Author Topic: My new May 55 oval rag  (Read 10391 times)

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Offline 553fold

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My new May 55 oval rag
« on: January 20, 2017, 05:25:57 PM »
Hey guys, thought I would post my oval I purchased in September 2016.  Back in the game after almost 25 years, had a 66, 58 and 56 bug in the early 1990's.  I guess the fever never leaves because I feel like a kid again and am so excited to fix her up!
Found the bug in Langley which has # matching pan, original front and rear seats, all the 3 fold sunroof parts and came with a bunch of new metal parts including Gerson heater channels, and  Virtanen and Wolf parts.
Doors, hood, and 1 front bullet fender is original. W decklid and other bullet fender is off a 56? (reed green) as is the engine and transmission.
Would love to find out more history on this car if anyone knows, apparently the owner before me purchased it from Frank Graf? and was told its been around the Vancouver area for awhile,  I did order the Birth Certificate but has not arrived yet.
Originally light beige sporting an older Black repaint. Will post pictures once I figure out how.


Offline josh

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Re: My new May 55 oval rag
« Reply #1 on: January 20, 2017, 09:22:57 PM »
Welcome! Congrats on the new project, I remember the ad for that car...looked like a good base for sure! Post lots of pics, ask lots of questions...55's are a fun transitional year. Can't wait for summer so I can insure my 55 rag and tear up the streets again!!
55 ragtop T1
56 kombi T2

Offline 553fold

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« Reply #2 on: January 21, 2017, 08:20:26 PM »
Thanks Josh! Yah I was surprised it was still for sale and was purchased for a very fair price!
I checked out your 55 build and Wow! man that is very impressive!! Killer car!  :clap:
Here are some pics of the day I brought it home to Kelowna with a truck load of parts.






Will post some more photos of the progress I have made so far, soon!

Todd
« Last Edit: July 05, 2017, 05:54:02 AM by 553fold »

Offline scubagord

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Re: My new May 55 oval rag
« Reply #3 on: January 21, 2017, 08:37:41 PM »
Hey todd. Nice looking car. If you are in Kelowna. Give me a call. There are a  bunch of us that are air cooled in the kelowna area.

Gordo!  250-215-4440
65 sunroof beetle
56  Single cab original paint
68 Single Cab
62 Arizona Beetle rust free patina car

Offline 553fold

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« Reply #4 on: January 23, 2017, 09:30:58 PM »
Thanks Gordo! Will do!

The previous owner had already braced the body and cut the passenger heater channel out , so I bought a welder and decided I was going to learn to weld sheet metal  :o
 The bug was  also sporting rust in the typical areas like front firewall ,  luggage area and rear bumper body mounts and rear quarter panels.

I decided to tackle the heater channels first along with the rear pieces behind the seat.   With lots of patience and measuring
it was coming together. Cutting out the drivers heater channel was probably the worst part and took the longest.  I was pretty happy with the way the parts were fitting but probably lifted the body off and on the pan 3 or 4 times just to check that all the holes were lining up. I also tried putting the doors on with all there weight to make sure they were ok too, but will make some more adjustments when the body is bolted back on the pan. 
Welds were rough in the beginning but got better after I made some adjustments with the wire speed and was getting nice buttons all the way through.  Here are some pics.













Next up is the firewall rust!




« Last Edit: July 05, 2017, 06:15:57 AM by 553fold »

Offline silas

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Re: My new May 55 oval rag
« Reply #5 on: January 24, 2017, 08:22:44 PM »
hey todd! welcome to the asf and back into vws!! very cool 55, good score and a neat project! great work so far, keep it up and keep us updated on the progress here.

and be sure to hook up with gordo & those okanagan boys, there are a lot of good vw people up in those parts!

Offline 553fold

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« Reply #6 on: February 05, 2017, 08:21:38 AM »
Thanks Silas!  Yah I couldn't say no to this project, I had an oval when I was in grade 12 but didn't obviously have the funds or knowledge to do much to it.  Grew up in North Van all my buds had bugs and type 3's. We would cruise into West Van and hang with the VW guys too.  They were great cars to learn on and kept us out of trouble.....for the most part  :) Its really cool now working on them so many years later!
 
Here are some pics of the firewall panel replacement I did in the fall.  The Klassic fab pieces fit really nice, just some slight differences in the structural stampings.
Next up are the quarter panels. The passenger side was hit at one time infront of the rear fender.  It was repaired OK but I did some measurements and found the B pillar to be pushed back about 2/16".  Ideally I would like to replace the B pillar/quarter panel but haven't had any luck finding one yet.











« Last Edit: July 05, 2017, 06:39:01 AM by 553fold »

Offline scubagord

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Re: My new May 55 oval rag
« Reply #7 on: February 05, 2017, 01:17:04 PM »
looking good.

Gordo!
65 sunroof beetle
56  Single cab original paint
68 Single Cab
62 Arizona Beetle rust free patina car

Offline josh

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Re: My new May 55 oval rag
« Reply #8 on: February 05, 2017, 06:03:55 PM »
Wasting no time!! Mark out on the body where you need cut for B pilar and I can see how our late 55 parts car is in that area.
55 ragtop T1
56 kombi T2

Offline 553fold

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Re: My new May 55 oval rag
« Reply #9 on: February 06, 2017, 10:49:45 AM »
Hey Josh, ill take a picture tonight but its pretty much from the quarter window down and back to the fender bolt holes.
I have lower Virtanen replacement quarter panels so not too concerned on that part but if you have a ribbed door donor B pillar/quarter , that would be awesome!!

Offline vwvento67

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Re: My new May 55 oval rag
« Reply #10 on: February 06, 2017, 12:53:01 PM »
Looking awesome Todd!
65 Beetle

Offline Thomas

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Re: My new May 55 oval rag
« Reply #11 on: February 07, 2017, 07:55:25 AM »
Looks great! So what are the plans for the look of the car...stock...custom? Nice to use the green metal as the fit is sure nice compared to the cheap stuff.
58 Beetle

Offline 553fold

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Re: My new May 55 oval rag
« Reply #12 on: February 07, 2017, 06:30:33 PM »
Build plan is stock....but slammed, well maybe not slammed but pretty low!   I'm even going to rock the 36hp for a bit but eventually will build a motor and disc brakes.  Not sure about paint yet, so I'm going to just get all the panels welded in and do some blending for now as the paint isn't all that bad.
Can't wait for it to warm up, this winter has been brutal!

Offline getgeoff

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Re: My new May 55 oval rag
« Reply #13 on: February 08, 2017, 11:01:27 AM »
Welcome to the 55 club. Mine is still under construction but making progress.
60 11 Window bus Lt grey
55 Wolfsburg Kombi doveblue 
55 Beetle ultra maroon

Offline blackcar

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Re: My new May 55 oval rag
« Reply #14 on: February 09, 2017, 12:17:28 PM »
Sure looks like my old car. The car was original build by Brett walker many many years ago. Car drove like new with that mostly NOS 36hp motor.

I have pictures somewhere which I can send you.

Hope to see it on the road again in the near future.

Frank

Offline 553fold

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« Reply #15 on: February 14, 2017, 07:48:58 PM »
Thanks Frank for replying! Would love to learn more about the history of the car, pictures would be awesome!! Thanks, I sent you a PM.

I received the Birth Certificate finally the other day, took about 5 months to come, awesome to confirm it is a Canadian car!!  Apparently they couldn't confirm the engine number as there was no document of it.



I also started to take the front seat frames apart to repaint them.  I had to do a little straightening with the backrest bars and a couple welds to the lower seat tracks, but altogether they are in great condition.
I was surprised to find underneath the brown recovers was the original blue Bedford material. I'm not sure if these are the original seats to the car as the inspection tags are dated 1954 and my BC states the optional vinyl instead of cloth? Anyway just happy to have early seats as they go for an arm and a leg now!    :rockon:

Before







Frames and springs painted






Installed new sisel padding over the springs and replaced the original horsehair pads with new foam ones.
Decided to reinstall the brown seat covers as they are still in decent condition for now.





Cheers!







« Last Edit: July 05, 2017, 06:49:05 AM by 553fold »

Offline josh

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Re: My new May 55 oval rag
« Reply #16 on: February 25, 2017, 09:54:44 AM »
Good progress man! At least someone on airspeed is doing work :band1:

I may have lied to you....that 55 parts car has early B pillars, means it would have had ribbed doors but no semaphores? Weird transitional model 55's are!

Someone has attempted to cal look it and boogered weld over the trim holes and has some rust down low but overall is very useable! Let me know if you can make it work!? (I can't upload pics for some reason? Text me and I'll send some over. 250-588-seven02five)
55 ragtop T1
56 kombi T2

Offline bwaz

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Re: My new May 55 oval rag
« Reply #17 on: February 25, 2017, 05:59:19 PM »
If you tell vw the engine number, they'll confirm it's original to the car or not
brian waz

Offline J A Red

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Re: My new May 55 oval rag
« Reply #18 on: February 26, 2017, 04:11:12 PM »
Good work so far Todd, looking foward to seeing another Oval in the Okanagan.

Jared
'56 Reed Green Deluxe Oval - sold
'59 Dove Blue Single Cab - sold
‘59 Light Green Double Cab
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Offline 553fold

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« Reply #19 on: February 28, 2017, 09:57:17 PM »
Hey guys!  Just a little update, big thx to Josh for hooking me up with a RR quarter from his 55 donor car, looking forward to getting this piece to graft in!

Hey Brian, I did send my engine number with the VIN but they said it couldn't be confirmed as there was no record
of the engine number for my car??

I started working on the front apron area of the car as there was a lot of bondo on it and noticed I had a large gap between the hood and apron on the left side.  Further inspection found a previous accident had damaged the spare tire well also and pushed the left inner fender well back about 5mm.



Front apron and spare tire well removed showing pushed back left inner fender well



I rented a porta power and pushed the panel back to where it should be.




Next up is welding in the new tire well and front apron!
 
« Last Edit: July 05, 2017, 06:58:41 AM by 553fold »

Offline silas

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...awesome to confirm it is a Canadian car!!



very cool to get that birth certificate and that its a canadian car...confirming some history of these old machines makes it even more special, imho! also...great job on the continued progress...it's looking good!

At least someone on airspeed is doing work :band1:

i know what you mean, but there are others doing work too  ;)  its just some are on other forums or behind the scenes, but there is always work going on! quickly off the top of my head i can think of over a handful of projects at various stages, and of course it's cool to see threads & pics...but kudos to all of the wrenchers & builders everywhere!!  ;) :) :cool:

Offline 553fold

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« Reply #21 on: March 10, 2017, 09:20:06 PM »
Got the new apron and spare tire well all welded in!
Here are some shots of the old pieces.



Prepped for new tire well.



New one welded in. Didn't go for the Wolf part as I didn't want to spend $350 on a part you don't see.
Will probably modify it for harness hold down clips in future.



New apron on and checked for fit.
Went with an Autocraft Engineering part, had to modify the side flanges a little, but overall very happy
with fit and detail. Will obviously need to drill holes for override bars.








All final welds done and primered!









Had to throw on the headlights and take a glamour shot!  :93:




Overall pretty happy with the hood gaps now as they are very even.  The hood does touch right at the bottom first so might have to do some tweeking there in future.



« Last Edit: July 05, 2017, 03:32:29 PM by 553fold »

Offline josh

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Re: My new May 55 oval rag
« Reply #22 on: March 11, 2017, 11:37:55 AM »
your work is looking stellar man! On the hood I find you can stretch it out real easy when bolted on open it up about 2 feet and grab on either side of hood handle, plant your shins into the apron and give it a good couple yanks! Will flex most around where the 4 tabs rip around the prop rod but with a little love can manipulate it pretty good. Don't get too crazy with gaps yet as when you land it on the pan and tighten the beam bolts that is what will set your final gaps.

Send me a txt where you want that quarter cut I can't remember where u said.

I know there projects going on Silas....was a little dig on how quiet the ol airspeed site has been.... we always busy maybe I should post a pic or 2?
55 ragtop T1
56 kombi T2

Offline silas

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Had to throw on the headlights and take a glamour shot!  :93:



beauty, nice work! that autocraft apron is sweet!

I know there projects going on Silas....was a little dig on how quiet the ol airspeed site has been.... we always busy maybe I should post a pic or 2?

 ;) :cool:

Offline 553fold

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My new May 55 oval rag
« Reply #24 on: May 03, 2017, 09:54:15 PM »
Just thought I would give a little update on the progress ive been making.     Pretty much finished all the welding on the front, just have to weld in the piece for  the weather strip on the front apron and a couple of repairs on the right front headlight bucket.




Started working on the rear quarter panels. Welded in the left rear lower piece from Virtanen,



lots of cleanup still to do.



 and then started on the right rear quarter graft.





 Big thanks to Josh for sending that out to me from his donor 55!! :13:
















Lots of work still to do, but really happy with how well the graft fit and now my door gap is correct and no more bent up B pillar!  :band1:

Offline Thomas

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Re: My new May 55 oval rag
« Reply #25 on: May 04, 2017, 05:34:22 AM »
Nice Job! That is some major work you are doing there.
58 Beetle

Offline silas

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Re: My new May 55 oval rag
« Reply #26 on: May 04, 2017, 10:18:38 PM »
wicked! great work all around, especially on that right rear quarter! bam!

Offline josh

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Re: My new May 55 oval rag
« Reply #27 on: May 09, 2017, 03:28:47 PM »
wasting zero time I like it!
55 ragtop T1
56 kombi T2

Offline Jeremy59

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Re: My new May 55 oval rag
« Reply #28 on: June 08, 2017, 10:46:07 AM »
You made that look easy. Keep the progress reports coming.

Like Josh said at least someone is posting build pics. I am one of the guilty ones. Been building and not posting lately.

Offline 553fold

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Hey guys, been pluggin away at the bug on weekends for a few hours and a little bit during the week.   Trust me! its not easy, very time consuming but also very rewarding, I finally feel now that I'm getting close to the end of the metal work.
I've finished the passenger side quarter now, inside and out!   ;D  Glad to be moving on as that was the most challenging part I will have to do.   Here are some pics of the lower quarter replacement.










Por 15 rust proofed the inside!









Rebuilt heater pipe.




Heater pipe welded in and primered!















« Last Edit: July 05, 2017, 06:31:14 PM by 553fold »