Gatto's VW Beetle... Extremely slow W.I.P.

[Dalboy]

Got some more done this morning.
Axles cut, axle housings and windows trimmed out of the side panels, and the new roof cut, sanded, windowed and shaped to match the modified angles on the re-designed sides. And I'm pleased to say that the measurements were spot on!

Now... where's that camera!

Now that is what I call teasing us saying that you have made all of those parts and no pictures.
Like all of the new toys you have to use in building this car

[Yonnee]

Sorry Dig, SHMBO had us out the door for the weekend for her brother's wedding...

Here's the bits with the windows cut out...
Attachment 222178

...And here's how the new shape of the roofline mates up to the side panels.
Attachment 222179
I cheated a little with the axles. The plans call for them to be cut into 1/2" x 1/2" lengths, but instead I bought off the shelf 12mm x 12mm Tassie Oak moulding,
which meant I had to be careful cutting the axle notches in the side panels and trimming to 12mm rather than following the lines.

Also drilled the holes for the vent window divider.
Attachment 222180

[_fly_]

It moving along and it hasn't got wheels yet.
Looking good and good pictures.

[artme]

O fcourse you will build a trailer for it to tow, won't you??

Looking very good so far.

[Dalboy]

Great pictures coming along now

[Yonnee]

O fcourse you will build a trailer for it to tow, won't you??

Looking very good so far.

Not this one, as it's for Dad, but once this one is done, I might look at doing one for myself. Then again, I have the plans for the T&J 34 Chev...

[Yonnee]

I got out to the shed for a short while the other night, but I dare not post without pictures...

Firstly, (not very exciting) the two axle pieces done the cheats way from 12mm sq. moulding...
Attachment 222729

Next step on the plans was to taper to upper section, and to do this suggested either clamping the pieces to a block and using a table saw set to the angle, or sanding it. Seeing as my "tablesaw" is my old Mk3 Triton 'storage bench', and I only have a little 7" circular saw, I figured sanding it was going to be the quicker option. So little by little I finally got it sanded to the top and bottom lines...

Attachment 222723

This shot gives a better view of the taper as well as the test fit of the vent window divider.
Attachment 222724

Now, time for another modification. The plans for the steering wheel show a steering column, and three evenly spaced dowels glued to a circular ring in a 'Y' pattern forming a three spoked steering wheel. But as you can see, the original wheel is only two spoke...
The tricky bit will be the horn ring!
69 beetle - steering wheel.jpg

Being only two spoke makes it a little easier to drll one hole straight through the column rather than three part way through.
Attachment 222725

Attachment 222726

The plans also require the steering column to be made from 6mm dowel, which for me was a bit chunky, so I used 5mm instead, which also meant drilling the hole to the correct size in the firewall
(as well as drilling it on the right side Bret ).
Attachment 222727

Attachment 222728

One thing has been bugging me though (no pun intended), the firewall is narrower than the rebate in the roof pieces, so once the sides are glued to the roof, then the firewall wont be a tight fit. Might read through the plans a bit more carefully and thoroughly before going too much further to see how it's all supposed to go together.

[Yonnee]

One thing has been bugging me though (no pun intended), the firewall is narrower than the rebate in the roof pieces, so once the sides are glued to the roof, then the firewall wont be a tight fit. Might read through the plans a bit more carefully and thoroughly before going too much further to see how it's all supposed to go together.

OK. I had a read, and found that the measurements actually drawn on paper for the roof aren't quite to the measurements required for the roof sections to attach to the sides. Fortunately the roof section rebates were a fraction too wide (rather that than be too narrow), so the trick was to figure out how to trim them down. I'd already cut the roof into its three sections, and these were too small to put through the router again, so with a new blade in my Stanley knife and a steel ruler, I was able to very carefully slice another 1.5mm from each rebate.
Problem solved. *phew*

[AUSSIE]

Going good Yonnee.
I cant see pics unless I do a lot of clicking etc.
Is it me or the new site.?

[Yonnee]

It's the upgrade. It'll be fixed, but there's still a heap of other stuff that Admin are setting up with the upgrade... but they all have day jobs too. So we just have to be patient.

[Yonnee]

Got a bit of fiddly stuff done. I found a piece of Malemine board big enough to slot into the thicknesser and screwed a stopper to one end which now allows me to shave down some thinner pieces I require. I'd earlier re-sawn a bit of Mahogany and the thicky had got it down to 5mm, but the plans require it to be 1/8", and now I was able to get it there. This is required for the centre strip down the front boot lid as well as the dash fascia. I attached the template, cut the shape out and gave it a sand and a file.
VW Beetle w.i.p 055.jpg
Having looked at a few more VW images, I decided the detail was not correct. Firstly, beside the Speedometer, the plans show to drill another smaller hole as the fuel guage, but this was only in that location up till '67. Secondly, the Speedometer hole is shown as 1/4" hole, but checking the size against the rest of the dash, an 8mm bit was more correct. Also, there are two additional knobs higher up on the dash in line with the two lower ones in the middle. And lastly, the plans show a rectangular shaped glove box, whereas the original closely follows the outline of the dash itself. Oh, and I added the glovebox lids knob too.
Let me know what you think...
VW Beetle w.i.p 056.jpg

[Dalboy]

Coming along great and with pictures

How did you cut the groove around the glove box

[AUSSIE]

Coming along great and with pictures

How did you cut the groove around the glove box

Yeh Got me going as well.How did you do that Yonnee

[Yonnee]

Yeh Got me going as well.How did you do that Yonnee
How did you cut the groove around the glove box?

Very carefully!!

I started with a light pencil line and roughly marked out the glovebox outline till I was happy with it, then slowly and carefully, bit by bit, I ran a sharp hobby knife round either side of the line, angling it in at around 30-45deg. The trick is not to try and cut the whole depth in one go, particularly along the grain, otherwise the knife will want to run with the grain and outside where you want the cut. So patience is the key here... you can always carve more off, but it's nearly impossible to add back on.

I did the same thing to do the door opening on the side panel, and I'll be doing the same for the fuel flap on the driver's side front guard/fender. I'm also contemplating adding the lines around the speedo on the driver's side of the dash fascia.
69 beetle - steering wheel.jpg

[crowie]

G'Day Yonee, You may need to invest in some "carving hand tools" if you keep this sort of details up, Cheers, crowie