Thinking bout restorin' my bug

cabidas · 2016-01-29T08:56:44+00:00

G'day dubbers. So it's been nearly a decade since I've been on here it seems. Please correct me if I'm in the wrong spot. ----- I'm considering restoring my 65/66 bug. I say considering because I've had it since I was 15, and that was quite some time ago! Anywho, I got stuck into it back in them days, but since then it's sat in bits in mother dear's shed. Should I decide to go ahead with it, I'm really sort of keen for someone else to do it, or at least have someone capable and able to do the stuff I either can't, or don't want to do. Googling around I've come across a few places. It is possible some of the one's which I would have turned to back in the hay day from the ole magazines, may have either closed, or other's may have popped up that would warrant investigation also. So yeah any advice you can offer as to who you would turn to, who you would recommend, and any lessons you've learned would also be appreciated. ----- I'm pretty sure it's a 65 Oz made bone coloured dub (like the one in my avatar), but I'd have to dig up my file with the chassis stamp and old bits of the rego sticker to confirm. The restoration will mainly be a ground up, which should fix any mistakes I made as a delinquent. And will be a standard resto sans the wider rims I think. It's a 1300 donk, and may consider boring that out. I have access to a 1500, but figured I'd keep the original one in there. I may consider dumping it and adding IRS, but prolly not. Thanks in advance, and looking forward to your sage advice. PS. I'm in Gippsland, so Melbourne would be good, but am open to NSW or ACT if it makes sense to do so (I could use a bit of a road trip or two...) I'll add some pics when I can, and can find them! EDIT: It's a 66.

Carl and Emily Officially Full-On Dubber

349 posts · joined Apr 2012 · 9 Feb 2016, 3:53 pm

#1023570

cabidas wrote:I've inspected my door trims more closely and one mark on the drivers door one is actually a slight nick. I was quite shattered.

Does anyone know a good place that re does Beetle trims verbatim?
I'll have to get the seats redone anyway, so I might consider getting the door trims done at the same time if they can be replicated using the same material, on the assumption it's available...?? The poo brown colour with the vinyl melted lines..

Are you going for a perfect restoration???

Your door trims look pretty good from the photo's,..
lots of people would love those originals in that condition,..
so what if they aren't perfect.
There are repro's available,.. like TMI etc,..

cabidas Casual Dubber

40 posts · joined Dec 2006 · 10 Feb 2016, 9:23 am

#1023603

Yeah you might be right.

The intention is to be pretty spot on. I've had this car since a boy, and I have no real intention of ever parting with it. I'd rather get an extra job than sell it if I got into trouble. I've had it too long.

I was happy with the trims knowing there would likely be a scuff or two. It was just the nick the shattered me. There are vinyl repairers who may be able to stitch it. I'll see how I'm feeling at that stage.

Looking at the roof lining I'll likely have to redo it. I think it's been sitting too long. And given the extent of the resto I'm planning, it will likely have to come off in full.
And I can't be confident that I was gentle with it when I pulled it half down at 15.....

So do you know anyone local that is real good with bug linings?

Thanks for TMI. Hadn't heard of them. And it's good to know that option is there if necessary.

Carl and Emily Officially Full-On Dubber

349 posts · joined Apr 2012 · 10 Feb 2016, 7:18 pm

#1023608

I think maybe you should get the body and mechanics sorted first.
I think your door cards are very usable and it's an easy fix later if your budget allows.

You need to decide what your budget is and that will dictate a lot of things for your build.

From our experience.
Expect the unexpected.
Rust is generally worse and costs more than it looks.

Get the body right first.
Decide if you are going IRS conversion because the time to do it economically is while it's apart. (Body off pan.)

If you haven't been out to any shows,.. perhaps it might be an idea to make a point of it,.. and talk to some folks.

We're in Brisbane so don't really know anyone down your way.
I'm sure someone else will chime in.

Will be watching your build with interest. Keep the posts coming.
Carl

cabidas Casual Dubber

40 posts · joined Dec 2006 · 11 Feb 2016, 1:29 pm

#1023632

Yeah I'm not the biggest people person at the moment. lol. More research on the IRS is definitely warranted.
Anyone got any recent links? I haven't looked yet. I have only been going off 15 year old magazines....

The internet did not exist when I got my dub. Well it did, but no one had it then....

Finding some really interesting For Sale prices for bugs on Facebook. Many suggest that if I bolted mine all back together, I'd get a pretty penny for it as is.....
But I won't do that.

A few things are transitional at the moment. I can clear up the money, but would likely take a few months. I'm happy to spend $25k. It won't be a daily driver, so I'm a bit worried about storage.
Mother dear is a bit of a hoarder, so I'm worried if once done if I kept it in her shed it'd end up with a pipe through a panel.... :-S
The only reason it's survived this far is because it's surrounded by shite... lol

Dad just bought a Roller, so his garage is full too.

I would be keen to see a few IRS mods. Is there a Nationals or something coming up?

cabidas Casual Dubber

40 posts · joined Dec 2006 · 17 Feb 2016, 3:50 pm

#1023766

Ok so I put the door on today.

It took a bit of fart arseing around as the threaded plate on the bottom was a bit rusted (given it was from a donor car found in a paddock).
A bit of Dubya D soon sorted it out. Thought I'd crossed threaded it at first! Assume that those plates can't be replaced..??

I must have snapped a screw from the original one when I took it off back in the day, as half the head was rusted into a bottom hinge hole. Drilled and then tapped it out. And had a donor screw to replace it.

After that all sorted.

However the bad news is that the door doesn't align, much to my dismay. The pics below illustrate how it's dropped a bit.
It may have already been dropped back then before the replacement, but there doesn't seem to be much wear on the (older style) locking mechanism, so dunno.

You can see in the hinge pic that there is a bit of a crease in the sheet metal, so I presume there was originally an issue.

Any assistance or experience on this anyone has will be greatly appreciated. I hope to God that it's welded in correctly.
But whatever the issue is I have to get it sorted before I get it painted.

I've played with the adjustments to no avail. One would presume that if it's out a mil at the bottom, it could be out 10 at the top....

Are there any types of shims etc that people use? How do people normally deal with the issue??
Are hinges able to be replaced, etc etc??

Many thanks.

-----

Please avoid quoting within the thread if you can. Makes it harder to read (IMO).
(Are there any plans for an UG to the forum framework to a slightly more modern style...??)

-----

Oh yeah, and I found the glove box lid hidden in a box of stuff.
I'm actually thinking the front of it might be in better condition for paint matching than the rear, as the rear side is pretty filthy despite a wipe.
It still has the original sticker on it, so won't be painting the back.
Maybe just removing the chrome trim and painting the front.
I've got a few other bits for colour matching like the indicator stalk etc etc. So will see how we go when we get to that stage.

I managed to crease a side chrome trim too! Grrrr. Was hidden inside the car and I didn't see it. Thought they were all out. Gunna have to get a new couple I would say.
Will check them all out properly later. There were originally all in great nick.

cabidas Casual Dubber

40 posts · joined Dec 2006 · 14 Mar 2016, 3:34 pm

#1024545

Ok so I have been investigating the door closure/sagging issues more.

I can confirm that the hingepins are good. There doesn't seem to be any play. They were a tad seized originally, and I'd lubed them up before I put the door back on.

So I know it's either a welding issue on the A pillar (likely), or a bend in the hinge or door.
I haven't yet tried to fix with a shim, but don't think it will be enough.

It could be adjustment is needed to the pan and heater channel etc. I've read up on this online. But I'll investigate this more as I get closer to moving ahead and am able to drag it out of the shed and get it more accessible and mobile.

However I've now came across another issue. Even if I lift the door into place, I cant get the door to hold in the second latch position.
So the door just pops back again to the first latch click spot.
(I nearly put a crease in the door face trying! :-S)

Any ideas? I'm googling as we speak but coming up stumps.
Is there a way to test if my latch is cactus?

They seem cheap enough to buy. (I've got a good understanding of the AU dub variations now after reading up on the ClubVW site)