This is my first foray into the aircooled world and I'am hooked. It all started in '11 while chatting with my friend(Rich D) who has been a diehard for 20+yrs saying I should build a beetle rather than the Japanese cars I had tinkered with.
While searching the 'net I came upon an add with no pictures pertaining to a '66 bug for sale. The car was located in a town(Kamloops) that was 5hrs from my area. I emailed the seller and he told me he would send some pics and that the car was sitting for the last 10yrs and was all original. "All original" piqued my interest so when I received the pics I forwarded to my friend(mentioned earlier). Rich D. replied saying the bug looked very clean in the pics and that he would be up in Kamloops for the weekend for his father inlaws surprise 70th B-day party. I made arrangement for my him to view the car on the following Saturday morning.
Fast forward to Saturday morning and I get a text from my friend viewing the car "call me in 5min." I called him back and he says "if you do not purchase this car, I will". I ask why? is it that good? "the car is all original, zero rust, it looks like OG paint, OG Blue/white rims, OG fabric seat covers BUT the owner removed the front covers and replaced with vinyl style" he replied.
So a deal was struck and I went the following weekend to pick it up. Like I said the car sat for ten yrs the seller(2nd owner) had the car so the car needed a going over to make it road worthy. Once we had it back to the shop we gave the car a thorough inspection. Everything on the car is original and the only things that are not are: tires, battery, front seat covers, RF headlight cover, fuel pump, rebuilt VW starter, windshield wiper blades and muffler(seller just installed). We overhauled the whole brake system from master cylinder-linings, rebuilt/refurbished the fuel pump and carb and gave it a quick tune-up. I put a driving permit on it and went to the Great Canadian VW Show the following week.
The car has 45K original miles and actually was purchased from a local car dealership to me called Speedway Motors in Victoria, BC which is about 100km away and a 1.5hr ferry ride. I have the original dealer pamphlet holder, license plate frame etc. What saved the car is the amount of undercoating that was applied to the underside, wheel well etc. Usually I frown upon undercoating but it saved this car. Speedway Motors(VW & Porsche dealer) had a rep for the amount of undercoating they used and they also undercoated under the rear decklid? noise suppression? I do not know but one of my friend's '65 Beetle was also a Speedway car and its decklid was also sprayed.
Last summer the car was put in the corner of our shop so we could start taking it apart refurbishing/modding it. After spending countless hours cruising the Samba and various other sites I decided where I wanted to go with this car. My goal was to upgrade the suspension/brakes to todays style and safety and add period(late 60's early 70's) correct mods. I researched and found a suspension builder located in the Pacific Northwest called Franklin's VW. I contacted Franklin himself and we discussed the stance I wanted and we worked out a build plan. We went with a 4'' narrowed beam(custom) w/shock mounts, 3'' drop rear swingarms, CB Roto-hub 4 wheel disc brake kit, shocks etc.
These parts we're going to take awhile to build so I spent more time looking for the right wheels. My first set of wheels we're original Empi Sprintstars 4.5/5.5 that we're in excellent condition but deep down I wanted Fuchs 4.5''/ 6" deepsix. For fun I posted the Sprintstars for sale on the The Samba to see if I could get any bites so I could fund a set of Fuchs. A month later I receive a private message regarding the Sprintstars from a fellow in France and we struck a deal. As the Sprintstars we're on their journey to France I found a set of restored(Al Read) Fuchs 4.5/deep 6 with hearts on early911.com. We made a deal and the Fuchs we're on their journey north.
I have also found other bits and pieces, original Berg shifter, Bosch Dist and Santana pulley(on roadtrip to Sacramento Bugorama w/ Rich, Geoff and Bruce).
Thanks to Rich D. for the help so far, Geoff for the pulley, exhaust etc. Mike N. and all of the other VW enthusiests that have helped me along the way.
Here are some pics of what I started with and the progression we have made so far:
front before-
rear before-
front after
rear after
removing undercoating- we used keyboard cleaner aerosol airspray, hold it upside down and you get an excellent undercoating removal tool. CO2 propellant comes out very cold.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_dusterdetailed the tailights and turn signals
Interior pics
more pics here:
http://s250.beta.photobucket.com/user/jasontrentini/library/#/user/jasontrentini/library/VW%20Beetle?&_suid=13582752476460410652130937364Here is how it sits today:
bolted up right side fenders/running board to see if the rideheight was correct.
It is now Feb 2013 and I can say I haven't rushed this project but it sure is exciting to see it finally on it wheels.
During the process of restoring/resto-modding this car I had all the new suspension and steering powder coated. New balljoints were installed into factory control arms. I was able to save all of the original Kamax, Dorn and Verbus hardware in which I had cleaned and silver anodized plated.
I will update the future progress on this build and sorry if the story was long winded but I'm very excited about this project.
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