Latest project, 1967 VW beetle restoration.

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Latest project, 1967 VW beetle restoration.

Postby BTJustice » Thu Mar 15, 2012 8:28 pm

This might be of absolutely no interest to anybody on here and if so it will drop like a stone but I finally had a chance to make a small start on Joannes '67 beetle resto today and thought I would post the progress here as Im posting elsewhere anyway..

After collecting and importing parts over the last year, getting Jack to make me a set of his amazing axle stands and re-roofing the garage that I will be working in it was time today to make a start.

This is the last picture of the car complete and on the ground;

Image
P1120983 by route9autos.co.uk, on Flickr

These are the axle stands that Jack is making and they will be incredibly usefull for the restoration.

Image
P1120984 by route9autos.co.uk, on Flickr

With the wheel bolts loosened and the car up on the stands it can be moved around very easily, important as the garage isnt the biggest and Marks 69 cabrio will be getting worked on at the same time.

Here is the view of the stands from underneath;

Image
P1120988 by route9autos.co.uk, on Flickr

Image
P1120990 by route9autos.co.uk, on Flickr

With it up off the floor I have more space to get underneath. The stands height is adjustable and they can go highter if I need them to.

The car is not rotten but the pan edges are starting to go along with the rear corners and jacking points so its time to do it properly instead of patching it up only to have to cut the patches out at a later date.

Im hoping the floor pan bolts undo without too much of a fight but unlikely;

Image
P1120992 by route9autos.co.uk, on Flickr

Plans for the resto are to;

Fit the new 18 guage floorpans I imported from Wolfsburg west in California.

Fit the heater channels I had cut from a rust free early Beetle and imported from California.

Fit the '67 only rear vallance and engine side trays that came from a rust free bug in Cali'.

Do any welding that comes up (thinking front bulkhead needs work).

Prep and paint,

Re-trim and new engine.

Might not be the fastest resto in the world but I will try and keep this thread updated as I go along.

Dave.
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Re: Latest project, 1967 VW beetle restoration.

Postby Josef » Thu Mar 15, 2012 9:09 pm

BTJustice wrote:Fit the new 18 guage floorpans I imported from Wolfsburg west in California.


From curiosity (having relatives who both built and designed VWs), how come they're from Wolfsburg west rather than Wolfsburg ?
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Re: Latest project, 1967 VW beetle restoration.

Postby BTJustice » Thu Mar 15, 2012 9:20 pm

VW no longer make replacement floorpans for beetles and the aftermarket floorpans that are available in the UK might as well be made from cheese as they are such poor quality.

The best available pans now are produced by a company in California called Wolfsburg West. They make them in best quality steel and the correct guage and pattern. The UK pans are about £60, the wolfsburg west pans were over £200 per side and I had to import them myself so that should give you a clue to the quality.

None of the reproduction panels are good quality now and thats why I cut as much metal work from a rust free car in the states. 40 year old rust free German steel is always better than the re-cycled bean tins they call replacement panels nowadays.

Dave.

P.S. Your relatives didnt bring any work home with them and put it in their loft did they? ::):
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Re: Latest project, 1967 VW beetle restoration.

Postby Josef » Thu Mar 15, 2012 9:33 pm

BTJustice wrote:VW no longer make replacement floorpans for beetles and the aftermarket floorpans that are available in the UK might as well be made from cheese as they are such poor quality

[......]

P.S. Your relatives didnt bring any work home with them and put it in their loft did they? ::):


Ta, Dave.

The relatives still live in Wolfsburg . No-one has lofts there btw, they all have cellars (or a share of a cellar, for blocks of flats).

The original Beetle components, as I'm sure you know, were bloody heavy. None of the relatives would dream of lifting one up or downstairs now.
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Re: Latest project, 1967 VW beetle restoration.

Postby BTJustice » Thu Mar 15, 2012 10:04 pm

I visited Wolfsburg in 2005 in my camper. Really nice town and amazing how all the streets have motoring related names.

Could you ask your relatives if they have any old pics of the factory or cars? Would be amazing to see pics of beetles coming off the line.

Cheers,

Dave.

P.S. I got carried away a few years ago and built a new engine for my Beetle. It was only after it was together that I thought about the logistics of getting it out of my bedroom and down 2 flights of stairs to the garage ::):
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Re: Latest project, 1967 VW beetle restoration.

Postby Boxer6 » Thu Mar 15, 2012 10:12 pm

Dave;

Looking forward to more additions to this thread, and progress on the restoration.

And those axle stands really are mechanical works of art! 8O
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Re: Latest project, 1967 VW beetle restoration.

Postby The Egg Man » Thu Mar 15, 2012 10:19 pm

Boxer6 wrote:Dave;

Looking forward to more additions to this thread, and progress on the restoration.

And those axle stands really are mechanical works of art! 8O



Me too and, if there's nothing like them available already, there's a good marketing opportunity in those axle stands.
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Re: Latest project, 1967 VW beetle restoration.

Postby BTJustice » Thu Mar 15, 2012 10:21 pm

Boxer6 wrote:
And those axle stands really are mechanical works of art! 8O


They are amazing and it still makes me laugh that they were made by Jack. ::):
My all new film location website is here;
www.rewoundandfound.com

Check oot ma flickr page;
http://www.flickr.com/photos/route9autos/

For handmade jewellery, go to:
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Re: Latest project, 1967 VW beetle restoration.

Postby Josef » Thu Mar 15, 2012 10:32 pm

BTJustice wrote:I visited Wolfsburg in 2005 in my camper. Really nice town and amazing how all the streets have motoring related names.

Could you ask your relatives if they have any old pics of the factory or cars? Would be amazing to see pics of beetles coming off the line.


I'll do that, Dave.

I'd doubt that they have any photos of the factory working (like most folk prior to cheap digital photography would never have dreamt of photographing their day-to-day work), but you never know.

For those of you unfamiliar with Wolfsburg, btw, they beat Glasgow to the 'Zahid-designed museum' thing by a good few years. Very nice it is, too.
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Re: Latest project, 1967 VW beetle restoration.

Postby Vinegar Tom » Thu Mar 15, 2012 11:23 pm

BTJustice wrote:This might be of absolutely no interest to anybody on here


I doubt that. I am fascinated already. Who would have thought that you could have a debate about the quality of replica parts for vintage cars? You obviously learn through experience?
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Re: Latest project, 1967 VW beetle restoration.

Postby Mori » Fri Mar 16, 2012 1:39 am

Fantastic stuff BT Justice, :D somone like yourself with all the skills you have on auto should have took on the Arnold Clark @ Vinicombe Street and restore all kinds of classic cars, create a wonderful garage where people can learn to restore their own classic cars they buy from dealers and scrapyards.

Hows that for an idea :idea: ? ,bags the comission if you get lottery funding for it. 8)
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Re: Latest project, 1967 VW beetle restoration.

Postby Josef » Fri Mar 16, 2012 10:38 pm

Dave - I've obtained a copy of an internal (I think) hardback book from the eighties marking the 50th anniversary of VW, with a variety of past/present, 'staff at work', that sort of thing, photos. 'Das Buch. Von Volkswagen Für (named staff member..) to be precise.

I'll have to give it back, but if you haven't seen it already and would like to, give me a shout.
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Re: Latest project, 1967 VW beetle restoration.

Postby Fireman » Sat Mar 17, 2012 6:48 am

I'm interested Dave - anything that's got wheels and getting rebuilt is good for me. 8)

I have a contact (long time ago now) who had one of the first 'Beetle' brochures produced by the Nazi Party celebrating their new People's Car. He kept it in a locked room inside a fire-proof safe he had paid so much for it and I was one of the few people he'd allowed to see it - it was a spectacular production, the cut-away drawings and art work displayed attention to detail that only Germans seem able to do.
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Re: Latest project, 1967 VW beetle restoration.

Postby Dexter St. Clair » Sat Mar 17, 2012 9:15 am

Image

Yoshihiro Inomoto who in stereotypical fashion out dos the hun.

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Not bad for a yank

Image


Of course there is an easier way to cut a way.

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Re: Latest project, 1967 VW beetle restoration.

Postby BTJustice » Sat Mar 17, 2012 9:19 am

Josef wrote:Dave - I've obtained a copy of an internal (I think) hardback book from the eighties marking the 50th anniversary of VW, with a variety of past/present, 'staff at work', that sort of thing, photos. 'Das Buch. Von Volkswagen Für (named staff member..) to be precise.

I'll have to give it back, but if you haven't seen it already and would like to, give me a shout.


That would be great to get a look at. Im off to NYC in a few weeks so I will get in touch once Im back if thats ok?

Fireman- the original brochures for the then KDF Wagen (Strength through joy Wagen) manage to stretch the cars into sort of long sleek cruisers in a way the advertising standards authority would hammer them for today.

Image

Dave
My all new film location website is here;
www.rewoundandfound.com

Check oot ma flickr page;
http://www.flickr.com/photos/route9autos/

For handmade jewellery, go to:
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