Hello all – newbie to the forum.

After losing track of my father’s 1968 1500 beetle 23 years ago when he died, I have finally retrieved it in an awful condition. It needs a full body off restoration, floor pans, heater channels, rear quarter panels, new doors, new interior, original seats, headlining and a motor overhaul. It is almost better to scrap it and start again – but it wouldn’t be dad’s car then. The mechanicals I will be able to do, but apart from some simple MIG welding, the body probably will go to a paint shop.

The car has great sentimental value to me. My father loved his car and I am duty bound to return it to its former condition pretty much regardless of cost. It was the car I learned to drive in, the car I took my girlfriend (now wife of 40 years) out on our first date and some would say unkindly that it is the same car that we conceived our first-born in at North Ryde Drive-In. Those were the days.

I have a few questions of the wider audience who may already have done the things that I am about to embark on.

1. If doing a resto, should I attempt to make it concours quality? I am not sure I want to show it other than to show what it looked like before and after and I know I want to actually drive it sometimes – maybe even in the rain so it gets dirty. Or maybe to a drive-in, although the old girl probably doesn’t want to get up to any hanky-panky in those cramped conditions any more. And my wife mightn’t like it either.

2. People talk about quality of German, Brazilian and Mexican parts. How do I know where they are made anyway? Any recommendations for local parts suppliers? Is it worth trying to import from the US for instance?

3. Can I get good quality quarter panels, floor pans and heater channels locally? The originals look pretty flimsy anyway. I have watched the Bug Me videos and the parts they use appear to be verrrry thin. Maybe that’s how they were in the first place.

4. I have to learn MIG welding. Know how to arc weld OK. I was thinking about a gas-less MIG as I don’t want the hassle of hiring gas bottles. Are gas-less MIG’s OK for doing work around “My Precious”?

5. Where can I get a full list of part numbers for the old girl. There are references to ETKA on the web, but these all seem to be shutdown. Any links?

6. My ID plate under the spare wheel says made in Germany. Did the locally made ones actually have made in Australia, or were they made from Completely Knocked Down (CKD) kits? I am led to believe that when the 1500 change over was made Australian manufacture could not tool up quickly so they imported cars from Germany.

Anyway, I reckon I will be trolling around on this site from now on, looking for parts. Someone’s going to be making money on the project and keeping the economy going, but then it will be worth it when the bug is back to her good old self.

So if anyone has parts for sale, I will be interested.

viiking

As far as the MIG welding goes, gasless is not very good for thin panels. Think of gasless MIG as basically being the same as arc welding. So, for car bodywork, gas is the only way to go. Unfortunately this means setting up an account and paying for gas bottle rental.

sounds pretty full on but for a worthy cause.

Welcome on board. I can't believe how lucky you are to have found this beetle that has so much meaning for you.
If you do it to concours and not drive it, I think you will lose interest eventually in having it. They deteriorate as time goes by anyway so you may as well have the joy of using it regularly while it happens.

Keep an eye on samba as there have been some NOS quarter panels on there lately that may be suitable for you. Otherwise, try some of the sponsors on here. There are good quality floor pans available from Das Resto Haus and probably others.

Here is a photo of ours after resto for some inspiration for you.

Yogie

Good luck with the project your assumption is correct the 1500's were fully imported from Germany. My 69 is a full import for the same reason

good on ya for takin this on, u ll get heaps of help on the forum. and congrats on getting the oppportunity to restore such an important vehicle

welcome to here..!
great read about it being so much more to you and your family than just a fixeruppera n flickity flick like so many have done just be in the in crowd
u will know doubt love and hate bringing it back to the fore but when u do n when your 1st born gets to drive it all that hard work will just be memory
good luck n enjoy the ride
look fwd to progress pics
cheers pauly

Thanks for the encouragement. I think VW stir up so many emotions, that it is no wonder people are trying to keep them on the road.

Yogie your car is beautiful. I hope I can get even some way to emulating what you have done.

I will post some photos along the way.

Gee....I feel like family already - and I didn't think anyone else liked VW's!

So,... some pictures please of your ride.

Any of when your father had it, and what it looks like now?