Carbon Fiber!

Well, Dixie let me spend yet another Saturday working on things for the Bug. This time I went into work and made a carbon fiber firewall for it. We had a bunch of expired carbon fiber at work that needed to be thrown out so I used some for the firewall. It turned out pretty good. It was actually an easy thing to make but if you are familiar with composite work, it is very time consuming. Here are some pics of the process.

Here it is bagged and being heated up to 350 degrees while being sucked down at the same time

Here is the machine that does it all

And here is a close up of the corner to show how it looks after it is finished

Now I just have to clean up the edges, lightly sand it and add a clear coat finish to it. I have to get this done before I put the engine in. It looks like I have some time since they haven't even shipped my parts yet. AAARRRGGGHHH. That is frustrating. What do they think it is Christmas or something?



Hurry and Wait.

Progress on the engine is going good. I have put everything back together that I can. Now I am waiting for some parts I need before I can do much more. Here is how it looks right now.



I need some gaskets for the intake manifold and then I can install that and the doghouse. Until I get them I am going to adjust the valves and put some exhaust clamps on that are missing. It won't be long now, I can already hear it running in my mind. Oh and I need to make the carbon fiber firewall. Hopefully I will get that done Saturday.

Finished powder coating the last engine parts!

Well, Today I snuck off in the morning to finish powder coating the last pieces of the motor so we can begin putting it all back together. I had to do black and white. The white is just going to accent a few pieces on the engine. The rest will be black. Here are some pictures.

First to be done is the white. I hung them up on the rack.

                          

 I then hooked the machine up so it would be statically charged.

    
                                    

  I then put the powder on it.
 

And baked it at 400 degrees for 20 minutes

Here is the finished product for the white batch

Then the black batch got done.

I think we are finally ready to start putting the engine back together. Everything is cleaned and painted, all the new seals are in, and the new parts are ready to be installed. Hopefully it goes quick and the bug can be driven again. I know I have missed it something terrible.

I guess its time for Christmas.

Well, Isaac informed me a week ago that I had to be home on Saturday so we could decorate the Christmas Tree. I promised him I would so here are the pictures to prove it.

You can tell in these pictures who is doing most of the work.

Here I am doing my part.

I can't complain, Dixie let me play in the garage for a couple hours after and I was able to get the rear seal in the transmission and fill it with gear oil. It was a fun day with the family and most of the Christmas decorations are out and on display!

Engine tin

Well, here are some new pics of the engine tin I powder coated and the engine on the engine stand that I modified so it would fit the bug motor on.

 

Progress has been a little slow but it is moving forward. Today I installed a new front oil seal on the engine, reinstalled the flywheel and removed the oil cooler so I could replace the seals there. Still have to powder coat a few more engine parts, the back wheels and install everything. I am still working on the firewall and 

then it will be ready for the engine to go back in. I really miss driving the bug. I just wish I had some more time to get things done. I always seem to run out of time, but I guess that's life.