Having previously worked on old VW's, I have long since been acclimated to
looking at an area to work on, the reaching in with my hands and working on
it while I have my eyes closed and am 'seeing' the remove/re-install go on.
I think my neighbors across the alley think I meditate in order to fix
things.
I spent most of the day Saturday getting my 69 ready for
installation/fitting of a tonneau cover today. I thought of putting in the
snaps in the new cover myself, but the thought of having an ugly crease or
wrinkle when I was done really put me off. So I get out my snap/post set,
all of them all nice and shiny and decide that I will start with installing
the missing ones, namely two twisties on the back deck and one snap near the
drivers door mirror. Little did I realize that the reason that these
particular ones were missing (and the reason that the snap in the pass. door
near the mirror is painted the body color) is that these require the hands
and forearms of a 7-year old to access the backside, to screw on the bolts.
The back deck twisties can be accessed from the trunk, so that went fine
until I was taking the almost last turn on the bolt, when the wrench slipped
out of my cramped fingers and now rides somewhere between the fender well
and body. Now all unexplainable rattles can no longer be blamed on PO.
Elapsed time: 45 minutes. Techniques developed: Balance a 3/16" washer, a
lock washer, and a 7mm nut on the tip of your index finger, then reach in to
unseen area and put them on the end of the bolt without upsetting the stack.
For the door snap, I realized early on (pronounced: after I'd dropped the
little things 4-5 times inside the door and then had to blindly search for
them)that the family characterstic of large forearms can sometimes be a
definite curse. So after covering my forearm with dishwashing liquid to
help me slip it into the door hole (Madge, you're soaking in it) , I got the
washer and lock washer on the bolt by jamming each of them under my
fingernail and getting them on the shaft. Now the nut. After about 30
minutes (pronounced: another 3-4 blind searches for dropped nut) I realized
there was no way I could hold the nut between any two fingers and get it in
place. I finally ended up gluing the nut to the fingertip of a latex glove,
then holding it in place and turning the snap until it started, then yanking
the glove off the nut. (shoulda left the finger tip of the glove on for a
real strange picture for someone else to discover)
Sorry to go on so long with nothing constructive to contribute. I've found
that 50% of all my repair time is spent GAINING ACCESS.
Fergus O'Farrell
69 2000
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