I personally wouldn't (each to their own) but even more importantly, it would have meant drilling even more holes in a pristine original W-lid!

It will blend in a little better once it's bent to follow the contour of the lid.

But ultimately, I made the decision to run rectangular plates to match the original holes and the original Portuguese plate.

It also looks a little different and distinctive.

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Oh yeah....I'd missed that. I like this play on plates...in a vertical sense the middle letter/number of my car says "L0" which I thought was apt!

The mounting holes are behind the digits so I need to find a way of mounting it securely without drilling the plate.

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Just a thought,you can slap me if i'm being silly.
Some sort of bracket like Robb has used in his 1500 resto thread.
Won't help with the curve you want on the plate i'm afraid.
But a starting point anyway.

gotcha LT.

well i wouldnt drill any holes in an OG lid either, hence why i ran a bracket, and they do them for ovals also. KK stock them i believe, that way you could run either size of plate and not have to drill the lid. also think its a cleaner way of mounting it, as you can clean underneath.

keep up the good work LT

:thumbup:

Have you thought of magnets? We have some very slim yet powerful magnets at work!

Alloy plates.

Please leave the hubcaps off. It look proper without!:smile:

Sorry

Drill the normal mounting holes in the alloy plate. Bolt plate to magnets using captive threaded holes. Fix plate to car.
Then again there's always velcro.:smile:

Just an idea,
You could drill the holes where they look best on the plate and make an adaptor .Something like a piece of steel the thickness of the recess in the plate ,weld or just drill and tap for a 6mm studs oppositly opposed .The length of each bracket would be however far each hole in the lid is out of position relative to the plate.


Whats delaying the engine start up ? looks like you have everything there ,engine in,battery, Jet fuel and away you go ?:roll: :smile:

Mike

I need to get the tank in first, which requires the master cylinder grommet and feed pipe whilst I've got accesss. I'm waiting for the new ATE grommet in the post which should arrive any day. I need to adjust the clutch and also fill the gearbox with oil etc.

I want to run the engine during the day which will require me having a rare thing like a day off....

I'm working all this weekend so my next day off is next Wednesday.... which might see a start up attempt...

We shall see.

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For the 1st fire up of the engine kindly post a video :thumbup: I want to hear this little kitten.

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Set your watches everyone - next Wednesday is fire up day! :thumbup:

Film crew are on standby!

:beer: :beer: :beer:

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I dont know how you resist, that thing would've been running at 3am from a Jerry can if it had been mine.

:rofl:

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My patience and dicsipline has served me well over the years and I don't want to change a winning formula.

Do it once.

Do it properly.

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I finally got hold of the correct OEM ATE master cylinder plug which allowed me to finish the installation of the brakes.







I then refilled the system and bled the brakes a couple of times.... but the pedal was going almost all the way to the floor like I was pumping up a tyre....

Hmm - something's not right.

I bled them again to make sure there wasn't any air in them and tried again - still the same problem. It was going to be one of those nights I could tell...

I checked all round for leaks and to make sure all the union nuts were tight etc, then bled them like there was a tax rebate at the blood donor centre.

Again, no improvement.

Then it dawned on me - I'd not adjusted the shoes !!!!

If I was my own twin brother, I'd have kneed me in the nuts...

A quick adjustment saw the problem solved and pedal nice and firm, which was a big relief. I was then able to top the system off with a new rubber resevoir cap.





With the brakes done, I cold now close up the front end with the fuel tank that I'd cleaned and sealed what seems like such a long time ago.

I bought a genuine new VW fuel tap and fitted it to the bottom of the tank.





Here's a shot I managed to get of the inside of the tank with the filter gauze showing.





I then fitted ta new rubber grommet to the solid fuel line where it comes out of the frame head.







At this point I'll mention the fuel hose. Some of you may or may not know but modern fuels contain all kinds of additives and cleansers which very quickly rots traditional rubber fuel hose in as little as a few months in some cases and many fires are a result of this normal rubber hose failing.

To this end, I managed to find some NBR nitrile hose which not only is chemically resiliant to modern fuels, but in this case also comes covered in a lovely black cloth braid so it looks identical to what was fitted at the factory - it even has the correct 5.5mm internal diameter to ensure a snug press fit over the solid fuel lines.

If anyone wants any, I had to buy a huge reel so am willing to sell the rest to recoup my expense. Anyway - it's great stuff!





Despite it being 5.5mm diameter and a nice snug fit, where fuel is concerned I'm happy to go belt and braces, so bought some nice stainless hose clamps with anti pinch devices.








I bought a new correct gasket for the tank which was a perfect fit...







Four bolts later and hey presto - the tank is back in!

I even used the original split pin that secures the fuel tap to the opperating lever!







And there it is - all back the way it should be, complete with original tool roll, tank dip stick, jack and spare dynamo belt on the spare wheel!









Getting real close now!


On a separate note - I discovered amongst my treasure, a NOS mirror which I'd like to fit to the door hinge, but I'm not sure if I have the correct hardware or hinge pin etc.

Can any of you experts tell me what's wrong here and how I get this mirror to fit?

This is what I have..




Thanks.

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As a matter of interest, I thought the master cylinder should be 17mm diameter and not 19 mm. Or am I wrong?

Dunno - it's the correct NOS item and has the right part number so I didn't bother checking.

EDIT:- Just checked my original parts book - 19mm it is.... :thumbup:

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Interesting. TBH that's something I didn't know existed and I did wonder if anything was used as Ben's about a week away from my final tank fitting. I'll go and have a look in my parts book now.

Where did you get it from Andy?

Well I'm no expert but I think the pin in your hinge is designed for a mirror with a curved out arm, so the arm drops over the pin and a nut secures it in place.

What is called the "pear" shaped mirror has an arm with a combined nut that screws onto the pin which would have a thread all the way down the exposed part.