hedgehog's '65 Tiki Bug build

[hedgehog]

Just over 4 years ago I picked up this ’65 from the classifieds here. It was a solid little Bug for the most part (we’ll talk about that more later). Well, it was better than any Midwest offering that I had found for the same $$$. I grew up around air cooled VWs, but was about 8 years removed from them. My daughter was about 1 at the time, so I thought she should grow up around them too. Plus, maybe she would want to hang out with pop in the garage on occasion.

Being a big hot rod/rat rod/Von Dutch fan, I knew I wanted the car to be satin black and pinstriped…the rest just sort of happened. After going through everything mechanically to make sure she was road worthy and just drivin’ and smilin’ for several months, I decided it was time to get to work. First up… custom 4” narrowed beam and JerFab 3” drop plates, for the proper altitude adjustment. Also swapped out the chromies for smoothies (wide out back of course).

Since the back end had been previously re-sprayed and there was a good bit of surface rust, I took her down to my buddy’s shop in Cincinnati for a “weekend special” paint job. I got down there around 9:00am on a Friday morning and left late Sunday afternoon. We managed to knock out all of the body work (ok, so she’s about 90% good), shot some single stage SEM trim black and had another buddy stop by and lay down some nasty pinstriping. That was a good weekend!

Oh yeah…we obviously decided to leave the interior with its OG paint.
Speaking of the interior...when I got her, the headliner and door cards were trashed. On the up-side, there were some really cool racing seats up front (they ended up in a dumpster in record time). I had seen a bamboo headliner online somewhere before, so I thought that would look good (…and I’m cheap). I also made some masonite door cards and covered them in burlap (…again…cheap).

After that, I just drove her around a lot…went to a few car shows…good times!

Random shots in downtown Columbus…

2011 Cincinnati show…

[hedgehog]

October 2011 kinda sucked. My mom’s old Jeep was acting up, so I gave her my daily driver to get around in while I fixed the Jeep. In the meantime, I figured I’d just drive the Bug. It took me 5 days to get the Jeep squared away. It rained for 5 days straight. Up until then, the ’65 had only gotten caught in a couple of rain storms (since I owned her anyway). Those 5 days of rain helped me spot a little something that the previous owner had failed to mention. Now, I’m not saying the PO did what I’m about to show you…in fact I’m hoping he didn’t even know about it, because he seemed like a good guy. Regardless, someone at some point in time had done a patch job in the battery tray area that would make the baby Jesus cry. The messed up part is, you couldn’t really spot it by looking at the pans from the underside (tarboard helped hide it I guess). The patch panel that they used didn’t cover the entire area that it needed to cover. No worries though, duct tape is just as good, right?!?!

Which led to…

I finally got her pieced together enough to drive home a couple of months later. At that point I had gutted the interior again, with plans of fresh carpet and upholstery. None of that happened any time soon. I did do some stuff, like fixing those damn burlap door panels. As cool as they were, they liked to sag when it was too humid…so I had to fix that. I found some stuff that stiffened the burlap, but it also discolored it badly. No fear…it was paintable!

[hedgehog]

Now…it’s about to get weird.

While the family and I were on vacation in Florida last June, my daughter (now 5) gave me a brilliant idea (just ask her…she’ll tell ya!). She fell in love with tiki stuff and all the lizards she saw down there. I figured, I already had painted front and rear interior panels…might as well send them to my pinstriping buddy in Cincy. So I sent the panels, my visors and some goofy rope grab straps that I had made to replace the original vinyl ones. I told my stripe guy, “Give me some pinstripes, tiki dudes, lizards and Hawaiian flowers to make the Bug fun for my daughter. Oh…and don’t make the tiki dudes creepy and scare the hell out of her.” He didn’t let me down…and my daughter thinks it’s the coolest thing on four wheels.

Since then, I’ve been working on a few stereo related things and waiting for the weather to break so I can get this seat upholstery and carpet stuff done. I’m gonna use an ipod as the source unit, so I needed a line driver to bump up the output voltage. This one is also an EQ and crossover. Should do the trick.

Also built a small box for some little 6.5” subs and an old school amp.

…and started on some fiberglass kick panels for a 6.5” component set. Still not sure if I’m gonna use these.

…oh yeah…and my bamboo third brake light.

Making the base…

Finished product…

Rear carpet in…third brake light installed…

That’s about where I am right now. Hopefully she’ll be finished up within the next two months. That’s the goal anyway. Thanks for lookin’!

[rkwfxd]

I love it. Very cool build. How wide are your rear rims? What size tires are you running front and rear? Thanks.

[OvalinAz]

badass! I love the Door panels!!!!
_________________
Dad's 4/55 Oval
8/56 Oval
5/64 French Notchback
12/62 French 11 Window Bus
Wedge VW
Pandraggers C.C.

[hedgehog]

[btrghia]

Great build.

[tacochris]

Very nice man....Love the little trick additions to her, pulled off very well.
_________________
1957 Lowlight
1962 walk-thru Kombi

"Nothing will ever be as nice as original paint, no matter how much is or isnt left"

"Those that confuse hoodride with the OG paint movement definitely have their wires crossed. Its all about preservation, pulling out its true potential while hoodride is about purposely making something look like a piece of shit." -SKIM

[VOLKSWAGNUT]

Well.... Its about damn time....
Man....this thing rocks.
I really like where your mind is on this one, Tiki, Bamboo, Pinstripe.... totaly awesome dude......!!!!
_________________
aka Ken {o\!/o}
Its your vehicle- stop askin' for approval-do what YOU like for cryin' out loud
Better to roll em' how you want and wear em' out-than lettin' em' rot out
Its about the going not the showing
Rebuilt to drive not decorate
WANTED: Local Eatin' Joints, Triple D for TheSamba contributions here http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=570510
Search "VOLKSWAGNUT" on YouTube since you cant watch a "certain" BELT change video round here
Usually and often edited

[dubulup]

well done!

[hedgehog]

Thanks for the kind words everybody.

btr, tacochris and dubulup...love your ghias.

[rkwfxd]

[Jon65]

You sir, have an amazing looking car. I especially love the little details that you have added. I'm sure you and your daughter will have a fun time enjoying your bug.

Best of luck to you.

[TequilaSunSet]

This is so many levels of kick ass!!!
_________________
Don't harsh my mellow...
1985 Hightower Vanagon 1.8T- Gone
1972 Panel Bus- Gone
1967 Bug- Gone
1964 Euro Sunroof Bug- Gone
1969/72/63 Sunroof Bug- Gone
1975 Brazilian Bug in the Philippines 🇵🇭- New to me

[hedgehog]

[vanilla_gorilla13]

very nicely put together...
_________________
'71 Super Beetle (sold)

[Grifter]

Man, That's one of the coolest cars I've seen in a while, satin black paint aside.(j/k). I especially like the interior work. Just a really cool vibe to it. Well Done!
_________________
Greg
1970 Beetle...a work in progress
Yukon Yellow
Stock SP, Bosch vac advance
30PICT-3 swapped to a 30PICT-1

"At least I know that I don't know. Question is are you bozos smart enough to feel stupid? Hope so"

[fastwagens]

very cool. you have great vision.

[hedgehog]

Wow...thanks again everybody.

Ya know, I built this thing half expecting a lot of people to say, "wtf?". Don't get me wrong...those people are probably still out there!

Being the "to each their own" kinda person that I am...once the goofy ideas were in my head, I just ran with them. I really appreciate that a lot of folks are finding the same fun in this Bug that I am.

[rkwfxd]