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Thu Feb 04, 2010 9:30 pm

Hi, I've been lurking these forums for years and I finally found a good bug. It's my first bug and my first car (eventually).

It's a 1972 standard. It runs well but drips some oil. The interior is bare, no headliner, door panels, carpet or anything, just the seats. The heater channels are pretty far gone and I plan on replacing them this summer when I take the body off to paint it. The driver-side door has to be lifted to close. The brake pedal does not return by itself (bungee cord) :oops: and the front brakes make a scraping noise when the car is rolling backwards.

I am learning to drive stick in it and can do so smoothly (at least in first, neutral and reverse). I can only drive it in my driveway because it's not registered yet.

So far I have wire brushed the floor pans and painted them with XO rust to get them through the winter.

Thu Feb 04, 2010 9:41 pm

Looks like you got a pretty good start there. Welcome to the world of air cooled addiction!

Thu Feb 04, 2010 9:49 pm

thanks, after I get the brakes sorted out I hope to start on the interior.

Fri Feb 05, 2010 4:05 am

It looks like you only need to do minimal work to actually start driving it. If you can go from stop to 1st fine then driving stick won't be a problem.

Fri Feb 05, 2010 5:43 am

ragtopbaja wrote: thanks, after I get the brakes sorted out I hope to start on the interior.

You know, I wouldn't do the interior just yet. Sure, a pair of door cards will smarten it up a little, and a couple of floor mats maybe, but if you have the heater channels to replace, then the new carpet you stick in will just get wet before hand, and it never goes in a second time as well as it does when it's fresh. To do the headliner you'll have the windows out, and then you'll have the windows out again to repaint it, so theres the risk of damaging the rubbers. Plan out what you want to do and work out an order for it to save yourself as much work as possible!

You've got a decent looking car there, take care of it!

Fri Feb 05, 2010 7:54 am

By the interior I mean, wire wheel any rust and paint it. I'm planning to put down some quick roof for noise reduction. I'm trying to do everything that I can do cheaply.

Sun Feb 28, 2010 4:18 pm

Well Today I started the body off process. Some of the bolts along the sides just tear out the metal/rust that they are bolted into so I'll probably just snip them. So far it's going well and I hope to finish tomorrow.

Thu Mar 04, 2010 3:37 pm

I removed the gas tank today to get to the body to beam bolts. After removing the gas tank I checked my oil level and it was way high. Is there a way that gas could have found it's way into the oil?

Sat Mar 06, 2010 7:13 am

ragtopbaja wrote: I removed the gas tank today to get to the body to beam bolts. After removing the gas tank I checked my oil level and it was way high. Is there a way that gas could have found it's way into the oil?

Yes. Possibly a leaking fuel pump diaphram.
Don't run the engine until you determine the reason and change the oil. Does the oil smell like gas? Seem kinda thin?

Sat Mar 27, 2010 1:12 pm

The oil problem went away. I don't know why. But today I test lifted the body and discovered some mystery wiring, heater tubes, and the speedometer cable. Disconnected those and now I'm all ready to lift. I have some friends coming over tomorrow and we are going to lift the body off the pan and onto some crates.
.

Thu Apr 08, 2010 7:50 pm

I'm looking to narrow my beam and plan to order floor pans sometime soon.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=949601

Sun Apr 11, 2010 5:19 pm

Finally got the body off. Here are pictures.
.

Sun Apr 11, 2010 5:20 pm

I have a spare trans axle with drive axles attached that I would trade for someone local to narrow my beam.

Sun Apr 11, 2010 6:04 pm

Looks like a good project. Where in CT are ya??

Sun Apr 11, 2010 6:34 pm

mystic / Groton

Wed Apr 14, 2010 2:07 pm

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=949601

Sat May 08, 2010 2:18 pm

Today I took out the spark plugs, cleaned them and put some marvel's mystery oil in the cylinders to keep it in running condition. I also cleaned the carb.

Sat Jun 05, 2010 1:42 pm

Is there an easy way to start the motor with just the pan (without the harness) ?

Fri Oct 15, 2010 4:11 pm

So I've been running the engine every so often and got one floor pan half completely out. I trimmed, ground, drilled holes, and lined up only to find my self out of argon/co2 gas. hopefully refill and weld tomorrow.

Fri Oct 15, 2010 5:18 pm

Nice heater channels. :P

Keep the updates coming.