Cheers. Dug the running boards out of the shed and they're a little worse for wear so should match me and the bug nicely. Gonna wire brush them, rust cure then a couple of coats of red oxide and a couple of gloss black before sticking the covers back on.
Found a bit of slop in the top of the steering. https://ci-46800201942-5af9bc50.htt...1942_1080p&s=41e6c44b2dfc4df0f2e96f7e6685be25 Removed the wheel and found its missing a plastic bush and circlip.
Managed to get the lock housing off the column and found a nice plastic bush with brass contacts in it. Its a tight fit on the column and a good fit in this column bearing too. There was this lovely crumbly rubber seal in the top of the outer column thats supposed to be a snug fit round the inner column but wasn't. I think this is whats allowing the movement.
Still no idea where the steering wheel wobble is coming from. The knackered seal above is not listed on any parts book or diagram and no one has seen one before (or has one on their bugs column) making me think its possibly an addition a PO made. These old piccies turned up on my Facebook page this morning. After its first heater channel replacement in 1997. Fran actually helping out on the bug for the first (and only) time chiseling off the remains of the underseal under the arches. Didn't look too bad once all painted up. 2000 ish. Bug sporting a nice EMPI single quiet pack exhaust that lasted under 12 months before blowing itself apart. The old Nissan Bluebird behind that the inlaws gave us so i could take the bug off the road for some work. Shell taken off the chassis in 2001 for a couple of little holes in the bottoms of the 3 year old heater channels to be welded up. You all know how that turned out right? My old Nissan Bluebird again.
Spent 1/2 an hour struggling to get the engine bay seal above the bellhousing into its channel. Even though it was lubed up it still wouldn't slide round the corner in the seal channel. Gave up as it was getting on my nerves. Will try again another time. Put the steering column back together and even though theres still a little bit of movement at the steering wheel i'll have to live with it as i can't find a cause.
Managed to get the seal in place today. Stuck the edges of the door cards back in place and used nearly evey clamp i own to hold them in place until the glue set.
Brought a heat exchanger into the house for some rust curing with Deox gel and a nice cling film wrap for the night. One of the door cards got a soaking, put in a plastic bin bag and laid flat under the mat in the kitchen for the next few days to hopefully cure the warp on it too.
Turned the heat exchanger over and coated the other side. Looks like something is happening. Checked the door panel. Its still slightly warped so i've wet it again and put it back under the mat. Its 10x better than it was though.
Father in law is back in hospital so missus is over at her mums meaning i get free reign of the house until this evening.
House stinks of the stuff but its too cold and wet to hang it outside to paint and theres not enough space to hang it in the garage. Its had 2 coats now and looks a bit better. They were painted with aluminised paint in 1997 so haven't done too bad.
Bolted them loosely onto the engine to get them out of the kitchen. Need to buy some exhaust nuts. £2.95 for 8 brass ones on ebay seems a bargain. Just need the silencer now then i can fire it up.
Couple of quick jobs ticked off the list. Rear luggage carpet stuck into place. Means the back seat can go in next. Rear view mirror installed.
Got the back seat out of the shed where its lived for the past 15 or so years and gave it a bit of a cleanup. 1/3rd of the way through. These marks are proving stubborn to remove. I think the two vertical ones are where the seat has been leaning against the copper pipes out of the heating boiler in the shed. Fitted it anyway to get it out of the way. Fair bit of space with the seat down.
Removed the drivers door card from the plastic bag its been sitting in flattening out under my old singer and it seems pretty flat now and not warped. Needs a damn good clean up though as its covered in marks from shoes catching it when getting in/out of the car and 49 years of general griminess.
