56 rag project · Aussieveedubbers

Mr Bubble Head · 17 Nov 2005, 9:25 pm

Heres a sneek preview of whats keeping me busy and any bank savings down. I started this project in May 2003 and I was hoping it would be finished for this summer! 😂
Maybe next year hey

handycam · 17 Nov 2005, 10:38 pm

cant wait 2 c her done mate

ruckus · 17 Nov 2005, 11:17 pm

Did you make that rig? It looks awesome! Any possibility you'd sell it when the oval's finished?

rhdragtop · 19 Nov 2005, 7:20 pm

Sweet....wish I could do my car that way...Well maybe I can. I want it done right the first time. Get to those areas you dont see but you feel all areas are covered....Keep up the good work...Kyle of California

glider69 · 19 Nov 2005, 8:52 pm

thats the best way to do it

rob

Mr Bubble Head · 20 Nov 2005, 8:34 pm

Yeah I agree Guys its the only way to comfortably work on a shell even though I'm not doing the body work this I have farmed out as like you kyle I belive do it once and do it right. Now I've started this post I'm going to sort out the early pics of the car to give you an Idea of how it all started.

nIck

Mr Bubble Head · 20 Nov 2005, 8:48 pm

Well whats the chances of finding a oval rag roof forsale in good condition trust me there slim to bugger all so I went the next best

Warning VW Purists look away now

Mr Bubble Head · 20 Nov 2005, 8:51 pm

.:o

Mr Bubble Head · 20 Nov 2005, 9:33 pm

Ruckus Thanks man, I didn't make the jig but it belongs to my body work guy he'll be more than happy to let you copy his measurements so you can build one yourself

ruckus · 21 Nov 2005, 9:13 am

If you need help hosting them mate just email 'em to me, or put them on photobucket.com

Mr Bubble Head · 21 Nov 2005, 8:37 pm

No going back now !!!

Sitting in the section already trimmed up and dressed to weld in

Mr Bubble Head · 21 Nov 2005, 8:45 pm

Check mesurements and check another 32 times

Then when your happy clamp into place the section and scribe your final cut line. I left myself a 15mm error margine on the first cut all the way around so I could offer up the section first.

Mr Bubble Head · 21 Nov 2005, 8:51 pm

Final trim up "KEEP INSIDE THE LINE" its easy to take out than put back metal

Cleaning off the paint ready to weld

Mr Bubble Head · 21 Nov 2005, 9:07 pm

Now start welding her up I wanted to butt weld her to make her as close to a factory roof as possible but there's many ways to skin a rabbit you could joggle (step) the edge and sit the section in but I'm never easy on myself or my car and the welding was been carried out by a skilled professional who was happy to butt weld the section in :thumb

We started with tacking the section in place moving side to side corner to corner laying tacks about 50mm apart until the we were ready to tack between about every 15mm

Mr Bubble Head · 21 Nov 2005, 9:28 pm

Now weld all the way around been carfull not to warp the roof and add to much stresses. We then knocked back the weld with a flap disk but only on the top not the underside this helps keep the weld strong. Then it was time for the dolly and hammer to striaghten out any imperections.

These are the corner reinforcements that really helped keep the section in alinement. We used this as a refrecnce point as we went along checking every step of the way

Ready for the body work guy to do his magic with the rest of the shell

Mr Bubble Head · 21 Nov 2005, 9:31 pm

bond · 21 Nov 2005, 9:50 pm

nice man! looking good!

ruckus · 21 Nov 2005, 9:58 pm

I'm in awe man. Well done!

Dasdubber · 22 Nov 2005, 7:10 am

Top work - having done a Golde rag cut installation myself, I know how labour intensive it can be....I agree with you about the "measure 32 times, cut once" philosophy.

I'm sure it will be awesome to have an oval ragtop - any other details you'd like to share at this stage about the plans? Eg. engine, running gear etc?

Mr Bubble Head · 22 Nov 2005, 8:46 pm

I'm not going to give to much away right now as the car is still a long way off, I've invested a lot of time and wonga into this so far so I want to keep it when its done

ruckus · 22 Nov 2005, 9:14 pm

wow did you oder that or find it here? (locking berg shifter right?)

Grey 57 · 22 Nov 2005, 9:15 pm

Lookin good Nick. 👍👍

Mr Bubble Head · 22 Nov 2005, 9:37 pm

Yeah it's a rhd berg locker alright me and a mate ordered them together and got a friend to pick them up from the VW Classic and send them over here that was last year. There not cheap but worth it for a little piece of mind.

Thanks dean :thumb

nIck

handycam · 23 Nov 2005, 5:31 am

if i make it back 2 melborne from wa (driveing ) in time il catch u at day off mate

Mr Bubble Head · 4 Jan 2006, 6:07 pm

This is how I found her sitting in a country shed since 1981 as you can see not touched in twenty + years

[ Edited on 4-1-2006 by Mr Bubble Head ]

Mr Bubble Head · 4 Jan 2006, 6:11 pm

[ Edited on 4-1-2006 by Mr Bubble Head ]

Mr Bubble Head · 17 Apr 2006, 11:25 pm

Well not much progress but not far from paint its so close its killing me. I'll be working on the final rubbing in the next week so I'll take a few shots. Its hard to draw the line with how far to go with body work ,and this is my biggest downfall. I've been very fussy and its held the project up so now its time to cover it in some pigment and a good rethink on the way its going to sit on the tar.

oval TOFU · 18 Apr 2006, 12:21 am

great job and pics Nick... keep it coming...👍👍

kustomkool · 20 Apr 2006, 1:44 pm

Great stuff nick hey u comin to valla?

Dasdubber · 20 Apr 2006, 3:43 pm

Yeah, will the car be at Valla?? Would be sweet to see it, but I understand you don't want to rush things (I missed the last valla with my resto because I didn't want to cut corners). C'mon mate, more pics please! 😵

ragtopp · 20 Apr 2006, 8:11 pm

Looking tops mate! Im doing a 62 factory rag at the moment. That rotisorie looks real good. If you still have the details would you be able to send me specs, i am getting close to starting the under side of the body and that thing would really help.
Nice job man.

Mr Bubble Head · 14 May 2006, 11:51 pm

At the last Valla I was saying to myself that next time my car will be finished for the next Valla. Ha Ha Ha it'll be closer but not close enough (starts banging head against wall) oh well I should have photos of paint comming very soon.

Nevada51 · 15 May 2006, 9:27 pm

Mate - who did the ragtop installation, I'm based in Melbourne and will hopefully be looking at doing a ragtop insert in the not too distant future.
Cheers

Mr Bubble Head · 3 Jun 2006, 2:30 pm

I put the rag top in myself with a friend who's a stianless welder so all his welds are top notch give me a u2u when your ready to do it and I'll speak with him.

Mr Bubble Head · 6 Jun 2006, 9:52 pm

Here we go I've been busy rubbing the underside ready for paint the picture shows the underside ready for paint. You can see I've taken extra precaution making sure any water traps have been sealed with body sealer to prevent the obvious. Its hard to see it in the pictures but its the dark black lines.

Mr Bubble Head · 6 Jun 2006, 10:17 pm

At long last Sasha layed down some paint on the undersides and it looks tasty !!!

BUGBOY · 6 Jun 2006, 10:24 pm

Looks good mate, love the colour.:thumb

Grey 57 · 6 Jun 2006, 10:29 pm

shweet mate . Its coming along:thumb

Turbo54 · 7 Jun 2006, 9:34 am

Look great, what is that colour? The rotorissery makes it easy!
T54

bond · 7 Jun 2006, 12:09 pm

very nice colour - what are you plans to go full spray? or two tone or anything different?

looks like this will be another shweet resto to watch :thumb

nick

Dasdubber · 7 Jun 2006, 1:30 pm

Fantastic stuff - I love seeing progress shots like this! Give me more! :P

Mr Bubble Head · 7 Jun 2006, 11:37 pm

here goes the colour is been held close to my heart untill It's finished

Dasdubber · 8 Jun 2006, 8:11 am

Superb! Looks kinda like diamond green metallic but more gold....has it got a flip in the paint to get that funky apricot colour from the light? :thumb

bond · 8 Jun 2006, 8:59 am

sensational mate!

nick

BUGBOY · 8 Jun 2006, 8:32 pm

Think thats just the heater Das, its in Victoria.:thumb

Nevada51 · 8 Jun 2006, 9:25 pm

Looking very nice (just wiping the drool off the screen🙂. I'll U2U when I'm ready to go ahead with the ragtop install (I have the ragtop clip, just need the car to go with it!). Keep the pics coming!

65busser · 8 Jun 2006, 9:48 pm

Hey Nick, that is THE best colour. What colour interior do you put with that?

GASBNR · 8 Jun 2006, 11:26 pm

COOL

Mr Bubble Head · 9 Jun 2006, 7:38 pm

Yeah well I'll come clean about the heat lamps. They gave that pic a funny flip to it I wondered if anyone would say about it. The paint seems to look a different colour every time the lights change. For now I'm not giving the colour away or even saying wether it's a custom or standard colour. I will say its a Du Pont top of the range paint so not much will go to waste.

Brad the interior will be in light biege and tan hues. The idea is to keep it light and airy to match the sunroof.

SPRINTSTAR · 12 Jun 2006, 6:31 pm

That's gotta be one of the best in Oz when it's finished...keep the photos coming Nick!

SKEWtYpe3 · 18 Jun 2006, 11:38 pm

HOT COLOUR !

looking the goods

PHAT BUG · 19 Jun 2006, 6:39 am

Wow Nick, thats unbelievable, great colour!

VWCOOL · 19 Jun 2006, 10:00 pm

That looks sensaish! :thumb

DUB54V · 20 Jun 2006, 12:07 am

:thumb good job

Mr Bubble Head · 9 Jan 2007, 8:15 pm

Its been a little time since posts but thats life. Heres where the body was upto a few weeks back this is the final final rubbing back next time it hits the booth it's colour time.

Mr Bubble Head · 8 Feb 2007, 10:05 pm

Finally the car is painted and now its time to dig out my parts I've been collecting over the last 4 years. So far I've totally restored the wiper motor assembly with new everything powder coated bracket and a twin speed motor with park position.
I've started restoring the rag roof mechcanism totally pulling it apart cleaning/painting and replacing any worn parts and replacing the roller wheels.

The running boards are ready to fit now after powder coating the originals and fitting new mats and split bug side trim.

I had a dig around today and pulled out my NOS collection (see pic)

I've only scratched the surface so far as I've a heap of parts to start cleaning restoring and painting.

Mr Bubble Head · 8 Feb 2007, 10:16 pm

Heres a couple of shots of it painted sorry for the bad picture quality but it was a tight sqeeze and the light was poor. I'm working on better pics coming soon.

handycam · 8 Feb 2007, 10:30 pm

looks awsome nick you have mail 2 :thumb

oval TOFU · 8 Feb 2007, 11:36 pm

I've heard of 'bling' before.. but this is just reDICulous! Fricken awesone Nicky love..

PHAT BUG · 9 Feb 2007, 12:10 am

Lookin good Nick!!

GASBNR · 9 Feb 2007, 9:28 am

about bloody time

LOL

Grey 57 · 9 Feb 2007, 9:52 am

nice one Nick. Diamond Green sweet colour. So what ya gonna push it along with???

pangalactic · 9 Feb 2007, 10:27 am

Looks brilliant! on a par with dasdubbers recent resto, i just love the attention to detail.
cheers

Octa · 9 Feb 2007, 1:20 pm

Superb..

I like the speaker holes in the front boot area 😎 just kidding...

Sounds like it's going to be better than when it came out of the factory.

oldnslo · 13 Feb 2007, 5:32 pm

Bloody beautiful

VWFOOL · 14 Feb 2007, 4:13 pm

great colour, v nice work mate!

kroozzn63 · 14 Feb 2007, 4:18 pm

that is superb , love that colour too

Mr Bubble Head · 11 Mar 2007, 7:27 pm

Finally the oval came home for the first time this week now its the fun part of sorting out a new wiring loom.

Here's a shot of the trim fitted and the NOS door handle

Dasdubber · 11 Mar 2007, 9:55 pm

Nice work mate - good luck with the reassembly! (fingers crossed for no 'slipped screwdrivers').
:thumb

Mr Bubble Head · 16 Mar 2007, 6:58 pm

Alan I hope your not trying to jinx me :o but its so true I've created a monster and I don't want any damage before its ready to drive, once its finished and on the road then thats a different matter you'll never stop stone chips but for now I just want it to be perfect or as close to as possible.

I'm looking at cadium plating kits does anyone have any recomendations or advise ? tips ? etc. I want to plate all the bolts and a few parts as I'm ready to fit them not do a job lot and lose bolts or spend a weekend working out which bolt goes where.

I've bit the bullet and pulled out the wiring loom ready to pull apart and copy with all the correct wire colors/ markings I'm also looking at adding any extra wires for flashing semiphores and tail lights etc.

fullnoise · 18 Mar 2007, 4:19 pm

That looks beautiful. Could that be the colour of the millionth beetle (or whatever that special edition gold oval was)?

You'll realise just how clumsy you are when you're around a freshly painted car.

Use heaps of masking tape and lube up the rubbers so you don't have to force anything.

I almost finished mine without scratiching it. But I had a long day assembling each door. When I came to sliding in the one of the quarter windows it wouldn't go so I pushed harder. It still wouldn't go in so I pushed even harder. Then it slipped in and the hinge scratched an inch of paint off the door frame. So be careful of that one.

Nice work.

BenettonVW · 18 Mar 2007, 5:50 pm

Very nice Nick. The colour is great..

Mr Bubble Head · 4 Jan 2009, 11:52 pm

Ok its been a while but the oval is starting to move again to cut a long story short moved house and waited what seemed like forever to get a new wiring loom made and fitted.

I've modified the loom to make the semaphores and taillights flash when turning and the extra wires to the headlight buckets to mount a H2 in behind the glass.

The popout windows are in and I'm now chasing the front beam and the headliner to be fitted pics will follow soon.

nIck

vassy66T1 · 5 Jan 2009, 6:57 am

Looking good 👍
I like the collection of NOS bits gathered ... very cool.
Look forward to seeing it progressing.

Golde60 · 6 Jan 2009, 4:01 am

Hey nick those pics wheeling it out of the booth at Daniels bring back some good memories.

Now the hard part begins - assembly

Color looks great. Is it still the same as you were planning or have you changed your mind? (dont worry, secrets safe)
Best of luck with the progress.

Say hi to the boys for me.

vw54 · 6 Jan 2009, 6:24 am

Nick / Oliver

Looking good have you got a cover for the roof as yet ( can advise best place )

Ive re started mine again

Nevada51 · 9 Jan 2009, 2:56 pm

I was just thinking about your build the other day, so good to see its progressing. Looking forward to some more pics.

Mr Bubble Head · 16 Jan 2009, 6:38 pm

Thanks guys

Dave I've got a stay fast cover for the roof its a nice piece of work I can't beleave your re doing the rag how far are you going ie paint

Kim good to hear from you its the original colour from the start Sasha and Dan did a great job laying it on

Navarda hearing that makes me want to get it back together pronto thanks.

I'll get pics up soon

nIck

type3disease · 17 Jan 2009, 2:41 pm

Nice Nick

i'd seen a pic of this car before but had no idea it was yours... didn't know anyone back then...
anywho - love it - can't wait to see this thing complete... just can't wait

Golde60 · 21 Jan 2009, 4:07 pm

Mr Bubble Head wrote:Kim good to hear from you its the original colour from the start Sasha and Dan did a great job laying it on

nIck

Hey Nick

I thought it would be.
Looks a bit different to what I anticipated. The same thing happened with my colour - it ends up coming a bit 'brighter' than you expect. I think this is simply cos the paint is so fresh and clean.

Looks awesome, you must be stoked.

Good to see the original plan is being kept and starting to come together.

I just started cleaning the gaffa tape remnants and general packing crap off of my 550 last night, and it looks pretty good.

I will get some pictures up when I finish the back of it, only half done.

Put some assembly pics up - you will continue to get me moving on mine, nothing like a bit of inspiration.

Tiago · 24 Jan 2009, 12:54 am

Great work! Hopefully I ll have an Oval Ragtop too someday 😁

desh · 24 Jan 2009, 10:23 am

Looking good, looking good!!

Have you cut the roof to factory ragtop specs? So that a factory raptop and parts will fit your car?

Love the colour BTW!

JVLRacing · 26 Jan 2009, 8:57 am

Mr bubble head very sweet😎

JEN056 · 7 Feb 2009, 9:57 am

That is one very Nice little oval you have there.
Keep up the great work.

VWFREAK · 7 Feb 2009, 2:42 pm

Hope my 56 Rag turns out half as good. Nice work 👍

Mr Bubble Head · 27 Sep 2009, 10:15 pm

UPDATE:
Just recieved a set of repro RHD rubber mats. I thought these were going to be the part that I was always going to be waiting on glad I took the gamble putting the deposit money up front so production could start a few people were skeptical about it happening, I admit I was a liittle too. Anyways there a real nice piece of work.

Not much has happened as I've been building my new shed but I'm about to get the 36er refreshed and book in the headliner and rag roof to be installed.

I'm also wrapped as I just picked up one of those assesory passernger sun visor arms I've missed out on so many.

More pics to come soon...

nIck

Mr Bubble Head · 27 Sep 2009, 10:17 pm

P.S.

Anyone got any NOS early Bosch head lights I've got good ones but would like NOS if possible

Mr Bubble Head · 3 Nov 2009, 9:38 pm

I've finally finished the fitting of the split beetle style wing beading and bolted up the running refurbished runnig boards. I'm running with the beige mats on these I'm not 100% on the colour but It'll tie in with the rag roof cover and the interior. I brought them just after I started to do the resto so I'm happy to give them a go if I'm still not happy after a year of been on the car I'll redo them in black.

All the fixings I'm using for the underside and external I'm using stainless apart from the front beam bolts and the frame horn bolts.

Nickster · 3 Nov 2009, 10:13 pm

Nick, you're obviously a true VW fanatic, it's great to see such care and attention to detail go into a project like this.

Love the colour too, and you can't beat a raggie. Nice work, I look forward to seeing the finished product.

Mick058 · 4 Nov 2009, 7:03 am

pics, more pics!

desminton · 5 Apr 2010, 8:15 am

Loving the work you've done, just got myself a 56 oval ragtop as a rolling project, any advice on the best place to get parts to refurbish the ragtop, also who did you get to do your wiring loom?

Cheers

Des

Mr Bubble Head · 19 Apr 2010, 6:56 pm

Des

Congrats with scoring a 56 rag, not easy to find an original RHD oval rag

I had Rod at classic wiring looms in Lillydale carry out the wiring side of things there very thorough with what they do and are carfull around freshly painted cars. I'd recomend them.

Sunroof parts would have to come from wolfsburg west in the states all of the parts from them are A1 the quality in all there parts is exceptional.

All the best with your resto if your in need of oval parts check all the relivant channels forums, ebay etc.

Bugboy on here will usally have what you need too.

Maybe you should start a post put some pics up here show everyone what you've got

nIck

Turbo54 · 20 Apr 2010, 12:09 pm

Hey Nick, More shots, love this car and colour!
T54

jjwebb123 · 21 Apr 2010, 10:23 am

great project to follow.👍

Mr Bubble Head · 20 Dec 2010, 11:09 pm

progress is been made very slowly but it is happening.

The last few weeks I've started sorting the 36er out, stripping it down checking and cleaning it up ready to go back into the car. I was originally planing on a later engine which I had built a gearbox for, but a change of plan to go back to a stock 36er has made me pull the late box ready for the original box to be freshend up and slotted back in.

These are a few pics of the car just before me and Fonz (over on a short stay from blighty ) pulled the later gearbox out. NB The car needs a wash.

Mr Bubble Head · 20 Dec 2010, 11:20 pm

Some more

handycam · 21 Dec 2010, 11:55 am

looking good mate

Pollywaffle · 21 Dec 2010, 12:09 pm

Looking fantastic!

Turbo54 · 22 Dec 2010, 9:24 am

Coming up real nice. What colour is the rag section, Light tan?
T54

DieSchnelleKafer · 22 Dec 2010, 12:11 pm

this is great stuff man, any updates?

Mr Bubble Head · 22 Dec 2010, 2:26 pm

Turbo54 wrote:Coming up real nice. What colour is the rag section, Light tan?
T54

Yep thats right ! its a stay fast tan cover. The interior is going to be similar shades hopfully its not going to be too much I'll change the running board covers for black if it is

I'm just about to start detailing the stock split case box ready to go in over the holidays, then its paint the engine tin and start assembly of the engine.

Mr Bubble Head · 10 Jan 2011, 2:07 pm

The engine is nearly ready for its assembly just waiting on the tin wear to be dipped then coated.

h · 14 Jan 2011, 11:19 pm

looking good.. let's see it rolling along my friend 🙂

Mr Bubble Head · 29 May 2011, 5:28 pm

Once again works slowed up a little on the rag I've paided in full for my interior and am waiting for it to be made the engine is coming along nicely more pics to come.

Golde60 · 29 May 2011, 6:45 pm

Pics nick

Turbo54 · 31 May 2011, 3:34 pm

Looking great, Update the pics. Wishing mine was a ragtop now,
T54

Bugged · 12 Nov 2011, 10:21 pm