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Sat Jun 12, 2010 6:25 pm

Hello,
I just wanted to introduce myself and my crusty 1966 Beetle. I am new to the world of aircooled VW's but have been repairing and driving old vehicles for most of my driving career. My family owned VW's for over 25 years, a '78 Dasher, '87 Jetta, and a beat up '91 Jetta that served as my first car 10 years ago. Replacing a burnt out clutch on the '91 was my first major repair job. I have owned everything from a Datsun 210 wagon to a 1966 Oldsmobile 98 to my current daily driver (rider) for the past few years, an '82 Honda Supercub (the VW Beetle of motorcycles, 60 million and counting). Now on to my '66 Beetle. I bought it a week ago. It was last registered in 1990 and has probably been hibernating in a field since then. Somewhere along the way it's original 1300 has been replaced with a 40 h.p. 1200. The engine code starts with a 9 which would probably be around 1965 I think. It has a lot of scrapes and dents including a hastily repaired collision on the right front corner. The rear floor pans are rusty on both sides as are the areas where the B-pillar joins the heater channels. My plans for it are not definite, but I know the body is not going to be worked to anywhere near perfection, just reasonably solid and functional. Fortunately I can weld because its gonna need it. It will have to be thoroughly gone through both mechanically and electrically. Here are some pictures of the little car.

The back half is pretty rusty. I have ordered new rear pan halves. Fortunately the area of the pan that joins to the heater channel is solid because I don't have the facilities separate the two.

Sat Jun 12, 2010 6:32 pm

welcome to the madness known as aircooled

check out our website we have a local vw club in Dallas

Sat Jun 12, 2010 7:43 pm

A little TLC and she will be fine. Welcome.

Sun Jun 13, 2010 9:13 am

I like the hammer!!!

Sun Jun 13, 2010 10:02 am

Good on ya'!

You'll love tinkering on them. As long as you show them attention w/ TLC, they'll never let you down! :wink:

Sun Jun 13, 2010 6:06 pm

LOL...Well, they'll let you down, more often than you can possibly imagine, its how you handle it that does all that character building, eventually you can get to the promised land.

Sun Jun 13, 2010 6:12 pm

Old Paint wrote: LOL...Well, they'll let you down, more often than you can possibly imagine, its how you handle it that does all that character building, eventually you can get to the promised land.

So well said...and so true

Sun Jun 13, 2010 6:19 pm

Nice car!!!

Might I suggest you follow this build for inspiration??
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=416164

Jawas put on that black thing behind the window? :lol:

Mon Jun 14, 2010 4:21 pm

Quote: I like the hammer!!!
That hammer was actually one of the first tools I used on it. I "staightened" the rear bumper so the deck lid could open easier.
Quote: Jawas put on that black thing behind the window? Ha Ha. I wish it was something that amazing. I really don't know what it is though. Probably some CB radio crap because the bottom edge of the dash has some holes that could have easily mounted a CB at one time.
Quote: Might I suggest you follow this build for inspiration??
I like that car a lot. I just wish mine had more actual paint left on it. It seems to be only grey primer on about 2/3's of it. I tried wetsanding to see if any paint existed below the primer but it went right to metal. I think the grey primer is kind of lame so it will probably be painted but without doing much bodywork as I kind of like its character dents.

So far I have been disassembling and getting rid of most of the disgusting interior. The smell of mouse pee on a 100 degree day is not good. I replaced the badly dented passenger door with a straight extra unit that came with the car. The new red door compliments the yellow fender nicely. Windshield and rear window are out though the windshield suffered an untimely demise when it got stuck and cracked during removal. The car is now in the garage and awaiting its new sheet metal to arrive. I have also noticed that the yellow replacement fender must have come from an earlier model because the turn signal is about 4 inches further forward on that side. The googly turn signals amuse me and it is definitely staying that way.
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Thu Jun 17, 2010 7:14 pm

I call that style hammer the "persuader"

Sun Jun 20, 2010 7:53 am

patch the floor, get it running, 5-6" beam, 2 clicks in the rear and ride 8)

Sun Jun 20, 2010 2:48 pm

Hello,
Here are the latest updates on the '66. Rear fenders are off (only 1 broken bolt on each). The doors are fully disassembled and the trim is coming off. The body behind the fenders looks pretty good, just a few small rust areas on the right wheel well area. The replacement floor pan sections are due in this week so the fixing can finally begin. It has been pleasantly surprising how few bolts have been breaking so far because they sure look crusty.

Sun Jun 20, 2010 8:38 pm

That thing is cleeaaaaann! Inside the fenders at least. My '99 S10 is way worse than that.

Sun Jun 20, 2010 8:53 pm

man i just realized you were in texas! when i finalize shit on my 65 ill come over and give you a hand with the rebuild man!

Mon Jun 21, 2010 7:20 pm

I pulled the yellow right front fender today and was greeted by this beautiful piece of body repair work. Upon closer inspection, even though it is incredibly crude, the hood actually seals pretty well along the damaged area and the pan/chassis was spared from the damage. A full replacement front clip is not in the works for this little guy right now though as this one is still completely functional and I never intended to perfectly restore it now. However the area where the front bumper goes through the front apron will have to be patched so that new bumper seals can be fitted. The new floor pans arrived today so the rust repair can begin! On a side note, after removing the lights and bulbs, it appears that this bug was converted to 12 volt at some point in its life.
Quote: man i just realized you were in texas! when i finalize shit on my 65 ill come over and give you a hand with the rebuild man!
At some point I may have to take you up on that because I am pretty much all on my own as far as the rebuild is concerned. I am sure I'll run into situations where I could use a hand. I've never heard of Crandall. Is that in the DFW area?

Mon Jun 21, 2010 10:36 pm

Well its really kaufman county, which is about 25 minutes from mesquite. Yeah im sure there will be situations where another hand could be useful, luckily I had my dad there. I would definently love helping out though man! Are you gonna lower it or go with stock?

Tue Jun 22, 2010 4:57 pm

It's going to be stock height. I am changing the color from white with red interior to black with red interior. I actually kind of liked its patina, but it is going to probably be outside once completed so it would just deteriorate too fast if not repainted. I think I am going to leave most of its dings and dents though because I am partial towards slightly beat-up VW's.

Sat Jun 26, 2010 4:01 pm

The progress finally begins! Today I cut out the rusted rear section of the right floor pan and began installation of the new patch panel. Just need to weld it up now. Some gaps are kind of on the big side but thats why I love MIG welders for easy gap filling.

Sun Jun 27, 2010 12:12 pm

All welded up!

Sun Jun 27, 2010 2:28 pm

Ck your PM's