Hey everyone,
I haven't been a member on here very long and am very new to vws but I've decided it's time to start a build thread for my latest purchase.

This is "Klaus" my new 62 beetle. he is a bit rough around the edges but structurally he is really sound.



The majority of work that has to be done is cosmetic because mechanically the only major problem is the brake, well the lack there of, but there is nothing that a few, well a lot of, long nights in the garage can't fix.
So far the plans are to get the body work sorted then get into the more fun mechanical stuff.

Cheers
Mike

Good luck Mike and keep the pics coming.


Regards,


Matt.

looks good Mike, will be keeping an eye on it while I start the 57 for inspiration!! haha
have fun

Quote:

Originally posted by Mike Hey everyone, I haven't been a member on here very long and am very new to vws but I've decided it's time to start a build thread for my latest purchase. This is "Klaus" my new 62 beetle. he is a bit rough around the edges but structurally he is really sound. The majority of work that has to be done is cosmetic because mechanically the only major problem is the brake, well the lack there of, but there is nothing that a few, well a lot of, long nights in the garage can't fix. So far the plans are to get the body work sorted then get into the more fun mechanical stuff. Cheers Mike

Thanks Lee

Its funny I hadn't even noticed the clear indicators, shows how observant I am
I was quite surprised how many differences there are between this 62 beetle and my other 61 model.

Very nice bug, what needs doing with the bodywork as she looks quite straight in the photo. Are you re-spraying or leaving the paint as is?

The body is straight just the guards and the drivers door have a couple love taps. It would make a nice rat but at the same time its a nice straight body to paint so its gonna get a nice new coat of turquoise.

Nice, will keep an eye on this thread.

I Found another photo of Klaus on his ride home. I don't think I could of found an older bigger hire trailer

Looks like a great project. Appears to be in excellent condition for his age, but sounds like Klaus will be shiny and new soon!

I'm quite happy with his condition my other beetle is nowhere near as good rust wise.

oh, theres bigger trailers, and sadly older too..

I've reached the point of no return, all the windows are out and I'm starting to deal with the rust.

I was amazed that there was no rust in any of the window frames



This is the worst of the rust and has already been cleaned up with a wire wheel and welded up



at the moment I'm cleaning up the rain channel in the engine bay getting it ready for some paint.

Ok it's time for a bit of an update.

I haven't really got much done over the christmas/ new year period, only a bit more body work, found a few more rust spots that needed attention.
I also went shopping last week and came home with this

then a couple days later I came home with this


So now I have even more "work" to do than I had before

Good grief, Mike! It looks like you've got quite the fleet growing there! Are you into modifications at all or are they all staying original/restored? To me the late-model Beetle is just crying out for a set of 6" wide rims, but it looks lovely as is. Late Type 3s are excellent as well, as I am currently finding out by driving mine.

The plan is to gradually modify all of them. I've got a few bits and pieces in my parts collection to put on them but I'm not going to do anything major on the s beetle and fast back until Klaus is "done".

Cant believe i havent found this thread before!

That type3 and beetle, was that kombimatts old rides?

Love the early turquoise beetle, got one the same one the shed

Yeah the fasty and the beetle used to be Matts, I couldn't decide which one to buy so i bought both
Klaus (the turquoise beetle) is by far my favourite. I felt bad taking him apart because he had so much character but one day he will be better than new

Wow my wife would kill me if i did that lol she thinks i'm bad enough with the 609 I bought.

your second beetle looks to be in excellent condition so at least you have one you can drive around by the looks of it, it is a 68 or 69?

look forward to seeing more of your updates

Paul

Don"t worry I wasn't popular with the girlfriend buying three vdubs in a month
The yellow one is a 72 S beetle. I had the option of getting an S or an L in similar condition but I much prefered the S because I think they are more like the older beetles than the Ls are.

I suppose I should finally update this thread.
I haven't made much progress with just sort of been tinkering and slowly been doing some body work on Klaus.
I separated the body from the floor plan so that i could get to some of the hard to reach places.

I am still surprised at the lack of rust this is the biggest rust repair i have to perform so far.

Something has gone wrong in the nose section where the spare tyre sits and it appears to be slightly deformed on the passenger side so at the moment I'm weighing up my options when it comes to fixing it.
On other fronts the S beetle will be getting new (old) lower struts out of my parts S beetle and the fastback is feeling unloved as I haven't worked on it in a good six months.

Cheers
Mike

I've been trying to make some progress on Klaus and have decided to stick to the body work and get that all sorted before I get into doing the fun stuff.
I found a bit of rust where the left rear guard bolts on, and there were a few pin holes through the panel.

I thought this was a perfect opportunity to buy some important supplies> I ended up coming home with my new favourite tool.

I Started to cut out some of the rust so that I can weld in a new piece. I need to get a bit more practice on the die grinder and I think I'm going to try some different cutting disc.

I nearly finished making the patch panel to fill up the hole but I decided to finish it tomorrow because it wasn't exactly warm in the garage with the door open

Tomorrows plan is to finish the patch panel and weld it in anx get started on the next piece.

Cheers
Mike

I haven't been making as much progress as I would have liked.
I finished the patch panel and welded it in. I've nearly sanding it back.

I cut out the next section on the bottom corner of the quarter panel around the stud that the fender/guard bolts to.

I cleaned up all the rust and made up a patch panel.

I have just about welded it in, please excuse my poor welding

Now all I have to do is finish welding the panel, sand it back then I can move on to the next rusted section

Cheers
Mike

Nice work! Keep the updates coming.