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Wed Nov 03, 2010 5:16 pm

I painted the rotor with high temp paint, I installed my Varga calipers, checked the brake hose length. I ask you- have you ever seen anything so beautiful??? =P~

Wed Nov 03, 2010 8:35 pm

THAT IS BEAUTIFUL!!!

Great work and patience, your halfway there... :shock:

Thu Nov 04, 2010 5:05 am

Thanks! It's nice to have something to show for my months of work other than a bare pan leaning up against my garage wall and a big pile of new & refurbished parts!

Sat Nov 06, 2010 5:01 pm

Today I installed my new KYB GR-2 shocks ($99 delivered for all 4 from rockauto.com!), I installed my transaxle & painted my master cylinder in prep for installation.

Tue Nov 09, 2010 6:18 am

WOW! great build. love all the pictures and information.

Sun Nov 14, 2010 5:30 pm

I disassembled, cleaned, greased & reassembled my pedal cluster. I blasted & powder coated my emergency brake handle. I installed the emergency brake cables, installed the clutch cable bowden tube & accompanying seals, lubed up & installed the clutch cable & throttle cable. Installed the pedal cluster & master cylinder. I installed the new shifter rod bushing, the shifter rod, shifter & the shift rod coupling. I bent & installed the brake line kit from Wolfsburg West (German made, Teflon coated, very nice quality) & installed the rubber brake lines.

Sun Nov 14, 2010 5:34 pm

Looks great.

Sun Nov 21, 2010 4:43 pm

Disassembled the axle shafts, blasted & powder coated the shafts & CV joint plates, disassembled & cleaned the CV joints, re-assembled everything & greased the CV joints. I must say this has been my most least favorite thing I've done to my beetle yet. Hint: if you pay close attention to how Robert Bentley tells you to re-assemble the CV joints they will go together easily. If you don't pay close attention, they will go together even easier & then lock solid on you. As if they were welded together. Luckily you can still get them apart if this happens!!

Sat Jul 09, 2011 2:55 pm

Well I guess it's time for some updates. I had been posting most of my progress in the "what did you do to your bug today" section, guess it really should go here. So I purchased a bunch of parts from an older VW guy I found locally, including an align bored case, reground crank, refurbished connecting rods, all new bearings, oil pump, Mahle pistons, rings, jugs & wrist pins, etc, etc, everything needed to build a long block engine except heads. I purchased Mofoco 040 heads, which are technically stock replacement heads, but they flow better & cool better than the stock VW heads. I sand blasted all of my engine tin, buying original VW tins off thesamba classified to replace a few that were too rusted to use. I repainted all except the lower sleds, which I powder coated for extra protection.

I carefully built my longblock, actually having to dis-assemble it once & re-assemble it to correct a couple of things.

After completely assembling everything onto the chassis, and after getting a German made muffler (see pic below) that fit to replace the Danish one (see pic above) that didn't, I was ready to start my newly rebuilt engine for the first time!

As excitement grew, I began to crank the engine, listening for it to come to life. Alas, is was not to be. The fuel pump, which worked when I took it off the engine, did not work now. Well, at least now I can get the proper generator style fuel pump to replace the technically incorrect alternator style that I had on there. The new pump arrives Monday, and hopefully that's when I get to hear her run for the first time! I know she has oil pressure at least, which is good. Stay tuned!

Sat Jul 09, 2011 3:11 pm

Excellent thread so I assume you are restoring back to original.

Look forward to more updates

Sat Jul 09, 2011 4:08 pm

Paulc1964au wrote: Excellent thread so I assume you are restoring back to original.

Look forward to more updates

Pretty much. I added Ghia spindles & disc brakes & a VW of Mexico filter pump, other than that stock so far. It's an early '73 so it had a generator, which I love the look of, so I'm keeping it. But I HATE the look of '73 & later tail lights so I'm making it look like a '72 in that aspect.

Mon Jul 11, 2011 4:16 pm

Today I broke-in the cam on the engine I just rebuilt! It went great! \:D/ Good oil pressure, thermostat opened fully, sounded great!!! This videos is running it after the initial cam break-in of 20 minutes:

Mon Jul 11, 2011 4:56 pm

little bit of an idle issue probably because it was cold, sounds great though all it needs now is a body :)

Sun Jul 17, 2011 12:56 pm

A few days back I took the oil pump back out & used Permatex® Aviation Form-A-Gasket® No. 3 Sealant along with a new paper gasket to seal the oil pump to the case and this time it does not leak. Today adjusted the valves, checked the timing (dead on with a timing light), and then I adjusted the 34 pict/3 carb by following this step by step: http://www.vw-resource.com/34pict3.html. Excellent guide, I must say. She now starts, idles, and revs beautifully!!! Check it out:

Sun Jul 24, 2011 10:43 am

I bought a 73 standard (complete, including title!!!) parts car yesterday for $150
Good deal, I think.

Came with some fenders & a hood too.

Sun Jul 24, 2011 7:32 pm

So you're up to 3 bugs now? Congrats, you're in the icantstopbuyingvolkswagens club!

Great job on your project.

Mon Jul 25, 2011 2:55 am

66busman wrote: So you're up to 3 bugs now? Congrats, you're in the icantstopbuyingvolkswagens club!

Great job on your project.

LOL! But it's just a parts car! And it was going to go to the crusher!

Sun Aug 14, 2011 3:59 pm

Well after having to devote some time to doing some much needed work around the house, I was finally able to turn my attention back to the beetle in my garage. I constructed a cart or dolly, (whatever you want to call it) that enables me to roll the body around, even outside if I need to. Check it out:

Now I can get to work stripping the remainder of the parts off of the body & fixing the rust!

Sat Aug 20, 2011 4:27 pm

Today I stripped more items off the body, revealing just how much work I have ahead of me. Kind of discouraging, actually: :(

I also took some photos of the chassis out in the sun. Kind of encouraging!! :D

Sun Aug 28, 2011 5:51 pm

Well I'm not even sure if anybody's even watching my thread, but I'll keep posting. Today I finished stripping out the dash pad, wiring harness, & headliner. Lot of work. Then I pressure washed it to clean it up & be rid of the mouse droppings. Yuck. Anyway, had to be done.