Wifes Citation II Dune Buggy

[STINEY]

Nice work Eric. Those little details really make the project......so much nicer when all the goodies work well.

[tardis454]

Thanks guys.

I pulled an all nighter, just got in a little bit ago. I rebuilt/repaired the headlamps, turn lamps, turn signal switch.
I spent hours upon hours making wiring harnesses, soldering, and testing circuits. This stuff turned out pro.
I'll post more pics later, I'm beat!

[Beagle]

I love the look of a freshly tinned soldering tip. I wipe the hot iron's tip on a folded up damp paper towel to clean it. shiny pretty.

don't sniff the fumes or you'll end up writing sentences like the one I just wrote.

[tardis454]

Got more wiring, and wire routing done the last few days. I also finished refurbing the front turn signals, headlights, and taillights.
I rewired everything with quick disconnect blade terminals, so making repairs and/or modifications should be much easier now.

I relocated the ground wires to the inside of the turn signal housings. No more broken/corroded ground wires or water issues now.





Boot sealed, ready to install.



Tested, fully functional. Installed them yesterday, they work perfect now.



Got rid of the big holes in the end taillight housings. I used fender washers and RTV to seal them up.
I installed studs on them to use as taillight harness holders, and used small conduit clamps to hold the wires.





I got about 35ft of heavy duty poly air line from my neighbor to make wire looms for the body tub.



I used shrink wrapped conduit clamps to keep the wire looms tucked up out of the way.



Taped up ready to go. I ran the wiring through the molded inner pods on the body tub.



The wiring is routed on both sides and ready to hook up now.



Tomorrow the gas tank comes out and the wire looms get attached to the firewall.

[Beagle]

excellent progress. Keeping that stuff clamped up out of the way should save some headaches.

[tardis454]

Being the cheap bastard that I am I hit the junkyard today to scrounge for some stuff.
I did pretty good, saved some dough, and got some good parts..

The steering column grommet was trashed on the buggy.
I didn't want to buy another shitty VW one for $15.
So I used a filler neck grommet from a Dodge gas tank instead.



The filler neck grommet is a HUGE upgrade over the factory VW grommet.



And it fits friggin perfect!



Seals the perimeter of the steering column hole very nicely.



The Dodge filler neck grommet did the trick.



Found some switches, a Tridon EL-12 flasher relay, & relays & a relay bracket out of a F-150 fuse box.



I made a metal bracket for the relay bracket to mount to the firewall.





I wanted to use readily available relays for ths project. F-150 relays fit the bill.



Can't go wrong when it's made out of junk. Didn't cost anything either.



Ford P-chassis headlight switch, & a Signal Stat 102Y1 heavy duty switch.



I'm going to use this for a hazard switch. I tested it & it works dang good.



My friend at the yard gave me all this stuff for nothing.
I fixed a lot of little things that nickel and dime you on a project like this.
The fuse box should be here within the next week, then I can finish the wiring.
Can't wait to get this thing on the road, it's gonna be a hoot. More to come soon.

[Monster]

Sweet ... glued to this thread !

[tardis454]

This week I've been working on the dash, wiper motor, and dash wiring.
I rebuilt the wiper motor, it sorta 'caught on fire' when I initially tested it..
I found a wiper switch in an 80-86 F-150 that works perfect for this project.

Here's what I got so far..

I made these knob blanks many years ago at a shop I worked at.
I held onto them thinking that one day I'd use them for something.
Well that day is here, and I'm using them.



Drilled, tapped, set screws installed, ready to use.
One for headlights, one for wipers.



Installed. They look and work great!





My friend Matt made me a stainless bracket for the hazard switch and cigarette lighter, and it works perfect! Gauges installed. Looks great, time for wiring.



This weekend I'm going to finish wiring the rest of the dash. It should be done and ready for when the fuse box shows up.

[tardis454]

Ran into a problem today wiring the dash.
The socket that the turn signal indicator bulb uses is +12v shell, - Grounded spade.
Tridon 3 prong flashers use a +12v signal wire spade to flash the indicator lamp in the speedo.
Here's what I did to fix it..



The factory VW oil pressure switch and generator lamps use +12v shells and - Grounded spade terminals to turn the lamps on/off.
The turn signal indicator also uses this set-up.



Solution, make something that doesn't exist.
A shielded bulb socket that fits into a VW speedo head.
I used some shrink tube, a #37 bulb, and the plastic shield off a battery lug for the bulb socket body.
Some soldering and hot glue and it works perfect.



Now the Tridon 3 prong flasher will illuminate the signal indicator in the speedo.
The indicator bulb was missing when I started, so I'm guessing it didn't have a turn signal indicator lamp until now.



Onto the next issue!

[tardis454]

Fusebox showed up Monday, it's a nice piece, perfect for this project.



We have dash lights, they work, and they're lime green



Mucho wiring this week, hope to have most of it done by the weekend.

[tardis454]

The hood/dash is on temporarily and the wiring is almost finished.
Our gas tank is shot, riddled with rust and pinholes. It's total junk, not worth fixing...
Today I found a gas tank for $20 out of a 64 Beetle that's in good shape but has some rust inside of it.
Not a terrible amount of rust but enough to warrant a very through cleaning and rust treatment.

Top is good, minor surface rust, should clean up fine..



Bottom is solid unlike our original tank which is full of pinholes.



There's a fair amount of surface rust inside...



Next thing I have to do is determine how I'm gonna go about getting the rust out of the inside of the tank.
I read countless threads about gas tank rust removal, but I have yet to decide what course of action I'm going to take.

Any suggestions?

[Admirall2]

White vinegar works good from what I hear. Cheap too.

[JOES66FURY]

summer is fading fast....

[tardis454]

summer is fading fast....

No biggy, as long as we get to drive it a few times we're good. AND, it'll be ready for next summer.

**Not to mention it rained here most of the summer anyway...

[65RHDEER]

Radiator shop, they'll put it in a bath that will clean inside and out at the same time. Some of them also put a coating on the inside of the tank.