So I bought my first Beetle. It was an impulse buy off eBay, advertised as a '67 but later going off the chassis no. it was a '65. When I bought it I had no clue about anyting to do with VW's. Turns out I bought a lemon, pretty much some steel held together by bog, and a lot of it! But that just began the process of fixing it up to what I want it to be.
What I bought
What it turned out to be
Off it came
Got to work on the chassis
Drop spindles
Done with the chassis
Made this (I'm going for a rat look Beetle)
m4co ·
I ended up finding a new body, a '64 in not too bad of a shape. Just getting started on fixing the rust on it and hopefully get it all back together soon. I'm going for a rat look Beetle.
The fenders I will be using: I took bits to bare metal and rusted them with salt and vinegar (wasn't too tasty) and painted a few bits.
The drivers door I'll use. I picked it up for $10 pretty much to practice rust repair on the buttom but it turned out good so I rusted it up as well 😏
Got this for a steal as well, will go good with the rest of the car
Finally got the body home to start work on it
The stuff that needs repair
So far I have done:
As it sits for now
Still have this to put into it 😂
It gets pricey
oldskoolguy ·
Wow!
Not much can faze you obviously, good luck with it.
Nice work so far, keep up the pictures.
Cheers, Rob.
Shuffs ·
Double WOW!!!
You have done a magic job on the floor pan,and chassis,and the body is coming along nicely (intrigued as to how you got the weld to take to the coin)
If you weren't talented before,you certainly are now!👍👍
m4co ·
oldskoolguy wrote:Wow!
Not much can faze you obviously, good luck with it.
Nice work so far, keep up the pictures.
Cheers, Rob.
Thanks! It was a little frustrating at first as I bought the car with the intensions of just driving it but hopefully that wont be too far away...
Shuffs wrote:Double WOW!!!
You have done a magic job on the floor pan,and chassis,and the body is coming along nicely (intrigued as to how you got the weld to take to the coin)
If you weren't talented before,you certainly are now!👍👍
hahah Thanks!
The coin didn't really like to be welded, the weld just kept on bubbling out but I just turned the heat up a little and welded all the way around it. It shouldn't be going anywhere, I just couldn't be bothered making a patch and by coincidence had 10 cents in my pocket 😂
bugmaniaar ·
I Salute you sir👍
m4co ·
bugmaniaar wrote:I Salute you sir👍
Thank you, thank you hahaha
I smoothed out the welding today, didn't turn out too badly. A skim of filler and I don't think anyone would notice.
I bought one of these wire stripping wheels for the grinder today, they do an ok job at taking off paint but wow they are dangerous. The little wire bits like to fling off and go right in your skin, if you don't have safety glasses on it's a sure way to loose and eye!
Flintstones ·
Wow, that amount of bog in that car!!
m4co ·
Progress
Started removing these teeth that hold the interior, I don't like them and I wont be installing a full interior
Really didn't want to mess with the shape of the windscreen area with making a patch so I just filled in the hole with epoxy putty
Fitted the front lid and to fix the front apron
Fixed the rear bumper bracket as the nuts had rusted out, I just cut it at the top and down the side. Once it was cut I just pulled it down, welded some nuts on it and welded it back closed. Need to to the same on the other side as well
The rear apron had a split so I welded it up, ready for some filler.
Finally cut open the passenger side rust area. A lot worse than the drivers side but I will fix it
roofchop ·
Nice work!
In that last pic, see the strap (just) holding the hinge plate on? Weld in a new one now...
Just had one break on me had to cut a hole to get it back in place!
Also run a tap through the threads, then you won't break the strap in the first place (like I didn't do!)
oldskoolguy ·
Really interesting build story mate. I hope it turns out as you want it, you're certainly making progress.
By the way the photo quality is great, I'm sure someone now or in future could use them for some reference.
Rob.
m4co ·
roofchop wrote:Nice work!
In that last pic, see the strap (just) holding the hinge plate on? Weld in a new one now...
Just had one break on me had to cut a hole to get it back in place!
Also run a tap through the threads, then you won't break the strap in the first place (like I didn't do!)
Thanks 👍 I made and welded a new strap as you said, the old strap pretty much peeled off with little force.
oldskoolguy wrote:Really interesting build story mate. I hope it turns out as you want it, you're certainly making progress.
By the way the photo quality is great, I'm sure someone now or in future could use them for some reference.
Rob.
We will see, I'm just being stubborn with myself about finishing it now. Yeah the photos are coming out nicer than I thought, I'm just using my phone.
I have done a bit more work lately
Finished off the drivers side
Fixed the other rear bumper mount
Made an executive decision that the car will never have heating again
Filled the holes
The patch came out nicely
Just when I thought that I had taken care of all the rust on the car I started to clean up the bottom of the heater channels from old silicone and found that there were no front four body to chassis nuts. Cut it open and found some more rust. Had a go at making something up, hopefully it will work.
This was on the drivers side, there was nothing on the passenger side ❓
m4co ·
Cleaned up the speedo and fuel gauge, put in new gels and bought some new globes. I was surprised that Repco actually had them. I think that the speedo is evil...
oldskoolguy ·
Speedo looks sweet as! 👍
wombatventures ·
Last time I saw Bog like that was the C pillar of my Munro and in front of the windscreen on my tonner where they made the HQ shape into the HZ shape!
You've done a brilliant job so far and like OldsSkoolguy says, the photo's are sharp as.
Liking the heater channel blank idea, our chopped Super might end up getting the same treatment. What's the point of a heater when there's no roof anyway!
m4co ·
wombatventures wrote:Last time I saw Bog like that was the C pillar of my Munro and in front of the windscreen on my tonner where they made the HQ shape into the HZ shape!
You've done a brilliant job so far and like OldsSkoolguy says, the photo's are sharp as.
Liking the heater channel blank idea, our chopped Super might end up getting the same treatment. What's the point of a heater when there's no roof anyway!
It had quite a bit. Personally I hate working with bog, it's a pain to get into shape and is a bit messy. My idea for the heater channels was that if I seal them up and prevent any moisture from entering them then they should last a lot longer, and since I have j-tubes I won't have heat anyway.
I managed to get some more work done to it:
Finished up the rust repair and went to town with the stone guard
Sealed the front apron
Put some filler and paint on the rear apron
Also fixed the front lid, had a few rust cracks I welded up. This is the lid from the original white Beetle, funny seeing the different layers of paint it had through the years.
m4co ·
Done with uni and the weather is looking up, finally getting some motivation to finish the bug. Got around to putting the body on the chassis.
First time this body has been on this chassis.
Changed to oil in the engine, primed the carby and is started right up 😁
m4co ·
Got a few more things done.
New front brake shoes and slave cylinders, as well as new bearings and seals
Gave the fuel tank a coat of paint and a new filter. I scuffed back the top and just gave it a clear coat.
New master cylinder
Bolted the body onto the chassis
Wired up the ignition and cleaned up the wiring
Put new rubber seal kits on the doors and also installed the decklid
Dash bits installed
modnrod ·
Another one saved!
Looks good man. 👍
oldskoolguy ·
As bluet3 said, "I can see that It takes determination, patience, skill & plain hard work."
You are going to have a really nice car when you are finished.
Well done. 👍
m4co ·
bluet3 wrote:Thanks for sharing your resto .
I can see that It takes determination, patience, skill & plain hard work. Just as well some veedubbers are up to the challenge.
Best of all you will have a great car & huge sense of achievement. Well I have to be happy if you put something back together there won't be to many parts left over.
No problem, sharing on here also gives me a timeline of how things have progressed and looking back it also motivates me to finish. I am actually really happy that the garage is getting cleaned up of parts that have been hanging around everywhere.
modnrod wrote:Another one saved!
Looks good man. 👍
oldskoolguy wrote:As bluet3 said, "I can see that It takes determination, patience, skill & plain hard work."
You are going to have a really nice car when you are finished.
Well done. 👍
Thanks! 👍
m4co ·
It's starting to look like a Beetle again! 😀
Wiring took some time, I found the easiest to use was extension cord. Has three wires in it so its perfect for headlights and tail lights. Cut, strip, crimp, solder, heat shrink and repeat 🤪
oldskoolguy ·
That colour scheme makes me smile 🙂
Bizarre ·
credit to you for your car building skills
Well done
wombatventures ·
Looking Good. I agree with Rob on the colour scheme.
Someone is bound to tell you off for using extension cord. Don't worry too much, my spotlights on my last 3 utes have been wired with it. The in tray plug in the last 2 have been too.
If it works why worry. Its cheap coz there's always an old one laying around and the outer casing is pretty damage resistant.
m4co ·
oldskoolguy wrote:That colour scheme makes me smile 🙂
Yeah it's a bit different hahah
Bizarre wrote:credit to you for your car building skills
Well done
Thanks!
wombatventures wrote:Looking Good. I agree with Rob on the colour scheme.
Someone is bound to tell you off for using extension cord. Don't worry too much, my spotlights on my last 3 utes have been wired with it. The in tray plug in the last 2 have been too.
If it works why worry. Its cheap coz there's always an old one laying around and the outer casing is pretty damage resistant.
Really? What is the reason not to use it? It is pretty much the same gauge as the original wiring and I just presumed that if it is good enough to be used in a house it is good enough to carry 12v in my Beetle 😵💫
Yeah I have an abundance of spare extension cord so will be easy to rewire in the future hahah
Today I worked on the front bumper. It has rust on the inside which I didn't want to get worse so I just cleaned it up and gave it a coat of Rust guard.
Wired up the lh rear
And installed the lh running board. I bought new genuine VW running boards. It took longer than it needed to install since all 4 bolts broke off from the original running board. So had to drill and tap new holes. The boards came with late trim so I will need to buy some early trim clips later on.
Front bumper installed
oldskoolguy ·
Oh yes, the Beetle now has a face 👍
m4co ·
Installed the windshield, wipers, and washer pump. I had to use a voltage dropper for the wiper motor as it is a 6v unit. I tried it with 12v straight but is was running really fast and would probably burn out the motor pretty quickly.
All the wiring is nearly done, just the dome light and rear right brake light and signal.
oldskoolguy ·
👍
Rural Baja ·
What a happy little Beetle this one is! Great work buddy 😀
wombatventures ·
Your rocking it Mate. Good job on the bumpers.
m4co ·
wombatventures wrote:Your rocking it Mate. Good job on the bumpers.
Thanks 👍
Made a battery tray. I have seen a lot of bugs rusted under the battery so I thought that a steel tray might help with rust.
Rear window in
Door cards redone. I didn't want to play around with the clips that were used to hold the door cards into position. They make a weak point in the masonite and usually break when you go to pull them off. I just used some stainless self tapping screws.
And got some swan neck mirrors.
m4co ·
Installed some carpet today
and the rear seats
also got the dome light wired up and working
and bought some widened rims for the rear
BlasterTheRedBajaBug ·
great job the car has come such a long way from when it began as a shell made of mostly rust and bog.
m4co ·
BlasterTheRedBajaBug wrote:great job the car has come such a long way from when it began as a shell made of mostly rust and bog.
Thanks 👍
I had to buy a new brake fluid reservoir as mine had a pin hole at the bottom and was leaking fluid, I also had a dodgy pvc pipe connecting it to the steel line.
New reservoir and brake hose line
Also bought some new seat belts as mine were fraying and I don't think that they will pass a roadworthy check
oldskoolguy ·
The Bug is looking great. The photos are clear and tell a story, and there is going to be pedestrians punching each other silly when that flash paint job finally hits the streets 🙂
m4co ·
oldskoolguy wrote:The Bug is looking great. The photos are clear and tell a story, and there is going to be pedestrians punching each other silly when that flash paint job finally hits the streets 🙂
Thanks 👍
Now about the flash paint job, what colour is Vic Roads going to register the car as? Red, Rust, Yellow, Blue, Black.... 😂
The last few days I have done some more work.
Installed the headliner. I was going to leave it like this but I want to cover it in some old coffee hessian bags that I have.
Right rear guard installed and wired up.
I also made up a spark plug holder. I saw Air Cooled Accessories have a billet holder but I wanted to see if I could make something similar.
I had some 5/16 nuts, angle iron, and spark plugs. The nuts don't have the correct thread pitch but they are a little bigger so the plug threads just catch on a thread or two and just snug up finger tight so I don't damage the threads.
Now the list before I can go for roadworthy:
- Bolt down petrol tank
- Get 4X new tyres fitted
- Install rear bumper
- Get a new bonnet latch that works
- Fit mirrors
that should be it.
oldskoolguy ·
👍 Red!
m4co ·
- Bolt down petrol tank DONE!
- Get 4X new tyres fitted DONE!
- Install rear bumper DONE!
- Fit mirrors DONE!
- Front bump stops DONE!
Now just need to find a bonnet latch and it's time for a roadworthy!
oldskoolguy ·
It's a good looking Bug, well done. I'd drive it..........happily.
Are you going to wax the car? I read somewhere else that you are looking at club rego?
m4co ·
oldskoolguy wrote:It's a good looking Bug, well done. I'd drive it..........happily.
Are you going to wax the car? I read somewhere else that you are looking at club rego?
Thanks 👍
I think people will either love it or hate it when it's on the road haha
No I'm going to leave it exactly as it is, I'm not planning on driving it constantly in the rain and it will always be kept under cover. I like the dry flat colour that it has, putting on a wax or oil will give it a glossy look and I'm not fond of that.
Yes I am looking to put it on club rego, Volkswagen Club of Vic. got referred to in the thread and it looks promising. I will give them a call and figure it all out.
oldskoolguy ·
Excellent! You won't be hard to spot at shows etc.
hellbugged ·
Great stuff!
Huge
Bizarre ·
How a rat should be
LOVE the interior
m4co ·
I'm planning on taking it on short shakedown trips to see how everything is running so I will be getting an unregistered vehicle permit in the coming days. I did take it for a short drive but the timing was too far advanced and there was some detonation so I backed that down a bit and hopefully that should fix it. I also didn't like how the j-tubes were running alongside the engine without any heat barriers so I got some heat shield and covered them up. Supercheap were selling a small piece of heat shield for $62! I just went down to my local wreckers and purchased some AU Falcon shields for $5 and cut them to shape.
oldskoolguy ·
That's recyclin' alright! 👍
modnrod ·
Nice ride. I like the blue seats the best, great colour. 👍
m4co ·
modnrod wrote:Nice ride. I like the blue seats the best, great colour. 👍
Thanks 👍
I took it for a spin today, about 30km and it went fine. I backed off the timing a little more and its happy.
Quick snap of it in the driveway next to my XR8. Quite a difference in power and handling 😂
Neighbor also has a pretty cool HD Holden.
m4co ·
The Beetle is finished and has been on the road for a while. Now looking for a new Beetle project, thinking of an oval or another square window but with good brakes and a performance engine.
Also re-did the headliner.
Bizarre ·
that is such a beautiful car
the "solidness" of it just shines through
Love it 👍
wombatventures ·
Top job! 👍👍👍 😏
oldskoolguy ·
👍 Yes, top job 👍
m4co ·
Quick snap on a stop, still drives nice on a hot day. Just wish it had AC hahah
Also gave it a quick tune up. Was wanting to stall/ hesitate at idle. Working great now.
m4co ·
First break down in the bug on the way to work Saturday morning. The clutch cable broke, I was getting a weird clutch pedal lately so it's not really surprising. I ordered the clutch cable as I was waiting for the tow to come.
All fixed today.
Love your work, she's a real camellion, the left hand side view
reminds me of the united colours of Benetton. Way cool car
exactly how I'd like to have one!
