Hello All,
Sorry about the belated introduction. I have been posting a few months now and realized I should have introduced myself properly.
I have been a Beetle lover since the 60's. My first a 1959 Sedan, glass fenders, ET Torque Thrusts (Chevy), handmade glass W decklid, Porsche brown paint w/ white SS stripes, engine by Tony Hill, buggy duals, and custom upholstery.
http://www.hubgarage.com/mygarage/vehicles/8040A long pause of no bug, leads into my most intensive project to date:
In 1986 I purchased a 1974 type 1, quit cigarettes, and spent the next 8 years knee-deep in sunflower seed shells. In a small, hence the choice of another bug, old drafty one car garage I proceeded to "Chop, Cut, & Rebuild". First a few sketches, being a commercial artist everything is usually figured out on paper - I was going for a kind of a pseudo Heb-Cal-Look.Then, RUST, out with the torch! Off comes the front hood, fenders, apron, next the roof, 4" from the windshield, then body off the perforated pan. In the meantime many trips to: California Import Parts, Calif meets, Seattle meets, etc. to aquire the part$. Re-assembly, not quite as fast as taking it apart, although I manged to do it all completely by myself, fiberglass, body, paint, mechanical, engine rebuild, money saved on labor covered the cost of more TOOLS! First a plaster buck was made on the car to shape the rear section, then a mold was pulled from that, and subsequently a final piece was made from the mold. A one-piece glass front-end was then modified, 1 1/2" added to each fender width, inner fender wells, and extra bracing for street use. New pans and body patch panels welded up. Body and pan mated up. Bodywork is very time consuming! Painted Light Jade Green, inside and out. Interior sports Tercel seats with new carpet and custom door panels all in gray, with several handmade billet aluminum parts. Engine rebuilt to 1641cc with Engle 100 cam, stock Solex carb, 009. Future mods for the car include dual Kadrons and an aluminum-framed Carson style hardtop.
http://www.hubgarage.com/mygarage/vehicles/8041Newest project:
1970 type 1, Cobalt Blue, purchased recently. Currently used as my daily driver, it runs a rebuilt 1600cc with dual Kadrons. Body - fairly rust-free, interior - basically shot, mechanically - good, so my intentions are to refurbish to stock with a few era correct, over-the-counter, VW accessories.
http://www.hubgarage.com/mygarage/vehicles/7820Thanks. and hope to meet some of you.
Randy