I found my car on The Samba in June 2009. I had always dreamed about doing a full restore on a classic car, and this looked to be perfect. I already owned a white 69 bug, and whilst in England I had a VW Camper with pop top, so had some experience with air-cooled.
The car had been totally stripped down by the farther of the guy I was buying it from, but it was too much for the old man. Looked like most of it was there. Anyway I payed the guy $450, loaded it up and trailered it home.
After a thorough inspection, I decided not to separate the pan from the body because there seemed no point, the metal was in great condition throughout. The only areas I would replace are both rear floors and the panel for the spare tire well up to the hood, it was not too bad, just a few small holes in the bottom of the well. I used a frame supplied with the car that lifted the pan and body so I could work underneath. I cleaned it all, removing all the under-sealer that had kept the car in such a great condition, and re-undersealed it.
All the suspension was removed and dismantled, and I was surprised to see that nothing was worn down, I believe the odometer is correct at 38,584 miles. I decided to replace all the joints anyway, along with all the braking system.
I wasn't sure what I was aiming for, not a show car, but not a daily driver, I just did my best and figured that would be good. I did want to use as much as possible of the original car, and cleaned just about every nut and bolt, replacing missing or damaged items with original if possible.
I would like to thank Damon for the paint job and putting up with me trying to keep the cost down.
The engine I purchased as a 1600 core, I had the original 1300, but wanted it to go up hills. I totally stripped it down, and was fortunate to find it had very little mileage on a recent rebuild, so just a good clean and re-assembly.
I did use the original tranny, which I had to grind out the bellhousing for the bigger 200mm flywheel. The fillings from the grinding got everywhere, and I didnt even think about the magnesium until I got a spark that landed on the fillings covering my clothes , wow that stuff really goes up. Fortunately just brushing it off extinguished it. Well I was a little more careful after that .
So there you go, my dream had come true, and it felt GREAT.
Ive kept in contact with the previous owner, giving him updates, and he is over the moon with the result. Its a very satisfying feeling just driving it and having people wave and comment about it, I had one guy whilst driving down I5 asked us to wind down the window and ask about it, travelling at 60 mph
New to the forum and my 66
New to the forum and my 66
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Blue Baron
- Senior Member
- Posts: 879
- Joined: Sun Jan 18, 2009 8:34 pm
- Location: Tampa, Florida