'70 Notch

[shaunl]

I have a thread on Samba, but what I'm doing is frowned on a bit over there. So here's the list of what I'm doing.

Mods:

- 1.8L 8v from an '84 Rabbit GTI
- ABT Intake manifold
- 45mm Weber DCOE carbs
- Autotech adjustable cam
- Porsche 901 5 spd trans
- 944 Turbo rear aluminum trailing arms
- 944 Turbo discs all around
- Porsche 924 seats
- remove torsion bars in favour of coilovers
- custom spring plates
- shave engine bay
- squareback fenders with vents
- shave gas fill door
- Punch Drunk customs 3" narrowed air beam

Resto:

- replace both floor pans
- replace rockers, A pillars inner quarter panels
- replace front apron
- straigten out rear apron
- lots more rust repair patching
- replace fenders

There's a lot more to be done obviously... off the top of my head that's what I've got planned. Interior and paint are yet to be sorted... haven't decided on wheels either.

The car had been sitting since '92. After a few weeks of research and ball gathering I scooped it up.

Surveying the damage.

Rust repair begins.

Will be making some big progress within the next couple weeks when I get my repair sections/pans/fenders.

[ANSAracingb]

Looks like a very interesting project. That body has a lot of rust! But from the last pic it's easy to see you are confident in fixing it; and a good job done at that.

How will you mount the h2o engine? Laying at an angle, or vertical like it would be in the MkI? I was just wondering if you will encounter clearance issues.

I can't wait to see more pics as your project progresses!

[shaunl]

Thanks. This is my first project car, so I've learned an awful lot already. Hoping to do most of the work myself, including paint.

The 8v will be mounted pretty much like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrcm4drZxo0

[KIDVersion1]

Pans look fine to me...just needs a wash and wax! Looks like quite the project, but sounds like it will be cool when it's done. Even though I'd like to see it stay aircooled, the idea of what you're doing is cool. Good luck.

[dublifer]

well, that tire looks pretty bad...

[ANSAracingb]

Quote, originally posted by shaunl »

The 8v will be mounted pretty much like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrcm4drZxo0

^^Nice. For some reason I was picturing the engine laying more on its side, with a custom oil sump or dry sump setup. But that looks like it fits well.

Are you also going to run a MkIII serpentine belt setup? And where are you planning on putting a radiator?

[MarsRedScirocco16v]

You should put this up on the Samba if you haven't allready. Theose guys will give you a lot of advice.

[tachy's tech]

what a shame...!!! all that rust... I cant wait to see the finished product.

[Scrappy1]

Big up's 4 savin' her. Miss my notches, shuda kept em.

[iDubber.com]

wow... GL with her

[shaunl]

Made some room. I finished seam welding all the edges last night.

Rotten rockers are gone and doors are off, bracing installed.

I'm planning on going with a rear mounted rad. My theory is that there will be more than enough air routed back there through the existing cooling ductwork. I'm also going to run Squareback fenders (with Notchback top edge grafted on) with the vents for a bit of a different look and a little extra air flow.

As for the engine mounts I'll be using the old motor mounts with a frame made up to bolt up to the 8v. Figure that out once I have the engine rebuilt.

[ANSAracingb]

Quote, originally posted by shaunl »

Looking good!

Quote, originally posted by shaunl »

I'm planning on going with a rear mounted rad. My theory is that there will be more than enough air routed back there through the existing cooling ductwork.

If you need to, you could also mount a nice slimline electric fan with thermostat in case you end up in traffic or are idling in a drive thru and the family ahead of you just ordered two of everything from the menu, lol. That way you still get some airflow when you're not moving forward.

[shaunl]

I neglected to mention that, yes that is the plan.

[shaunl]

Decided to do some paint stripping tonight. Found a few more set backs in the parcel tray area. I've got some more patching to do around the rear window as well. :|

[shaunl]

Cut out some cancer today and started sandblasting. I now hate sandblasting with a passion.

First coat of Por15 applied to the right rear fender area. Will be following up with a second coat of Por, seam sealer over the welds/seams, then a third coat of Por over everything.

[air skooled]

I would think you would be more tired of rust and welding thin sheetmetal Rust bullet is a much better product than POR-15. I personally won't ever use it again. Looks like things are coming along well. Have fun with your swap. BTW if you need a heater/rocker panel, I have a used one from a 70 fastback. I will have to look and see which side it is if you need it.

[shaunl]

I'm not tired of welding sheet metal yet. I need to go grab a third roll of welding wire though. haha

Made a bit more progress yesterday. Ground down all my welds on the left rear fender, soon ready for Por on that side. I seam sealed the right rear fender and laid down the final coat of Por. Got started on the parcel tray as well. I will have to take my time and do some careful metal work around the rear window.

[shaunl]

Three coats of Por15, and seam sealed. **** off rust.

The other side, almost ready for Por15.

On both sides you can see there is some unfinished areas toward the bottom... the repair sections I'm getting will come up to somewhere in that area, so I'm just leaving it for now.

[shaunl]

So this is the direction I'm heading. Wheels may change.... Pretty set on the white wall tires.

On to the progress....

Left rear fender

Glad to get some Por on this area. Still a bit more cutting and welding to do, but I've got to keep the rust at bay while I'm working.

Crawled under and removed 40 year old undercoating. Joy of joys. Happy to say that there is zero rust perforation under here!

Been putting this off.

cut out the swiss cheese

welded in flat piece and ground down all welds

window seal flange welded in and ground down

It will require a slight bit of fill, but I'm happy with it.

[7JAD3]

But really, nice job. Many would not tackle this much rust work on a late model. Props

[shaunl]

Thanks. If anything I think the late models deserve more love! A late Notch is a rare thing in North America.

[7JAD3]

True. I rarely if ever seen a late notch.

[shaunl]

The carbs and head I picked up were a bit of a mystery.... the seller didn't have much info other than the cam wasn't stock and the head was ported. I managed to track down the original owner and this is what he had to say.

Quote »

The head was pretty nice. All ported out and had solid lifter buckets and lash caps that it on top of the valve stems. The cam was massive. almost too big for a street car. The head had to be modified to allow clearance for the lobes. It's a Shrick cam, I can't remember the exact specs, but its not the typical 286 you normally see. It's closer to 300+ and has a lift nearing .470 I think. It'll start coming on cam around 4500rpm and wind out to 7500-8000. Pretty trick setup. In the Rocco with the intakes pointed back to the firewall, it would resonate so loud through the interior. Awesome sound! The carbs were badass, and made great power. They were a handful though, and with the limited selection of jets that I had, i could never get the tuning precise. They are on the big side for a 1.8L. which contributed to getting a handle on them. My biggest issue was getting it to idle properly. I could tune for WOT and have it working great, but didn't have the selection for the idle circuit. Also they are super sensitive to changes in temp and humidity.

[shaunl]

I don't have much in the way of pics, but I finished off the last of the rust repair on the rear window seal and the parcel tray.

After much ado I finally received the shipment of body metal which included floor pans... which I'm working on right now. The pans are not perfect by any means, but they will have to do.

Once I get the pan back together I'll bolt the rocker sections on and tack on the front apron, then work towards mating everything back together.

[x43x]

Looking good! Mine wasn't nearly as rusty as yours, but I did have to cut out the heater channels. (Well, the body shop did anyway). I paid a whole lot of money for those channels too. They were repo's from a place in the UK, but they fit really well. I did POR15 the **** out of my car too.

Before

After

Good luck with the rest of your restoration. It is a glorious day when its all finished.

[shaunl]

Oh I can't wait for the day.... maybe next summer, we'll see how all of this goes.

I have the same set of repo rocker panels you used, I got them from cip1.ca. The rocker sections that I have include the front inner fenders, A pillars, part of the B pillars right back to the rear inner fenders. They're off a '71 Square and to make them fit I will have to do a fair amount of cutting (the seller gave me lots of extra metal to work with). In any case I'm not using the heater channels, so I may just cut off the old rockers, Por15 the hell out of the heater channels and put on the new repo's.

Lofty goals, I know... but as this is my first project car I'd like to do it right the first time.

[zuhaelter_82]

Do a VR6!

[acetate909]

awesome find and great work

Love the direction, late Notches make me drool
for getting an ACVW on the road

keep us posted over here....screw the purists

[carsluTT]

great work

[dasdachshund]

Holy Guacamole, is that thing crusty. I commend you for your effort in the resurrection.

But the one thing that really is a head scratcher is.....What was the PO thinking?!?!?! How the heck does one get tires to be that bald and still drive on them in the first pictures you posted? (That's a rhetorical question, no answer needed )

Quote, originally posted by shaunl »

-dasdachshund



Modified by dasdachshund at 6:49 AM 4-1-2010

[shaunl]

After two previous owners who had plans to resurrect it and it not being on the road since 1992... well, you see the results. Couple that with the salt content in the air here and the salt used on the roads.... ugh. Nova Scotia is murder on cars.

[shaunl]

I forgot to thank you guys for the comments. Thank you! Been doing a bit more thinking about the colour and I'm set on a flat powder blue. Very similar to the original colour, but in a satin finish. I'll also try to fit a Mk1 duck bill front splitter to the apron.

I've been working hard on the pan, made lots of progress on the driver's side.

time lapse of the cleaning and cutting of the tunnel edges/pans:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3p-XBMNkEMM

first test fit:

(scuse the ****ty pics)

driver's side welded in solid:

After I finished seam welding both sides I went to work on the pinholes. There was at least a dozen in the donor pan. ugh

Por action:

Got por15 on both sides and seam sealer on the top. I'll be doing the entire underside with bedliner when I get the other pan half in place. I also dealt with all but one soft spot on the frame head.

[acetate909]

[ANSAracingb]

Quote, originally posted by shaunl »

Por action: Got por15 on both sides and seam sealer on the top. I'll be doing the entire underside with bedliner when I get the other pan half in place. I also dealt with all but one soft spot on the frame head.

LOOKIN' GOOD!
Wish I could see the time lapse YouTube vid at work I'll have to check it out at home.
Keep us updated! And that paint choice sounds good BTW

[wolfewerx]

You pull that out of the Basin? You are doing an awesome job and those notches are worth it. I'm through Dartmouth a few times a year and I hope I get to see your car.