| Author |
Message |
KiddysClassics
Samba Member
Joined: March 06, 2015
Posts: 43
Location: United States
|
 Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2015 8:54 am Post subject: 1966 VW Beetle Convertible - Full Restoration |
 |
|
This 1966 VW Beetle Convertible was brought to us by the original owner who wants to restore it to its “original condition, or better!” Purchased in October of 1965, the owner remembers pushing it off the showroom floor in Jacksonville, NC. This sweet vehicle was the family car when the owner and his wife first married, and later became the second vehicle. It was used for trips on back-country roads to picnic with his wife and daughter in Pensacola, FL – where he was stationed as a Marine. The car itself has all its original parts and only 148,000 miles on it and has been a show car for the last 20-25 years.
_________________
Kiddy's Classics
Automotive Restoration & Custom Fabrication
3422 NE Candice Ave.
Jensen Beach, FL 34957
772.334.2041
- Restoring the Past -
Website | Facebook |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
carcrazed
Samba Member
Joined: November 15, 2007
Posts: 957
Location: Ohio
|
| Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2015 9:42 am Post subject: |
|
|
Wow. Looks like a very solid car to start with.
_________________
1965 Herbie Replica. 1776cc dual Kads.
1961 Beetle 33,000 Original Miles
"Just When you think you are getting ahead, you're always wrong." |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
KiddysClassics
Samba Member
Joined: March 06, 2015
Posts: 43
Location: United States
|
| Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2015 7:38 am Post subject: |
|
|
After removing the body, and media blasting the center tube, the floor pans were replaced.
_________________
Kiddy's Classics
Automotive Restoration & Custom Fabrication
3422 NE Candice Ave.
Jensen Beach, FL 34957
772.334.2041
- Restoring the Past -
Website | Facebook |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
KiddysClassics
Samba Member
Joined: March 06, 2015
Posts: 43
Location: United States
|
| Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2015 6:56 am Post subject: |
|
|
The bottom drain hole on standard Beetles will often get clogged with debris or insects which seem to find it to be the perfect nesting spot. This in turn, traps the moisture inside, making this a very common area of repair on most of our restorations.
_________________
Kiddy's Classics
Automotive Restoration & Custom Fabrication
3422 NE Candice Ave.
Jensen Beach, FL 34957
772.334.2041
- Restoring the Past -
Website | Facebook |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
jzjames
Samba Member
Joined: September 27, 2007
Posts: 1921
Location: Windy Point, WA
|
| Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2015 10:47 am Post subject: |
|
|
[quote="KiddysClassics"]The bottom drain hole on standard Beetles will often get clogged with debris or insects
[quote]
Florida salt-air condensation. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
KiddysClassics
Samba Member
Joined: March 06, 2015
Posts: 43
Location: United States
|
| Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2015 6:50 am Post subject: |
|
|
All parts were media blasted and coated in epoxy to protect them from future corrosion. Then, all worn items were replaced, completely restoring the pan.
_________________
Kiddy's Classics
Automotive Restoration & Custom Fabrication
3422 NE Candice Ave.
Jensen Beach, FL 34957
772.334.2041
- Restoring the Past -
Website | Facebook |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
KiddysClassics
Samba Member
Joined: March 06, 2015
Posts: 43
Location: United States
|
| Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2015 6:07 am Post subject: |
|
|
While stripping the paint, we found that the vehicle was painted several times, covering multiple areas with body filler. When we removed the body filler we found the metal to be damaged beneath. When media blasting was completed, there were several areas of rust that we found that would need to be repaired. Most of the damage was located beneath the passenger rear area and rear body mounts.
_________________
Kiddy's Classics
Automotive Restoration & Custom Fabrication
3422 NE Candice Ave.
Jensen Beach, FL 34957
772.334.2041
- Restoring the Past -
Website | Facebook |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
KiddysClassics
Samba Member
Joined: March 06, 2015
Posts: 43
Location: United States
|
| Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2015 7:42 am Post subject: |
|
|
The front wheel well is a common rust area on any classic VW Beetle. As you can see from the pictures below, the area had been previously repaired and covered with body filler which traps the moisture, making the repair more costly in the end due to a poor quality repair originally. We removed the whole section and replacement pieces were fabricated in house to repair the area properly.
_________________
Kiddy's Classics
Automotive Restoration & Custom Fabrication
3422 NE Candice Ave.
Jensen Beach, FL 34957
772.334.2041
- Restoring the Past -
Website | Facebook |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
KiddysClassics
Samba Member
Joined: March 06, 2015
Posts: 43
Location: United States
|
| Posted: Mon Mar 30, 2015 7:07 am Post subject: |
|
|
The Napoleon's Hat on a VW Beetle is the area around which the pan bolts to the front of the body. This area was rusted on both the pan and the body. We cut away the rusted area on the body and fabricated and fitted a patch panel to replace what was removed.
_________________
Kiddy's Classics
Automotive Restoration & Custom Fabrication
3422 NE Candice Ave.
Jensen Beach, FL 34957
772.334.2041
- Restoring the Past -
Website | Facebook |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
KiddysClassics
Samba Member
Joined: March 06, 2015
Posts: 43
Location: United States
|
| Posted: Tue Mar 31, 2015 8:17 am Post subject: |
|
|
Both the inside and out of the rockers were rusted. Any rusted areas on the inside of the rockers were cut away and fabricated panels were welded in place. Because this is a convertible, it has braces that run the full length of the rocker to strengthen the body, and as with most reproduction panels - the fit was hardly accurate. The reproduction braces that were purchased had to be extensively modified to fit properly.
_________________
Kiddy's Classics
Automotive Restoration & Custom Fabrication
3422 NE Candice Ave.
Jensen Beach, FL 34957
772.334.2041
- Restoring the Past -
Website | Facebook |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
KiddysClassics
Samba Member
Joined: March 06, 2015
Posts: 43
Location: United States
|
| Posted: Wed Apr 01, 2015 7:37 am Post subject: |
|
|
The rear bumper supports on VW Beetles are commonly found to be rusted on the inside. We cut away the rusted areas and reproduction panels with the supports already attached were then welded in place.
_________________
Kiddy's Classics
Automotive Restoration & Custom Fabrication
3422 NE Candice Ave.
Jensen Beach, FL 34957
772.334.2041
- Restoring the Past -
Website | Facebook |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
KiddysClassics
Samba Member
Joined: March 06, 2015
Posts: 43
Location: United States
|
| Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2015 7:22 am Post subject: |
|
|
All the fenders were in bad condition and had been poorly repaired. Patch panels had been welded over rust and covered with body filler. We cut away the damaged areas and replaced them with fabricated pieces.
_________________
Kiddy's Classics
Automotive Restoration & Custom Fabrication
3422 NE Candice Ave.
Jensen Beach, FL 34957
772.334.2041
- Restoring the Past -
Website | Facebook |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
grandpa pete
Samba Member
Joined: July 06, 2008
Posts: 6426
Location: St. Petersburg, FL
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
MomoMoto
Samba Member
Joined: March 02, 2015
Posts: 84
Location: Greenville, SC
|
| Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2015 9:45 am Post subject: |
|
|
Great metal work! Doing the rear bumper mount section on my bug soon, having a body guy do it for me so it's done right, and well. I'd love to repair my fenders too, but he suggests the expense is way to high - and finding OG like suggested above at a local show or through the Samba classifieds was my best move...still hunting - sure something will turn up now that show season is starting 
_________________
------------------
'61 Beetle Ragtop
'15 Golf GTI |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
KiddysClassics
Samba Member
Joined: March 06, 2015
Posts: 43
Location: United States
|
| Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2015 11:23 am Post subject: |
|
|
| MomoMoto wrote: |
| Great metal work! Doing the rear bumper mount section on my bug soon, having a body guy do it for me so it's done right, and well. I'd love to repair my fenders too, but he suggests the expense is way to high - and finding OG like suggested above at a local show or through the Samba classifieds was my best move...still hunting - sure something will turn up now that show season is starting |
We are located next door to a Classic VW Mechanic Shop - he has quite a few of used fenders for sale. Having gone through them, we noticed many of them were in worse condition than the original ones we already had. It was more cost effective, in this case, to repair the originals rather than purchasing used ones.
_________________
Kiddy's Classics
Automotive Restoration & Custom Fabrication
3422 NE Candice Ave.
Jensen Beach, FL 34957
772.334.2041
- Restoring the Past -
Website | Facebook |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
wcfvw69 
Samba Purist
Joined: June 10, 2004
Posts: 13389
Location: Arizona
|
| Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2015 3:55 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| KiddysClassics wrote: |
| MomoMoto wrote: |
| Great metal work! Doing the rear bumper mount section on my bug soon, having a body guy do it for me so it's done right, and well. I'd love to repair my fenders too, but he suggests the expense is way to high - and finding OG like suggested above at a local show or through the Samba classifieds was my best move...still hunting - sure something will turn up now that show season is starting |
We are located next door to a Classic VW Mechanic Shop - he has quite a few of used fenders for sale. Having gone through them, we noticed many of them were in worse condition than the original ones we already had. It was more cost effective, in this case, to repair the originals rather than purchasing used ones. |
I'd much rather pay to have my original, German fenders repaired correctly than use any of the new re-pop fenders sold today. As mentioned, most of the used fenders you see at swap meets need just as much work as was done here. I like to know my bug is rolling with all it's original metal.
_________________
Contact me at [email protected]
Follow me on instagram @sparxwerksllc
Decades of VW and VW parts restoration experience.
The Samba member since 2004.
**Now rebuilding throttle bodies for VW's and Porsche's**
**Restored German Bosch distributors for sale or I can restore yours**
**Restored German Pierburg fuel pumps for sale or I can restore yours**
**Restored Porsche fuel pumps or I can restore yours**
**Restored Porsche distributors or I can restore yours** |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
KiddysClassics
Samba Member
Joined: March 06, 2015
Posts: 43
Location: United States
|
| Posted: Mon May 11, 2015 7:19 am Post subject: |
|
|
The factory never intended for these cars to stay on the road as long as they have. Many areas of the car were assembled with no treatment of the metal in the seams. In areas like the weatherstrip channels shown below, all of the weatherstrips were removed, blasted clean, treated for rust prevention, and new ones welded in place. After doing this the weather strip channels are then blasted again and sealed in epoxy.
_________________
Kiddy's Classics
Automotive Restoration & Custom Fabrication
3422 NE Candice Ave.
Jensen Beach, FL 34957
772.334.2041
- Restoring the Past -
Website | Facebook |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
KiddysClassics
Samba Member
Joined: March 06, 2015
Posts: 43
Location: United States
|
| Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2016 7:29 am Post subject: Re: 1966 VW Beetle Convertible - Full Restoration |
|
|
Painting the vehicle
_________________
Kiddy's Classics
Automotive Restoration & Custom Fabrication
3422 NE Candice Ave.
Jensen Beach, FL 34957
772.334.2041
- Restoring the Past -
Website | Facebook |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
