The large battery box was close to the tie rods so I swapped it out for a medium sized one. The larger box had a battery level indicator and a 12V power port on the lid I wanted to keep. I removed those and mounted them onto the medium box lid. The new box was bolted to the aluminum floor with large fender washers to spread the clamping force over a wider area. I also added a steel battery top holding bracket and mounted the battery to the floor, inside the box, with long J bolts.
I have a small HF 2500lb ATV winch I was going to mount into the bed of my truck, but decided it would be put to better use on the front of my rail instead. I used some pieces of a bed frame rail for the mounts and welded them to the front bumper. I ran the two large cables through the sheet metal right underneath it. I made sure to pass them through some grommets so they wouldn't get cut by the sheet metal.
I picked up a roll of windshield gasket from Acme/Berrien to mount the windshield to the tube frame. I cut a few small pieces of the gasket to hold a piece of wallboard in the frame while I was making the windshield template. I left a 1/8 to 1/4" gap all the way around the template to allow the gasket. I picked up a tube of windshield adhesive for when I get the windshield made.
I started pulling the T3 apart for whatever parts I could salvage off of it. I started with the rear brakes and cleaned all those pieces up and painted them. I had the drums turned and replaced the shoes with new ones.
All the other parts were in good shape except for the piece that keeps the adjuster star wheels from turning. I couldn't find a replacement for it anywhere so I came up with a different way to accomplish the same thing. I drilled some 1/4" holes in the shoe backing that placed the springs in a more horizontal position. This caused the coiled part of the spring to ride between the notches in the star wheels. I made sure to debur the star wheels so they wouldn't nick the springs and create a weak spot.
I painted the rear wheels like I did the fronts before I put them back on the rail.
I found the reason the brakes weren't working on the T3 when I got it (only the E-brake worked). The PO said he "fixed" the brakes not long before I got it, but the new brake hoses started leaking. I discovered why when I went to disassemble the front end to get the disk brakes off of it. The PO had replaced leaking sections of the hard line with rubber vacuum hoses. At least he used double hose clamps on each end...
I test fit the rotors onto the bug spindles on the rail and they were a perfect match. I just had to pick up a pair of caliper adapters to allow me to mount the ATE calipers on the bug drum spindles. One of the seals on the calipers got cut when I was cleaning it with a wire wheel so I had to get a rebuild kit to fix that one.
While I had the front end apart I replaced all four ball joints on the rails front arms. I used a hydraulic press and some various sized pipe couplers to drive the new ball joints in place. I made sure to align the notches on the arms with the notches on the ball joints so they wouldn't bind. I also straightened the top threaded part of the driver side shock while everything was still apart.
After I painted cleaned and painted the rotors I had them turned. I mounted the caliper adapters, and checked for any interference. I didn't find any problems so I moved onto the rotors next. I put the rotors on, set the bearing preload and locked down the clamp nuts. The calipers went on next to check for their spacing in relation to the rotor. They were both dead on center so I didn't need to use any washers to realign them. I put new pads in both calipers and new rubber brake hoses on when I assembled everything for the last time. Of course right after I finished bolting everything up we had about three days of solid rain which caused the rotor faces to flash rust all over.
I wanted to use the dual circuit MC that was on the T3 since it was stock size for the disk/drum setup on the T3. However, the mounting holes were horizontal on the T3 MC and vertical on the aftermarket MC that came on the pedal assembly I installed earlier. My solution was to make a MC adapter and a longer push rod so I could mount the Varga MC on the aftermarket pedal assy.
I bought a clear Volvo brake reservoir from the classifieds on TOS and mounted it on the Varga MC. To get the MC to fit next to the clutch MC, I had to remove the rear brake pressure switch. I don't need two switches, so I'll just plug that hole and use just the front switch to activate the brake lights. I had to shorten the push rod I made because it was just a little too long to fit the way I made it.
Next I started working on the T3 steering column. I plan on replacing this frame with a new one (Beeline Pack Rat 2 seater kit) and I'd like to give more of a finished look to it. The factory aluminum steering wheel adapter was hacked up
very badly to fit the tiny steering wheel. I am fixing that with a piece of T6 aluminum and my lathe. I will rebuild it to look like it was meant to be made that way from the factory. I didn't get any before pics, so these pics are of the middle of the repair process. I made a long aluminum threaded rod to fill and plug the drilled and tapped holes so I can re-drill them properly. The rod is threaded and epoxied into the holes and then cut off just above the surface. The tops will be faced off flush with the top surface. The pic with the threaded stud sticking out of the adapter shows how bad the hole alignment was. That's NOT an optical illusion BTW, it was really drilled and tapped that crooked by the PO.
I kept turning the OD of the adapter smaller until I got an even and smooth surface. I'm making a cap to fit tightly over it and hide all that mess on the original piece. It will be an interference fit so I will heat the cap and cool the adapter so they will go together. I'll also use some JB weld to lock the two pieces together permently. After it dries the holes will be redrilled properly. Mt lathe is a 7x14 mini import lathe and the big chunk of aluminum broke the tool post from the interrupted cuts I was making. It stripped the threads out of the casting and I had to get a longer bolt to get it working again. It's fixed now, I just haven't gotten back to working on the adapter yet.
I finished cutting up the rest of the T3 to put it out of it's misery. I was able to trade a few pieces for upright engine tins at the local VW place. Scrap metal is selling for $10/ton here so it was going to cost me more in gas than it would have paid me for it. Instead I brought the two remaining truckloads of metal over to the dump and tossed all the left over pieces into the metal recycling bin.
The top cylinder tins were trimmed like the off road tins offered online. The tabs by the intakes are full of cracks so I'll be cutting those off and making new ones to replace them. I'm not going to be using heater boxes so I cut the hose funnels off the sides of the DH shroud. I wanted to make use of the air that was being directed to the heater funnels so I drilled three 1" holes inside each end of the shroud so the air would go to help cool the cylinder tins. I drilled the first hole at too steep of an angle and drilled through to the outside. To fix it I sand blasted the area and tapped the edges inward so they didn't poke outward at all. Then I placed some electrical tap inside the cut area and put some JB weld over the hole. I'll smooth over the repair later and then put a skim coat of bondo over the whole corner since there are some dents in the metal right next to the JB Weld.
Next I started working on the T3 engine and the upright conversion. I removed all of the flat configuration parts until I was down to the bare long block. I cleaned the top side of the engine and spent quite a bit of time getting all the oily dirt and crud out of all the fins on the cylinders and heads. I bolted on a T3 conversion dipstick to where the oil fill used to be on the rear of the engine.
I removed the bolts and stud for the flat config oil cooler so I could mount up the DH oil cooler adapter kit. I had to drill the two holes near the cylinders to fit the larger studs. I was able to find a stepped stud (M6-M8) to replace the other stud so I didn't have to drill and tap the case for a larger M8 stud.
I also got an original VW alternator stand in that parts trade for some of my T3 parts. It was caked with sludge and rust so I cleaned it up with degreaser first and then wire wheeled it afterwards. I'll probably replace the fill box on top of it with an angled aluminum piece later on.
I disassembled the 4-1 header, cleaned the flanges up and then temporarily mounted it onto the engine. I recently bought a mid pipe for the Empi header to replace the bent stinger. I loosely bolted that up next and aligned it before tightening the bolts on the collector flange. Next I removed the header and brought it to the local tire and muffler shop. I had them weld on a glass pack style muffler, a chrome tip and some support brackets so the muffler wouldn't flex and break off.
I test fitted two different size dual carb intakes I have on hand to see which ones I liked better. The one on the left is an Empi aftermarket piece with a Solex 34PICT-3 sitting on it. The one on the right is a stubby factory VW Type 3 dual carb intake with a 32PDSIT sitting on it. I'm leaning towards using the pair of 34PICT-3's and modding the tops of the shorter T3 intakes to allow me to mount the PICT carbs on them.
Whew! And that's where I'm currently at now. Thank's for waiting patiently for me to finish this
looong progress update before posting. Let me know if you have any questions and or comments and I'll do my best to address them.
I have a standard T1 DH oil cooler coming in the mail to mount up to this DH oil cooler adapter. I already traded away the T3 oil cooler so that's not an option for me anymore. If I need to I'll drill and tap the case like the T1 case for the oil pressure switch.
