Towed the VW to Florida in October. A few more projects underway. After much searching I found an OEM rear seat for the VW. Rusty and stinky and not cheap but these are rare. It is the full width rear seat. I stripped it to the frames. I will retie a few of the springs and paint the frames. I have ordered new foam cushions and seat cover to match the front seats.



Meanwhile another lucky find on eBay. Below the windshield there is rust in the windshield channel. Only way to fix it is to remove the windshield. The windshield is not too bad, fogged around the edges but usable. I was afraid it might break when removed so tried to find a replacement. I was able to find the windshield gasket easily but new windshields are rare in the US. Cheapest I could find was around $350.

I found one on eBay last summer for $129 at a glass shop in Daytona Beach but they would not ship it or hold it, pickup only. Fortunately it was still there in December so I drove over and picked it up. Better yet the price was reduced to $117 !
After the windshield rust repair and relacement, I will be able to get back to the body paint.

I retied a few springs and painted the frames. I ordered new foam cushions and seat covers to match the front seats. Replaced the seat backing with new sheet metal. I got the seats done today. I still need mounting brackets for the seat back but they turned out pretty well. Between the labor and parts it was anything but cheap but it is nice to have the seats done.

Retied some springs, wrapped rusty legs with fiberglass, covered springs with plastic instead of burlap:



Glued on the foam.



Slip on the seat cover.



Used sheet metal for the back of the upright seat.



Finished job.

Steve, as with all your work looks fantastic!!

I noticed the front right brake caliper was dragging at times. I decided to replace the calipers.

Oh the joys of (almost) 50 yr old vehicles. It seems those calipers were only produced in 1971 and 1972. They are basically extinct. New ones are not available and rebuilts are very rare (read: expensive).

Earlier models had drum brakes and 73 on calipers are wider, with thicker pads, and have larger bolts. 73 and later calipers are available both new and rebuilt at reasonable prices. Research reveals with shouldered sleeves for the bolts and some metal removal they can be retrofitted.

I ordered 2 new 1973 calipers. (no core charge!) Installation required trimming the sheet metal back plate (easy) and grinding both the inside edge of the caliper and rotor for clearance. I now have 14mm thick pads rather than the previous 10mm ones.

I also noticed that the steering effort required to turn the wheels seemed rather high. Better tight than loose but with no power steering it was hard to turn. Inspection reveals no grease fittings in the ball joints or the tie rod ends, a pet peeve of mine. It seems they were running with 50 yr old grease!

I drilled and tapped the ball joints and tie rod ends and installed grease fittings, nine in all. There are now grease fittings on all but one. I will have to remove the drag link end for room to do the last one.



It took several pumps of grease to fill them. In any case there should be less wear with fresh grease.

Have toad, will pull

Looks real nice .

We've been working on my neighbor's 40 year old F150 4x4 . It's been a project . Had the engine rebuilt by a local machine shop that his uncle owns . Ford 300 inline 6 now has an Offenhouser 4 barrel dual port intake with a 500 cfm Eldebrock carb . Pretty much everything new on the engine . Water pump , carb , distributor , intake , exhaust manifold and system , radiator , all hoses and sensors , fuel pump , power steering pump , plug wires , clutch , converted to serpentine belt..... He's been spending the money
On the Ford 9 inch rear end , we put in new axle bearings , seals , wheel cylinders and brake pads .
Many other odds and ends including rewiring the dash and replacing the entire dash and instrumental panel .
He is building a custom wood dash and using Jeep CJ gauges and speedometer .

Next will come the body work and paint job . He's owned it for around 15 years and decided it was time to fix it up a little .

My ole Miata toad needs a new top, not a hard job just a pain and much easier as a two man job. So if I bring the Miata and the Gilmer conversion kit to Minnesnowta, I could keep the attendees busy for a couple of days!! I will bring Beer and snacks! Need to find a few hundred for a new top though. Glass or plastic window needs to decided too.

Miata is a 95 so all the parts are readily available.

What would we do without these old vehicles to play with?

There is a Mercedes roadster in a dirt driveway in town, been sitting there for a couple of years, I assume it is broken. Brings a tear to my eye that a grand ole piece like that is just rotting away. If I did not have Nose, a bass boat, Miata, my SRX, and Mercedes 300c to fix I would go and see if the Mercedes Roadster could be bought, or maybe a trade.

Gotta love the old Ford 300 six. Bulletproof and strong. Lots of room in the engine bay, too. With all those mods it should be pretty frisky!

Miata top should be fairly easy. If we get it done early before drinks, dinner, drinks, campfire and drinks it might turn out OK. OTOH, it is an "old ragtop!"

Looks like the end of this thread.... a bad day for the VW...

Heart breaking, like the loss of a pet!!

Might be a big job, but is it repairable??

No way. Roof is buckled, interior completely burned all the way forward. panel melted, windshield is cooked. Magnesium engine block burned really bright!

Very sad. So many questions are swirling in my brain.

The brakes were not dragging, the trans was in neutral and the tires did not blow until the fire burned them.

Best guess is the rear wheel bearing cooked, then caught the brakes then the undercoating on fire. From there it took off. In 15 minutes it was blazing by 20 minutes it was totally on fire.

Fire fighters got it out in about ten minutes, including the magnesium. They did a good job.

The fire sure did shiver my spine. Thank GOD you saved your BaRTH!

---

What did the firemen use to put out the magnesium?

That's terrible!! Your loss is one of all ours worst fears put into reality.

Regards
Bud

Just saw this and am devastated. Just saw the VW at Nicks and was thinking what a great job you've done on her. Looks like the Barth is unscathed, at least one good thing. Where were you? Looks like two lane so still pretty far north I'd guess. Let us know when you get down here.