Paint will fly once the frame is ready.
On the engine front, I'm still waiting for the heads to be overhauled. This was delayed when the engine shop broke a very expensive tool and had to order a new one to complete the job. In the mean time, new parts were ordered and delivered. New distributor, alternator, spark leads and other little odds and sods. The mechanical fuel pump had to be removed to make way for the alternator and has been blanked off, I'll fit and electric fuel pump near the fuel tank. This should help when the VW will sit still for long periods and the fuel bowl dries out, I won't have to crank the engine until it fills.
I'm dreading all the other clean up jobs for all the smaller parts that I didn't trust to go the sand blaster (for fear of damage from the sand itself). These include the control rods, brake rigging, clutch housing, gearbox and axles. This will take many hours with an angle grinder fitted with a wire wheel. I'm waiting for the weather to cool off, the shed gets pretty hot.
The budget has been blown into the middle of next week. It's been 7 years since I have done a full restore on a trike and the cost of everything has gone way up. I've spent almost all of it and the VW is not close to being reassembled. I was hoping to have it finished for may birthday in March, that is unlikely to happen now. The new wheel bearings alone cost more than 1/4 of the budget. All in all though, it is going well and when the VW is finished it will be as good as new, even better in some ways.
On the 9th February I went to Oberon Steam and Machinery weekend and saw these animals sitting on the track.
