First things first.

If you're expecting a thread on how I restored my car then I'm affraid you're going to be disappointed. Also, if you want to see pictures of an engine rebuild to the quality that L.T. done on his old oval, then once again, you're going to be disappointed.

Now I've got all your disappointment out of the way, let me explain this thread.

As most of you know, I've had an April 1955 Oval in my posession for around 12 years now. When I first got it I stripped it down and took the body off, with the intention of getting it welded and put back together on a budget. Well, due to varying circumstances throughout the last 10 years it has sat idle in various garages gathering dust, along with all the bits that I'd bought when I was still enthusiastic about it.

Well a month ago I finally got the call to take the car to the body shop to get the welding done. So along with George (GKL7), we took it to Steve Hook's unit where it will now reside for a couple of months.





So the aim is to keep you informed of how the car is progressing, and also for you all to give me the answers to all those questions that Steve is going to ask me.

So let's start with the first question -

I was given a 'H' valance for the car, but is a later model type with cut outs for the exhaust. The plan is to have the cut outs welded over, but there is what appears to be a strengthening panel behind the cut outs. Sorry but I don't have any pictures to sow what I mean :roll: Is there any such panel on the earlier rear valences ?

Thanks :thumbup:

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So here we are sat on a restoration forum,reading a post that is telling us we are not going to be told about a restoration or the work carried out.:?

This is going to be a riveting thread for sure:twisted:
























:d

OK, so maybe I pitched it wrong:roll:

I just didn't want people to expect too much :d

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I've got a 54 and there is not a strengthening panel on mine. I think they started doing that with the introduction of the double peashooters.

Piet. (or Peter)

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Look forward to seeing updates on this thread :thumbup:

Valances:

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Cheers for the replies people, that's one thing now sorted :d

Next question, still regarding the rear valence. Are there any 'dimples' on the bottom of the valence ? The picture Rob posted of the valence doesn't seem to show any, but the angle is wrong to really see. Here's a picture I was sent which clearly shows four 'dimples' on the valence. Can anyone verify if these are correct for a 1954 model oval ?



Once again thanks :d

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Yes, the dimples are correct but there are seven of them on mine. One in the middle in front of the two by three small punctured holes and three on each side of those holes.
I'll try to get a shot of them tomorrow.

Edit: In the second shot you clearly see two extra holes beside the center dimple.
I've never seen or read anything about those in fora!
PS: The valence is not perfect on mine but I tried to keep it on the car as good as my skills allowed it.:d  dimples 004 (Small).jpg You have insufficient rights to see the content.  dimples 005 (Small).jpg You have insufficient rights to see the content.  dimples 006 (Small).jpg You have insufficient rights to see the content.

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Piet,

Many thanks for your reply. I checked over the weekend at Lavenham and all the cars I checked had 7 'dimples' on them with 6 holes for what I imagine to be drainage holes.

:thumbup:

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Just a quick one for you all out there :roll:

Having spent the day sorting through boxes in the garage, I have 2 carbs in my possesion but not sure which one is correct for a 30HP 1954 oval engine.

One is a SOLEX 26 VFIS, the other is a SOLEX 28 PCI, so which one do I need and what is the other one from ?

Thanks :thumbup:

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Hi Chris,

You want the 28PCI carb for your car. I think the 26VFIS is for a split Beetle? (can someone confirm?).

How's your car coming on?

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So a month into the bodywork and things are coming on nice and steady. Steve has been doing quite a few little jobs to the doors, which don't really lend themselves to pictures, so noting of interest to show.

After getting the inners of the doors sorted, it was time to make a start on the body. First job was to remove the heater channels and remove all the rot from the inner wings, the rear quater panels and the cross members.

This entailed cutting away quite a bit of the metal work, but this has been kept to a minimum to retain as much of the original car as possible.

I'm hoping to make a start on putting the engine together next week as i'm off for a few days..... that's if I'm not out biking :roll:

Some pictures of where we're up to :thumbup:

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This is looking good :thumbup: Thanks for posting the photos.




Andy W

Great to see it coming on so well Chris. It'll turn out great. Steve Hook repaired my rear wings, and the result is superb, so your car is in good hands!

Hope to see you soon,

Gavin.:thumbup:

so whats the experience on those new funky green heater channels, are they as good as reviewed on the samba?

looking good. 😎

:omg: Dude your car has half gone.

When is the next trip to Hooky's?  016.jpg You have insufficient rights to see the content.

It looks like all he's done is cut out all that dodgy welding that the previous owner had done :roll:



Not too sure yet, probably one day next week. Need to speak to Steve and chack what days I have the kids. I'll let you know.

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Can't really say yet Robb as I haven't had any feedback from Steve. But as soon as I know I'll let everyone else know :thumbup:

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I take it you're not going to Tatton on Sunday then?

I got a phone call from Steve Hook last week asking if I could send him the locking mechanism, handles and strike plates etc from the doors. So rather than put the items in the post I thought it would be the ideal opportunity to go and see how the old car was coming along.

So yesterday, George and myself made the short trip up the M6 and spent the afternoon admiring the handy work of one of the best welders in the country.

To say I was impressed with the quality of his work is an understatement. Not only are the welds so neat and well blended in, but the fabricated patches are a sight to behold. And not only is he good at what he does, he knows exactly what he’s talking about too, d what should be where. A great asset when you’re 90 miles away, working shifts and cannot even hear the phone ringing, never mind be in a fit state to answer it.

I’ll post up some pictures over the weekend when I manage to upload and sort through the pictures I took.

In the mean time a couple of questions for you guys, one for those of you with ovals, and one for the anoraks out there.

Anoraks first. I have two external door handles. One is the locking type and the second none locking. On the inside of them they have their parts numbered stamped into them. The numbers differ by a single digit; however we had some discussion as the whether they should have the same part number but with the suffix A on one of them. So can someone with access to all the part numbers please confirm what the following numbers relate to –

113.837.205
113.837.206

Now for those of you with ovals. On the inner rear wings there are the captive nuts that the wings are bolted on to. On the bottom one (front), there used to be a stud instead of a nut. However I don’t know what year it changed to a captive nut. So if anyone could go and have a look in the garage it would be appreciated.

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On my June 54 there is no threaded bolt sticking out, it has the captive nut welded behind the inner wing. I think it changed in August 55 but am not sure. But I thought I heared that the difference is also noticable in the wing itself because the stud has a different location.
Here is a fresh snap of mine:
 SAM_0510 (Small).JPG You have insufficient rights to see the content.

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