Back To the Body Shop - Déjà Vu

Decided to go with a local body shop to fix some scratches and dents. The shop owner found many problems with the last paint job.

Some flaws found:

• some body filler never hardened from previous body work. When the paint was touched some areas it would crack!
• doors and front hood were not aligned properly

Spare Tire Wheel Well Rubber Profile

There was a question on the T34 mailing list on what the piece of rubber looks like that seals the spare tire wheel well against the body. Here are the photos of a fresh NOS seal.

Repro Rubber - Have Trouble With It Sometimes - Part II

Here is another example of "less than par" T34 repro rubber for the bumper overrider. An entrepreneur produced this with good intent but it cracked within ONE YEAR of installation. Again, it was not exposed to water, rain, sun, etc.

Looks like I am going to have to resort to T14 Ghia solutions to make things presentable.

Repro Rubber - Have Trouble With It Sometimes - Part I

I removed my front bumper today. It is the end of summer and snow can fly any day here in Tahoe and it is time to work on the car.

The front bumper rubber grommet in this photo bothers me. I always buy repro rubber from entrepreneurs to support them. In this case it was never out in the sun, got wet, or stressed it any way. Yet, it still cracked. It is 2010, can't we figure out what rubber doesn't crack easily?

NOS Hub Caps

There are 3 less early NOS T3 hub caps in the world as they were just placed on the car. It took me twenty years to find them. Finding the 4th has been illusive.

It is just amazing how flawless they are. The convex shape, with the scratch less chrome, perfectly reflects images almost like a fish-eye camera lens.

One detail that I appreciate is the reverse side of the cap. One can see the "machining scars" necessary to create it.

The Seals Leak

Washed the car for the first time today. I was watching very carefully where the hose water wound up with all the brand new installed seals

The interior, for the most part, had a few drops on the inside movable windows.

The front spare tire area had a major amount of water in it even with the new hood drainage hose installed. I am not sure I will be able to fix this.

Front Fresh Air Vent Trim

I have had this set of aftermarket front trim for many years. Decided to install it. It has its drawbacks but because of the rarity I think people should see it.

Here is the article on type34.org

Made It To the Top Of Mount Rose

Drove to see if I could get the T34 out of the Tahoe basin via the high Mount Rose pass.

No problems! The car cruised up the steep grade in 3rd gear with no overheating or engine breathing issues.

Flaps and Plates

Been waiting to get those T3 mud flaps on the car for a couple of weeks. It wasn't as easy as I thought to install them.

I do have genuine T34 flaps but the rubber appeared to be on the fragile side. Instead of mounting them on the car I decided to preserve them for possible future duplication.

My Nevada license plates, with the Lake Tahoe theme, arrived! If you can't read them click on the picture.

First Real Drive in 26 Years

Checked the oil, tire pressure, and gas and took off through the sunny pine tree countryside of Lake Tahoe. I wasn't sure I was going to make it back without a tow or flatbed.

I had forgotten how well the T34 handles on tight turns. Tahoe has many highways with sharp corners and I was able to have some fun being aggressive with them.

After 20 minutes the car seemed to be begging to be put into the final 4th gear for the cruising it seems to be designed for. On one stretch of the highway I was able to do so. The vehicle seemed to give a sigh a satisfaction that it was back on the road as the RPMs dropped.

I made a mental checklist of things that need fixing. Among the items is some needed engine tuning. There wasn't much power going up steep hills but it was adequate on the more level roads.

After 40 miles I pulled into the garage and immediately re-torqued my lug nuts. I remembered Andy's accident where his wheel fell off and didn't want to repeat it.

What a fun day!

DMV - Denied

Tried to get a titled today at the Nevada DMV. The pink slip for the T34 is long gone, probably thrown away during a house remodel.

They didn't like my proof of ownership I had EVEN THOUGH IT IS WHAT THEY WANTED ME TO GET LAST WEEK.

The supervisor then asked me to supply proof that I have owned pictures of this car for many years.

This was actually kind of a fun project. I had my daughter help me recreate a pose I did about ten years ago. The old photo is at the top with the car dissembled and the bottom photo is the car assembled. The car didn't age but I sure did! I hope the supervisor sees my growing older as proof.

As other proof of owner ship I was able to find my VW birth certificate from the factory. It is a letter addressed to me from Wolfsburg with my chassis number and vehicle description.

I should be good to go.

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Update - The birth certificate from Wolfsburg did the trick! The supervisor of the supervisor had to give the document an OK and signed off on giving me official title to my T34. Whew!
Thanks for all the encouragement from everyone.

Under the Hood Drainage Hose

My front hood drainage hose was disintegrating. I ordered several standard sized hoses from U.S. companies but none of them fit correctly.

Finally I located a supplier in England who had metric sizes. I found one which was a very close fit. Sent Lee Hedges a sample to get his opinion. He confirmed it worked for him.

The hose is located at www.VintageCarParts.co.uk . Order the tubing that has the 10mm bore and 1.55 wall.

Distributor Wires

The foil on engine lids always seems to rip above the distributor. People mentioned this was due to the spark plug wires not having angled boots. The straight wires, therefore, contact the engine lid. Over time the contact rips the foil.

While at my storage unit yesterday I found a Bosch spark plug wire purchased from Bill and Steve's years ago. It had the angled boots. I searched for the part number on the Internet and it turns out they are available at Amazon.com for $16. If you order two sets the shipping is free!

http://www.amazon.com/Bosch-09004-Premium-Spark-Plug/dp/B000BZEFGY

Engine Lid Graphics

Scott Taylor did the great technical work and created early engine lid graphics in .pdf files. I asked my local printer to provide a graphic in matte black vinyl. They were easy to apply and look great.

Rear Trunk Carpet Installed

Installed the rear trunk carpet. Used NOS material which was destined for a VW squareback. Much thanks to Mr. David Ball for providing me a template for one of the carpet pieces.

Early T3 Carburetor Altitude Corrector - Initial Impression

The early side draft T3 carburetors were given the option of having their main jets substituted with an optional Solex altitude corrector. Go here for more documentation on the T34 web site.

The size difference between the main jet and the corrector is quite noticeable.

Below is a photo with the unit installed. I didn’t have to remove the carburetor and there were no gasoline leaks with the unit in place.

Initial impressions at 7200 feet , with a warm engine, were quite favorable. I was able to start the engine with ease and run it around the block with the same performance I had at 4300 feet.

The big test is when I get the car registered and can run it to the 9000 foot summit of Mount Rose highway. Based upon today’s results I expect no issues.

T34 Tachometer Restoration

Purchased a genuine T34 tachometer recently and sent it down to North Hollywood Speedometer company for restoration. They will also convert the unit to 6v and paint the needle amber red to match my other '63 instruments. They used an old T34 clock of mine for spare parts.

Scott McWilliams, who himself is a 6v T34 tach owner, went to take pictures of the unit while it was apart. Thanks to ScottMcW for taking take off from his day!

All his photos and comments can be seen here at Flickr. (http://www.flickr.com/photos/scottmcw/sets/72157623924885494/)