1974 Super Junkyard Restoration

[75smith]

I didn't see it mentions again, but a MIG welder is 10 times better for body work then arc, arc will work but sometimes takes a bit to get a good weld on the thin metal without burning through, MIG is easier to work with, provides a cleaner weld, and is more forgiving, especially since you can control heat and speed better

a simple Hobart and 40lb tank should cost 400-500 new, not cheap but well worth it, you could even "loan out" and get some side money welding for your friends when you get good enough
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My 1975 Beetle Build Updated 8-21-12

My engine build

[ROCKOROD71]

NOOB- you are kicking butt with this project! Looking good, and seems like you've got the muscle around to help. Everyone's gonna want a ride when your done, so do it right so you don't embarrass yourself on said ride!
Anyway just wanted to throw some advice at you on the carb, you said you're buying a new one. If you haven't yet take a look at Volksbitz, he rebuilds carbs, not like a basic rebuild but a total teardown, re-bush, etc. The press-fit fuel inlet he will thread in to prevent the dreaded popping out of the fuel line there which has caused many a fire. If you get your hands on a cheap German Solex it's better to send out to him and have rebuilt than to buy a new Empi/Bocar/etc carb, and cheaper too. $139 for the complete rebuild vs. $200 for a new, inferior carb. He will also make sure the carb vibes with the distributor you are using.
Keep up the good work sir....
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1971 STD BEETLE- DD-1st car, 1st love. keepin' it stock! 1600DP, Solex 34-3 Mexi Bosch SVDA Dist NOW w/POINTS
1977 WESTY "KrustyKamper" 2L FI

[ACVWN00B]

Thanks guys,

Yeah, I broke that little black round underneath the automatic choke and can't find one so I'm trying to find a replacement. The guy I was going to buy a replacement 34 PICT-3 from kept trying to tack on money to what we agreed on so I kind of walked away from that. Still looking, though. If anybody has the top end, I may be interested.

As for the welder, my uncle has a nice Miller MIG welder that I may be able to use. I may try to head his way Saturday to see about loaning it out.

And I may be able to get more pictures up Saturday.

Thanks guys,
Jonathan K
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"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." ~ Thomas Edison ~

[ACVWN00B]

Hey guys!

I sent Tim at Volkzbitz an e-mail last night... And like all of the other things I've spent more on to get a better quality, I think I'll send him my carb. It looks like he'll do the whole thing for $170 including blasting and re-plating. I'll see if I can get that in the mail within the week. He said the general turnaround is about a week so I should have the rest of the engine back together by then. Thanks ROCKOROD71!

I just took the 3rd tin piece out of the electrolysis bath. I've still got a couple more pieces left to do but they're not looking too shabby so far.

Updates to come. I may be able to get a couple pictures up today but we'll see.

Thanks guys,
Jonathan K
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"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." ~ Thomas Edison ~

[ACVWN00B]

Hey guys.

I wasn't able to get much done today. My little sister had a seizure so I was in the hospital most of the day and that took precedence.

Anyways, I'll try to get pics up when I can.

Thanks,
Jonathan K
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"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." ~ Thomas Edison ~

[DadsOld74]

How is your little sister doing? Will pray for her.
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--Brian ('74 standard bug)

"If one does not fail at times, then one has not challenged himself." - Ferdinand Porsche

[ACVWN00B]

Hey guys,

She's doing alright now. She was on the couch taking her nap and just started bouncing. The doctor said she had what was called a febrile seizure which comes from the body temp rising too fast. Apparently she's sensitive to temperature change.

She's home and fine now. Just antibiotics to take but she looks like she's back to normal.

Thank you,

Jonathan K
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"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." ~ Thomas Edison ~

[ACVWN00B]

Okay guys. So I got all of my bearings and parts in the mail. I've already started reassembling everything. I have the case back together and everything seems to be turning smooth as silk. The pistons have been put back in place, and I'm working on putting in the head studs now. After that, it's just a basic reassembly and adjusting. Oh, and I still haven't sent my carb off... I'll probably do that next week... Maybe.

Here's my workbench as of 2 days ago. I was just trying to get the main parts on the table so it's messy at best.

And here's the engine after I got the case put back together and torqued.

Updates to follow.

Thanks guys,
Jonathan K
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"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." ~ Thomas Edison ~

[DadsOld74]

Good job, my friend! Looks great! I've never done an engine overhaul, but I'm sure I'll need to sometime within the next few years. I'm enjoying your pictures.
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--Brian ('74 standard bug)

"If one does not fail at times, then one has not challenged himself." - Ferdinand Porsche

[DadsOld74]

Glad your sister is better!
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--Brian ('74 standard bug)

"If one does not fail at times, then one has not challenged himself." - Ferdinand Porsche

[bandi]

Cool car- my girlfriend has a '74 Super in the same color with the beige interior.
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'60 Canadian Standard, '64 Bug, another '64 Bug, '66 Bug, '69 Sunroof Bug, '69 GT3 Bug, '71 Super, '72 Super, '73 Canadian Custom, '74 Love Bug, '83 Mexi Bug, '85 Cabrio, '94 Mexi Bug, '99 New Beetle, '02 New Beetle Turbo S, '03 New Beetle VR6. And some Fieros.

[ACVWN00B]

Hey guys!

So I've just about put my engine all the way back together. I've decided to forgo the flaps and thermostat (for now). I'll get the whole thermostat assembly operational on the next rebuild ( I may even try a little more displacement but we'll see).

I'm still waiting for my pulleys to come in and my carburetor has been sent off to Tim at Volksbitz for a rebuild. Other than that, it's just a matter of a couple wires and hoses and it should be ready to try to fire up.

All of the tin is painted and I only need the little piece on the right of the engine next to the cylinders. Not sure exactly what it's called but I'll check it out.

I don't have any pictures to show y'all now. The camera I'm using now is acting up. I'll try again later.

Thanks guys,
Jonathan K
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"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." ~ Thomas Edison ~

[ACVWN00B]

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=1404431269810...tif_t=like

I'm not sure If I did that right but I was finally able to start the engine up yesterday evening. This is the first time I've heard her run so that kind of made my day.

I've also been working on some rust removal on the chassis. Now that the engine is running I can remove the tranny, driveshafts, and the rear brakes. I've completely torn down the whole front end and started cleaning it up.

I think I'll go ahead and get disc brakes for the front and leave the rear brakes drum.

Anyways. I don't have any pictures right now but I'll try to get some up shortly.

Thanks guys,

Jonathan K
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"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." ~ Thomas Edison ~

[DadsOld74]

Hey Jonathan,

It's getting closer to your deadline. How is the project coming? Do you have any new pictures to show us?
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--Brian ('74 standard bug)

"If one does not fail at times, then one has not challenged himself." - Ferdinand Porsche

[ACVWN00B]

Hey guys! I figured nobody was reading this so I haven't posted in a while. lol!

Anyways, the floor pans are welded in, the bottom of the chassis is undercoated, rear brakes are cleaned and rebuilt, the top of the chassis is painted a gloss black, working on saving for the front suspension and steering (going to upgrade to disc in the front), I'm going to try to tackle a heater channel tomorrow... Hopefully that'll work out okay and I don't trash my body. lol! We're kind of back to square one if that happens.

I ended up buying a decent Hobart MIG welder. I don't have the money for gas so I'm just using .030" flux core wire. This has been working very well with me being extremely new to welding.

The engine is fully operational now. I just have to get an air filter and the piece of rear tin. I have decided to forgo the stinger for the zoom tube and it's sounding pretty awesome.

The tranny and driveshafts have been cleaned and the tranny is installed.

The May deadline is pretty much out the window now. The welder alone cost me about a month. It may be into July before it's on the road. My goal now is mid-July if everything runs smooth between now and then. I may be taking diesel-tech at the Community College so I may be able to work through it a little more during those courses.

I think up to now I've taken apart just about every part on this car... Except for the speedo.... An most of it has gone back together without very many problems.

I don't really have many new pictures but here's two I took a couple weeks ago.

Also, throwing around ideas for the front end. If anybody reads this, I'd love to hear your thoughts. I have two different ideas.

First: Remove the front bumper and patch the bumper holes.

Second: Remove the front bumper. Remove the turn signal assembly. Patch the turn signal assembly holes and get a set of round lights to fill the bumper holes.

What do you think? Am I just talking crap or would it look decent?

Thanks guys!
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"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." ~ Thomas Edison ~

[Rome]

Your pan looks great! Excellent that you are getting first experience with the welder by doing the floorpan welds which are hidden from plain sight. By the time you've finished the pans, you've probably achieved enough feel for the weld process that the thinner metal for the body panels will be easier.

Are you planning to keep the rear bumper? If so, my opinion is that the car will look much better balanced with the front one in place. You can still shave the blinkers off the top of the fenders and install round lights into the face of the front bumper. I did that on my '77 Beetle, which only had nerf bars from the PO. I found a solid set of good chromed OEM '75 bumpers in the local junkyard (this was in '92), took the round "Lucas" glass blinker lights off the front fenders (PO modification), drilled holes into the bumper using a hole saw, and simply stuck them in using the rubber surround from the lights. Even though your Super's front bumper has a slightly different curve than that for a Std Beetle, the concept could work for you.

Here's mine up front-

[ACVWN00B]

Thanks! What do y'all think about something like this? I kind of like the look of this setup. It looks very clean without being too empty. I'll have to do a little patchwork to fit the t-bars but it looks doable.

I don't know just yet about the rear bumpers. I don't love the look of the late style bumpers like mine has but I'm much more likely to be rear-ended than running into somebody so I need some kind of protection... I could reinforce the rear end but I don't know about that... Thoughts?

Thanks guys!
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"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." ~ Thomas Edison ~

[DadsOld74]

Good job, Jonathan! I'm impressed. I'm very glad to hear you're enjoying your first VW project. Saving a great little super from the wrecking yard!

Personally, I'm partial to bumpers. T-bars look clean and sleak, but you've put so many hours into your project, I think it deserves to be protected both in the front and the rear. '74 shock bumpers are a little more effective those from previous years.

If you shave the fenders, I think small round lights mounted on the front of the fenders (similar to those on the picture you posted) could look nice. Depending on how picky the police are in your area, you might need to come up with some sort of side marker lights.

Just thoughts.
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--Brian ('74 standard bug)

"If one does not fail at times, then one has not challenged himself." - Ferdinand Porsche

[ACVWN00B]

Okay...

Saturday I started the part of the project I was most afraid of... The heater channels. I was able to weld in a piece of angle steel to keep the body from crumpling and that seemed to hold it pretty good.

There was a LOT of rust... Or should I say just a little metal left on the heater channel. I was able to get it cut out in a few hours and the new one tacked in by mid day. The whole of the progress in the pictures here took about 9 hours.

The door did have fit issues to start with (it was like that when I bought the car) so I'll have to shim the hinge to make it fit a little better but that shouldn't be much of an issue.

As you can see by the photos, my welding leaves a lot of opportunities for grinding practice. lol! But everything is holding for now so I'm okay with it.

There is still a lot of patchwork around the new channel to do but I should be able to do that within the week if the weather clears up.

Thanks guys!

Oh BTW DadsOld74, thanks for the input. I have about 50 different ideas for the lights floating around in my head right now so it's still possible that I may put the stock lights and bumpers back on but I'm hoping to do something special with it.
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"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." ~ Thomas Edison ~

[kickfli12]

WOW! awesome job man! this gives me inspiration to tackle the 73 super i just bought my fiancee. but that will happen when i get around to it lol... i still have work to do on my 68. kudos for jumping in head first. i had to do the same thing but all i started with was a $900 body, chassis, and a title that had never been put into the guy i bought it froms name.