Franz, Chapter 2

[Lotrat]

what about the oil leak? what's that all about?

[fusername]

Yes

[winifredevw]

Yes

What the Hell is that supposed to mean? Did you figure out why it is leaking oil or not? Spill the beans, Fuser.

[fusername]

well the way franz is currently setup, it uses the largest remote oil cooler avail, namely the ground. When the motor gets rebuilt later this summer when funds are available (or so i hear) we will delete it.

[Lotrat]

Oil comes from the earth and Franz returns it. The cycle is complete.

[fusername]

I think I just coached BB through his first real break down (wheels falling off don't really constitute a break down as no parts failed) as he snapped a clutch cable on his way home. second gear, hope your battery is charged, and avoid stopping! the wise lesson of spares is (hopefully) well learned

[BBoudy1215]

A long awaited update:

franz had a heart transplant. He is currently running a donor engine (which I am hoping to buy). With the stress off of the engine, I have been able to drive him a lot more. this has allowed me to run him through his paces and see if I can get anything to go wrong. As listed above, the clutch cable broke. on the way home from dropping a friend off, I went down to press the clutch pedal and my foot slipped of. when the pedal shot back, it just kept going. I have order 2 new clutch cable and a throttle cable (good items I have learned to have).
with franz out of comish and the arrival of the rest of franz' parts, and with little other work to do this week, I have started to work on him again.
Currently, he has a nice new LED brake light. my friend had it lying around so I figured it put its blinding power to work. I also greased up the widow tracks so they are easier to open/close. Cleaned the hood latches so they are almost shiny new again.
Today I had a pretty long and successful day:
-Engine is finally bolted together
-The incident that resulted in my tire falling off broke my headlight housing. that is now fixed. had an other housing in one of the fenders I got last night.
-The exhaust on the donor engine has been wired brushed, sanded, cleaned, and painted with high heat black gloss paint. Looks boss! (hopefully fuser doesn't might that i did that. Figured he'd rather not have a rusty exhaust
-Finally, I have removed the rear fender that fuser so generously crashed into a tree. I have painted the front fenders i got and partially got it installed. Here is where i have a question on how to do this. I have the option of mounting the fenders along the intended mounts and then cutting the fender as i like. Or (based off of how the rear fenders i have look) I could cut the front fender down the center of where the head light would be. then i could bend an inch of metal over for mounting points. has anyone does this before and has any pointers or tips? I think i am going to cut it down the center of the headlight since the rear fenders do look like that and that will leave the lip on the factory fender for structure.
and to end, a little story of how stupid I am, and also how awesome franz is. before making my way to work (about 2 miles away), I left my phone on the fender while I went inside to grab the keys. I then went out to the car started it right up and went on my way. On the way to work, I noticed how nice the ride was. I purposely hit some good bumps to try things out. barely felt anything. when i arrived to work, I got out of the car, locked it up. grabbed my phone of the fender and headed inside. gotta love a bug suspension...

[winifredevw]

I'de make sure how much fener you can cut before-hand. You don't want to attract any unneccecary attention from the local law. Around here, with all the jacked-up 4x4s, their pretty strict about tires peeking out from under the fenders.

[BBoudy1215]

Here are some photos of Franz being worked on:

http://s1203.photobucket.com/albums/bb3 ... 215/Franz/

[fusername]

You know the front yellow fenders are intended for the read, right? You need someone to chime in here, but I think you turn them a few bolt holes in one direction or another to get a good offload profile out of em. did NOW sell you the hibbard book she owns with Franz? It should be spelt out in there

[BBoudy1215]

I only have a Haynes currently. For the driver's rear i customized them and i guess they came out pretty good (considering that was my first time doing any sheet metal work). but for the passenger side, i am just gonna bolt it on there and cut the outside of the fender instead of the inside. its too much work to do it the way i did (although its was definitely worth the effort, I like the look).

[BBoudy1215]

I only have a Haynes currently. For the driver's rear i customized them and i guess they came out pretty good (considering that was my first time doing any sheet metal work). but for the passenger side, i am just gonna bolt it on there and cut the outside of the fender instead of the inside. its too much work to do it the way i did (although its was definitely worth the effort, I like the look).

[BBoudy1215]

Just checked UPS, my clutch cable should arrive today. I can finally drive Franzy after a week now =].

[BBoudy1215]

Throttle and clutch cables just arrived. Giddy-up!
that means that after lunch i can do:
-oil change
-pass. rear fender
-clutch cable repair
-go through all the junk I have and figure out whats worth keeping
-figure out what i need for the disc brakes i have
-If time allows, install pass. brake pads

[Sneaks]

The holes should line up fine front to rear. Trim the outside, definitely not the inside...a lot less work that way. I used rotated rear fenders on mine which is probably where Fuser is coming up with the holes lining up issue.