The Citrus Sweetheart

Well, it pays to keep your eyes open.

I took the fam for a ride the other day, and just happened to glance into a backyard, and saw the following:



I then preceded to knock on his door, and 'queried' his lil gem in the back yard. Turns out, he wants it gone. So, we organized a 'viewing'.

This is what we found:






It appears to be in pretty good nick. Turns out it is a 71 that has been imported. All we have to do is try and find out if it was imported as a 'vert' or if it was 'verted' over here.

The lil fella has:
IRS
McPherson strut front end
Minimal rust: mainly in the sealing lips under the bonnet and deck lid
Only the one main ding, which is the size of a baseball in the left rear quarter

Soooo... we made him an offer, we haggled, and we agreed on an undisclosed amount of beer tokens, and hopefully pick it up in the next few days if weather permits (and my tow guy doesn't get bogged). 🤓

Plans: Well..... I 'did' have plans to do some major work to the "Green Hornet", buuut, seeing as that is currently running fine, I was thinking of doing the 'Citrus Sweetheart" first, as a 'test bed' so to speak. The green hornet was for the missus, but given it has the sube donk, and I am part sube, she has relinquished it to me, and has now claimed the orange 'thing'.
We are yet undecided on what we are going to do to it externally... or what ticker we will give it (I will now have a spare EA82T in the near future as the 'Green Hornet' is getting open heart surgery and getting a new dicky ticker).

Will keep you all posted as things come about.... and as ideas reveal themselves.

Actually....... We are open to ideas....who knows, we may dedicate it to the people of AussieVeeDubbers and rebuild it with ideas from here (that all depends on what gets submitted of course).

To kick it off, we have thought bout:
Doing it its original Orange
Doing it "Rat" style (keeping it festy 😂)
Doing it Matt black with pearl white sides, and parts of the bonnet (there is a matchbox car painted in the mentioned style that inspired the idea), with a black interior, with sheet metal door cards... and various little touches.

The floor is open Ladies and gentlemen!

if you are going to put it back on the road .
before you spent money ,I would check with the RTA etc that you can do it.

ej20t like my old girl . heaps of fun.

I have been trying to track the vehicle history down, and have had 'some' luck..... tho I don't think it was an import, as no documentation can be found on it.

Spoke to VIC roads, and they have had it on their system since 1994 as a convertible ('Tourer' in their terms) with no record of an engineers cert. But, good ol RTA require one regardless.


Still, for the price, it is hard to pass up. Even with an engineers cert, it will make it a cheap bug.

Tha missus is keen!👍🤘😍 and that's all that matters.



(so I have been told)

👎
👍


P.S. Yes, that is supposed to be a thumb on the forehead 😂

nice score ,will make a good summer cruiser👍

It's very unlikely its an import.
Have a look under the hood the compliance plate next to the hood latch will tell you.

Both my aus made 71 supers say motor producers limited
meets Australian Design Rules blah blah blah then its an aus made superbug.
from 72 they say Volkswagenwerk AG to meet ADR nos xxxxx

Imports after 70 will say Made in Germany with nothing about ADRs

Like Ian said do some research before you put any money into it.
As the engineers scrutinize choptop convertables very thoroughly to weed out the poorly strengthened ones.

Also the rollbar needs to be connected to the bracing in the under the floorpan, down the rear wheel arches and across to the windscreen.

Alot of the ones converted in the 80s when they weren;t as tough only have a roll bar welded to the body where the B pillars are lopped off and thats it.
None of those ones will pass engineers certificate as is, I;ve seen several that have been modified to pass.

wont be an import

best thing on that cars is the Bathurst globes

judging by the sticker on the windscreen it was done by imported car wreckers, in springvale, melbourne

owner is mark holyoake, i used to get my car serviced out there many moons ago. he might know a bit about the car.

look em up and give em a ring

Thanks all for your replies so far.

@ Golde60 - I managed to track him down this arvo and had a good chat to him. He does not remember the vehicle, but thinks it may have just come in for servicing and someone slapped a sticker on there. He was amazed that I tracked him down from a sticker and took the time to ring him.

He agrees that it is not an import, after I told him that the Department of Transport and Regional Services (Car Import Division) had no records of it being imported. He too suggested I check the plate in the front, but as the vehicle is not readily available to look at, I will have to see when I get it(Which at the moment......weather permitting.. is tomorrow night).

As for not buying it.. I have already told the guy that I will take it...and at $500, why not?

Will keep ya's up to date with progress.

N 😀

What does it say on the rego lable? Hang onto that if it has anything sugesting Roaster or convertible. This will help with re registering it.

It's not a NSW rego sticker in the windscreen, either an SA or Vic one, which makes sense if imported used to work on it, sadly interstate rego doesnt mean much to the RTA.

As long as the engine and gearbox is good its worth the money, but convertables are rust traps, especially when they've been laid up out doors like that one has.

Nice pick-up, how many spiders:? you know that the colours in your drive way now clash - you should sell it to the 'Golden Oldy' up the road..

Welcome RustyDub.

Your on a forum? So, it is true. You can teach an old dog new tricks! 👍

Cheers for the help unloading the orange 'Thing'.

Dog poo and spiders included.

Well, we took delivery of the orange 'Thing' tonight (thanks RustyDub for the helping hand).

It all started with:



(Look...Its RustyDub)








Busted.... That is not a happy smile.... It is a 'Hurry up and take the damn photo woman.. There is something crawling up my leg" smile.🤪

First things first: Wrap it in tarps and Mortein bomb the lil critters. Then, out with the Karcher for a well earned tubsing. Then, the Full Monty.

Cheers
N

Good find, just what I'm looking for as a donor car.

Nice truck mate, what did you do with the Beetle???????

Well,

Stripping has begun on the orange thing. Not too bad in the rust department:

















Bottom of the right door well


Inside right tire well


Left foot well and heater channel (Seems to be the worst)


Front lip


Right bonnet lip

And


Most of it is surface rust, but that is about it so far. I am sure a lil bit more will reveal itself once paint stripping has started and after blasting.

I managed to purchase myself a nice Mig welder on the weekend, so that I can practice and do all the work myself.

We are getting closer on a paint scheme and style. I think I might keep it quiet for now, and let it reveal itself as it goes.




(Hi 'RustyDub'. NOTE: Yes, we are grown men wearing gloves working on a car, but anyone who knows what the temps are like in Canberra at this time of year at 8pm, know that it is damn cold!)

After sitting idle for 5-6 years, decided to have a fiddle with the Donk. Was a bit of messen round involved, as it had an immobilizer fitted. 'RustyDub' lent us one of his batteries, which gave us life. At first, it wouldn't turn over. There was just a ticking sound coming from the engine. We then brainstormed and worked out that it was probably the immobilizer.

I managed to track the wires from the ignition barrel to the immobilizer, then the wires from the immobilizer to the donk, cut them and joined them.

Turn the key...... and it turned over. But still no life. Pulled the dizzy cap off and noticed that there was no spark, so out with the multi meter. After much stuffing around and resetting of the gap, it finally had spark.

Off with the carby cover to fill the bowl with some much needed motion lotion...turn the key....
and




Oh, and 'The Green Hornet" sitting lonely and untouched in the driveway 😢
🤓

you made a good deal there!

I just had a thought Volkaru, we should build a heated tunnel from your shed to mine, especially now that you have a heater in your shed. All the parts have turned up for me to put WeiBer back together.You will have to come up and show me how to put pictures on the the forum so others can see what a VW packed street we live in. (Mr & Mrs RustyDub have 2 Beetles, 1 Type 3 and a Polo in a pear tree)

Not much to report unfortunately, citrus has been nearly stripped of everything now bar the engine and left rear guard, then will come the paint stripper.
Waiting on warmer weather and our neighbour Rusty dub to recover from surgery to give me helping hand whilst Neil is deployed overseas.

Will post pics one the paint stripping begins 😁

cheers

We should have a go at one of the guards this weekend to see whats under the citrus, and that will be straight after we find you some gears of cause. And you fit my new sexy running boards.....guess you didn't know that you are fitting them for me whilst my wing is out of action.
Cheers, RustyDub

hahaaaa
No prob's I can fit he running boards for ya 😂

Cool, we can use your smooth plastic ramps, you will find them better to drive on. I don't think I can get my right hand on the steering wheel yet.

Well, it has been a while since I have updated this. Been a while since I worked on the car actually. I am now back, and have been pottering around in the garage over the past few weeks. I managed to score the Easter weekend to work on the 'vert' (thank you darling wife 😍), with the help of a mate from melb and a local from ol jerra.

I will let the pics do the talking from now. (Maybe the odd comment tho😂)

Wednesday night saw the donk lifted onto the work bench.... a few beers.... and....







With the donk now stripped, ready for cleaning, research for part acquisition and then re-assebly. This will hopefully happen in the next few months as time and funds allow.

Thursday: Bits here and there and the turning of a dryer tumbler into a fire drum...

Friday:
I then thought it was time to split the shell from the chassis, cept I ran into a couple of hurdles. Who ever did the 'chop', decided to spot weld the shell/chassis bolts to the washers..... and then spot weld the washers to the new rails....😬



But, a bit of this......







and I was able to get the shifter (only thing that would fit) onto the washers



We then spent the next hour undoing all the remaing bolts and little bits and pieces that held the two together.

Let there be LIGHT!


Partial light that is. The shell would not come off. So, another 45 minutes of poking around, reading the manual, googling/utubing and I finally stood at the back and visually separated the two, and found this little fella:



A quick blind date with the ol grinder, and....




Saturday I was flying solo, so I decided to have a crack at repairing the dash from where the previous owner had butchered the radio slot, and had aslo inserted some random switches....



Prepping:




My first go at welding sheet metal this thin:






Not a bad result, tho I am not really happy with it. Not after using the KCW resto site as inspiration. Those guys are magicans.

Sunday i was again flying solo, and decided that i wanted to make a dolly for the shell to move around on. I thought about using some to the random bits of frame work that has been added to underneath the chassis, and to get to that, i had to strip it down.

Next road block!

The rear hub nuts, both left and right, were seized on. No amount of persuasion was going to get these lil lads off. With a breaker bar and the addition of an extended bar, only saw the rear wheels turning on the concrete (Handbrake on AND in gear).

then i got a bigger hammer:
First:


NOPE!

A snappy trip to bunnings for a butane torch for some heating with rapid cooling.. and some more heating..

Then I whipped this up.... buuuut....



But, I won in the end. Me 1 - Nuts - 0


With a few hurdles on the drums (left rear pads wound out to the max so the drum would not come off - a mild soaking of WD-40 and i finally removed them).

Then, one of the little hex head drive shaft bolt inners had been stripped, so some more messing around with a cutting disc and a cold chisel:






and finally:


Monday saw the making of a rear dolly (will get pics later) and that was about it.

Plan on repairing the rust in the shell, and replacing the floor pans when i get the parts. I have more than enough parts that need cleaning in the 'quiet hours' to keep me going for a few weeks.

excellent stuff!

If it is any help - with the lip where the bonnet and rear lid seals go. Just pull the seal off and clean it up.
Then put a mexican seal on the lids

Have a look here
http://forums.aussieveedubbers.com/viewtopic.php?tid=36756&page=3

Thanks for that Bizzare. I was wondering how I was going to either repair (even thinner to weld 😬) or somehow replace.

I will deff be adding that to my 'to get' list.

nice beetle by the way 👍

68Volkaru wrote:Thanks for that Bizzare. I was wondering how I was going to either repair (even thinner to weld 😬) or somehow replace.

I will deff be adding that to my 'to get' list.

nice beetle by the way 👍

keep up the good work,
you can buy that seal at clark rubber.

love your work so far!

Thanks Mezz, I'll go have a checkers.

Thanks 69bug.

Got a bit of work done today. Mainly just working on stripping paint for rust repair.

(NOTE: Dolly that I made last weekend on the rear. Works well. just need to make one for the front, so I dont have to lift it and drag it around🤪)


Right heater rails:




****** Does anyone know if i can get the thin strips that sit ontop of the chanels? Mine are a little rusty at the B pillar and also dinged up, and i was hoping to remove them and weld in some newbies.


Wiiith a lil bit of work ahead of me.🥲

Looking forward to it actually. I have stumbled accross an awesome sheet metal fab forum, where the guy goes into detail regarding the bending and manipulation of sheet metal. He makes it look easy of course, but, ya gotta start somewhere eh😎



Cleaned out the back. Not back to bare metal yet....




After the tip from Bizzare regarding the rubber seal lips, I got in and removed them (I reckon those spot weld drill bits are the shiz kniz 👍 )


More work 😬 (Not looking forward to this bit)



Still have the right side to go. Wanted to show the missus how AWESOME the spot weld drill bit was.


Will finish taking off the lip seal tomorrow, and finish up using the wire wheel (twisted wire wheels on a grinder are up there as the shiz kniz😂) and then I will get in with the paint stripper and do the big panel stuff. If timing goes well, I might even have a crack at some rust repair.

Not happy with how the dash turned out😬.

Have an idea to use a modern steering wheel, so all the 'accessories' will be on the colum stalks...... so, I am planning on cutting out my last effort of welding, and also plug up all the holes so as to have a smooth clean dash.

You should try taking the lip seal metal off using a screwdriver and hammer. That's how I removed mine front and back, just using the screwdriver like a chisel. No filling required once it's gone and just a quick clean with a wire wheel and job done!

cam070 wrote:You should try taking the lip seal metal off using a screwdriver and hammer. That's how I removed mine front and back, just using the screwdriver like a chisel. No filling required once it's gone and just a quick clean with a wire wheel and job done!

Cheers for that. Will keep it in mind. Wont need it for the rear tho... as I have plans for that. Plus, I like any excuse to weld😂

After my dash, I need all the experience I can get.🥲

Well, didnt get a lot done over the weekend. Not as much as I would liked to have, but I still got to play. 👍

Ended up getting into the left lip seal that I had left for 'show n tell' for the missus



Had a crack at filling the spotweld holes



and also a hole from the side strip



(Needs a bit more filling weld I think). Been watching some 'How to body repair' uTube clips, and also a DVD my mate sent me. Also reading a lot of threads on sheet metal work. Just need to now change out from gasless to gas welding before I attempt the other work. Bit more practice, and she'll be all good.

Right side:









I think the right side of the lip will need replacing. There were a couple small rust holes that I managed to fill, but after all my reading, I think that metal will have to go. Not sure how it will go, as it slopes down, and therefore from what I understand (correct me if i am wrong 😊) that I will have to 'stretch' the metel to get it to curve down. Which, over that distance....... Not sure. Will think about it. I'll give anything a go.

Then, I got in and removed the paint from the right hand side. This took a while, but majority looks good underneath. Now, just to tackle that rust at the bottom (Need gas and wire).





Just need to fill the side strip holes, and I also have plans to flatten and strengthen the jack point. Not sure yet how I will go repairing the inner well where the wing attaches..... Bit more research and practice before I attempt that one.

Plans for the car:

This is my...OUR (sorry Dear😍) first go at a resto. We are happy with where we are at... tho, the rust repair is a little daunting, but as mention, I'll give it a crack.

As for the donk, well, we are new to that too (Cept some work on an EA81 and some diesels), so that will be trial and error (Will def research more into the donk making, as trial and error will be expensive. I have made some enquiries into info, and the best places to look, but....I'll keep looken)

Wiring.... I plan on re-wiring the whole thing from scratch. I have a little experience in electronics, so hopefully that works out.

Interior.... Hmmm.... will get back to you.

Painting... Yeah.. I'll give that a crack too. cant hurt.

Feel free to add any helpfull info, or if I am doing things wrong, as I am using this as a test bed for the 'Re-Birth' of the Green Hornet (Or an Oval or a Splitty (if I can get hold of one👍 😀))😵‍💫

Apologies for my timing, only just read this, nice work!

You wouldn't have a close up of the signwriting "Citrus Sweetheart" on the door would you?

Will do 😉

As requested:



Do you know the car? or possibly the signwriter?

As I am after any info on it just out of curiosity.

Oh, and cheers. 👍

N

Surprising how solid it still is for a convertable that's sat out in the elements for X many years.

They normally act like bath tubs with the plugs in and just rot from the inside out.

Thanks, thats awesome! Great name, beautifully done and has lasted well.

Much to my dismay I casn't say I do, I too am after a talented signwriter.

Good luck on your quest, I'll keep you posted with mine 😉

Joel wrote:Surprising how solid it still is for a convertable that's sat out in the elements for X many years.

They normally act like bath tubs with the plugs in and just rot from the inside out.

Yeah. I guess it has the rust in the 'normal' places as a few others I have seen. Still, a fair bit of work tho. The beaty with metal, is that if ya dont get it right the first time, Mr Grinder becomes your new best friend. 😂

DreamWeaver wrote:Thanks, thats awesome! Great name, beautifully done and has lasted well.

Much to my dismay I casn't say I do, I too am after a talented signwriter.

Good luck on your quest, I'll keep you posted with mine 😉

Was going to sand it off, but it is after all, a part of the cars history..... but, it doesnt really tie in with my plans for the 'New' citrus. Am stuck at the cross roads. (Wouldnt mind selling my soul while I am there for the talent the Thai boys (PPP) have). (No ofence to the religious ones).

If your after a nice drive, I believe there is a talented guy in Wagga. I saw some of his work on a cream bug from the Nationals last year. Below are a couple of pics I just knocked up to show the work.

*If anyone knows the owner of this bug, I would like to ask him who the pin striper is (I spoke to him at the nationals, but I left before I could ask him for the details)







I like how this turned out. Bit rough and quick, but still looks good.



N

DreamWeaver wrote:Thanks, thats awesome! Great name, beautifully done and has lasted well.

Much to my dismay I casn't say I do, I too am after a talented signwriter.

Good luck on your quest, I'll keep you posted with mine 😉

Just trying to find the thread of yours.... but I cant. Do you have one?

That looks like the same colour as my 74 Lbug which is "citrus red".
I guess that's where the name came from.
It looks like it was laid over a white base and I am told the citrus red is just about impossible to mix these days.
Something about the old lead based tints no longer availiable.

Hi Phil,

Not sure if it is the original color, as I am seeing signs everywhere that it has had an after coat sometime. Just little things like the mesh behind the dash speaker panels, and that there is not a spot of orange under the fuel tank.

From what I have seen on forums of a repaint, this looks very similar.

I am wondering if it were the yellowy cream color that can be seen on parts. I could be wrong tho (dont let my wife see this🙅)

Either way, it is going. I have yet to make my mind up 100% on what it is going to be, but, I reckon it will reveal itself once I start the mods. (I kind think that cars talk to us in a way 🤪😵‍💫)