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Wed Mar 17, 2010 10:47 am

Hi guys my name is Rob and thought It would be a good idea to start this build/resto thread for my '71 Super.

We purchased the car off of Ebay and took a chance with good results. Apparently, the guy that we bought it from had picked it up a week ago for his 16year old's first car. Wife said no.. He never registered it or anything. Buuut, he got it from someone who was selling this guys estate that just died. The guy that died had a collection of about 50-60 cars that he had alllll bought new. He never sold a car in his life. Every car was still registered to the guy and tagged(most expired) But needless to say it was pretty shocking to me that this guy probably had one of the largest Single one owner collection of cars anywhere. But unfortunately he only had soo much indoor storage and the beetle didnt make the cut. So It has sat since 99 outside with the sun bleaching the paint. So the exterior is a little rough. The motor runs great and just made a 2 hour stright drive with no problems. The front tires are a little dry rotted and around 50mph there was a bad wobble but no worries, it will all be taken care of. We're ordering a bunch of parts then taking the car in for body work and paint and replacing everything. Any exterior rubber and chrome is being replaced, needs the blinkers fixed, tires, anything suspension related and mechanical will all be replaced and or fixed.

This car is practically 100% original with no rust, Its been sooo easy to work with. My dad and I have had the car since late '09 and its really coming along. Im going to post up a timeline of photos up to the current condition of the car.

The day we got it to the house from Delaware.

A little shopping list...

Part hoarding 101:

Bumpers were nasty.. ordered new ones and treated the inside of them

Bumper brackets were pretty rusty but salvageable with a nice sandblast:

Needed new running boards and they needed to be treated well:

Now quite a bit of other things have gone on since and pretty much any old or dull part replaced but not any pictures showing it.

Some initial body work:

Here are the pics in the paint booth having the whole body sanded/smoothed from about 2 weeks ago:

With primer down and wetsanded:

A nice "Bugselecta" of kind of where we're going with the car aswell as an inspirational image:

Now with some paint:

Now with Fenders and most glass. The front trunk is being stripped and prepped for paint (pictures from 3/17/2010):

And some pictures with my '63 daily driver:

And of course, one for fun :) ...

Pics from past saturday 3/20/10, w/ headlights, r/b's, some rubber, some chrome etc...

Well thats how it sits right now, ill will be trying to keep this thread updated as things progress. Any comments or questions are appreciated.
Thanks for checkin' it out.
-Rob

Wed Mar 17, 2010 11:52 am

It's looking good, Rob. That's a nice looking '63 too.

What are you planning to do next?

Wed Mar 17, 2010 9:27 pm

looks great ! cant wait to see more pics

Wed Mar 17, 2010 11:40 pm

looks great, love the two-tone. my 71 SB was originally the same color green , but has been blue, lime green and now it is at earl schieb's and is going to be beige.

i just want a color change its not going to be show piece but thats ok.

this is what it looked like before, i have to wait till friday or sat get it back.

Thu Mar 18, 2010 7:18 am

looks awesome! you should paint the little bug on the keychain to match it.

Thu Mar 18, 2010 7:54 am

jimkeo wrote: looks great, love the two-tone. my 71 SB was originally the same color green , but has been blue, lime green and now it is at earl schieb's and is going to be beige.

i just want a color change its not going to be show piece but thats ok.

this is what it looked like before, i have to wait till friday or sat get it back.

Wow, Its wierd because I actually kind of like that lime green. :o

Thu Mar 18, 2010 12:26 pm

63Shagginwagen wrote: jimkeo wrote: looks great, love the two-tone. my 71 SB was originally the same color green , but has been blue, lime green and now it is at earl schieb's and is going to be beige.

i just want a color change its not going to be show piece but thats ok.

this is what it looked like before, i have to wait till friday or sat get it back.

Wow, Its wierd because I actually kind of like that lime green. :o Yeh... I had a 77 Std that was factory Metallic Lime Green. I thought it was beautiful. Sold it to pay for a paint job.

Thu Mar 18, 2010 1:34 pm

Nice, solid car. It's lookin good. Maybe I missed it but what's in the overall game plan - drivetrain, brakes, suspension, etc...

Thu Mar 18, 2010 2:42 pm

Detroit73super wrote: Nice, solid car. It's lookin good. Maybe I missed it but what's in the overall game plan - drivetrain, brakes, suspension, etc...

Well motor is getting pulled soon and rebuilt to a 1641 and everthing replaced and restored on it. prolly gonna keep a single carb setup and nothin too crazy. May check out topline to lower the front on it a hair and drop the rear a notch or two. Stock wheels refinished in the cream or the green, not sure which yet. Whitewalls. After the motor and suspension are gone through thouroghly then the interior is all going to be reappolstered in tan aswell as the dash and whatnot thats black. wanna do something with the steering wheel, probably a woodgrain what not, think that will look proper. Thats about it, along with all the new parts going on it and the roof rack. \:D/

Thu Mar 18, 2010 2:48 pm

Oh yea, i forgot brakes... gonna keep the stock drums on for now and just get the car rolling so we can drive it. Then depending on the demand possibly a disk conversion. Ive only driven this car the trip home when it was purchased and like 2-3 small trips before stripping and ripping it. I really wanna get it rolling again.

Mon Mar 22, 2010 8:24 am

:::New Pics:::

Mon Mar 22, 2010 8:37 pm

looks nice! im liking the 63 as well...

Tue Mar 23, 2010 10:28 am

Before:

Currently:

Fri May 07, 2010 6:18 pm

Well its been awhile and not too much to report. Did finish up the roof rack for it and decided to save rebuilding the motor till this winter. The car needs to be driven and looks presentable as-is. I think I'm gonna save the interior and engine for the winter and put everything on it now for the summer. All I need is the window felts to put the glass in and all the little details.

how it sits.

Sat May 08, 2010 5:55 pm

very cool
the step is fabrication of Brazil

Mon May 10, 2010 9:36 am

Danahur wrote: very cool
the step is fabrication of Brazil

Yea, unfortunately kind of poorly made, but I knew that when purchasing them.You get what you pay for. Hopefully ive coated them enough to last a little while and im gonna try to keep the chrome polished and protected.

Thu May 13, 2010 4:56 pm

cuz I do not understand this piece was to stop there.
We always prefer imported parts for quality compared to those manufactured here.
there are good marks here
but nothing like those imported
63Shagginwagen wrote: Danahur wrote: very cool
the step is fabrication of Brazil

Yea, unfortunately kind of poorly made, but I knew that when purchasing them.You get what you pay for. Hopefully ive coated them enough to last a little while and im gonna try to keep the chrome polished and protected.

Wed Jun 02, 2010 10:10 pm

I LOVE the colors you went with... reminds me of my '59 Bug

Thu Jun 03, 2010 12:27 pm

Lookin Good!

Wed Jun 23, 2010 3:30 pm

Alright just checked on the bug and "everything" is done except I need to order taillight seals, and a decklid seal. Its lookin pretty sweet and can't wait to get it on the road. I think we're putting whitewalls on it so we need to order them this week and have the wheels repainted and put the new tires on and roll it. hopefully be able to put a topline kit on it to bring it a little closer to earth :)

Couple pics from today...

The trunk.

Waiting for the seals.

Oh man and I'll tell you what... Those doors close like a brand new car, expecially compared to my '63!