Project Volkzda, a Frankencar

In reply to Joe_Mama :

Making good progress. Can't wait to see the drivetrain in my anglia. It some how just makes you more motivated 

Joe_Mama said:

Lots of head scratching, crying, wiring, hoses, brackets, etc later...

The eBay coolant reservoir is one of the nicest looking things in here.

That is not a true statement. Really, REALLY great looking work there. Built, not bought.

Aw shucks , you're right, how could I have failed to mention that the separator is legit Moroso.

Anyways, I'm motivated by the cold hard truth that at this point I just want to be done so I can drive the thing. Commuting in my Sierra is comfy and all but I need to get out my road rage in style.

I was worried I was going to catch up to you. Looking good! Have you thought about what to do for a front grill yet?

Working on finishing up the wiring inside the firewall and doing some final checks. I'll attempt to start this thing soon! I'll run through every electrical system and make sure it's all good, then I get to blow the whole thing apart again and do the body work. You know, the fun stuff...

In reply to mannydantyla :

Yeah, you're moving along pretty quick! The engine swap has created a lot of extra work. If I'd have stayed with the Miata engine I might be done by now or very soon. The "mouth" will either be left as-is or I'll put some mesh of some sort over it. With the bumper on you can't really even see it. The only time that it would be plainly visible is when I'd take off the bumper for a track day, which makes me lean towards covering it with mesh.

Joe_Mama said:

Working on finishing up the wiring inside the firewall and doing some final checks. I'll attempt to start this thing soon! I'll run through every electrical system and make sure it's all good, then I get to blow the whole thing apart again and do the body work. You know, the fun stuff...

 

In reply to mannydantyla :

Yeah, you're moving along pretty quick! The engine swap has created a lot of extra work. If I'd have stayed with the Miata engine I might be done by now or very soon. The "mouth" will either be left as-is or I'll put some mesh of some sort over it. With the bumper on you can't really even see it. The only time that it would be plainly visible is when I'd take off the bumper for a track day, which makes me lean towards covering it with mesh.

I am into year 5.5 of my project, You two make me feel like some kind of a slacker when I see the pace you work at.

I blew the Molvo apart when I did because I knew that if I started driving it I would never finish it; either I was going to hate it and lose motivation or I was going to love it and never want to stop driving it.

Pete

In reply to NOHOME :

LOL. Exactly! That is why I'm not going to actually get it in driving condition, I'd be too tempted to spray it with satin clear and leave it ratty. Speaking of driving condition, that reminds me; I still need to order a windshield and a set of Xida GS coil-overs.

https://youtu.be/z-b4R4G9w-A

IT LIVES! Everything except the stereo works! It needs to have the air filter boxed off to reduce intake noise and keep hot air away. It's going to need a resonator or muffler added in the midpipe. Some tuning needs to be done to change some settings and to fine tune the curves. It needs some wiring issues handled and it needs a new stereo head unit. And then of course, the body work....

Welp, the second and final shakedown session was mostly a success. I added a 12" Flowmaster HP-2 resonator/muffler and it works perfectly, a little quieter and every last bit of fart pipe BRAAAPPP is gone. If you are in need of a resonator or want to do a not-so-obnoxious straight pipe exhaust I cannot recommend these enough. Oh, and I forgot to record it, but I'll be filming the whole car nose to tail when it's done anyways. Bad news is that the outer most aluminum plug that I had to put in the back of the oil filter housing is leaking. I didn't get the threads tapped perfectly straight so that is probably why, I'll just have to redo it one size bigger.

Time to start tearing this thing down, finish some fab work, and start on the body.

Custom made door panels. I used 1/8" hardboard, $9 for a 4x8 sheet from Lowe's. If I had to do it again I'd use ABS plastic or something but it worked out well. The door wiring boot was pilfered from the Ion. I'll have made one panel for each door, the area beneath the quarter windows, and the trunk to separate the fuel tank area from the main trunk. I have some fake leather material that was going to be used to cover a chair years ago that I'll use on the interior panels. I may also get seat covers as well.

Project Volkzda, now with 100% more Pleather! There are panels for each front door, two for what used to be the rear passenger elbow areas, two for the gaps between the a-post and dash, one for the gap between the windshield and top of the dash, and one to block the fuel tank area from the trunk. All done.

I got my Xida GS coil-overs in so I can start figuring out where my arches are going to go, which I don't have yet.

On the bump stops of the Xida GS. Outer fenders cut. Inner rear fender wells had to be pushed up an inch. Looks pretty mean all slammed but it'll be riding about .5-1" lower than a stock NB Miata, so not really low. Front wheels look tucked right now but it's at it's maximum negative camber in this pic, at ride height they stick out a bit. I ordered some 1.2" and 2" classic style flares from Clinched as those seemed like they would fit the best and are good quality.

Oh yeah, since I'm here, I wanted to see what you all think about what color it should be painted (single stage, no metallic or pearl). I've decided not to paint it gray or black. Right now I'm actually leaning towards Hugger Orange (aka Carousel Red).

In reply to Joe_Mama :

Orange as in ‘that one shade of VW Orange’? Surely would help blend in at vdub meets and lend to the stealth factor. 

Personally, I’d go for early vw Lago Blue - the more blue grey version used around 66. But, if you’re thinking orange, subtle may not be on the menu. 

In reply to cdeforrest :

GM/Chevy Hugger Orange (aka Carousel Red) I mean. It's a rich, slightly red tinted orange. British Racing Green is always an option on a classic car as well. That Lago Blue isn't a bad suggestion though, I'm just not feelin it. Subtle isn't off the menu, I'm just more open to color choices at the moment.

edit: made it clearer as to what color orange I was talking about in the last two posts.

You'll have to post a pic of the orange.

Personally, Grey/silver has become this generations version of beige/brown. Not that it can't look good! You just have to be careful with what color you choose. I vote and bring up a possible third option: keep the patina and seal with petetrol or scotchguard and clearcoat.

Also, with the filter in the fender how will you get air into it? Do similar vents like the prior engine had?

In reply to GIRTHQUAKE :

Google image search "eastwood hugger orange". The first couple of hits will show it on a Beetle but in that pic it doesn't look very red, some other pics in that search show the true shade a bit better. And I'm still leaning towards that color. I had thought about the patina thing but it's too jacked up, it annoys me.

There is a hole in the miata sheet metal behind where the driver headlight used to be that will draw from the now defunct vw lefthand air duct in the nose. The "upper radiator air duct" pic on page 1 shows it pretty well, among others. It'll be separated from the wheel well by some plastic sheet.

I'm alive. Just thought I'd drop in and say what's up from The Upside Down.

Since I last updated:
-Settled on painting it BRG.
-Added lips back into the fender openings after cutting them up.
-Got the flares mounted and trimmed.
-Stripped paint from all the areas that I had to due to various factors.
-Bondo all the things.
-Patched a bunch of holes, gaps, and whatnot due to rust or otherwise.
-Lots more little stuff I'm forgetting.

In reply to Joe_Mama :

BRG.  Who's?  Aston Martin, Austin Healey, Bentley, Jaguar, MG, Morgan, Rover, Triumph, or TVR?

Or make it easy and choose Mazda.

Welcome back. Looking a bit dusty I would say.

Pete

In reply to BarryNorman :

I've been buying my primers and such from Summit so I'll just buy their single stage along with some satin black. I was going to get it from Eastwood but their Euro Racing Green makes your car look like a John Deere lawn tractor.

In reply to NOHOME :

After I took that pic I got smart and wore a Tyvek body suit the next time I went paint stripping.

As for my progress, I will take a ton of pics showing some real results eventually. I'm going to a training class out of state next week so it could be another month, who knows. I wanted to lay paint before the rainy season hit but I might be out of luck. I still need to buy some Lizard Skin and spray the interior with that too.

A little diversion today.

Sprayed Upol bedliner in the truck. Also in the Volkzda's seam where the body meets chassis to fill little gaps and keep water and debris out. As you can see I ran out of bedliner just as I was finishing the tailgate, by pretty much the exact amount that went on the car. Oh well, I'll get another liter of it, I'm sure there are spots that need to be touched up and I could spray some more spots on the car as well.

Prep and primer is well under way.

The makeshift paint booth.

The Lizard Skin after all the coats have been applied. I watered down the final coat a bit to get the softer texture and it seems to have been a success, especially on the roof.


Now I get to scrape and sand off all of the overspray everywhere because I didn't do enough masking.

Always wondered if the Lizzard Skin works? Good progress on the car, looking forward to some color.

Pete

Jealous of the spray booth.... I'm looking at just using my gravel driveway Monday.... The weather isn't looking kind!! Grrrr