Electrical

Hey, this is Lane posting.

I got most of the wiring completed today, running the harnesses, connecting the fusebox and such. I was able to connect everything that didn't require putting the body back on or installing components...

We hope to have the body on soon so I can finish wiring everything and get this thing driveable.

Minor Update

Jake and I had a productive Saturday (3/21/09). We had the tires mounted and balanced on the newly painted rims down at Larkin Tire in Pleasant Grove. They are so sweet looking. Then Jake and I spend time refreshing/repainting all of the engine tin, which took most of the day, and then we installed the motor. I've been going back an forth on whether or not to have the engine in or out before putting the body back on, but we opted to install the engine first. That way we can adjust things easier before committing the body to the chassis.

Next up we're going to run the electrical through the body and install the firewall components in the engine compartment.

Latest Pics

I know it doesn't look like it from the pics, but the chassis really is ready to receive the body.














The whitewall tires came from Coker Tire and are the original 5.60-15 bias ply tire type and size from 1963 (though it's unclear if the wide whitewall was an option back then). We opted for the bias ply because they stand taller than radials and I wanted the bug to sit right and have that original look and feel to it. Aren't they hot lookin'?
















Lane picked up the rims from the paint shop today. Carlos did a fantastic job. Once again, not quite the original paint scheme that I wanted, but due to the inability to find the right color and with the whitewalls being involved, we switched it around a bit. I love them.

Tranny, Rims, etc.

Finally got around to removing the new leaky tranny and taking it down to Foreign Aid for them to have a look-see. They replaced the seals on both sides, charged me 75 bucks and sent me on my way. Jake and I reinstalled it, filled it up with gear oil, and it is now leak-free.

We also had the rims sandblasted and taken down to La Voiture (Carlos) to have the two-tone paint applied. In the meantime, we ordered the 2 3/4 in Coker whitewalls and they arrived at the house. We had trouble finding the original Slate Grey paint color (orginal color for the inner part of the wheel) and I had to order the Stone Beige (original color for the outer rim) from WolfsbergWest to get the right match. Because we couldn't find the Slate color, and because we opted for the wide whitewall tires, we've decided to change up the scheme a bit and do Anthracite (same color as the car) for the outer rim (instead of Stone Beige) and Stone Beige (instead of Slate) for the inner part. With the whitewalls it should look pretty nice. Rims should be done soon. I just took the Stone Beige paint down to Carlos this morning. Looking forward to getting those back.

At this point, the chassis is ready to receive the body. I may work on tidying up the engine a bit before we do that, though. Anything I can get done while the body is off is a bonus.

Anyway, it's coming together. I'll post pics as things progress.