SVreX said:In reply to mannydantyla :
That firewall/ steering wheel is looking like a big issue.
Raise seat, raise column, fab a custom taller dash to hold the miata cluster. That’s what my brain sees, as someone balls deep in a similar project
SVreX said:In reply to mannydantyla :
That firewall/ steering wheel is looking like a big issue.
Raise seat, raise column, fab a custom taller dash to hold the miata cluster. That’s what my brain sees, as someone balls deep in a similar project
In reply to Patrick :
....and the column will run into the structure of the unibody. Perhaps even the master cylinder.
There's a u-joint on the column right where it enters through the firewall, I bet I could raise it up a few inches without any issues other than the gauge cluster and the air bag control module (which I've already removed)
Got a little more of the Miata cut down to size. It's a tedious job. And I haven't even gotten to the front part yet. Or the passenger side. And of course I'm doing this with all the Miata crap still attached, unlike Paul and Pete who disassembled everything. That's too daunting of a task for me I guess, but only time will tell which method comes out on top. I haven't even removed the damn wheels for christs sake. God I'm lazy.
I'll probably have to cut more of the rockers off too. The Miata is 52.5" from pinch seam to pinch seam, and the Type 3 is 54.25", so you would think that I wouldn't have to cut the inner rocker panels off, but the problem is that they're way too tall. Or I could just half-ass it and I'd have to awkwardly step over them when getting into the car.
I'm keeping the Miata seat belt towers, btw
I took some measurements yesterday. With the Miata rims and tires (stock), the front will just barely clear the fenders, maybe not while turning and hitting a bump at the same time though, but I bet I could get one of those fender roller tools and call it a day. And in the rear the tires will stick out about an inch maybe less. "Pull" the rear fenders? Weld on some fender flares? Do this? Looks simple enough. Or I could simply leave around 1.5" clearance above the tires, but I really don't think that would be a good look. Especially if they're the tiny 23" miata wheels. The VW comes with 25" wheels, fyi. What do you guys think?
As for rims, the stock Miata rims (that someone painted black) will get me by for now but for the finished product I need something a little nicer. Also, my wife's Yaris has 15x5 rims, +45mm, wrapped in 175/65 rubber for an overall diameter of 24" and I can easily throw those on to see how they fit and look. I'm definitely not against using steel rims if I can put some shiny vintage hub caps on them.
Just some forward thinking while I ponder the best way to drop the VW body on the chassis. Maybe next week if get all my ducks in a row.
I found this incredible Type 3 Notchback build and the guy welded on some fender flares from a Mk2 Golf. http://www.superstreetonline.com/features/eurp-1103-1965-vw-1500-notchback/
more photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/vr6notchback/with/4686543607/
Patrick said:Raise seat, raise column, fab a custom taller dash to hold the miata cluster. That’s what my brain sees, as someone balls deep in a similar project
What's your project? Do you have a build thread?
I'll probably have to cut more of the rockers off too. The Miata is 52.5" from pinch seam to pinch seam, and the Type 3 is 54.25", so you would think that I wouldn't have to cut the inner rocker panels off, but the problem is that they're way too tall. Or I could just half-ass it and I'd have to awkwardly step over them when getting into the car.
I would leave them as tall as possible and add a 1"x6" tube to box the sill and fill the gap. There is a lot of strength to be had in keeping both the VW and the Miata sills as box sections. I went a little nuts in this area with a tubular structure buried in the sill.
Pete
In reply to NOHOME :
Thanks Pete, alright I will leave them as they are for now and see what I can do when its time to connect body to chassis.
Edit:
Also, I'm not as fortunate as you and your Volvo+Miata. For this project, if I did that it would look something like this:
But, function over form, right? Would at least like to roll some beads on there or something...
Here's the interior the way I received it:
And here it is after spending all day yesterday getting it cleared out: (that's ice on the windshield I tried to scrape off but gave up)
Mrs. Mannydantyla isn't very happy about the new heep of junk piled up next to the Super Beetle, which is still, sadly, laying in the yard without any wheels on after I put them under the Type 3 so I could wheel it on and off the trailer.
And I got a new youtube video up:
I ordered a bead roller from Eastwood, and I started reading and watching youtube vids on bead rolling and metal forming in general and I've learned that I know very very little about metal forming and what I thought I did know was actually wrong. But I'm excited to learn some new skills and there will certainly be many opportunities on this car, especially the area around the headlights and the many rusty areas around the windows and lids.
Unfortunately I have to wait until I'm finished with Stage 2: get a Miata+Type 3 that is capable of moving and driving under its own power. Only after that can I begin the restoration process (fix rust, paint, interior, etc). This is just a management style I've adopted to make sure I don't quit half way through, and if I do then I don't wast too much money. Also, and I'm not at liberty to give any further details, but the project will need to be trailered across several states in a few months from now and it would be nice if it could drive on and off the trailer.
With any luck, the car won't look like this, at least not for too long:
I am not morally outraged with the raised sill structure and like I said, you are going to like it when it comes to making the car stiff. The stiff chassis is a big part of why new cars handle as well as they do.
I would do what it takes to round the edges at the front and back, bead roller for sure, and maybe some dimple die speed holes to add interest and away you go. Take a flaw and make it into a feature!
Do whatever it takes to get the dash heights close, it will make your life a lot easier in the short and long run!
Lose the stupid rear camber and this I can dig
Pete
In reply to NOHOME :
Is there an example of what you mean by round the edges front and back? I am having a hard time picturing what you are talking about.
Somebeach said:In reply to NOHOME :
Is there an example of what you mean by round the edges front and back? I am having a hard time picturing what you are talking about.
See where the new raised sill meets the A-pillar and the B-pillar? It is a sharp 90 degree angle. Note the factory transition is radiused. If the new raised sill can be blended in such that it has a radius, it would be both stronger and more eye-pleasing. The raised step itself could be made more aesthetically pleasing using a bead roller and or dimple dies..
My situation was not too far off from what you are looking at. This is the result when I first fit everything together and was planning on using the Volvo dash over the Miata firewall furnishings..
I wanted to keep the firewall stuff as factory as possible and also keep the tubular crossmember. The column can be moved up about 1/2" without running into a domino effect. I got the body down about another inch from here and then went with the Miata dash that blends the difference in and conforms to the stuff that needs to hide behind it.. I stopped lowering the body because I got worried about engine clearance to the bonnet.
Here is where I ended up: There is about a 1" difference between the Miata dash and the Volvo dash. Worst bit is that the wiper boxes are peeking up at the leading edge of the dash. ( Wipers were a MAJOR pain in the ass)
So on the Panhard my answer on dash and wiper box/wiper transmission is a little less elegant. I am building a wireframe structure out if 3/16 stainless rod and stretching leather and canvas materials from the windshield portion of the dash to the bottom. All gauges will be viewed through a tablet dash hard mounted on the column near dash. The factory Panhard column shell will be modified to fit around the Miata column.
In reply to NOHOME :
Perfect thanks. Makes sense now.
Robbie said:I am absolutely blown away that you have to make a Miata bigger to fit it under a bug.
I was amazed at the Miata roofline matching up to the Beetle "bottom of the windshield" line. Almost like a designer said "here's the size limit, make it fit in there"
New video of me gutting the Type 3 interior, and cutting everything off the Miata to get it ready for the body swap:
So are you in SD also?
Pete
People will probably have strong opinions on this, but an option for the fender clearance could be to go For the lowered Baja look:
NOHOME said:So are you in SD also?
Pete
Looks like it, right? No, I'm in Kansas. This has been the snowiest January in maybe 6 or 7 years. Just in time for my outdoors car restoration project. I really really just want to wash the damn thing, while it's outside, but the weather won't give me a break. I just want to wash it and get all the crud out of the weathered paint before I put some BLO over the "patina" which will make it a little more livable while I work on getting it driveable. It might be like that for a year or two before I'm able to paint it.
I think what most people would do is take the body off the frame, take all the windows, doors, trim, etc. out, and have it sand blasted and primed. That would be really nice. I might call around to see how much that would cost. But I also want to make it driveable before I worry about the body.
Here's the deal, the car will get trailered half way around the country in exactly three months from now (and that last month will be spent fixing up the house to get it sold). And it better be one car and not two! So I really can't afford the time needed to do the conventional body-off restoration process... even though I'll have the damn body off! It's killing me actually.
No Time said:People will probably have strong opinions on this, but an option for the fender clearance could be to go For the lowered Baja look:
I have VERY strong opinions about that... in my pants...
Since you are not using the floor pan ,the only sandblasting I would do is the door jambs and engine bay. Way too risky to blast the low crown vw outer panels.
Pete
In reply to NOHOME :
Damn, I had no idea it could do that. Yeah the VW sheet metal is pretty thin. A quick check on the Samba website, and sure enough you're right! https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=539251
I was planning on getting the tiny little gravity feed media blaster from HF and use it around the window seams, trunk lid seal, etc. and I expect a fair amount of rot. But I don't really want to take all the windows out right now. But when I do and before I put them back in with all new seals, I'll want to install a new headliner first because it needs to go between the metal window seams and the window seals. And I just don't have time to do all of that. It's a shame though.
I'm almost too embarrassed to share this because of all the holes, but I don't want you guys to think I haven't been working on this car all week like I have. This will give a nice surface to weld to when it comes time to attach the Type 3 body.
It doesn't look like much, but that took me about 6 hours to do. Now I'm working on the other side. At least I'm getting better at welding thin sheet metal! It's all in the zaps, and fitment. Still a lot of room for improvement.
If I measured correctly, and guestimated correctly based on Joe Mama's photos, the inside sheet metal of the VW Type 3 will *just barely* fit over this section of the Miata after I cut out a lot. And if it doesn't then I'm going to use a sledge hammer to make it fit.
Taking the body off the old vw chassis today and this weekend....
The weather was warm just long enough to wash it and experiment with putting a thin layer of lindseed oil over the old faded paint. I tried buffing with compound first but I preferred the brick red/burnt orange color that resulted from the oxidation. I'm really happy with how it turned out! (it didn't look this greasy as in this photo once it cured). Check it out:
Not too soon afterwords, I took it all apart.
https://dannix.net/sites/default/files/DSC03006.JPG
I rather like this photo:
Just for fun, I'm sharing these pics I found on the innerwebs:
Tomorrow I'm taking the body off the frame. I'm cutting it off, not unbolting it ;)
Why cutting? Are you keeping anything ahead of the VW windshield?
Pete
In reply to NOHOME :
Well I was getting ready to unbolt it and pull it off the chassis, like normal, then cutting off what wasn't needed. But there's so much rust that needs to be cut out - like above the rear inner fenders, the rockers inside and out (everything but the sill), firewall, cargo area, etc. - that I realized I can just make those cuts now and leave those rusty parts attached to the chassis. Which I'm just going to sell for scrap to get it off my property as quick as possible So I don't have to park my DD in the yard anymore. It's turning into a mud hole and my wife, umm, would rather it not be a mud hole.
I'm for sure keeping the bits of metal that the fenders bolt to, and the front nose area where the bumpers bolt to. But I'll have to make new bumper bolt points as they're too rusty and the PO tried to repair it with fiberglass. Yeah, the front bumpers where held on with fiberglass! And of course it will need to be tied into the miata front chassis rails.
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