My wife's surprise 69 Bug resto. Pic Heavy

[savbeige69]

Hi Folks,

Brilliant forum, I've been reading for a while now and recently decided to join and say hello.

My name is Ryan, I'm from Melbourne Australia and obviously new here. Thought the best way to introduce myself would be to share some pics of the restoration ( for want of a better word ) of my wife's 69 bug. The Beetle was her first car which she purchased from her Grandmother when she was the tender age of 16, her Gran had owned the car since 1971 and was the second owner so the car is pretty much a family heirloom. I reckon 40 years in the one family is pretty special.

I realise you blokes have probably seen threads like this a million times over and done sooooo much better than this but it's nice to be able to share what we've accomplished so far, especially with others who have a passion for VW's.

She loved this car so much and it meant the world to her considering it's history, problem is she loved it nearly to death. She'd cut and polished it so much it was back to undercoat in places, also the fact she was/is a bit of a wild driver accounted for the odd scrape, knock and dent here and there.


Hardest part about this resto is that she knows nothing about it. The car has been in storage at a mates farm since 2005, keeping an old NSU Prinz company. It was last driven on our wedding day 9 years ago and then retired due to it's condition, lack of brakes being the first that comes to mind. Her family has also come to the party with some cash to help fund it which which is great and a big help.

Start of this year the idea was born whilst I was considering what to do for her 40th Birthday which will be in October next year so I've got another 15 months to complete the project, also decided it was best to try and put it back to the same as it would have looked when it was new colour wise so sticking with the Savannah Beige with Red upholstery.

My neighbour has not only offered his garage but his guidance and knowledge as well which is a huge help. Bloody amazingly generous considering we've only been living in our street for a little under two years.

So the car was snuck down on a tandem trailer while my wife was asleep ( night shift worker as a nurse ) and the resto began. It's being garaged at my neighbours house two doors up which also adds to the difficulty of keeping it hush hush.

I'm completely new to the world of working on cars, mostly motorbikes for me before this so I'm sure we've mad lot's of mistakes. This is by no means a complete resto more a revival but we are doing our best with limited knowledge and budget but either way it'll be a nice surprise and great to see the old girl back on the road again.

The day My wife (Donna) at 16 yrs old purchased the dub, notice the cut and polishing has already began .

Last day the old girl was driven before storage.

Pick up day

Strip down

Discovered the floorpan completely rusted out.

Old one cut out

New floorpan installed, went the body on method.

My 2yr Old Benji testing out the strength of the new floor pans, he approves.

Trying to get the body work done before winter sets in.

Engine out.

First coat of high filler.

All sanded ready for first coat of colour

Engine freshened up so to speak, she was still running after sitting all that time so decided not to focus too much engine wise at the moment. will look at a complete rebuild some time in the future. Did the clutch, thrust bearing, new muffler and pipes, carburettor, heater boxes, distributor, leads, plugs and oil.

Engine back in.

Front Brakes redone, new disk rotors, callipers, brake lines, master cylinder and shocks.

Rear brakes, including drums, pads, cylinders, bearings and shocks

Old wheels ready for the sand blaster, my wife's choice of custom colour on her old rims .

Back from the sand blaster and ready for a fresh coat of paint.

Paint done, back to factory spec colours, new set of hub caps as well.

Time for the fun bit, sanding down the clear coat with 1200 grit wet and dry paper and then countless hours of careful polishing with a mechanical buff.

But well worth the effort. Time to start putting her back together.

New tyres on rims, as well as white wall inserts. I was a bit dubious about going for the white walls but I think it works quite nicely.

From the front.

Closeup of the wheels.

Running boards installed, pretty quickly realised parts for bugs are plentiful but didn't count on sorting out the good from the shit in regards to quality. I had to send back 3 different pairs of running boards until I finally received a satisfactory pair.

Well that's it for now, just wanted to share any and all opinions and advice will be gladly taken on board.

Regards Ryan

[B52Gunner]

Very nicely done

That is an awesome gift!

Let us know how it turns out.
_________________
1969 Beetle - "Olive"
Never featured in Hot VW's magazine

[B52Gunner]

Very nicely done

That is an awesome gift!

Let us know how it turns out.
_________________
1969 Beetle - "Olive"
Never featured in Hot VW's magazine

[irun5k]

That is a great story! I don't know how you've managed to keep it a secret; I'm sure it helps that she works the night shift but still!

The bug looks great! Savannah Beige has become one of my fav colors. I'm guessing the pans were worse than they looked in the photos, huh?

You ought to figure out a way to film the "reveal" when you show her the restored bug!

[wayne1230cars]

Great story about a very special car. Excellent work.
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1960 beetle
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[Tim Donahoe]

I never tire of "resurrection" theads. The more pictures, the better.

Each of these threads shows at least one way of doing something that you may not have known. It's also nice to sit back and watch others do all the work .

Tim

[banditwolf]

Very nice.
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1973 Super Beetle l 1981 Trans Am

[TX-73]

beautiful! I love the whitewalls on it, well done
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[vamram]

That is beautiful, amazing work. What exactly is the "body-on method" for the pans? I've yet to do pans, fortunately for my they've been solid on all of my Bugs.
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[smokey503]

Surprised she hasn't smelled the vw smell on you.
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[mountainkowboy]

Nice car.
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71 Super Convertible...DD
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[jlex]

Great job, although I'd be willing to bet Benji has spilled the beans already
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jlex.
'70 std. "Elsie"
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[ps2375]

Nice job, but somebody installed the steering wheel on the wrong side!

[stick]

Nice gift, nice redo, nice job! How she doesn't know is beyond me. Time, money, and already mentioned VW smell.

[wcfvw69]

Wow.. You did a GREAT job on it! I love the attention to detail and how you painted the rims correctly. The white walls really set it off nicely.

I'd love to see a video or picture of her face when she sees what you've done!
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[Rome]

Ryan, wonderful job and plan! Your '69's body is amazingly solid considering how rusty the pans were. WW and original wheel paint scheme looks tremendous. In the USA we never got the red with the beige; came with dark brown vinyl. Your red interior looks very classy with the beige.

You will be King next to that Prinz!

What's your "explanation" to head out to work on the car in secret when your wife is around, or can you adjust your schedule so you work on it while she is off at her job?

[savbeige69]

Wow thanks for all the wonderful words of encouragement fellas, much appreciated.

To address a few questions:

I watched a video on Youtube in regards to fitting new pans without removing the body. Great vid and very helpful. Here's the link : ps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRlhnzxNxxQ

The pans were beyond saving especially on the passenger side, water had been leaking in through the windscreen and settle in the rear passenger footwell. Driver side was rusted out under the pedal cluster. The base of the pillars was also rusted out which was repaired, this car spent the first 20 years of it's life living by the ocean in a town called Coffs Harbour so it was inevitably going to have rust issues but they weren't as bad as I'd feared.

I know it sounds like mission impossible doing this without my wife finding out but so far so good. As mentioned she works nights in 10 hour shifts four nights a week and I work freelance from home, we have my Dad living with us so I'm fortunate to have a baby sitter when needed.

Had to laugh at the mention of beetle smell on me as that's exactly what I was concerned about, that Donna would get a whiff of her old Bug and at the very least ask what it was. Dirty hands and clothes were also and issue but my neighbour runs Bobcats and Excavators and I quite often help him with servicing on the hydraulics and diesel engines. All that's needed is a splash of diesel and any trace of Bug stink is well and truly masked and it also provides and excuse for grease under the finger nails .

Weird part about this is I feel as though I'm doing something wrong with all this scheming and excuse making I actually feel a little guilty .

Benji won't spill his guts, he's actually only seen the car once and being that he's only two ( yes he's huge ) it was quickly forgotten with the addition of a diversionary chocolate biscuit ( cookie ). We also have a 6 yr old and I'd love nothing more than to have him involved in the resto but I just know he would slip up and give it away and I'd hate to put that kind of pressure on him as I know he'd feel terrible if he did.

I'll definitely be having the reveal video taped and photographed, Donna is one of those that places an enormous amount of sentimental value on inanimate objects. She shed a tear when our old vacuum cleaner died because it was her parents so you can imagine her feelings towards the bug. I'll be ready to catch her incase she faints as I'm thinking it's quite possible.

BTW steering wheel is most certainly on the right side

Will update as more is done, may be a wee while off as busy with work.


Cheers Ryan

[Speycaster]

Nice build!

[lboos]

Just beautiful, great job. you did right going with the W/W tires, and keeping it all stock.

[Tim Donahoe]

So, was this ever finished?

Tim
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