In the above picture you can see the butt seem straight down the top side of the fender. The piece blending down into the hood area is laying on the buck without being clamped. Remember the buck is used for fitment of the panels and as a guide to shaping the structural support when the body is completed. If I can wheel a piece that simply lies down right where it’s supposed to on the Buck, I’m in good shape.

When you start shaping metal something magical happens. You realize everything around you has a shape from tables to poles holding up the barn to a simple piece of pipe like the one shown below. I used this as an example to show you a very utilitarian way of getting a shape. The rounded edge of this pipe gives my panel a nice contour. I marked out a series of lines on the panel and worked my way down the metal with slight bends until I achieve the overall contour I’m looking for. To hold the bar in place I put a foot on each side of the sheet and then bend the metal, applying even pressure across the piece for an even bend.

Do a little at a time and test fit. You can see here it’s getting close. I bead rolled my edge so the panels line up nice and pretty. I was so tempted to rivet these two panels but could hardly wait to start welding.

So, after I tackled a few practice pieces to test the welder out, I decided I might as well try a panel.

My first weld actually didn’t turn out to bad. If you’re new to this like I am, here are some pointers. First off read the manual, use all safety equipment suggested by manufacturer and I’m not liable for you!

• My Welder: Lincoln 180C MIG welder with a spoolgun
• Clean your metal with a stainless brush, it can oxidize in just a matter of minutes so clean it immediately before welding, even tacking a weld
• Hold the tip of the Spoolgun about 7/8″ to 1″ away from the metal
• Point the tip at a slight angle in the direction you will be pushing your weld along, remember you Push the gas along with this setup rather than pulling like on Steel
• I’ve had several different opinions given on what a proper weld looks like and here’s the one I trust. Your weld should not melt through the backside of the panel. It should show a very small “dent” only noticeable on close inspection. On the top side of your weld you should not be able to hook a finger nail on it. If you can hook your finger nail, it’s not deep enough.
• You will have to practice your movement speed along the metal to get the perfect weld.

Extreme Curves

Now onto the more extreme compound curves. One thing I learned is to NOT weld the more curvacious pieces until the very end. Use clamps or clecos (temporary/removable  rivets) to hold your pieces together until you’re absolutely certain they are ready to weld.

Here is a picture of Clecos in action

My front fender area was coming together nicely, if only I wouldn’t have welded it together!

My seems were lining up really well and the shape was very close to that of the buck. However my weld got pretty hot and started to warp the fender. Another thing to note: the bottom of the fender is run off which will be cut off and then a new piece will be shaped to tie in the lower front nose piece into the fender…

I have to say after working on a section for a couple days and then not being completely satisfied with it makes it hard to move on. I decided to let that side rest for a day and try the other fender.

By taking my time and paying much closer attention to my fitment this fender fits the buck almost perfectly. The secret: Wheel for a minute or two at the most and then check fitment. You can trust the picture you have in your mind of what the shape should be but you have to lay it on the buck constantly. This also helps you read the shape, dissect exactly what needs to happen and then apply the wheel, shrinker or stretcher or whatever tool to make that shape happen.

Now there’s no choice but to go back and redo the other side! A person shouldn’t be too proud of their work but this piece gets me excited… No, I’m not welding it yet.

Inspiration

I was told about a local gentleman who hand-built an aluminum bodied experimental aircraft. I was able to set up a meeting with him at his hangar to learn more. I learned that our local airport houses an Experimental Aircraft Hangar where people can practice fabricating with several tools including the English Wheel. This comes as welcomed news as it’s always fun to be around people who share your addiction.

Here’s Doug’s Hand-built Plane

All panels are Aluminum with the exception of the engine fairing which is fiberglass. All the structural reinforcements are formed by hand, just like the homebuilt racers I’m basing my build on. All panels are riveted to the inner reinforcements. The plane is powered by an 1885CC VW engine. Estimated cruising speed 130MPH.

Here you can see the rivets used

Here you can see the hand-formed structural supports. This is a similar construction as to how the body sections will be supported on my racer.

The cockpit also sported some neat features. The sliding cover was very cool. I might try to fabricate a removable cover similar to this for my car.

As far as inspiration goes, here’s another picture I’d like you to see. This Streamliner was built from aircraft scrap left over from WWII in Germany in 1947. Interesting Cockpit design and hammer marks were the least of his concerns.

Another neat car is this “Whitehead Special” from Australia. According to the book “Making the Volkswagen Go” this car had special design heads and valve covers which allowed the exhaust ports to vent the exhaust straight out of the valve covers.

Stay tuned for more updates in the next week!

Happy Motoring~

In this article I’m going to walk you through an affordable way to build a nice shipping crate on a standard 48×40″ pallet.

Please note that your safety is your responsibility. Use the proper ear and eye protection.  TMJ is not liable for your safety!

Tools and Material

You will need the following tools and material.

• Battery Drill with the appropriate bit for your screws (I use T-25 Torx)
• A box of  1.75″ wood screws (sheetrock or decking) Apx 60-70 screws needed
• 1 Countersink bit/drill
• 2- 4×8′ sheets of 3/8″ plywood  (you can use 1/2 for more stability
• 7- 8 foot 2×2″ framing support studs
• Standard size pallet (48×40″)
• A level
• Measuring tape
• Square
• Pencil
• Skill Saw
• Miter Box
• 3 Ratchet Straps for strapping the engine down

Cutting

I started with my 2×2 framing. With the aircleaners off of the engine I had a total clearance height of 32″ to give myself a bit of space to clear the fan shroud.

• Cut 8-2×2′s at 30 and 1/4″ long
• Cut 4-2×2′s at 6″ length
• Cut 3- 2×2′s at 37″ length
• Cut 2- 2×2′s at 48″ length
• Cut 2- 2×2′s at 16″ length

Now onto cutting your plywood. If you’ve done this right, you will only need one sheet to cover 3 sides of the crate. The other sheet will be used to cover each end (2 sides).

• Mark and cut the sheet in 32″ increments. This will give you three identical pieces (32×48″) to use for the wider, 48 inch sides and top of the crate.
• Mark and cut the sheet at 32″ by 40″ for your sides. You will need two of these.

Building

Note-If you do not countersink your screws prior, the wood will most likely crack!

1. Take the 2-16″ 2×2 pieces and lay them out so they are at each side of the oil screen cover. They rest on the bottom side of the engine case. Screw each piece of wood to the palet.Note that you can add some rubber gasket material if you feel necessary as this wood will be in direct contact with the engine case. I’ve never had any issue with wear/tear with the case resting on the wood in this fashion…
   
2. Now is the time when you want to strap the engine down with your ratchet straps. With this engine, since it will be restored I ran a soft rubber backed carpet over the cylinder head tin and a strap over each side. I then ran a third strap over the transmission mount flange on the back as shown in this picture below.
    

   

3. Countersink  6″ 2×2 pieces so that they can be screwed to the pallet at each corner along the 48″ sides as shown in this picture. These are used to screw the upright supports to as well as screwing the side sheet panels on later.
   |
4. In the above picture you can see the 6″ pieces now mounted at each corner. Off of those pieces I screwed the base of each of the 8 upright 30 and 1/4″ supports.
5. Your upright supports are standing now and though they may seem a bit wobbly, they’ll firm up soon enough. Take your 48″ cut 2×2, measure 6″ in and countersink accordingly to drill down into the upright supports.  Screw them together.
6. Now you can grab the 37″ supports which run between the 48″ pieces. As shown in the photo above I countersunk and screwed them in from the 48″ pieces.
7. Countersink and screw down into the 37″ side pieces into the uprights accordingly and make sure now that all framing is tied together. Add addition supports/screws where you feel necessary.
8. Now onto the side panels. Since you have them all cut this will be pretty straight-forward. I started with the 48″ panels first. Make sure everything is square and begin screwing them together. Start with a screw in each corner (4 total) and move onto the other side. Save the top piece for last.
   
9. The following photo shows your side pieces screwed in place and then the final top piece.
   
10. At this point you can choose to take an additional step in supporting the engine. It is possible to build a crossmember out of 3/4 plywood that mounts onto the transmission/engine mounting bolt holes. This piece runs the width of the crate and would mount to the side panels. This step is not shown in the pictures.
11. Finish screwing off all of the panels and check to make sure everything is sound and secure.
     

    

My purchase of this Bahama Yellow 1968, 912 as always, was an adventure. I found the car located in Orlando, FL. The seller had owned it for nearly two decades. His roots in Porsche ownership went deep as his father also owned several 356′s and 912′s.  The car was pretty much original although had some paintwork and a fender replaced from a well documented  “bump” that occurred in March 1990.

The one red flag that I had was regarding the rust. Anytime I see visible rust-through on a Porsche I walk away. But why not this time you ask? I asked myself the same question. It was charming. It came with boxes of 912 and 356 parts. When the seller drove it, the little 912 ran great. For some reason, this wasn’t so when I got behind the wheel… But more on that later.

Rust in a Porsche is never a good thing. The majority of experienced Porsche owners will tell you to stay away. Replacement panels are expensive, finding an experienced person to fit those panels is even more expensive and very difficult. It’s not like welding a floor pan into a 57 Chevy. There’s no frame on the Porsche so the floor pans, center tunnel, rockers all make up the structural foundation of the car. An improperly installed floor pan can and will have an adverse effect on the makeup of the car. In extreme cases a car that is badly rusted and still being driven can buckle under the stresses of driving.

Maybe it was my Minnesota “Salt Belt” roots that curbed my fear of rust. I may never know, but I struck a deal and bought the 912. I had a friend follow me as I drove the car from Orlando to Jacksonville. The engine bucked and popped as I had a heart to heart with her, “Come on now, stay alive, don’t die on me now… I’ll take good care of ya”. Yeah, that wasn’t helping. My phone finally rings and my buddy asks how much a 912 should smoke. “It shouldn’t” I tell him. Well, maybe just a little on cold start but that’s it and we’ve been driving 2 hours now. Fighting the crazy traffic and Florida heat we finally arrive in Jacksonville with no major problems, that we know of…

My mechanical knowledge of 912′s was fairly limited at this point but I knew a compression test was in store. The engine seemed to get weaker as I drove the car just a few miles the next day and I made the decision to bring it to (insert horror movie music here) A MECHANIC! If you live in Jacksonville, FL and want to find a reliable Aircooled Porsche mechanic where do you go? I’ve yet to have that question answered. But I ended up taking it an Aircooled VW specialist… FIRST MISTAKE. At least I knew he could do a compression test and that he did. Just 2 days into my ownership I get the call that the engine needs at least a top end job. My heart sank.

First lesson: Do a compression test before buying a vintage or just about any car.

I ask the mechanic how much to rebuild the top end (which is an open-ended question). He said it would run $2500-$4500! This is my first Porsche engine building experience so as with many naive Porsche owners I am now disgusted. I am in denial and my wife is going to kill me.

Since I need a top end this brings up the question, Who do I want to do this work? A second opinion is always good so a friend gives me the number of a retired Porsche mechanic. When I told him who had my car he said “get it out of there as fast as possible”. So taking his advice, I get the car and bring it to another shop. At least this “other” shop had several Porsche’s sitting around. No 356′s or 912′s but hey, he’d been doing this a long time…

I left the car at shop #2 and anxiously awaited their call. My phone finally rings and it’s the same diagnosis, at least 2 of the cylinders have low compression. He suggested new pistons, rings, cylinders and checking/repairing the heads.  The quote was for around $3,000. I am now trying to convince myself of the good deed I’m doing by keeping this 912 on the road. Remember the rust? Yeah, I remember it too. And it’s the first thing I’m going to see when I go to pick up my 912 with a “Fresh top end”!

So the motor is done. I pick up the car and make my way across Jacksonville, listening to the sound of a pinging getting louder, and louder, and LOUDER and I’m finally in my driveway. Now I’m out a total of over $8,500.00 with the purchase of the car and the engine work and I’ve got a horrible sound coming from the engine. I call the shop that did the work and the owner says get the car in your garage and pull off the valve covers and see if anything looks suspicious.

The right side valve covers off, there’s a nut and washer laying inside. Keeping the profanity at a minimum I try to smile and call it a simple mistake but I would like nothing better than to walk into that mechanics shop and give him a piece of my mind. I clearly see where the nut goes on the rocker assembly. I find out the torque specs via the 912bbs.org website, properly torque the nut and viola, my valve train clatter has miraculously disappeared! But the rust hasn’t!

So how bad is the rust? Well, the car felt solid… Really solid. With an awl, you can poke around the floor pans and see that it won’t go through. For some reason though, the outer rockers have it the worst and these are visible to everyone who gets close to the car. It’s a driver, who cares? Well, Once you were in the car driving you certainly didn’t care because it was now running and driving wonderfully. It was the perfect beach cruiser and with the Amco roof rack I found, it was my surf rig.

There are a handful of guys I personally know in the US who have no problem buying a rusted out Porsche. They are experienced and have access to the people and tools to repair and do the job right. One thing is true, because of the general consensus to walk away from a rusty Porsche. You can definitely find good deals on a car with rust. But for a guy like me who at the time was unable to weld floor pans and rockers, how much rust is too much?

Common Rust Issues and Areas

Floor Pan:

The most important factor is that the major structural points do not have rust through. Jack points, Floor pans, Front Pan, Rear Torsion area and areas where suspension components are mounted. In addition the headlight bezels, Rear seat area (from leaking window seals) and the seal around the windshield as well can leak and cause rust.

You can see here the front pan had slight surface rust.

The door Jambs are an important area down in the corners. If rust has made its mark here there is usually much more beneath.

The front spare tire well is a common spot for rust

By inspecting the rear torsion plate area closely you might get an idea of what lurks inside. This is a vital and expensive area for rust.

The final say… Overall I was of course unhappy about the surprises that had come up with my 912. However, this car served me well and made a great daily driver. Some frowned upon the rust and others loved how original and honest the car was. The car brought me great pleasure and is now restored and serving a happy new owner.

It’s amazing how much progress a person can make when  you eliminate  the distractions (other projects)! Over the past 10 day’s I’ve spent about 70 hours working on the buck and was able to complete it!

The majority of buck building goes into the first half, as I described earlier the other half is simply a mirror image so you’re basically tracing and cutting on the lines and then doing some fine sanding. The tricky part is to get every dimension dialed in before you get too far along. Much of the tweaking of your shape happens as you go. Every area you move has to be compensated or planned for on the other half, making sure everything is symmetrical.

Now that both outer side or “Wheel to Wheel” profiles are done I decide the hood and inner shapes are dependent upon my nose and tail shapes. In this picture you will see I have determined exactly how much space I want between the two side profiles, in this case it is 46″. I cut a board with plenty of extra drawing room to pencil out the shape of the nose.

I decide on a shape I like and make my cut. My next step is to make the stringers running from the outermost and inner most points of this shape and tie them from front to back.

It took some time to get the precise shape of the hood and I still might give it a little more crown. This is for two reasons, I need more dash space in the cockpit and I like the look of a slightly crowned hood. Although with the hood crown I keep in mind the center line of the car is to be lower than the pontoon fenders.

Finally, The buck is complete and I’m ready to start shaping some aluminum.

Now that I can finally see what this body is going to look like what else is there to do but shape some metal? I started from the rear, left side and worked my way forward experimenting as I move along. I did the side in three sections because of the crown in the wheel to wheel profile. One of the seams will be riveted using aircraft rivets and the others will be butt welded. I also chose to flare the fenders just to give the wheel arch a real tailored look. This picture shows the wheel arches  with a raw edge, before they are rolled.

Vintage Racing Seat

I had somewhat of an idea of what I wanted the seat to look like. The seats used in these days were either lightweight aluminum with holes drilled for additional weight removal or sometimes even wicker. I had to determine my seating position in the car to help identify the seat shape and height. I came up with a rough idea and made this paper template.

Simply trace the paper onto the aluminum and start cutting. Until I can afford a bandsaw, all of my cutting is done by hand! I’ve been told this kind of work builds character…

I then begin bending the seat shape by hand. I use my knees as well to get a general shape made.

Now I do some more custom forming on the wheel, roll the edges and it’s starting to look the way I want it to.

My next update will include more cockpit customizing, dash layout and body shaping. Stay Tuned and Happy Motoring!

Click on photo’s to enlarge!

As you might know from previous entries. The project began by using a mid 50′s VW bug running gear. At that time the body layout was to be similar to the early Rometsch race cars with a rear engined configuration. The above picture however, is what I always wanted the car to resemble. This is the first generation “Glockler Special” built by Walter Glockler of Frankfurt, Germany.

After doing much needed research and keeping in mind I am on a shoestring budget (31 years old with a family of 4)… I realized the majority of Formula Vee race cars have nearly identical chassis configurations as the Glockler Special. Aside from the F-Vee being a single seater, center cockpit car, everything down to the wheelbase and mid-engine layout was quite similar. So I bought a running, driving Formula Vee racer for $3,300.00.  This saved huge amounts of time and money for me and my thought was that other people wanting to do a project like this, who are limited in the same areas might be able to pull it off as well.

Like any racecar, the Formula Vee body you see here is simply  removed via quick-locks. The only modifications that I needed to do were removing the current side floor pans and widen one area of the tube framing where the driver sits. This particular F-Vee is called a Predator Vee. The driver sits very low and laid back, which I needed to change to be more upright resemblance of the Glockler.

Once I had the seating configured, I needed to make the pan/rocker section as this will be the foundation that I plan to build the buck off of. I formed these sections from Fifty-Thousandths Aluminum. The inner pan mounts to the cars chassis where the original pan mounted as well.

My next rather expensive predicament came in the form of having the exact tires I wanted to run on the car. I found the Vredestein Sprint Classic to be the perfect fit. I had to save up for a couple months but the nearly $630.00 (after shipping, mounting and balancing) proved to be worth it. They look great wrapped around Wide Five wheels.

Now that I have the stance exactly to my liking, it’s time to build the buck. The most important factor now is to be certain the car is loaded similar to that of how it will be when driving and making sure it’s perfectly leveled. I got my car dialed in and set where it’s going to be spending the next few months as I build it’s skeleton so to speak.

I spent many evenings dreaming, drawing, writing down notes and ideas on how I plan to do this. Now you may be one of the 70% of people who told me this is impossible without CAD assistance or you might be one of the 30% who say an artists brain will put CAD to shame… Either way, I know they didn’t have CAD assistance when the first Glocklers were built and I’m not afraid to correct my mistakes and learn as I go! So, I went for it. Here’s one of many sketches…

My blueprint in my head showed that 24″ of height from the pan to the top of the profile as seen between the wheels, would be adequate. This of course worked out to my advantage with the 3/4″x4x8 sheets of plywood I was using. I was able to rip the plywood from end to end at 24″. I then needed to add on to the overall length to assure I would have plenty of material beyond each tire for the front and rear of the car.

In the above picture you can see the plywood sitting on the pan with each wheel cut out. To achieve this, I set the plywood at the exact height it would be sitting on the pan, but on the outside of the wheels. I then traced slightly larger than the tire diameter onto the plywood and used my jigsaw to cut the circles out. I now have the plywood back into place. As you look at the pictures of the Glockler Special, you’ll see the highest point of what I will refer to as the “Wheel to Wheel” profile (this is the side profile that spans between the wheels) is slightly inside of the tires. This is, in my opinion one of the key design elements adding to the beauty of the car. It creates an effect making the body look like its getting sucked over the tires almost…

My next task, one that is slightly scary, is to draw out in pencil the shape of the side profile. Now keep in mind I have no drawings, blueprints, etc. I just have about a dozen photo’s and an obsession. I know my car isn’t going to be identical and I plan it that way, but it’s going to have cues that are clearly Glockler. So, I start to draw with my pencil, the Wheel to Wheel profile shape. Once I have it where I like what I see, I make the final drawing in magic marker, remove the plywood and start cutting with my JigSaw.

Things are getting exciting now. I stand back in front of my workshop and I can almost hear the little racer revving up! Remember, Everything I make from this side will be a direct copy for the other side of the car. So I make two of these templates. I screw the two templates together and rest them over the right side tires. Now to perfect my cuts with the help of a hand held belt sander. I can see some slight blemishes towards the rear of the car. If you look closely you’ll see the forward section of the buck is taller than the rear, giving it a really awesome “speed” look. I sanded the rear down about 1/8″ to perfect this shape.

Now you’ll see in the original Glockler Special there are three profiles to focus on. If you draw a line down the center of the car from front to back you have one. And then the Wheel to Wheel profile which I am working in the above pictures. You also have the front view profile which comes in later as shown from the following view.

More on that later. My next task is to work my outer shapes which will be the side skins, front outer fender and rear outer fender. I am now finished sanding and shaping the Wheel to Wheel profile pieces so I unscrew them and set the left side piece back in place. I secure the piece using two supports inside and make certain it is plumbed and level. I actually had to use a couple bungee cords to pull the wood into position as the humidity was wanting to warp it in a couple places…

I start with the easiest and most identifiable shape, which to me is just ahead of the rear wheel. Now what you can’t see in the pictures is that the front track is about an inch wider than the rear. So with every piece or perhaps “Rib” you see in this picture they are getting slightly wider as they work toward the front. It actually adds to the beauty of the overall shape in the car. Every piece you see was cut, re-cut and re-cut again till it flowed how I wanted. I did get lucky on a couple and only had to cut once… The shape is starting to come to life!

As you can see some of the pieces are actually touching the tire. This is okay for now. After I am happy with the overall shape I will be making a metal trim piece that outlines the wheel area and the excess wood will be trimmed out. Once I am completely satisfied with this section I can disassemble, bring every piece to my friends shop with some good saw’s and make two of every piece. You’ll also notice each piece is numbered with the matching number written on the profile section for identification.

You’ll also notice my rocker panel in this picture. I plan to attach the rocker to the side body panel (no there are no doors on my car!) using Copper rivets.

I have had some questions on how this works, using a wood frame inside a car… The wood buck being built is only for shaping the aluminum body. Once the body is fabricated, the wood buck is removed and the body will be mounted using the mounting points that are existing for the Formula Vee car. The rear section will be completely removable for engine access…

My next step is to create the Center Profile and then blend the side profiles into the center. Stay tuned for more!

Rear View

A closer view from the front left

Removing a VW engine is fairly straight-forward but anyone who tells you “Just remove four nuts and it’s out” is full of it. Yes, there are four nuts/bolts that mount the engine to the transaxle but let’s start from the beginning.

Disclaimer- This is an article about how I removed my engine. What you do is your responsibility and The Motoring Journal and Chris Runge are not liable for any harm, injury, death or damage to you or your car or engine.

Tools:
Nitrile Gloves
Trouble Light
Floor Jack or  Post Lift
Jack Stands
Masking Tape
Metric Wrench Set and Socket Set
Phillips and Standard (flat) Screw Drivers
Needle Nose Pliers
Eye Protection
Golf Tee
5′ Length of 2×8 board
An ATV/Motorcycle Jack

Getting Started

1. Disconnect your battery.
2. While the tires are on the ground, chock the tires, crack your lug nuts loose on the rear wheels. You’ll be climbing in and out of each side where the wheels/tires will obstruct your view and reach… and depending on your beer intake, sometimes might make you feel plump…….
3. Next is getting the rear of your car at a comfortable working height. You will be leaning into and reaching around the fan shroud which in my case is straining on the back. The first few steps I usually keep the car on the ground or lifted about 12″ off.
4. Remove engine tin- When looking into the engine bay from the rear of the car. The engine cooling tin is screwed in with flat head screws. In some cases, the rear most tin needs to come out. First you should pull the two flexible tubes that run from the heat exchangers up to the fan shroud. Then remove the rear tin piece to allow more room for removal.
5. Carefully Look for the wires coming through the firewall just ahead and to the left of the fan shroud or “dog house”.  These are typically your ignition and carburetor wires. I take a piece of masking tape and write with a magic marker, labeling them in accordance with where they go. If you don’t know the name of the device each wire goes to, you can simply number the wire and stick a piece of tape on it with the matching number to the place where it goes.
6. Now, to your powering wires from the battery. These come through ahead and to the right of the fan shroud. They go to the top of the generator/alternator and can simply be labeled positive and negative and there’s a small ground that goes toward the front of most generator types. Confirm all wires are clear that would connect the engine to the car and you’re ready for the next step.
7. Fuel Line. Make sure you have your eye protection and Nitrile gloves handy. You will also need that golf tee to plug the fuel line coming from the cars gas tank.  The fuel line comes in on the left (drivers side) of the engine. It comes through the forward engine cooling tin/firewall area. If you do this right you won’t have any fuel spillage or very little in most cases. I keep an oil pan handy to catch any fuel that might come out. Many of these cars have had the fuel lines replaced so yours may vary.  Look to see where the hard fuel line ends and rubber fuel line begins. This might be under the car or in the engine area. Either way, you need to disconnect it in a manner that you don’t bend the hard line or cut the soft line when dropping the engine. Once you find the connecting spot, disconnect the fuel line and quickly plug it with the golf tee and then clamp the golf tee in place. If you are plugging the hard line, have the golf tee already clamped into a  6 inch piece of rubber fuel line with another clamp ready. You will slide this over the hard line and clamp it down. Viola, your fuel lines are done.
8. While you’re under the car looking at your fuel line, Look for the control cables coming into the heater box flaps. These need to be disconnected and pull the cable out so the heater boxes won’t get hung up when dropping the engine.
9. Carburetor Throttle Linkage- On the left side of the carb you will see the small throttle cable coming through the fan shroud. There is normally a hard tube that this goes through to protect it from the metal edges of the fan shroud. Sometimes these are long gone. If you don’t have one you can use a piece of hard fuel line to slide through as a protector when re-assembling. There is a set screw type of nut where this cable goes into the carb linkage. Loosen that up and make sure not to lose the nuts/screws. The cable should then slide out and you can push it back into the fan shroud out toward the forward side of the engine. This cable sometimes gets hung up on the forward engine tin when you drop the engine, so make sure it’s clear!
10. Jack the car up high, very high. This is where you must be careful. Most jacks won’t get a car high enough for the engine to be lowered and rolled out from under it. I use a 8″x8″x5′ piece of railroad beam ontop of my heavy duty floor jack. It spans across the rear footwell pan and transaxle area. Most importantly it works without damaging the car and gets it high off the ground to where I can support it safely at the highest level my jack-stands will safely allow.
11. Support the engine- At this point you’re ready to support the engine in preparation for dropping it. I use a motorcycle lift/jack for this. It’s just so much easier than anything else I’ve tried (skateboards, 4 wheel dolly, etc). I lift  the  motorcycle jack up to the bottom of the engine case till it just puts a slight amount of pressure on it. If you’re lifting the car from the engine you’ve gone too far.
12. Loosening the engine bolts- Get your light ready and shine it just forward of the fan shroud on the right and left side. Down toward the base of the flat engine tin, you will see where the engine case is bolted to the transmission case.  There will be a 17mm nut on each side of the case. Using a socket/ratchet reach behind and get on that nut to loosen it up. You shouldn’t need a wrench on the other end of the bolt, which is accessible from under the car.
13. Loosen the lower engine bolts- These are accessible from under the car.  Although sometimes they may vary in size depending on who’s worked on the car, they are usually 17mm or 15mm. The passenger side is tricky and you might need to get on it with an open end wrench.
14. Once these four bolts are removed the entire engine can be lifted slightly higher using the engine (atv) jack. This will take some of the pressure off the bolt studs and allow you to slide it back toward the rear of the car. You may or may not need to remove your oil/air breather from the top of the carburetor to help it clear the engine surround. You will feel the engine let loose from the the transaxle and rest solely on the atv lift. Once you’re this far, lower it down.
15. The easiest place for the engine to exit now is out of one of the wheel wells, right or left as this gives you a few more inches clearance without going out the back of the car.

My engine is shown below on a stand that can be purchased at your local auto parts store. The Yoke to mount a VW engine case can be found online.

1. Reliability- The Honda CB750 Four was one of the most reliable bikes in its day.
2. Performance- The CB750 Quad Carbureted engine made this somewhat of a well balanced powerhouse in its time.
3. Replacement Parts- Parts are everywhere for this bike! They’re cheap too compared to the Norton and Triumph bikes of the same era.
4. The bike I chose to buy had already been lovingly maintained and slightly modified exactly how I would have done it. This was the perfect start for my Racer.

First lets do some explaining. The story goes that in the 60′s young rebellious rocker types where looking for a distinctive, fast and personalized mode of transportation. Allowing them to rip from cafe to cafe racing eachother, other motorists and ultimately trying to reach the “Ton-Up” speed, 100 Miles per hour. Bikes of this era typically needed  modifying to attain such a speed. And so the story goes Cafe Racers where born.

Upon first glance my Honda needed primarily cosmetic love. Mechanically I had over $3500 in receipts handed to me with my purchase, all of which were done within the past 16 months. The bike ran and shifted excellent, had new tires, Lowered 2 inches with new adjustable rear shocks and fronts rebuilt, new custom one-off seat, a vintage Kerker 4-1 exhaust and much more.

I’ve been tackling a few smaller modifications on the bike to give it subtle styling cues of my own. First off the old handlebar mount wasn’t needed with the clip on Cafe bars. In the photo below you can see I’ve loosened the four clamp bolts and disconnected the wiring for the idiot lights placed in the top of this clamp. I wanted to maintain the lights to keep a stock look but cut down the overall height of the clamp bracket.

I laid out my cutting/milling lines on the upper piece a with magic marker that you can see if you look closely at the pic above. Basically, my cut was going to eliminate the hole where the handlebar would run through. I then ran a first cut through the band-saw taking the majority of the part to be removed, off.

The lower pieces were cut off using a plumbers type of hack saw.

Next up I laid a level or flat bar across my cut pieces to see what needed sanding to make everything level. Using a pneumatic disc sander I lightly worked each side until all surfaces mated perfectly. Word of advice, don’t take too much off!

After a final fit I touched up the raw aluminum with proper black paint to match the rest of the upper fork and bracket piece. You can see now the highest point on the bike has been lowered a couple inches and looks just a bit more streamlined. No turning back to original bars now!

Here you can see the beautiful lines of the bike.

In the next post I’ll show you how I added some stylish space for a carry-on.

Size 77.75MM

Call Chris- 320 491 5THREE-0NE Slx

We at TMJ wish Sir Moss a speedy recovery. We were looking forward to hearing him speak at the Amelia Island Concours later this week.

The Motoring Journal

The upper bushings I had to get from Auto Atlanta for a total of $53.00.

I wire brushed and treated all of the components as seen here. I then painted them. Next up is installation.

First remove your front wheels and support the front end of the car. Do this at your own risk. I take no liability for how you raise/lower or support your car.

Next up locate the cover over the Sway Bar hole. It has 3 bolts in it. I believe all pre-74, 911 and 912 cars will associate with these pictures. If your car had a sway bar then this cover will have a hole in it, or could be missing altogether. These are 13mm bolts and if not too rusty, are easily removed.

Remove the cap and then carefully pry it off. Mine was still sealed to the original undercoating which I wanted to preserve. You can use a flat screwdriver or blade to get behind it and may need to tap with a hammer to pry it off once the bolts are removed.

To my surprise the surface was like new behind the cover. And look at the inside of the original cover itself!

I was a little concerned when I saw that behind the cover was solid. I thought I would have to drill the 1″ or so hole to get the sway bar through. But it was just the original undercoating they used still sealed the hole up. I pressed a screw driver through the center of it and went right through. I then bored it out to the square shape of the end of the sway bar.

I used a knife to shape the hole and get the sway bar through. Here I am pushing it through. NOTE:Now here’s a trick I found out. If you send the sway bar through from the drivers side, it’ll be MUCH easier to guide it out the other hole on the passenger side. Open the hood, remove your carpet from the front trunk you’ll see enough room on the passenger side of the gas tank to get your arm in there and grab the sway bar and direct it out the hole…You need to do the same plate/cover removal on the other side, poke the hole, shape it out, etc.

Now put your bushings on and then the Sway Bar Plates. I got the Sway Bar centered in them and then alternately tightened each side down, making sure both sides were even.

Once you’ve done that you can install your upper sway bar brackets that attach to the drop links. I went to the hardware store to get hardware for this. Ace had almost identical hardware to the originals I pulled off. I also used lock washers and blue lock tight on them.

For the next step it would be wise to get the front end jacked up evenly or even up on ramps would be fine. You want to have both sides about even so you can connect the drop links on each side in an easy fashion.

I used a large clamp to press the new bushings into the drop links. I also use white lithium grease to help them slip in.

Now press in the metal tube inserts. I use my big orange clamp/press and press it that way. To push it the extra couple mm’s I use a socket the same size as the little spacer on one side and a larger one for it to push into on the other side. Get the idea? Make certain to get these evenly placed otherwise it’s a bear to get them into the mounting brackets when you go to install! After you get these all pressed in evenly you’re ready to install the drop links.

This is pretty straight forward. It may be easier to start with either the top or bottom but remember to size them up because they only go in one way out of 4 possible! Pictured is the bottom mounted in place. Don’t tighten them completely until you’ve got both top and bottom in place! Use LocTite!

If you took my advice and got both sides evenly jacked or on ramps the other side will be pretty simple. If not, you’ll wrestle getting the control arm up into place to mount the lower bracket on the drop link! Once you do get it, tighten everything up properly let the car down, make sure your lugnuts are tight and go for a drive.

Still looks the same!