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Sun Mar 25, 2012 8:11 pm

Let me start off by saying this will be a loooong and sloooow process. I don't claim to be an expert at VW restoration by any means, but I know enough to be interest in bringing these little guys back to life, and enjoy driving them and associating with people who enjoy the same. I thought it would be cool to document online my progress on a '66 sedan I picked up locally'but more about that in a bit. My user name "sportin-wood" is actually a play on one of my hobbies ' collecting game used baseball bats, namely from the entire 1988 WS Champion Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team. Along with collecting sports cards, high-end RC cars, fresh & saltwater fishing, guns, and even (embarrassed to admit) Beanie Babies (LOL), I've gone through so many hobbies over the years it's pathetic'.but onward and upward'

I was born and raised in SoCal (Los Angeles) and moved to Texas in 2003. I moved from a city population of almost 10 million people to just under 9000. Talk about culture shock! Getting parts and resources I'll be needing for this project are not readily available. I have to rely on eBay, TheSamba, and VW parts vendors online. After meeting my now-wife online (not a dating site), being laid off from a great paying job in SoCal and seeing the cost of living in this town, it was pretty easy to pack up my things and relocate and eventually get married in 2005. I started in the VW scene I believe in 1985, about a year after graduating HS. I would see this bug sitting in a driveway for years next to the park where I played slow pitch softball. I found out it was a '68 sunroof and decided to approach the older gentleman watering his lawn if he was interested in selling it, and picked it up for a cool $100. It was complete, but not running. Luckily I had a buddy that lived a few blocks from me, Joe Ruiz, well known to hard-core VW enthusiasts as 'Mr. Okrasa'. This guy's attention to engine detail is something else. Check out www.Okrasa.com and you'll see what I mean. Anyway, he took care of bringing my '68 back to life and purring like a kitten!
Here's a picture of the '68 shortly after I purchased it. Really wish I would have taken a picture as it sat, then as I towed it home. Hindsight, and all that crap, you know'

Decided to go with the Cal-Look. One piece windows, shaved turn signals, patched side molding holes, Toyota Celica Supra seats, Grant steering wheel, polished 8-spoke wheels, dual Kads, etc'.

Ended up selling it to my brother who kept it the way I had it, except for painting it while I picked up this '63 Ragtop for $900. It ran, was complete, but needed a new front clip.

This was my daily driver until some idiot rear-ended me on the freeway in rush hour traffic (long story) and I sold it so I could buy a Toyota pickup and got out of the VW scene for a few years.

When I moved to Texas, I got the 'bug' to get back into the scene'and like so many other VW enthusiasts, I dreamt of that elusive 'barn find' that everyone hopes to come across, and I figure this little town was as good a place as any to run into old Jethro who has an old bug just sitting in his storage shed that's 'older than Cooter Jones' (a Texas quote that I still don't understand!), but haven't come across one. I did, however, see a local ad posted for a '63 sedan for $900 that I decided to take a look at, only to find out it was actually a '66. The guy didn't know much about VW's and was told it was a '63 which I could tell right away was incorrect. It was complete, but didn't run and I talked the guy down to $400! I figured he probably got it free or something.

So this is where I'm at. Both pans need replacing, the heater channels look surprisingly solid for a Texas car (but that might change once I remove the body), the entire brake system needs to be replaced because it sat for some 15 years or so I was told, along with all the other normal replacement parts to consider with this type and age project. I'm posting miscellaneous pics as I go along, but this is basically my weekend project unless I get a wild hair and decide it can't wait until then'.

Any comments/questions are welcome!
Thanks,
Dave

Sun Mar 25, 2012 10:41 pm

I've never seen someone just paint over the radio before! Lol!!

Mon Mar 26, 2012 2:53 am

silvertonguedevil wrote: I've never seen someone just paint over the radio before! [/img]

Neither had I! The guy I bought this from was a real winner. That radio was secured in place with globs of silicone on the back side, not held with the knob screws/nuts. In a pic you can see he also spray painted the horn button/horn ring/steering wheel, and used the fake chrome spray on the knobs, not to mention about 30 cans of grey primer on the outside, and started painting the front half of the car with more white cans of spray paint, all the while not masking off any of the windows so there's TONS of overspray I'll have to deal with....

Mon Mar 26, 2012 8:32 am

Can't wait to watch the build! I know all about the slow build. Where do you live in Texas?

Mon Mar 26, 2012 8:40 am

Hey SW!!

I got your message in my build thread. I'm so glad to hear you are doing your own and I'm looking forward to following it. It looks like you've had quite the experience with all different types of bugs over the years. I'm sure this '66 will be a culmination of all the things you liked/didn't like about your past VWs. It will be greatness!!

Keep the pics coming! Batter up! :D

Moto

Mon Mar 26, 2012 11:02 am

What are your eventual plans for the car?

Mon Mar 26, 2012 4:14 pm

@Turdmucklydunn - I'm about 2 hours N/W of the Dallas/Ft Worth area in a town called Graham.

@Moto - Thanks man! I thought a build thread was something that was maybe a year in length, but I've seen so many that take a hell of a lot longer, so I said what the heck!

@Beetlebaum - Paint-wise, I'm not sure yet. Depends on my $ situation when the time comes. I'd like to make it look as stock as possible and use as many 'correct' parts as I can afford to get. I'll keep the stock height, opting for smoothie wheels over the slotted ones, maybe get some white walls for it. I don't have any welding experience, but have a mig welder that I'll practice with before I make any attempt. Although I'd like to be able to say "I did it all myself", in reality that's not gonna happen, but I will do most things and even try my hand at stuff a lot of people don't like to do like headliner replacement, pan replacement, window rubber, etc. So stay tuned....

Mon Mar 26, 2012 6:00 pm

This 66 has a lot of potential. I can tell by the vws of the past that you are ready to dig in and do a great job. Looking forward to the build! Save that radio and put it up on the wall in the garage, its pretty dam funny.

Mon Mar 26, 2012 6:24 pm

Schwing wrote: This 66 has a lot of potential. I can tell by the vws of the past that you are ready to dig in and do a great job. Looking forward to the build! Save that radio and put it up on the wall in the garage, its pretty dam funny.

Thanks Schwing!! Actually I already shit-canned the radio. I had to pry the face plate from the dash because of all the silicone and broke a bunch of it in the process. It was some crappy "Sparkomatic" radio anyway. I have a cool looking Bendix radio I'll put in later. The car's been converted to 12V, so it'll just be there for looks and I'll probably put something decent in the glove box, but nothing too crazy....

Mon Mar 26, 2012 7:39 pm

Looks like a good project base, and it's got pop outs!
good luck with the resto.

Tue Mar 27, 2012 1:47 pm

63Ragtop NZ wrote: Looks like a good project base, and it's got pop outs!
good luck with the resto.

Thanks 63Ragtop! The popouts are always cool to have, but I really wish this had a ragtop like the earlier bugs have. Maybe I'll find a decent ragtop clip eventually that won't break me.

Tue Mar 27, 2012 7:27 pm

sportin-wood wrote: @Moto - Thanks man! I thought a build thread was something that was maybe a year in length, but I've seen so many that take a hell of a lot longer, so I said what the heck!

Heck no, man! There is no such rule about the build thread. They are a win-win for everyone. The builder gets much-needed motivation and the spectators get good ideas. It doesn't matter the duration.

Now.....we just need to get our fellow Texan, Turdmucklydunn in gear and get him to get a build thread up and going!!

Moto

Sun Apr 01, 2012 9:49 pm

Motomazzo wrote: sportin-wood wrote: @Moto - Thanks man! I thought a build thread was something that was maybe a year in length, but I've seen so many that take a hell of a lot longer, so I said what the heck!

Heck no, man! There is no such rule about the build thread. They are a win-win for everyone. The builder gets much-needed motivation and the spectators get good ideas. It doesn't matter the duration.

Now.....we just need to get our fellow Texan, Turdmucklydunn in gear and get him to get a build thread up and going!!

Moto

Just get a steady pace going and have fun. Read other build threads for motivation and ideas. I look forward to finishing mine but will miss the fun of the build. I expect it to take me 2 years but my wife says I will finish by Christmas. Not sure about that.

Mon Apr 02, 2012 4:31 am

[quote="sportin-wood"]@Turdmucklydunn - I'm about 2 hours N/W of the Dallas/Ft Worth area in a town called Graham.

Wow, LA to Graham. Now that is a serious change of venue!

Mon Apr 02, 2012 6:52 pm

@YouBugMe58 - Having fun is "the plan" here! But at the same time, I'm gonna be realistic and say that I know I'm going to run into a lot of unexpected surprises...

@Turdmucklydunn - Tell me about it, man! By the way, like Moto said, when are we gonna see your thread?? :lol:

Right now my bug's in a carport. I'm looking at prices on getting a concrete slab poured and then a portable metal carport installed on it in the back yard. I'll take pictures every step of the way. This will be my work space for the project. For now the wife and I need the carport that's attached to the house for our vehicles because of the severe weather (hail, etc.) we tend to get every year.

Mon Apr 02, 2012 7:24 pm

silvertonguedevil wrote: I've never seen someone just paint over the radio before! Lol!!

that was my idea

Sat Apr 28, 2012 1:44 am

Haven't had a lot of time to do work on my project, but I had the opportunity to borrow a hinge removal tool (Thanks John!!) to remove the passenger side hinge pin to put a mirror there, so I took about 20 minutes to get it removed. I had to soak the hinge pin good by spraying it with Kroil Oil for about a week straight, once or twice a day.

Here's the hinge removal tool and its accessories (steel pins in assorted sizes.)

Here's what my hinge/hinge pin looked like before removal.

After a few turns with a wrench, changing the steel pins, going from shortest to longest...

And waddaya know...a "POP!" when I first started turning the wrench and I knew it had become loose...and eventually the pin started working its way out...

Finally out!

New pin with threaded end on the left...

I used a piece of 2X4 wood to tap the new pin in so that I didn't damage the threads...

Finished product. Just wanted to get this out of the way.

I've read threads where people said "I was lucky, mine came out with a hammer and a screwdriver", etc....but for mine there was no way in HELL it was coming out without this tool. Hopefully I get to removing the fenders next before I start on the floor pan replacement, but I'm in the process of getting bids on pouring a concrete slab out back for a carport that'll be my work area.

Fri May 11, 2012 9:10 pm

Started removing the right side fenders and runningboard. No wonder this car didn't have a rear bumper. Not sure why the PO cut into the bumper mount and bent this upwards? This was done on both sides. There is a broken off stud in a hole on each side. Contemplating whether to replace the whole mount and make it "right" or just bend them back down and weld it securely after removing the broken studs. Any thoughts??

Coil over shocks?? Don't think I've ever seen these except maybe on a baja bug or motorcycle....

Sat May 12, 2012 6:55 am

sportin-wood wrote:
Here's the hinge removal tool and its accessories (steel pins in assorted sizes.)

Never seen one of those before but is sure is cool. Where can someone buy one?

Sat May 12, 2012 9:29 am

sixfootdan wrote: Never seen one of those before but is sure is cool. Where can someone buy one?

If I'm not mistaken, someone used to make these and sold them for around $300, but doesn't make them anymore. You can rent one off TS classifieds for about $30, but be ready to pay a hefty security deposit that's refunded after it's returned in satisfactory condition.