TheSamba.com :: View topic - Introduction & '65 Beetle "No-Budget" resto -

Thu Apr 05, 2012 5:04 pm

Hey guys... Just wanted to say hi! Grandpa's 69 T1 got me started and I wound up with my first subscription to VWT at about 14.

Grandpa handed over his 81 Rabbit pickup Diesel for me to drive in HS.

This lead me to purchase my primered 71 Baja Bug with chrome Cragar wheels for $500.

My dad had an 80 Vanagon Westfalia at the same time. This got us to a lot of Bug Bashes in Farmington, NC, near Winston Salem.

Joined the Navy after HS, and had a 68 T1 in San Diego. Drove that many miles with a toolbox, jack, and jack stands in the back seat. Oh, and a quart of oil.... In retrospect I should have carried 4 quarts of oil, plus accelerator cables... This lead my wife and I to go attend some Irvine Bug bashes.

Owned a 98 GTi (2.0L) shortly after we got married, more reliable and a little newer Cost a lot of money in payments though!

After the Navy we stayed in San Diego a while and I had a 65 T1 that I commuted in from Chula Vista to Torrey Pines everyday... One day it rained and I realized the wipers didn't work. I arrived at work looking like a wet Ace Ventura....

I owned a mid 70s Westfalia for a couple months after moving to Sacramento. I ended up letting it go pretty quick because it didn't fit our needs...

That was the last VW I owned, until a couple nights ago. My oldest daughter turned 10 and we bought her a 1965 T1 for $500 in Mountain Home, Idhao. The guy even delivered it for free! We are working on this super slow, because we pretty much have zero funding. I work at a small church in Caldwell, Idaho, and my wife homeschools.... We'll see what we can do on no budget... Perhaps some folks have some old junk to donate...

---------------------The Bug Story--------------------------

The backstory-
It's a no-budget project I am working on with my 10 year old daughter. She just turned 10 and has been wanting an air cooled bug for years... So, I convinced her mom (my wife) to let us partner on it... I sold $100 in tools, my daughter had saved $100 over the last two years, and I borrowed $300 from our savings account.... We now have a bug It had been under a tarp for 4 years when I found it. The guy listed it on Craigs for $700, and when I told him it was a father/daughter project he said he could do $500 delivered, because it was supposed to be for his daughter, so he felt nostalgic

The bug-
Here is what I know so far: 1965 Beetle. It came with a title. The pan numbers and the body numbers match. Not sure whether engine is original (still researching how I can find that out without paying VW for a "birth certificate". Original paint (Sage Green is the color I believe) with lots of primer spots, bare spots, and surface rust spots. I suppose the new school word is Patina.... Basically the car was not kept very well. Original dash, uncut with an original AM Saphire III radio. The only rust on the pan is under the battery (holes there) and in front of front footwells by the corners. The body has some issues, but I have help in the body shop department (friends of mine at church!). All fenders are original with original paint, same with decklid, hood, and aprons. I'm hoping we can save the fenders...

The bug came with 4 boxes of parts inside it, and the seats are near disintegration. Original tarboard is still on the floor, and we just threw away the original carpet from behind the back seat. The engine turns over, but has the generator removed (still 6V), exhaust and heat exchangers off (inside boxes in the car), etc etc... The rear wiring harness was apparently eaten by rabbits (according to the previous owner), so I am missing some engine wiring. Bumpers are missing, though I seem to have most of the brackets for them. Spare tire was in it, along with original washer bottle, jack, lug wrench, etc. Gas tank was disconnected, as was the brake fluid reservoir and a couple brake lines. Zero brake fluid in the system...

Call for help-
As I mentioned we have zero budget for this. I bought this because I knew that we had found a great starter car, and there was a lot of potential for father/daughter time with this car. We have already spent 2+ hours on vacuuming it all out (she did that), and another hour removing all the unsafe running board leftovers (jagged metal). The possibilities are endless for this little bug, but my budget is not... At this point I am wondering whether anyone has a few "junk" leftover pieces lying around that could help us with this build. We are not looking for a show winner at this point, we just want to begin getting it road worthy. Below is a list of needed parts that we have written down so far. There will probably be more to come as we dig deeper. If you have anything ou can help out with, please let me know.

All for 1965 model
-Driver side window crank and mechanism the crank attaches to (the part that bolts to the door)
-Front wheel cylinder (the bleed valve is broken on our driver side wheel cylinder)
-Pre-1965 solid 5-lug wheel (our spare is a slotted 5-lug - Wanna trade?)
-Section of rear wiring harness from firewall back
-Previous owner said engine was pulled because clutch needed replacing - anyone have clutch parts they aren't using? How can I tell if these are shot or not?
-Turn signal arm (ours is broken - white in color)
-Door handle crank return springs (I think ours are broken, no springy-back)
-Glove box door latch - ours is busted

I tried just listing the stuff that will make the car correct and functional. The spare tire wheel is no big deal, but the other stuff is kinda needed... If you guys can help in any way please let me know. I'm also wondering whether anyone has a test stand that I can bolt this engine to and check compression. I have a compression tester, and I can unbolt the engine and take it somewhere... Ideas?

Thanks everyone! I will try to update this with pictures and more stories when I can.

James

Fri Apr 06, 2012 7:22 am

I really don't want this to sound bad or come off wrong but are you sure this is the best car for you and your daughter to be working on considering the budget (or lack thereof) you have to work with? I'm all about the father/daughter project but it doesn't sound like you're new to these cars and you should know, they need constant maintenance and repairs. The car is 47 years old! Things like "door handle crank return springs" and "glove box door latches" are extremely cheap. If you can't afford those.......

Again...I'm NOT trying to sound like a jerk but....

Fri Apr 06, 2012 7:30 am

I totally agree with you!

Here is my thought process behind this build: My daughter won't be 16 for 6 years, and chances are I won't let her drive it until she is 17 anyway, so 7 years. So, I have 7 years to get it going with her.

I figure it never hurts to ask for stuff. I know there are people who have TONS of junk laying around, and there just may be a door handle return spring in there they could throw in an envelope.

That doesn't mean I will not eventually be able to buy one, I just don't foresee having any budget for at least 6 months... So, I thought I would ask.

I know if I had something laying around and not being used I would be more than happy to help someone.... Just saying... :)

James

Fri Apr 06, 2012 7:48 am

silvertonguedevil wrote: I really don't want this to sound bad or come off wrong but are you sure this is the best car for you and your daughter to be working on considering the budget (or lack thereof) you have to work with? I'm all about the father/daughter project but it doesn't sound like you're new to these cars and you should know, they need constant maintenance and repairs. The car is 47 years old! Things like "door handle crank return springs" and "glove box door latches" are extremely cheap. If you can't afford those.......

Again...I'm NOT trying to sound like a jerk but....

Teaching his daughter to be a scrounger. What's the emoticon for 'thumbs up'? My daughter won't even get in the bug. So I'm driving the '67 bug while she drives my Subaru Turbo.

crvc

Sat Apr 07, 2012 4:18 pm

LOL.... a scrounger... that's funny!

Actually, I work at a church and a lot of times people donate their stuff that is not being used anymore. We recently asked for a few small things and got way more than we imagined.... So, I figured I would try it in the bug world, see how many people would lend a hand.

Sat Apr 07, 2012 4:21 pm

Today my daughter and I spent 2-3 hours removing all the headliner, rear quarter panels, rear seat, rear carpet, etc. This was pretty fun. She learned how to use a pry bar (to gently remove the old quarter panels), got some more time with my ratchets removing the rear seat and under-seat bar, and learned to use a philips screwdriver the right way.

This was probably by far our dirtiest day in the bug, just because of the dust and junk flying everywhere from the headliner, etc.

Quality time is AWESOME, and the cost for today's work was $0.

I think next up will be the tarboards on the pan and tunnel.

James

Sat Apr 07, 2012 4:22 pm

Pics will be coming soon....

Sat Apr 07, 2012 5:08 pm

Sat Apr 07, 2012 5:41 pm

Not a bad looking project.. Everything has a starting point--this will forever be yours.. Just keep looking forward.
oh--and don't try what the P.O. had obviously done and hook up a chain to your rear valance to pull a tree stump out.. I'm guessing the tree was laughing at the bug for trying..
And, that fender with the crack/weld/crevasse in it... Have fun on that repair! :-)

Tue Apr 10, 2012 4:23 pm

I took the day off, and my daughter and I spent 3 hours ripping and chipping all the tarboards out of the interior! She is awesome with a prybar and sand-filled rubber mallet!

She also used the wet-vac to clean it all up when we finished.

I told her our goal should be to coat the chassis in the fall. Just a little bit of labor each week and we should be there!

Today's cost: $0
Conversations with my daughter in her bug: Priceless :)

James

Tue Apr 10, 2012 5:27 pm

Nice story and car. Sorry but no parts to offer you. Put an add on craigslist asking for parts. There are plenty of nice people out there. On the opposite end of that spectrum there are too many weirdos online to be posting picks of kids. Good luck and keep us updated.

Tue Apr 10, 2012 5:49 pm

Yeah, I thought about the kid shot... I figured you guys would like to see her enjoying the car :)

If everyone thinks I should delete that pic (because of the weirdos) I will.... Opinions?

James

Tue Apr 10, 2012 6:08 pm

Cool car, and it's great that your spending so much time with your child.... That's key. I built my 62 with my daughter, got it when she was 2, she's 15 now.... She wouldn't drive it, even if she had to.

Tue Apr 10, 2012 6:09 pm

Aw! How sad!

Stinks that kids think they are too cool for VWs... They need Echos or Prius' to "fit in".... sigh....

Tue Apr 10, 2012 9:45 pm

Oh yah, we also checked compression today.... I used jumper cables to connect the bug starter to the van battery. Before I tell you what the numbers are I should probably give a little back story.

The other day I could not get the crank to turn, so my wife and I pulled the engine. Everything was disconnected already so it was easy... I yanked the passenger side head off, and removed the #2 barrel after seeing corrosion inside. I got after the corrosion with a bit of steel wool, then cleaned the cylinder out. That piston had a stuck ring so I rotated it a bit and put everything back together, and also set all the valves. Of course that cylinder that I messed with has low compression, probably the stuck ring in combination with the lack of a proper ring seat now that it has been taken apart.

Anyway, my daughter ran the compression tester, told me all the readings, released the air pressure on the gauge, etc. It was fun.

Here are the numbers:
#1-103
#2-60
#3-119
#4-99

Thanks!
James

Wed Apr 11, 2012 5:00 am

anthracitedub wrote: Cool car, and it's great that your spending so much time with your child.... That's key. I built my 62 with my daughter, got it when she was 2, she's 15 now.... She wouldn't drive it, even if she had to.

I redone my 63 for my 6 year old..now she would rather walk than ride in it!! kids these days...

Wed Apr 11, 2012 7:49 am

Must be a girl thing. My daughter won't learn to use a clutch which is why I'm driving the bug and she has my Subaru Turbo. I had a different bug in as bad a shape as those photos. I turned it into a baja bug thinking that might entice her. But no cigar. I wanted to add a rollbar for safety but never got around to it.

crvc

Wed Apr 11, 2012 8:27 am

Welcome to the exclusive Java Green L518 club!

Looks like a nice project. I am sharing the joys of VW mechanics with my son of a similar age. A few hindsight tips of my experience with working/driving rat cars and restoration projects.

6 years can go very fast when doing restorations on a budget, projects have to go on the back burner and hard to constantly get financially and emotional involved without making major investments.

Make a plan. focus on mechanical only or cosmetic only in the beginning. tackling both at once is a quick way to get a project in an overwhelming sorry state. If getting it safe on the road, don't skip on the brakes. I've had hard troubles with my 65' to where I would suggest converting to a 67' dual circuit system.

always resource parts, keep an eye out for anything original and useful for your car when affordable. a small stockpile of parts is worth its weight in gold. I would also suggest trying to find original german parts or read up on here for what is considered high or sufficient quality from experience. Old sayings such as "buy quality and cry once" is true in parts and tools.

if this is in your driveway... start considering if you have a neighborhood association and their thoughts on having a junker in your yard. Also think about options of securing the car from theft.

Having a realistic timeframe was a good decision, but I would keep the intentions that this will be a family hobby and then a family recreational car when complete. It is hard to know what the project will become or the attitude over a time frame. Especially with kids, their tastes and interests may change and find yourself pushing this car on them. Also remember in 6 years, the level of maintenance may make this unreasonable for a teenager.

Wed Apr 11, 2012 10:41 am

thedeatons wrote: Yeah, I thought about the kid shot... I figured you guys would like to see her enjoying the car :)

If everyone thinks I should delete that pic (because of the weirdos) I will.... Opinions?

James

Creeps are creeps. I don't see how any could get their jollies looking at your photos. I wouldn't delete any. If cost becomes a factor it's still a lot cheaper to turn it into a baja: Fiberglass front end with fenders, take the front fenders and trim them then put them on the back. They do fit in the mounting holes. I built a cradle to hold the spare tire for more security if struck from behind. I planned to put a roll cage in but decided not to when it became clear my daughter wouldn't be driving it. The rear tires were spares from my pickup. The rear wheels I ordered from JC Whitney--very cheap. IF my daughter was going to be driving it I would put in disc brakes also.

crvc

Wed Apr 11, 2012 1:41 pm

hello Deatones, Thats great that your daughter is enjoying it. My daugghter also is enjoying it :D . my son who the bug is for is not enjoying it as much :| . Bonding beats everything else, even if it takes long. My son just wants sonething fast. ours have a 1200cc. he wants a 1600 or bigger =P~ .

thats how mine started:

everything was burned. the PO started the project but ran out of money.
this is where im at:

it runs good. the seat were done in Mexico. Most parts are from a junkyard. All in good shape..
pray and play together stay together [-o< .