Beetle Build - Day Three Point Four

Yesterday it was 22 degrees in the morning. Today it was 65 degrees. Much easier to work on the car when I'm not drowning in four layers of long sleeved shirts.

Still working on the exterior. Took off the bumpers. Saving consideral weight there. And bumpers aren't required in the Honorable State Of Mississippi. Robbie stripped them off in no time while I worked on changing all the break lines. (The old ones were cracked and/or leaking.) Roger "re-packed the bearings" on the front brakes. And then we tried to work on the bake brakes.

The rear axles on the Beetle has a "castle nut" on the each end, held in place by a cotterpin. We're supposed to take out the pin, remove the nut, and then get access to the inner workings of the brake. Unfortunately the castle nut was completely and utterly seized up. Four grown men couldn't remove it. Air tools didn't work. Raw force didn't work. Heating it with a torch and taking a mallet to it didn't work.

Hoping to get with a body shop this weekend. Figure out what to do with the inside. Once the inside is cleaned up, we'll put in the electronics. And then it is go time.

A productive day. But I'll be thankful when we've moved beyond the babysteps.