My '66 V-DUB Build Thread - Body-Off Project

Motomazzo · Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2011 4:57 am Post subject:

Well, this isn't much of an update but I received my wiring harness from Watson's Street Works this week. It looks awesome. I really, really like the idea of using a system that utilizes the updated, modern flat-fuse design. And it will be great to have all new wiring and connections, of course. I also purchased their replacement switch that allows for 4 positions: Accessory, Off, On, and Start. We'll see how that works as well. Crappy picture, but you'll get the idea. Interior kit has been ordered as well. Should be doing the seats here in a few weeks when I receive the seat covers. The shell is still at the painter. I have no idea when it will be done, but I'm busy getting everything ready so that when it comes home, it's a matter of mating body to chassis and wrapping this thing up!

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

Moto
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Be Plant-Strong!! Watch "Forks Over Knives" on Netflix

'66 Sedan Project - http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=410718

R.I.P. - Mikayla. I miss you Baby girl.

bluntlunchbox · Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2011 9:25 am Post subject:

Looks awesome! Can't wait for the install pics Smile

I wanted to ask; what do you plan on using for interior insulation under the carpet?

Motomazzo · Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2011 6:09 pm Post subject:

Thank you! I'm probably going to use Dynamat. Eastwood has a nice product that I may look into as well. No roofing materials though. At this point in this project, this is one area that I don't want to scrimp on. For the purpose of enjoying the car, it's really nice to have them quieted down....with the best stuff you can get. Same reason I bought a new wiring harness. When I press the horn, I want it to honk.....or start when I turn the key, etc. Laughing

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Be Plant-Strong!! Watch "Forks Over Knives" on Netflix

'66 Sedan Project - http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=410718

R.I.P. - Mikayla. I miss you Baby girl.

Motomazzo · Posted: Sat Oct 29, 2011 4:11 am Post subject:

Well here's an update I wish I didn't have to make. I received my TMI Door Panels and Front/Rear Seat Covers yesterday. They're really a work of art.......just the wrong color and pattern. Evil or Very Mad

Another classic example of "effective" communication between my bug shop and me. So....if you're looking for an interior, please drop me a PM. I will be running a classified as well. TMI Red 17 with Cream 22 tops and Cream 22 piping. Like I said, they're beautiful, but not right for my car. I went ahead and ordered a new interior yesterday, so you can do the math on that one. I need this set to go to a good home!!! It’s all brand new so I can’t give it away, but I’ll try to make it worthwhile Very Happy

More later!

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Be Plant-Strong!! Watch "Forks Over Knives" on Netflix

'66 Sedan Project - http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=410718

R.I.P. - Mikayla. I miss you Baby girl.

Motomazzo · Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2011 8:16 pm Post subject:

Well, a few things:

I received my WW original coconut hair seat pads. I couldn't believe the quality. Wow. I was impressed. Now, I wait to get the seat covers I really wanted and I should have seats done before too long. Sheeze! Rolling Eyes

I ordered two marine bilge fans for an experimental heater air augmentation system.....a little "boost" if you will for defrosting and general heating of the car during the winter months. I've read a few articles about these and the folks who use them swear by them. I will make my own housings and get them installed. More pics to come of that creation as well.

And lastly, I received a call from my painter who informed me he was getting just about ready for 2K primer on the car. I visited the shop to take a look and was impressed. Not much to see and the shop was cramped, but I took a few pics for a teaser. I can't wait to see more!

Till next time!

Moto
_________________
Be Plant-Strong!! Watch "Forks Over Knives" on Netflix

'66 Sedan Project - http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=410718

R.I.P. - Mikayla. I miss you Baby girl.

Motomazzo · Posted: Tue Nov 08, 2011 5:55 am Post subject:

I received a text from my painter yesterday. The photo is not the best, but he got the 2K build primer sprayed. From the pic, it looks great. I'm happy with the way the rear apron turned out. I’m hoping to get by there tomorrow to get an up-close look. Exciting!

More to come

_________________
Be Plant-Strong!! Watch "Forks Over Knives" on Netflix

'66 Sedan Project - http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=410718

R.I.P. - Mikayla. I miss you Baby girl.

silvertonguedevil · Posted: Tue Nov 08, 2011 6:18 am Post subject:

Lookin' good my friend!
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-Greg

Motomazzo · Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2011 5:04 am Post subject:

Thanks Greg. They always do in flat primer, don't they??? Laughing

I feel sure it's as smooth as it looks. I hope to get by there today and see for myself. Can't wait. Thanks for checking in and I'll post more pics as I get them.

Moto
_________________
Be Plant-Strong!! Watch "Forks Over Knives" on Netflix

'66 Sedan Project - http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=410718

R.I.P. - Mikayla. I miss you Baby girl.

davebuckholts · Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2011 8:51 am Post subject:

I can't wait til my body is at that stage!!
What colors are you going to use in the interior? I'm thinking about going with brick red and off white. Don't think it's an original color for 66 but I like it. Need to see how it wouold look with the Fontana Grey that is the original paint color.
Is the Watson wiring loom complete? I am thinking about using one, but mine's RHD. You have any contact #'s or email addy for them?

I got my pans all welded in and have just a few more places to weld up and then it's masterseries paint time! Going to be slow going for a few months til I build up the project money fund.

Keep up the great work Moto.

Do you have a high resolution pic of the interior you're selling? I may decide on that if I feel it'll look good with the grey....Hmmmm....

Motomazzo · Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2011 10:09 am Post subject:

Hey Dave!

I'm going with Brick Red and Ivory because I think it will go better with the Agave green. They're both more pastel-looking colors and not correct for the year as you mentioned. I'm like you. It's what I wanted, so I'm going with it. Not trying to sell my other interior kit to you, but the red that came on the current kit I have would look great with a grey color. It's too "red" to go with Agave green.....unless you are going for that "Christmas All Year -'Round" look. Laughing

Again, not trying to pitch my kit to you, but grey and true red are always good together. Not sure how the Brick Red would look with your grey. ….but it’s whatever you like. PM an email address to me so I can send you some better quality pics. By the time I reduce them to post on TS, they look crappy. I'll try to take some pics in different lighting, inside and out so you can get a better feel for what the color looks like.

The electrical harness from Watson's is complete and I'm really impressed with it. A fellow V-Dubber in my hometown here has it and loves it. As far as the quality, completeness, and fuse block, I'm sold. Here is a link to their ad:

http://www.watsons-streetworks.com/vw.beetle.wiring.html

If you get serious about it, call and ask for “Eric” (I think that’s his name). They don’t do any online ordering because they like to discuss the application to make sure the customer has everything they need, which I also appreciated. Like in my case, there was an extra little harness I needed if I had “such and such” type of lights, etc. I also ordered their 4 position ignition switch. It’s a direct fit for the ’66 and it clears the ashtray, etc. You can read more about it using the link I posted for you above.

I'll be looking for your PM.

Have a good one!

Moto
_________________
Be Plant-Strong!! Watch "Forks Over Knives" on Netflix

'66 Sedan Project - http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=410718

R.I.P. - Mikayla. I miss you Baby girl.

Schwing · Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2011 11:08 am Post subject:

Awesome build! Why did I not discover this sooner! We did a lot of similar work to our rides - heater channels, quarters, door pillars, deleting cigarette lighter, and not to mention not painting it the original color! Only difference is you are FAR more skilled than I am when it comes to welding. Really awesome seeing it come together, I am going to follow this one; I like the decisions you've made so far.

Applause

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Single Cab - BBXXVII Long Distance Winner
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Herman the oval
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Motomazzo · Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2011 9:57 pm Post subject:

Wow, thank you so much. Posts like this make it all worthwhile and I definitely appreciate it. It's not perfect, but I sure am proud of the car. It will be my favorite for sure! I'm out of town again, but the wife informed me that the "correct" TMI interior showed up today, so I hope to begin on the seats this weekend! Whoo-hoo!! I'll keep you posted. Going to check out your thread as well.

Peace, Brother!

Moto
_________________
Be Plant-Strong!! Watch "Forks Over Knives" on Netflix

'66 Sedan Project - http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=410718

R.I.P. - Mikayla. I miss you Baby girl.

vanilla_gorilla13 · Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2011 7:31 pm Post subject:

This is an awesome build, thanks for taking the time to share it with us. Very Happy

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'71 Super Beetle (sold)

OTO X58 · Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2011 8:03 pm Post subject:

Great work! Looking forward to some paint pics.
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66 Kombi - Family project

JDub65 · Samba Member Joined: November 08, 2011 Posts: 2

damn man i love your work do really good work and giving me alot of ideas for my 65 body wise keep it coming cant wait to see this baby done. Very Happy

Motomazzo · Posted: Sun Nov 20, 2011 4:50 am Post subject:

Man, you guys are great! Thank you so much for the props. It really helps keep the motivation up.

I'm continuing on the seat covers today. It's going pretty smooth. I found out yesterday that my bug shop sold me an incorrect rear seat bottom. Nice. Rolling Eyes

Oh well, the rear seat back was correct, so I pressed on with that. I have that one almost done. I will finish it this morning, then move on to the driver and pax seats. I would like to get them all done today if possible. But you know how that goes....one slip of the screwdriver....a poke with a hog ring in the end of the finger causing an involuntary jerk of the arm, hits the coffee, spills onto the cover...... Laughing

Hopefully, it will go a little better than that Laughing

Interior paint is 'sposed to be shot this afternoon or tomorrow. I will get pics posted ASAP! ~~

Thanks everybody!

Moto
_________________
Be Plant-Strong!! Watch "Forks Over Knives" on Netflix

'66 Sedan Project - http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=410718

R.I.P. - Mikayla. I miss you Baby girl.

Motomazzo · Posted: Fri Nov 25, 2011 6:15 am Post subject:

Well alright.....got a little seat upholstery done. It went pretty well, I'd have to say. I had to do a few little things here and there to make it all work, but I think these will be great seats for years to come.

I first started with a roll of vinyl to cover the seat springs.

Here is the vinyl, smooth side down hog-ringed to the frame. It really didn't matter which way this was facing, I suppose, but in the Wolfsburg West video I was provided with the seat pads they mentioned this layer functioning as a type of moisture barrier. The vinyl had a mesh layer adhered to one side (grey looking) and it was smooth on the other. So I put the smooth, black vinyl facing the "elements". I had to pick an orientation and that's what I came up with. You have to make the stuff up as you go, Laughing

.

I went with the WW Coconut Hair seat pads based on many of the threads I read here. Although I have not used anything else, I would have to agree with the others in that I least I can say these things are top-notch. I had no complaints.

I purchased the cotton batting material from WW for the seat perimeter, just like VW used to do. Here it is cut and adhered to the seat with 3M spray adhesive.

I noticed on the side rails of the rear seat back rest, it appeared the OG seat cover was held in place with upholstery nails. I opted to go with commercial contact cement here. The main reasoning is because I knew this would be supplemented with the installation of the fiber-board seat back installed with screws later. I just needed something to hold the vinyl in place until I could get to that step. It worked great.

Here is the side piece before synching down at the bottom.

At this point, I put down my conventional tooling for something a little more "delicate". There were some areas of the upholstery that I just wasn't happy leaving alone. I wanted these covers to last for the long haul. I stitched up a few places to give a little strength and to complete the overall look of the covers. Here were the tools of the trade I used (sorry for the crappy pic. I could not get my camera to focus).

Not the best pic, but here is the first area I sewed. The metal hooks from the seat frame were present, but I just couldn't see the vinyl holding up over time on these hooks alone. Also, the gaps between the hooks left a very "unfinished" look to the seat cover. So, I sewed everything up tight. I used an ivory-colored upholstery thread to match the piping here because I could not find red. I later switched to a red-colored yarn-type thread on the front seats. Also, notice the weight rack in the background of the photo. I found it made me feel better about sewing if I leaned the seat up against my weight rack in the workout room Laughing

Completed rear seat back, front-side.

Here is the back-side, before I screwed the back panel down. I just rattle-canned the fiberboard (also purchased from WW) Krylon flat black.

Before I move to the front seats, let me just say that during this process I discovered that my local VW shop sold me an incorrect year model rear seat, seat bottom. This is AFTER I had it powder coated, hog-ringed the vinyl down to the seat bottom, and attempted to stretch the seat cover over the frame. Evil or Very Mad

Then I got over it. Rolling Eyes

I read several threads and I saw one guy who had increased the padding where the seat springs had gotten a little worn by adding pipe insulation. I did this as well and it worked GREAT! I just weaved the pipe insulation up and down between the springs, as equally as I could.

And the same process as before.....

Cotton-pile cut to fit and seat marked for location.

Test fit

Adhered

Installed

Now, about the seat backs......let me just say that I probably could have used a new seat back on the driver's side. The seat springs had broken years ago and had been re-welded to the seat frame, yada, yada. And yes, I should have noticed all this and spent a little more time with the seat frames before I had them powder-coated. They were superbly upholstered before so I didn't think twice about it. But what I didn't think about was that they were upholstered in a custom, non-OG fashion. When I began to use OG material, I started seeing where the old "fixes" on the seat were masked by the foam padding and custom upholstery work that were done before. Oh well...learning lesson. I had to make some things work for lack of a better way of saying it. So, I didn't take as many pics mainly because I was busy and very frustrated. I had to really work to get the fiberboard seat back in place and it was definitely a "custom" installation. Here is a pic of that.

Once the seat cover was slipped over the pad and cotton, I elected for my own custom upholstering technique for synching the bottom down. I basically laced the two steel rods in the front and rear seat covers together with stainless steel safety wire. It started to look like a scary dental project....

Here is the cover laced together with the "pig-tails" sticking up. Those of you familiar with aviation know what I'm talking about here.

The pig-tails where then folded and tucked back in between the two metal rods and into the inside of the seat. I've been thinking that I may purchase a piece of the brick red vinyl and bond it across this seam, but it's probably not necessary. I haven't decided yet.

Here's an example of what I was left with and how I fixed it. This is the remaining seat cover material with no where to go...

And here it is after I sewed the snot out of it. MARTHA STEWART AIN'T GOT NOTHIN' ON ME, HOLLA!! Laughing

And the driver's side seat complete.

I still have a little ways to go before I can say that all the seats are complete and ready to go, but all in all, I'm very happy with the way things are turning out.

Until next time....

Thanks for looking!

Moto
_________________
Be Plant-Strong!! Watch "Forks Over Knives" on Netflix

'66 Sedan Project - http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=410718

R.I.P. - Mikayla. I miss you Baby girl.

1low65 · Posted: Fri Nov 25, 2011 3:40 pm Post subject:

damn!

those seats look good moto. i really cant wait to see that thing done now.

vanilla_gorilla13 · Posted: Fri Nov 25, 2011 9:50 pm Post subject:

seats turned out awesome, man...
_________________
'71 Super Beetle (sold)


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