ProVolks Official Shop-Car Build Thread. . .

[Ol'fogasaurus]

How old is the GoPro? I have a first gen and there is a settings in the camera's program to film upside down and have it look right. You might look into some of the editing packages. I haven't used mine for a few years so I haven't had to make that mistake... yet. It will be interesting to see what you come up with. I'll try to check around and see what I can come up with.

Lee

[aircooledtechguy]

I finally got a chance to upload a short video from our auto-X. It was really wet, but was a lot of fun and we learned a lot about the car and how it handles.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6k9cbZ2m3PI

[aircooledtechguy]

So yesterday, I had a lull in the action while waiting on a few parts so I decided to begin doing something about the fuel sloshing and leaking out under hard cornering that I experienced at the auto-X. I knew that in time a fuel cell would be needed so I had already begun getting parts for it. I was at a car show a year ago and found a fuel cell top that was in really nice condition for $20 so I snagged it. I'm not going to be using the factory outlet and long suction tube, so I'll be capping that off.

This morning, I went over to the local metal supplier and dug through the scrap cuttings (the stuff you only pay by the pound for) and got some nice pieces of 3/16” 6061 T6 to make all the pieces I would need. Even though it was scrap I still had $140 into the materials!! Gotta pay to play, right?? I went with 3/16 to ensure I had good thick metal that would hold up in the event of the un-thinkable. The internal baffling will be thinner though.

My cheap plasma cutter worked awesome and cut through it like a hot knife through butta’. After I cleaned up the edges, on the top plate, I began laying it out by making an “X” from corner to corner. Once I got the vent valve, fuel outlet nipple and the burp-flap removed, I got it centered and used a centering punch to make the first 2 drill marks and drilled them.




I went back and de-burred all the holes with a countersink bit.




Then I bolted the top into place marked all the other holes. Since the top piece is steel, I chose to use it as a drill guide to ensure all the remaining 22 holes were perfect.

I used the base ring as a guide for the large center hole and marked it with a sharpie. Then hole-sawed a pair of holes and jig sawed out the rest. I’m saving the 2 round hole-saw discs for later so I can use them as re-enforcement for the outlet and inlet nipples that will later be in the bottom of the tank.



Once the edges were smoothed, I got everything fitted to the top. Fits perfect!!




I'm estimating this tank to be around 23+ gallons.

[aircooledtechguy]

A couple days ago, I found a set of used billet aluminum Porsche 930 Turbo trans mounts for sale cheap, so I snatched them up and installed them on the Squarsche. The shifting is even more precise than before. Really crisp shifts now.

I absolutely love that gear noise from the transmission when you see in-car videos of Porsche's racing on the track (that gear meshing whine that rises and falls with each gear change); it makes the car sound serious and a bit angry to me. Now that the trans is solidly mounted it transfers a bit more of that lovely gear noise that is makes under hard acceleration, into the body of the car. Not too much that it's annoying, but enough to know that it's there. I dig it!!

[aircooledtechguy]

Just a quick look at something I've been working on at my buddies shop in my off time. Stay tuned for more on this in the future. . .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usJl45lVULg

[aircooledtechguy]

This morning I stopped by my buddies shop and removed the door panel blank off the infusion table. Should make a nice door panel when trimmed out and done the way I'm planning.

[falcor]

Wow that is shiiineeeyyy

[aircooledtechguy]

Almost a year after I began driving my car after the suspension fender mods, I finally have a mostly complete interior. Better late than never I guess.

To keep the Porsche inspired theme going, I decided to make door panels reminiscent of the early 70s RS/RSR racers by deleting the metal door latch and replacing it with a light web strap and Porsche grommet.



Instead of leather covering like a Porsche, I opted for carbon fiber. I infused all the blanks at my buddy Jim's shop Left Coast Development LLC. Then traced out OEM panels and attached them with black oxide screws.






Simple, light weight and un-cluttered. Now I can look at something other than a skeleton door as I drive.

[ALYKAT III]

Nice !

[falcor]

Looking good Nate!

[SportyBug]

I have been wanting to do something like this for a long time. Do you have any info or pictures on what it took?

To keep the Porsche inspired theme going, I decided to make door panels reminiscent of the early 70s RS/RSR racers by deleting the metal door latch and replacing it with a light web strap and Porsche grommet.

[Corysvdub]

Nice Nate, love the panels. Would like to do that to mine instead of the ones I have now that are warping and material separation.

[aircooledtechguy]

I have been wanting to do something like this for a long time. Do you have any info or pictures on what it took?

To keep the Porsche inspired theme going, I decided to make door panels reminiscent of the early 70s RS/RSR racers by deleting the metal door latch and replacing it with a light web strap and Porsche grommet.

STF will not allow any of the photos because they are apparently too big. So go to my Samba gallery here http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_ ... =Nate%20M. to see the photos and how they apply below. . .


It was pretty easy to do really. I grabbed a couple spare late style latches and removed the latch handle keeping only the frame. Then I widened the opening with a cut-off wheel so the strap would fit through. I went to the hardware store and bought a 1' nylon spacer (used in this case as a roller) and a pair of long stainless nuts/screws and fender washers. I loosely put it all together and tacked it in place. and then removed the nylon roller and finish tacked it all together and removed any burrs.

The door rod only needed to be twisted 90degrees. In the photo, the open end of the hook is out, but in final form, I re-twisted it so that the opening it toward the door. I did it that way so that over time the end of the loop wouldn't wear through the panel.

Before I mounted the panel permanently to the door (but after all mount holes were drilled), I marked the door with tape and also the panel as to the exact place the strap was to come through. I used a small drill to drill the pilot hole and peer through to ensure the placement was correct. Then I used a fine burr to slowly enlarge the oval hole to fit the Porsche plastic grommet for the strap. The grommet has 2 screws that hold it in place to the panel from the back side.

Nice Nate, love the panels. Would like to do that to mine instead of the ones I have now that are warping and material separation.

Thanks for the kind words. I can make more sets no problem. They would not be cheap since they are very labor intensive to make the blanks here's the process for 1 (one) 27"x50" blank (4 blanks are needed to make a set for a Squareback). PM me if you're interested in a set:

Clear UV protectant gel coat spayed onto a waxed piece of glass.

Vail cloth applied (this allows resin to flow through the carbon and allows a path for bubbles to escape during infusion). This becomes invisible once infused.

Carbon fiber cloth

2 layers of 1700 glass cloth to give just a bit of thickness and structure.

Peel ply cloth allows you to remove all the flow media and bagging materials leaving you with just the part.

flow media, vacuum & resin hoses and the plastic bagging over the top.

Pull a strong vacuum on the part.

Introduce the resin under vacuum and the part is infused with that resin. The result is a very thin, strong but light part because all excess resin is pulled out of the part unlike traditional wet lay-up methods.

Whew!! It's a job to make, but NOTHING looks as good in the sun as real carbon fiber. The panels dance as I drive down the road. Totally worth all the effort to make IMHO.

[SportyBug]

Thanks for the photos. I have saved them. It seems totally doable and surprisingly simple. Guess that is part of why the install looks so clean too. Thanks for sharing.

[aircooledtechguy]

I was getting tired of not having any sun visors this summer. Especially since we are having one of the sunniest summers in a decade or more. I've got some exciting stuff happening at the end of the week, I figured that I had better get these done and on the car.

Originally I planned on having a custom set stitched-up to match the seats. But the upholstery guy flaked out and lost my custom set. So I ended up making these at the same time I did the door panel set. I used the same carbon fiber but used a 1/4" core filler to give them some structure and one layer of glass on top of the foam core. I cut them to shape, then painted the backs flat black for anti-glare. I made them so they will fill in around the mirror since as we all know, that's where the sun always is; right where the visors don't cover!!






In the near future, I will be adding a mirror to the passenger side to appease my wife but for all intents and purposes, they are a done-deal and work fantastic.