TheSamba.com :: View topic - San Diego 1964 Father-Daughter Resto Project

Wed Aug 15, 2012 10:47 am

I've got five kids from 27-5 years old and I've given each one the opportunity to restore a vintage Volkswagen as their first car. The two oldest passed on the opportunity but now my 13 year old daughter Allison is excited to begin the journey.

I've been involved with vintage VWs for the past 25 years, having owned Beetles, Transporters, Notchbacks, T14s, & for the past 20 years have specialized on T34s. I founded the VVWCA San Diego Chapter in the 80's, the T34 Registry & T34 World, and NONA. And I've freelanced for various VW magazines for years. I've daily driven my VWs from 1985-2000 until a freeway roll-over in a low-mileage Sea Blue T34 forced me to drive them only on weekends. I currently own a restored Ruby Red 1962 T34 Cabriolet and a Cherry Red & Black 1965 RHD T34 Electric Sunroof (been under frame-off restoration since 2004).

Allison began her journey by deciding which type & model VW she wanted to restore. She participated in a Pacific Coast Highway cruise we organized last year, and participated in the Bob Baker VW Spring Festival event in Carlsbad. She got to check-out the Bugs, Buses, T3s, & T14s up close. She fell in-love with the early-1960's Beetle. Next she cruised through theSamba gallery to see which color she prefered. Gulf Blue, Sea Blue, Baltic Blue, & Bahama Blue were all options. But in the end she loved the deep blue of Sea Blue L360. Since Sea Blue was first available in 1964 and it still had the early features (smaller windows, domed hub caps, etc) she finalized on a 1964 Sea Blue Beetle. Cabriolet was out of the question (too easy to steal & too expensive to restore), but she was open to the steel-sliding sunroof or Sedan models. Here's what she wanted when done:

For a year she did jobs around the house, babysitting, and other things to raise money for her Beetle dream. After a year she'd saved $2500 and was able to begin looking for the right Beetle. She searched through theSamba ads every day, learning about what to look for, what questions to ask, and what features were important to the restoration project. She must have contacted a dozen 1963-65 Beetles for sale over the past two months. Most seemed to be hiding the bad parts, some wouldn't even respond, and some were nice enough to provide detailed photos & info. But for $2500 she just wasn't finding cars that fit her idea of the right Beetle.

Then late one night last week she found an original Sea Blue 1964 Sedan in Oregon that was more than her budget but looked really original & complete. It had five-spoke rims, a SCAT shifter, and a partial 12V upgrade, but it fit all her other requirements. It was a daily driver before being parked 6 months ago. It was stock height, had original interior, an unmolested dash panel, and the rust was limited to the battery tray and some minor spots on the fenders. She contacted the owners and told them her story & plans for the restoration project. They decided to sell her the car for her budgeted amount and she was overjoyed! She had just bought her first Beetle only a couple weeks before her 13th birthday!

Here are the photos of Allison's Sea Blue 1964 Sedan on 14 August 2012:

Wed Aug 15, 2012 10:59 am

Awesome!

Wed Aug 15, 2012 11:10 am

Since she's got one more week of summer vacation she spent yesterday searching theSamba ads for a set of original 1964 date-stamped smoothie rims. Luckily she found a set of four in southern San Diego that were available. We drove down there and bought the set with original paint for $80. The seller also shared that he had a rust-free 1964-66 German left-front fender we could use for the restoration project to fix the dented one. It never fails to find helpful VW people that love good restoration stories like Allison's.

When we got home she was interested to see the date-stamps, so she got to work sanding down the rims. She found two of them with 1964 dates, one with a 1962 date, and one that was unknown til we get it sand-blasted. She washed them down and began sanding today. Here's her bright smile having bought her first Beetle parts:

This weekend I'll be flying up to Portland Oregon on SouthWest to drive her Sea Blue 1964 home to San Diego ... 1000 miles in the heat of summer. I've contacted a local air-cooled shop WagenWerks in Salem that has previously worked on the Beetle and Derek Young agreed to give it a tune-up & inspection this week prior to my arrival on Saturday morning. He's going to replace the SCAT shifter, connect the ebrake, check the lights, and get it ready to drive. I'm coming south on the 5 freeway through Grants Pass, Redding, and staying overnight in Red Bluff. Then waking early and driving south into the Bay Area and down the 101 into Berkeley, Pismo Beach, Santa Barbara, Malibu, Manhattan Beach, and finally to San Diego. The trip should take 18 hours if there are no surprises along the way. If anyone wants to share a cold beer along the route I'd be up for a break. 760 845 8447 mobile

VIN number is #6 398 902. Looks like production date is in late-May 1964 or early-June. Anyone able to get a more exact birth date? I know T34s but don't know where to find Beetle production dates.

Wed Aug 15, 2012 11:28 am

I am in Medford, about 20 minutes south of grants pass, if you find you need anything along the way or just need a place to stop in I always have iced tea and diet soda in the fridge!!

Wed Aug 15, 2012 11:32 am

Awesome! See, VW people never cease to amaze me at their kindness & generosity with helping other owners in-need.

Wed Aug 15, 2012 11:52 am

We always give names to our vintage VWs, as they all have their own personalities. I gave Allison some guidelines in choosing a name for her 1964 Beetle: 1) should be simple & meaningful, 2) should be related to the cars color, location, or owners, and 3) would be cool if it were a German name. In the past we've named our 1962 T34 "Ruby" (for its Ruby Red paint), our 1964 Deluxe Microbus "Friedrich", our 1964 T34 Coupe "Blackie" (black paint), our December 1961 T34 Coupe "Old Man", and our 1965 T34 RHD "Jeffrey" (from Jeffrey's Bay South Africa).

So she thought about all the details of her Beetle: 1964, Sea Blue, from Salem Oregon, family had a 2 year old daughter Ellie, her 13th birthday, etc. Then a light went off in her head ... ELLIE SALEM! And the name was found that fit her car and instantly made it more personal.

Wed Aug 15, 2012 12:22 pm

Lee Hedges wrote:
VIN number is #6 398 902. Looks like production date is in late-May 1964 or early-June. Anyone able to get a more exact birth date? I know T34s but don't know where to find Beetle production dates.

June. Check the Technical tab in the upper right corner, lots of great info there

Wed Aug 15, 2012 12:42 pm

Hi Lee,
Great story! Since the 101 dead ends into the 5 in LA I'll give you a wave this weekend when you hit the OC county line, maybe a freeway escort down through north OC if I can wing it. Shoot me a PM if you want. Anyway, great that she's getting into it, especially at her age. :)
Best of luck and take care,
Jon

Wed Aug 15, 2012 12:45 pm

Hey im just north of you in WA. Reminds me of my car too. I have to be honest, my favorite year is 66, with Sea Blue being my favorite color, i am really jealous. I had a similar budget but i ended up with a Savanah Beige 67, i love the story. Makes me feel good to know there are other kids who love VWS

Wed Aug 15, 2012 1:01 pm

Should be an adventure driving down. Be aware though that it has been extremely hot inland Northern California lately (114F driving through Sacramento a couple days ago). You might want to consider taking 101 along the coast all the way.

Wed Aug 15, 2012 1:15 pm

Thanks for the tip! My plan is to stay as cool as possible, heading down the 5 in Oregon and connecting with the 101 in the Bay Area instead of the faster route straight down the hellish 5 through central California where it will undoubtedly be 100F+ for long stretches.

Saturday is supposed to be cloudy & 73F in Salem OR, 93F in Medford OR, 97F in Redding CA where I'll be crashing overnight. Then on Sunday it's expected to be 66F in Berkeley CA, cloudy 71F in Pismo Beach CA, cloudy 74F in Santa Barbara, and cloudy 77F in Irvine CA.

Wed Aug 15, 2012 1:43 pm

Good luck. Leave Redding as early as possible in the morning. That's where the real heat will begin. The other day when passing through Sacramento, it stayed above 100F all the way past Fairfield which is about 50 mi. from San Francisco. Pulled into my driveway in SF, and it was 54F. Go figure.

Wed Aug 15, 2012 3:39 pm

Hey Lee,

If you want to take a pit stop in Santa Barbara let me know. PM me around what time you'll be passing through and what your favorite beer is. I'm less than 5 mins from the freeway off of La Cumbre.

Wed Aug 15, 2012 3:53 pm

Wow, it looks like your daughter got herself a great car, at a great price! She should be super happy.

Good luck on your drive down, if I see ya on the 101 in the North Bay, Ill shoot you a wave!! 8)

Wed Aug 15, 2012 6:51 pm

The color looks too light to be Sea Blue? :? Looks more like Gulf Blue

Wed Aug 15, 2012 6:57 pm

The dash color is original and the exterior color has been "color-matched" once. I thought the only blues in 1964 were Sea Blue & Bahama Blue. Regardless, we'll be tearing it apart to have Jimmy Braxmeyer (Vista CA) restore the body & paint to L360 Sea Blue.

Wed Aug 15, 2012 7:05 pm

Lee Hedges wrote: .......in Redding CA where I'll be crashing overnight.

Try not to use this terminology for your drive! :P Have a safe trip! Sounds like your daughter's got a good head on her shoulders. She's lucky to have a father with an extensive VW background as you do!

Wed Aug 15, 2012 9:12 pm

I am totally jealous... I first got into VWs and had a dream of doing a cross country trip with my son. As time passed by, he showed absolutely no interest in my aspirations and was focused more on sports and his interests. He's 19 now and seems to be moving on with his life. My daughter is 15 and she is also heavily involved with sports. She enjoys doing local ice cream runs with me in my 65 vert, but has no desire to work or tinker with me in the garage. I'll keep the ones I have, but I'm still jealous...

Wed Aug 15, 2012 9:29 pm

Sportin-Wood said Allison was lucky to have me to help her with this restoration. That's true but honestly I feel far luckier to have Allison interested in MY hobby enough to want to take on a long-term project of her own and get her hands dirty. I confided to her that I was concerned that she may lose interest in the multi-year project and she assured me that she was in it to see it completed because I was allowing her to make the decisions on her dream car. And she made me promise not to do any restoration work without her. She did say I could PAY for everything ...

With five kids growing up so quickly, I've learned that I need to spend as much quality time with each one as possible. By 15 they usually don't want much to do with us. So I'm thrilled to have a fresh project that we can share together. I'm teaching & she's learning. Isn't that the essence of what a father-daughter relationship is all about?

Wed Aug 15, 2012 9:50 pm

What a great way to spend some quality time with your daughter before they are too cool for you. I have two daughters 10 and 4 and a boy on the way. I can only hope that they will share my interest when the time comes. No interest yet. Looks like you guys picked up a good car. I was looking at that one here on the samba. I ended up with another 64 sea blue. More of a project though, no motor and little interior but very solid and unmolested. Picked this one up for the wife. Her first vw. She's pretty excited too. Drive safe and have a good trip down to cali. Taken that drive down the coast its a beautiful drive.