Final Pics

Done... mostly

I drove the bug down to Carlos (La Voiture) last Wednesday to have the new fender painted and installed and have the hood fixed. Ends up the front end was pushed in a bit and so he pulled it out about an inch. He called me Thursday and said it was done.

Spent today reinstalling the fender bead, new headlight, new blinker, front bumper, trunk liner, and few other minor things.

Took it for a test drive and ....

... I'm calling it done.

I'm going to have the whole thing buffed and waxed and then I'll be taking all sorts of pictures and will be posting them here. Then I'm off to have it registered and insured.

3 1/2 years. It'll be nice to not spend any more money on this project :).

It actually drives! (and has a new seat)

David over at Vintage German came through today (just like he did before with my whacky front-end problems). I went over there this morning looking for another driver's seat. He has a pretty decent stash. The previous seat never reappeared... stolen as it were. I found a replacement on thesamba.com that would've needed to be shipped from Oregon. $100 just for the seat. Ouch. I put that one on hold until I checked with David. Yea, he had one. And, yea, he only charged me $25. I actually think it's in better shape than my original. Anyway, I reupholstered it, installed it, and then went for a drive!

Yep, after 4 years, the car drives! Really well, actually. The new tranny shifts, the new seats are comfy, the brakes work perfect, the clutch is adjusted just right, the engine runs good - no smoking, backfiring, or anything like that, the bias-ply whitewalls feel just right, the new steering box and front-end are doing their job. This thing actually drives awesome! I am amazed.

Now it's back to Carlos to fix the fender and hood. Then it's wax on-wax off, and then show-off ;).

Last Minute Thievery

We're at the end. I am not going to post pictures until the dented hood and fender are fixed and the car is completely waxed and detailed.

Lane and I were able to get the fuel pump primed and semi-functioning last week. The car started and ran for a bit, but something still wasn't right. I spent Monday morning timing it and now it purrs so nice.

The new bumpers and hubcaps arrived from WolfsburgWest last week (I opted not to rechrome them for fear of spending all that money and the chrome shop not getting it right - I am keeping the originals though, just in case). They really finish the car off well.

The driver's seat... I was able to find and purchase another seat for parts to rebuild the driver's seat. Tyler stepped up to the plate again and welded everything together. Two seats equals one seat now... sort of. We missed a spot on the bottom half and I ended up taking it back to him to tack on the final piece, which he did. Unfortunately, when I went to pick it up, it was discovered that someone had "stolen" the seat from his garage. Who, I'm wondering, is rebuilding an early 60's bug that is in need of the bottom half of an un-upholstered driver's seat? Tyler and I were both perplexed. The seat really is the last thing I need to do before taking it back to the body shop to fix the fender.

Anyone got an extra driver's seat? I'm on the hunt...

Interior + Electrical

Lane posting again.

We've got most of the interior in: Rubber flooring, carpet trim, passenger front seat, rear bench, and (most importantly) seatbelts. The driver's seat needs a bit of work before we install it.

Electrical is mostly complete; I got all the instrument lights, dash warning lights, and the engine wired up. Still need to do the headlights, passenger blinker, and starter. We're running a 12 volt system and a 6 volt starter, so we'll need to use a regulator so the starter doesn't fry...

The windshield washer sprayer still works, amazingly. Since they're air-powered, the tank needs to be pressurized. It still holds pressure, but the valve stem leaks a bit. Easy fix.




So far so good.








That's one happy guy!

Updates + New Addition

Hey all, Lane posting. We just got the '63 back from the shop with a brand new front end. It now sits nice and level and doesn't feel like a heavy duty truck ;). A new windshield was installed as well. We broke the first one trying to get it in (it happens), but this one went right in.

Level factory-looking stance








Windshield in with tricky chrome





I mentioned there was a new addition... Mom's brand new (to her) 2003 VW Beetle, with the 1.8L 4 cylinder turbocharged engine. Did I mention it's a convertible? ;)












Mom's '03 and Dad's '63. What a difference over 40 years.

Smash

In the process of towing the car to Foreign Aid for some front-end work, the hitch popped off and the bug smashed into the back of the Cruiser. Here's the pic:


Now it really needs some front-end work...

Headliner and Windows

The headliner is in. Took it to Penny's in Orem. They did a decent job and the price was reasonable. I want to get the rest of the interior in before posting pics of the headliner itself.

I also scraped all the old tint off the windows (original VW), cleaned them up and installed the new weatherstripping and chrome. The chrome was a challenge, but thanks to a Wolfsburg West dvd explaining how to do it, and with Ginger's help, we were able to get it installed (on the dining room table no less :)). Still have the windshield to do.




Window without chrome installed









Window with chrome





When we originally purchased the bug, it had California style rubber (no chrome), which we knew we would replace to bring it back to its original state.

We're in the middle of actually installing the windows right now. Jake and I have already installed the driver side back window and Alexa is going to help me install the other side while Jake paints the fence in the backyard.

Getting close to being done

Here are a few pics of how things look today. The headliner goes in tomorrow. Windshield and rear windows after that. Items to finish: Seats, carpet, bumpers, wiring hook-up, engine tune-up... and that's about it. We're getting very close.

Hey, it looks like a VW

It's all coming together quickly now. The dash is fixed and looks real nice. Got the doors all put back together, with Dynamat installed to help deaden the sound. New chrome trim all the way around (sweet repros from WolfsburgWest). Brand new running boards installed (again some nice repros from WW). Hood latch installed and functioning. Glove box, radio block-off plate, and ash tray are in. Need to get some clips for the interior chrome pieces. Etc., etc., etc.

The chrome guy called back, but I was unable to take the call. His message said a rechrome of the bumpers would be around $200. Seems cheap to me, so we'll see. I did find the VW stamp on one of the bumpers. Still searching on the other. Considering rechroming the hubcaps, so long as they are original.

Also got a bid on the headliner job (the parts came in while I was out of town). Another $200. That's reasonable since I'd probably ruin the thing getting it in.

Right now I'm just continuing to install what I can until I run out of parts. Can't do the windows until the headliner is in, and Tyler still has my driver seat. Lots of small miscellaneous things to work on, including the wiring.

Will post pictures soon.

More body work

The bug is back in the body shop to have that hole in the dash fixed and the radio block-off plate painted. Lane towed it in while I was at work, so I'm not sure when it will be done.

Regarding the bumper rechrome idea... the chrome shop never called back, though I left messages with them twice. In the meantime, I checked the bumpers for an official VW stamp and I can't find any trace of one. Now I'm not sure they're originals. If they aren't, I'm going with WW bumpers. Nice, but very expensive. I'm not looking forward to that.

I'm going to get an estimate for a headliner job as well. Was thinking of doing it myself, which would save me a grundle, but I'm not sure I want to tackle that job myself. I'll probably try to schedule it around the body guy... tow it to the upholstery guy on my way from the body guy. We'll see.

Rechromed bumpers?

I've been thinking of replacing my original, but somewhat tweaked, bumpers with repro bumpers from Wolfsburg West. They are high quality and closest to the originals on the market today.... and very expensive. The bottom line is I need bumpers that aren't bent, dented, or rusted, which mine are... to a point.

Just called Salt Lake Chrome to see what it would take to straighten my originals, fix the dings and surface rust, and just rechrome the things. I'm liking the idea more and more because it keeps the factory, German steel, bumpers with the car. I only hesitated going down the rechrome road because of cost, but the WW bumpers may end up costing just as much... and they aren't original. So...

Waiting for them to call back with a quote.

We have a complete door!

Spent the better part of today "restoring" the passenger door. Windows are factory original, as is all of the window hardware, including the cranks. All rubber is new. Door panel is a TMI repro ordered from Wolfsburg West. Seats will be matching red with the off-white piping.

I think I have 8 new cuts on my hands and fingers. Getting this door together was more of a project than I anticipated. I'm not looking forward to the driver side door, but it should be easier now that I know what I'm doing. I hope I never have to install window scapers and vent wings again. My aging/aching muscles are yelling at me!

Easy to take apart, difficult to reassemble

Here's the latest:

1. Got the body bolted back on. Some bolts were more stubborn than others. I'm grateful for my compressor and air ratchet.
2. Hooked up the brake line to the reservoir.
3. Greased up the link pins and torsion tubes on the front end. New front-end appears to be STUCK! There is so much resistance I can't even push down on the front and have the shocks do any good. Greasing helped ease it a little. I may need to have that looked at by a pro. I'm stumped.
4. Ordered a bunch of parts - most of the interior, window chrome, and complete door weatherstripping and the like.
5. Installed the door seals and plugs.
6. Spent about 2 hours installing the passenger vent wing and new rubber - royal pain, but now that I know what to do, the other should be easy.
7. Installed the steering column, painted the tube with original silver beige.
8. Installed the steering wheel. It's ivory and kind of clashes with the silver beige, but the knobs are ivory. I actually like the look, even though it's not entirely correct.
9. Tyler took the driver's seat frame home to see if he could work some welding magic on the springs and rear reinforcement. Whoever owned the bug before sure did a number on that seat. I'd get a new one if I could. Hard to find. We'll see how the welding job turns out. Tyler is a stud.

We're at a point where we can take the bug back to the shop for a hole-in-the-dash fill and paint (they forgot that little tid-bit when the original body work was done). Need to call Carlos and schedule a time.

Still have some parts to order. The goal is to be done this summer. No more excuses.

Ta-da!

Here are some pics of us getting the body on the chassis. Took 4 guys and all of 60 seconds to make it happen.




Brandon and Mike came over to help







Jake took the pictures and his friend helped align the rubber seal.














It's a little dusty, but what do you expect for sitting in the garage for over a year?




Now I just need to bolt the thing down and then move on to the interior. There are lot's of little things still to do, but here's to hoping it gets done this summer!

Electrical

Hey, this is Lane posting.

I got most of the wiring completed today, running the harnesses, connecting the fusebox and such. I was able to connect everything that didn't require putting the body back on or installing components...

We hope to have the body on soon so I can finish wiring everything and get this thing driveable.

Minor Update

Jake and I had a productive Saturday (3/21/09). We had the tires mounted and balanced on the newly painted rims down at Larkin Tire in Pleasant Grove. They are so sweet looking. Then Jake and I spend time refreshing/repainting all of the engine tin, which took most of the day, and then we installed the motor. I've been going back an forth on whether or not to have the engine in or out before putting the body back on, but we opted to install the engine first. That way we can adjust things easier before committing the body to the chassis.

Next up we're going to run the electrical through the body and install the firewall components in the engine compartment.

Latest Pics

I know it doesn't look like it from the pics, but the chassis really is ready to receive the body.














The whitewall tires came from Coker Tire and are the original 5.60-15 bias ply tire type and size from 1963 (though it's unclear if the wide whitewall was an option back then). We opted for the bias ply because they stand taller than radials and I wanted the bug to sit right and have that original look and feel to it. Aren't they hot lookin'?
















Lane picked up the rims from the paint shop today. Carlos did a fantastic job. Once again, not quite the original paint scheme that I wanted, but due to the inability to find the right color and with the whitewalls being involved, we switched it around a bit. I love them.

Tranny, Rims, etc.

Finally got around to removing the new leaky tranny and taking it down to Foreign Aid for them to have a look-see. They replaced the seals on both sides, charged me 75 bucks and sent me on my way. Jake and I reinstalled it, filled it up with gear oil, and it is now leak-free.

We also had the rims sandblasted and taken down to La Voiture (Carlos) to have the two-tone paint applied. In the meantime, we ordered the 2 3/4 in Coker whitewalls and they arrived at the house. We had trouble finding the original Slate Grey paint color (orginal color for the inner part of the wheel) and I had to order the Stone Beige (original color for the outer rim) from WolfsbergWest to get the right match. Because we couldn't find the Slate color, and because we opted for the wide whitewall tires, we've decided to change up the scheme a bit and do Anthracite (same color as the car) for the outer rim (instead of Stone Beige) and Stone Beige (instead of Slate) for the inner part. With the whitewalls it should look pretty nice. Rims should be done soon. I just took the Stone Beige paint down to Carlos this morning. Looking forward to getting those back.

At this point, the chassis is ready to receive the body. I may work on tidying up the engine a bit before we do that, though. Anything I can get done while the body is off is a bonus.

Anyway, it's coming together. I'll post pics as things progress.

Highlight

A highlight from the road trip that I forgot to mention was after we got home, while unloading the fastback. Check out this picture:


We were hustling to get the car unloaded and had the road blocked as a result. In her quest to get around us, Amie B. locked it in and went through a snow bank and got high-centered. In the meantime, along came the UPS man, and several neighbors who needed to get through - Curtis's being one of them. Fortunately, they were in their own 4-wheel drive and were able to pull Amie the rest of the way through, while we unhooked Mike's truck from the trailer and moved it out of the way. I think there were 4 or 5 cars waiting for us to clear a path. Fun stuff.

Road Trip

Mike and I just got back from Boise, Idaho. His sister gave him a 1969 VW Fastback. All we had to do was go get it. So, a road trip was in order. I've posted all the pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/t1965a/IdahoRoadTripDec08#.

The road conditions were good. We passed through Twin Falls and stopped to check out Shoshone Falls. Also got a good view of the Twin Falls temple.

Boise weather was relatively warm. Snow was melting fast.

The car was ready to be loaded when we got there. The tires held enough air to get it rolled up on to Phelon's trailer. We strapped it down and then met up with Mike's niece and nephews for dinner.

We spent the night at Mike's sister's house in Star, ID and left early the next morning. Breakfast was at Star Cafe and then it was on to Sierra Trading Post Outlet to see if we could find any good deals on outdoor gear. Wasn't to be this time around.

The rest of the trip was good. Weather was nice. Here are a few good photos from the trip, including a good shot of Annette's real feelings about having a beautiful tri-color vee-dub in her backyard :)

I'm stuck

I got everything to the point where we could get the body put back on the chassis, and then noticed a nasty leak in the tranny. This is a bit frustrating because it was the last thing on my list to do before putting the body back on - filling the tranny with oil. It's not leaking from the boots. It appears to be leaking from the case. This is a newly rebuilt tranny. Now we get to take the rear-end apart... again... and take it down to the shop to make sure the seals are good. Wasn't planning on that and as a result have lost my motivation. Not to mention it's 20 degrees outside. Ah well. Now that I'm on vacation, maybe we'll bust into it and just get it done.

Time Flies....

Can't believe it's been 10 months since my last post. Shows how lazy I am I guess.

I was finally able to bribe Tyler to come over and weld in the new pans. He's a talented welder and I'm glad to have him as a friend (gonna need his welding help again when I work on restoring the front seat frames).

Other newly installed items of note: new front-end, sway bar, new brakes all the way around, pedal cluster (rebuilt by yours truly!), shifter linkage, axle boots, lots of new grommets, rust protectant on the pans, engine lid spring (pain to install), new rubber everywhere, shocks, stronger clips for the throw-out bearing, etc., etc., etc..

Also had to drill out all the driver side pan bolts, as they all snapped when we initially removed the body. That was no fun. First tried an easy-out to get one of the bolts out and that snapped, making it very difficult, well, impossible, to drill that one out. I had to drill a new hole just off to the side. Ultimately I had to drill out all the bolts and rethread all the holes. I feel better now. That was a big hurdle.

There are only 5 more things I want/need to do before I put the body back on: replace the starter motor, install a new throttle cable and gas line (at the rear), lay down the new pan gasket, fill the new tranny with oil.

Once I get the body back on, I'll be installing whatever is necessary to get the bug in shape for towing back over to the body shop for a couple of things they missed.

Ginger will be happy that she can park in the garage again.

Still alive...

It's been a while, but we're still actively working on the 63. Ok, so it's a little slow, but we did get all the body work done and the car painted a sweet anthracite. Got a new tranny installed, working on the new front-end. Still need to get the pans installed. Once I get the car rolling again, we'll take it down to Tyler's to have the pans welded in. Enjoy the picture (had to make room in the garage for our other vehicle :).

Blasted

We finally got around to getting the bug sandblasted and into the body shop today. I spent quite a bit of time trying to find someone in town who would "media blast" the car but nobody around here does blasting with plastic media. I kept reading that using "sand" or other coarse media is bad. We ended up taking the car to a shop down the road from here and they use copper slag. Worked great! And it was cheap - $127 to blast the whole car, inside and out.

Here's what it looked like when I picked it up from the blaster and was towing it to the body shop:
















We didn't find any more rust than we already knew about, but we did find that the car had some previous minor body work done on it.

It will probably be in the body shop for a few months while they clear out some other projects they are currently working on. That is perfect for us because we need to strip the chassis, install new pans, new front-end, new tranny, etc. At least we have more room in the garage now :).

We have liftoff!

Well, after a long pause, we took some time today to ready the bug for media blasting. The body is now off and and every necessary part has been removed (I think :)). Here's what it looks like today:

















and...
















Next week we'll connect with the media blasters and body shop to get a semi-final bid on what it's going to cost to make this thing look factory. We're excited to get moving on it again.

The Pomona Swap-meet in California was great. We picked up quite a few parts and enjoyed the VW scene there. That was a fun trip.

Update...

The car show at Thanksgiving Point last weekend was fun. Unfortunately, the swap meet was pretty thin on VW parts. There were some nice VW's at the show, though, from the local VW club (I believe), which got us enthused and motivated. The guy who we've planned on doing our body work was there with his Herbie bug. We gave him a heads up that we were getting close.

I also called the media blasters yesterday to get an idea of how much it's going to cost us to blast the body. They charge about $85 an hour and say it'll take about 3 hours. Once we have the body off and ready for blasting we'll take it down and get a real quote.

We spent this evening removing quite a few more parts. Here are a couple of pictures showing where we're at:






























I'm a little worried about the wiring and headliner. I think we can replace the wiring and get it all hooked up right with the proper schematic, but the headliner... there's got to be a trick to removing that thing. It's a mess.

Almost there...

Justin and I spent this morning taking off the rest of the items that needed to be removed before we could actually remove the body from the pan. Those things were: gas tank, gas line from the rear and front, brake line, the 2 bolts under the gas tank, the two bolts from under the rear seat, fuel gauge wire, engine wires, solenoid, accelerator cable, etc.

Once we were confident we had removed all the necessary items, we jacked up the body and it popped right off! We have yet to actually remove the body from the pan, since it was just the two of us weaklings (ok, I'm the weakling, Justin is all muscle).

Here's a picture of where we're at:















With most of the interior out, we're discovering a little more rust than we originally thought was there. It's not too discouraging since we knew we were going to have to do some rust repair.

Check out the picture below to see the Flintstone floor pan. Nasty, eh? Once we have the body off and the interior completely removed (including the windows and chrome exterior parts), we'll wheel it down to the body shop and get a real estimate on repairs. He's already seen the bug and given us an idea of what we're looking at, cost-wise. But now with everything out of it we can get real.

The parts list is growing. We're getting excited for the upcoming UVSC car show/swap meet to see if we can snag some needed parts. We're also heading to the Pomona Swap Meet in Southern California in a couple of weeks as part of a family vacation and can hopefully get some deals there as well.

Wheels, Bumpers, Fenders, Etc.

We've spent the last couple of days removing wheels, bumpers, fenders, etc. Here's a shot of Justin removing the rear passenger fender...


Jake had fun with the impact wrench removing the wheels and gettin' the car up on jacks.

Once we had the fenders and bumpers out of the way, we removed the steering column. That was a bit tricky. Luckily we had an extra steering column laying around to use as a reference to know how to remove the thing.

Speedometer cable was next. (For next time, remember to remove the cable from the brake drum first).

We attacked the pan bolts maybe a little too hard. All of the driver side bolts broke. Only one broke on the passenger side. Go figure. But, I think we're about ready to remove the body from the pan. We will probably remove much of the interior before we actually seperate the two.

We're also keeping a list of needed parts (we're at about a page and a half already) and bagging/boxing everything. I'm keeping a parts wish list at wolfsburgwest.com and the price is climbing (ouch!). We may be able to pick up some parts at the upcoming UVSC car show/swap meet next weekend at Thanksgiving Point.

Running Boards

We began by taking off the running boards. Both need to be replaced. The driver side rocker panel (?), where the running board is attached, is rusted out and needs to be replaced. Here's Lane having a go of it...

"Before" shots

Here's a couple shots before we started tearing it apart





Isn't it nice?

And thus it begins...

Fourteen months ago, we set out on a road trip from Pleasant Grove, Utah to Seattle, Washington to purchase and tow home a 1963 VW Beetle. This daily driver is now the subject of a restoration project... which begins today. Our goal is to document this process and to share with others what we learn.