plate light got its 12V bulb and a little freshening up.



Then the front fenders slipped into place. Quite a bit of trimming was needed to get the trim strip around the end of the fender right.





Washed off the running boards since they had gotten really dirty from lying on the shelf so long. I took the opportunity to apply rubber/tire treatment to them as well. Mounted the stainless trim and put them on the car. Very pleased with the fit of both running boards and fenders.






In went my sports seat that I made in 4th grade woodshop, and off for a spin around the neighborhood!




I can hardly believe it’s my car. It changes so insanely much just by getting fenders and working lights on it.


To be continued...

[V8Nate]

What a transformation so far! Great work!

[TPB_Karl]

Thanks!

I finished up my front license plate bracket and mounted it, removable with just a single thumbscrew. Doesn’t look too bad!



I also designed and ordered a rear bracket using the same 3D-printed mounts. This one went on the engine lid with a rubber sheet to protect the paint.




I've started sketching up a press tool to make “US-style frames” that fit these modern Swedish plates. That’ll be a future project though…
Next step was to scrub the interior and get the car fully assembled.



Didn’t take many before/after pics, but I think the sun visors give a good idea of how filthy it was.



The headliner also came out nice.



Seats and door panels got a proper wash too.








After that I could finally start laying in all the carpets and interior pieces.






The car finally earned its TPB-member sticker too. Slightly smaller than the regular version and mounted inside the glass. These will be the only two stickers going on the car.
Next day was the first proper drive—to the gas station for a fill-up, about 10 km each way.

[TPB_Karl]

The trip there went smooth. Once there a couple of issues popped up: the gearbox is spewing oil out over the front mount, and I need to raise the front end since I’ve already rubbed down to bare metal in the fenders…


On the way back to the garage the car started running really rough. Oil pressure light also came on at idle.
Managed to limp back to the garage, to figure out what went wrong and what to do next.

Had to cancel the inspection I had booked for the next day.

After checking the gearbox and linkage more closely, I’m pretty sure the oil is coming from the vent/overflow at the top of the nose cone. It sprayed oil on the Bowden tube, but the bakelite plugs and shift linkage are dry.




Before inspection, the horn also had to be replaced since the old one was dead. The new one is way sportier and lighter than stock!


As for the engine not holding oil pressure when warm at idle, I’ve got one last shot. Since it’s been struggling to build pressure from the start, the issue is probably the pump. Either I used too thick of a gasket between the pump and cover, or the pump is just worn. I also ran too thin of an oil, 10w-40. I had 2.5 liters lying around and wanted to use it up, so I figured I could burn it during break-in…

Plan now is to swap in a new pump, mount it with a thin gasket (or just sealant), and run 20w-50 oil. On top of that I need to bleed the brakes and grind down the ridge on the rear drums. If all goes well, inspection might happen Friday or Monday.

[TPB_Karl]

Lucky I film almost everything. I was able to go back and watch myself install the oil pump. Caught red-handed! Here you can see me putting the thick gasket between the pump and the cover.


As I understand it, even the thin gaskets you get in the gasket kits are too thick. The oil pump puller deformed before it managed to budge the pump from the block. I also measured the axial play on the gears in the new and old oil pumps with feeler gauges. The new pump was between 0.05 and 0.1 mm, while the old pump that was already in the engine was less than 0.05 mm. So I kept the old pump and mounted the cover without a gasket. Only Curil T2. The pump was packed with grease to help during startup.



I also Designed and 3D-printed a tool to find and mark TDC and 30 degrees on my pulley using the original marks at 7.5 and 10 degrees.



I then changed the bushing in the distributor to the one that gives 20 degrees advance. Then I set the ignition so I have about 28 degrees at roughly 3000 rpm, which landed at about 8 degrees at idle.
The carburetor was also cleaned and fitted with a larger jet of 127.5 since I assumed it was originally jetted for old gasoline without all the 10% ethanol we have here.. I also switched to 20w-50 oil and checked the valve clearances.


After this it was startup time! The oil pressure light went out on the second turn of the key with just the starter motor. The car fired up and I took another trip to the gas station. I removed the T-bars in case they would complain about them at inspection for some reason..



I drove the car back to the city to my apartment. So far no problems! I also swapped to the large license plate in the front that I’m supposed to have in according to the registration papers.. Because the next morning it was time for inspection!


The inspection went fine except for two unnecessary faults. The low beam was aimed too high and CO was too high… I had 7.0 and the limit is 4.5.
I went to the garage during the weekend, swapped to a 120 jet, adjusted the headlights lower, and gave the car a well-deserved wash.



The re-inspection on Monday went really well! The headlights were aimed low enough and I measured 0.1 in CO! I’ll probably switch to a slightly larger jet.. like 122.5 or 125.
So now the car is fully street legal and completely ready to use and enjoy! Now it’s officially a rolling project!!
I had also scheduled a wheel alignment the same day. I swapped back to the small front license plate and reinstalled the T-bars.




I still have some small fixes to do, but mainly I’ll be putting miles on the car to discover any potential issues before the trip to the Netherlands on September 18th!

[Piledriver]

Congratulations!!!

[TPB_Karl]

Congratulations!!!

Thanks!

The fourth episode is finally finished.
https://youtu.be/37rcueZyJJ8?si=hrW9RZfOnYhlbSza

[TPB_Karl]

So far everything seems to be working fine. I’ve mostly just enjoyed the car. Went for some Twin peak boxers Wednesday-burgers to reveal the car to the local club. As well as a Cars & Coffee-event with two members from the club at the local racetrack, where two of us took home a small trophy.




A local club member bought a cheap tachometer at a swap-meet recently. Since I had previously mentioned that I had been looking at tachometers, he let me buy it from him for the same price. True friends!
A 5" Autometer 8K without shiftlight.
Tried it out at the office and it seemed to work just fine!



It needed some kind of mount so the 3D printer got to work a bit and voilà, I had a clamp. This one was then made in 2 more versions before I was satisfied. I’m still not entirely happy though.. Especially not with the print quality..


From the boating section at the local hardware store I bought a stainless shackle. I figured the screw from this could fit nicely for the mounting. The existing hole in the dashboard was used and the gauge fit like a glove!




Reluctantly, yet another hole was drilled for the cable..




Wired up the gauge with connectors from Amazon and secured it with a 2A fuse on the lead wire from the ignition. (Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a green cable for the coil signal so it ended up being gray..)
The lighting for the gauge is on its own wire and since I took it from the fuel gauge lighting, the dimmer works as well! Luxurious!



I also made a new mount that moves the tach a bit lower, but it still hits the glovebox when opened..


Wrapping up this post with some edited photos I took the other evening. Cheers!





This week it’s the Airmighty Show in the Netherlands. My trip down there departs from Sundsvall on Thursday. That gives us all of Thursday and Friday to cover 1650 km (1000 miles). Hopefully the car holds up, and maybe we’ll see you there?

[V8Nate]

Turned out great and nice fitment and deal on the tach!

[TPB_Karl]

Time for an update! Tuesday before the Airmighty show, the Express had been sitting in the garage since the day before. The gearbox was definitely leaking too much to make it 3,200 km... I checked the level and it was definitely low...


The only thing I could think of was that the plugs in the gearbox were bad and the ventilation hole clogged... Tried poking around a bit in the vent hole with welding wire. Luckily, I had 3D printed a set of plugs in different diameters this spring which I replaced the existing ones with. These were fixed with Permatex...






Hoping that solved my problem, I adjusted the valves and changed the oil. Unfortunately, My friend who i was supose to be traveling with got sick on Tuesday. So I decided to head down on my own and start the trip already on Wednesday after work.
Work clothes, jack, jack stands, tools, and spare parts packed.


Made several stops on the way down. First in Gävle to visit Icka and Jimmy in the garage. Then I stayed overnight near Västerås.


Next stop was in Helsingborg where I of course dropped by CSP in Hyllinge. Thanks to Nils Komet and family for the accommodation!


On Friday morning, the ferry went to Helsingør and then the next ferry to Puttgarden from Rødby.


Also made a stop at CSP in Hamburg, nice showroom!



Finally, 1650 km or 1025 miles later, I arrived in Oldenzaal where I checked in at my AirBnB. First thing I did after checking in was to head to the self-service wash and rinse off all the insects from the car...



SATURDAY and Airmighty show!


Janik Otto caught me on camera while I was looking for a spot in the Callook line-up.