here it is - my 58 dub. and here is the plan.
de-crome the body and paint it grey.
get it as low as (legallyish) i can, with 2' narrowed adjustable beam and adjustable spring plates.
extractors of course

she's been in a shed for the last 10 years before i bought it so i want to give the engine a quick overhaul as the 34hp runs rough. any sugestions on the usual things to do would help, i was thinking of new rings and head gasket? is it necessary?

i've got christmas leave now so i'm going to get stuck into it. should be a good practice for when i get an oval and put an 1800 and irs pan under one.
this forum is such a good influence!

they dont have head gaskets (as far as i know).you might not need to rebuild. does it blow any smoke, any ratles and bangs if not it could be ignition timing, a bodgy lead , or spark plug shagged points, coroded dizzy cap. blocked jets. hope this helps

That is a great looking beeltle. I love the paintwork and chrome as it is! Definitely lower it though.

(I can't talk because mine has been freshly painted - had to be done though because it had a crap repspray - can't wait for some patina to develop)

yeah she blows smoke and takes a while to start, even with a new 6v battery. behind the rocker covers is pretty shiny so i was hopeing the internals were the same.
the respray is too good for a rat but not that good either. a friend of mine is an ex raaf painter and he is going to paint it for cartons. i'll leave the wolfsburg crest on the bonnet though.

yeah thats a wicked colour. have a play around with it on photoshop or something and c what those greyish brm's look like
on it. could look differnt.

good luck.

Dude that looks awesome as is. All you needa do is lower it. Don't change the paint or chrome. Keep it as is

yeah another a vote for leaving the paint as is... looks awesome, and will look sick when slammed

stock smoothies would look cool or maybe some BRMs like Chris says or I reckon some Escras would be the tits!

but thats just what i would do, its totally up to you man its your car.... have fun!

sorry couldnt help myself just an idea

Between the sinuous front guards and the swooping decklid this is a very elegant looking vintage car.

Great to see it being brought back to road condition. Even with new pistons & barrels the engine work will not be expensive, relative to a complex modern car.

seems like I will disappoint a few people by painting the 58!
I didn't plan to paint it for a while, but the offer of a cheap paint job was hard to pass up. and the rest of the body is covered in surface rust.
spent hours daydreaming about colour combos, two tone black/white etc. I want to save that idea for an oval.

took the engine out today to check it out and give it a clean. not as bad as i was expecting. looks like it may have newer heads as they are a different colour- or is that normal? and the rockers are much shinier than my 68 i had years ago!
the heat exchangers and exhaust are rusted out. ill send them away to get fixed and get a new exhaust.
one of the leads fell apart when i pulled it out!
flywheel is worn from the starter motor, and a bit rusty around the edge.

Yeah camo thats cool. maybe abit lower.

this is the look im after, with empi 5 spokes. does any one know the owner? - they read my mind!

progress today. nearly all stripped out. wasn't too hard as there was no interior when i bought it, just the seats.
only thing i couldn't get out was the wiper and headlight switches. frustrating.
start sanding next week

looks good man

gotta love the 58

hey
leave da body orig n lower is cool..
hmmm

That is one amazing original 58 I'd leave it as original as possible as well, Only paint/repair what you have to... A few period items and a little lower with a nice set of BRM's

Just my two bobs worth

Greg

thanks for the interest everyone.
i wish the paint was original - i'd leave it. but she's had a respray thats not the best, with runs and cracks.
otherwise everything else will be stock. I've always wanted a bug that is clean, smooth and low. something nice to drive to work in.

this is the second beetle i've owned. here is the first- the most enjoyable car i've driven.

ahhh now that you mention it has had a very amateur respray I can understand why you would want to repaint it. It looks original in the photos. Photos always make things appear better then they really are I do like the colour though. I think grey is cool and would'nt mind a grey VW myself.

Whatever you decide to do with it should look great

Cheers

Greg

if you are still stuck with the switches try putting a precision ground tool (nail) through the hole in the shaft to get the knobs off. then if the escutchons are tight you could try making up a "bodge" tool like shown in the pics. i held it in a set of vice grips. please note if you don't get the angles sort of correct or don't hold it in the hole properly it may chew the eschutchon.

i just bought a house with a 58 bug included in the sale, it looks similar to yours except its white, pretty well rust free too, im wandering what to do with it, will have to see how yours ends up for inspiration

Quote:

Originally posted by rexy i just bought a house with a 58 bug included in the sale, it looks similar to yours except its white, pretty well rust free too, im wandering what to do with it, will have to see how yours ends up for inspiration

Quote:

Originally posted by Boozo Quote: Originally posted by rexy i just bought a house with a 58 bug included in the sale, it looks similar to yours except its white, pretty well rust free too, im wandering what to do with it, will have to see how yours ends up for inspiration Oh steve you just cant help yourself can you, you bought the house because it has the car attached didnt you

sounds like a sweet deal.

Here is where I'm up to. All that is left to sand back are the doors and the inside. Now that I dont have any hard exams to study for I can finish what I started. The only disappointing thing is I cant find extractors for the 36hp. Oh well that just means I'll HAVE to get a 1600 or similar!

here are some pics of what has been lurking under the paint, someone elses handywork!

here she is nearly naked

Today the 58 went to the panel shop to get some rust cut out and welded. Ordered the paint aswell, Platinum grey, as seen on the new vw jetta. finally achieveing some goals. just waiting for mr rudd to buy me a new beam! will post pics when my phone/camera wants to talk to the computer! found some sample pics to compare....

Hey bugking.
My bro said his looking at your computer atm at Computer Dencity
Should go for a cruise some time when your beetle is finished.