1956 silver oval window bug restoration

[thevinster]

So now that it's not against the law to so much as breathe on the bug wrong now that the insurance stuff is done i can start the tear down and have massive déjàvue.

I believe in recycling so I'll be selling the bad parts on the samba classifieds. The fenders are banged up so bad we are gonna have to use the sawzall to take them off.

Keep an eye on the classifieds. Some point soon somebody is gonna get a hell of a deal on what can be loosely called a pair of oval window fenders

[vwhelmot]

I know how you feel. Similar thing happened to me ten years ago. Sorry to hear.

http://www.volkszone.com/VZi/showthread.php?t=297526&highlight=vwhelmot

[thevinster]

Ooof! No. Sorry for you man! That looks way more gnarly than mine. Also thank you for the link. Several of your photos will come in very handy

[thevinster]

Hey guys I'm back! Don't worry the bug hasn't been forgotten about. We have just been ordering replacement parts. Our biggest thing has now come in: a repro front clip. Now yes i know to many this seems unpopular but let me explain. By using a repro we don't have to carve up another oval. Now because the repro is for a 60s bug and the only thing incorrect for the oval is the section beneath the gas tank we are gonna cut out our gas tank section and weld it into the repro. And then tadaa you have an oval front clip. Honestly this is probably gonna make the car cleaner than it was because our current front clip is from two different cars. Over all the whole bug is made of 12 different cars. Not a single panel was original to the car and it was literally built from scratch. So hopefully there's no hard feelings about modifying repro parts and putting it on. See you soon with photos!

[splitjunkie]

The shape of the quarter panels is totally different around the top of the front cross member because they lowered the height of the cross member to accommodate the lower gas tank in '61. The sheet metal to the left and right of the gas tank is totally different too. If you are only using the lower part of the clip you might be able to make it fit otherwise you are going to have to spend a lot of time modifying the clip to make it fit.

On top of that those aftermarket clips aren't the best quality to begin with so even installed on a later car they take a lot of massaging to make them fit.

Personally I would source a '60 or earlier clip as they will all fit correctly. There are plenty of donors out there that will never get restored because the rest of the car is too far gone.
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Chris

You know, a lot of these scratches will buff right out... Jerry Seinfeld

[thevinster]

we are just using the lower half of the clip also we already bought the aftermarket one. we just have to go pick it up

[thevinster]

Hey guys! Sorry for the hiatus we've just been super busy with the business lately. So busy we were leaving work at 7:00 sometimes and chirco wasn't open on weekends so we couldn't pick up the front end. But finally about a week ago we left the shop early and got the front end. Tomorrow if all goes to plan we will take it to a guy my uncle used to fix his trucks. His names oscar and apparently he has been doing body work for over twenty years. Here's some photos of the front end. It's aftermarket but it's more than good enough for me

[thevinster]

Ok so we just got back from oscar's he said will have it ready next month. He knew all about early vw's and was happy to do the job. We have heard nothing but good things from his customers and he gave us an insanely cheap price so fingers crossed!

[thevinster]

Ok so quick major update. Oscar just sent us these very encouraging photos (sorry for the horrible quality these are cell phone photos of cell phone photos on a phone so it's bad)

I'm amazed with his work after having it for only a day

[thevinster]

While I'm here i figured I should show you what this car used to look like. These photos are from when it was featured in vw trends in 2001. It had been finished for about three months.

Yes that is a 2276 with dual 48 ida Webber carbs

[vwnut1]

It appears that Oscar does excellent work, it's amazing how much work he completed in one day. Did he source another set of used fenders and hood?
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1957 VW Oval Resto Mod

[thevinster]

No those came from us i documented getting them a few months ago

[thevinster]

Hey guys I'm back with another update! Life's been busy with school and such but i was able to go over to Oscars shop (it's called Quality First auto repair) and he's begun work on it!

Something amazing that oscar achieved is that he was able to fix the gap between the quarter panel and the hood that pretty much every big gets from being hit in front.

My father and oscar talking

Just a quick update for anyone who was curious

[thevinster]

So i was chatting with my dad and i found out something really kickass about the steering wheel the horn ring and the speedometer in our car. My dad has a friend who was in the air force in the 80s and whenever he had free time wherever he was in the world he would search for Volkswagen parts. So while in Saudi Arabia he found an abandoned dealership and got a load of NOS parts including our parts that my dad bought from him. I met the guy the other day at a restaurant. He drives a convertible bug from the early fifties, the only one of its kind in town

[thevinster]

Hey guys it's about time i update the thread! I went over to oscars tonight to check up on the bug and it's looking wonderful. Oscar wasn't there but one of the employees let me take a look

Frontal view

Where my head smashed the windshield (still have a minor scar)

Once the welds are fully grounded down you'll never know it was hit.

My friend Ian posing with the car.

[thevinster]

Hey guys I'm here with another update! So I found time to go over to oscars today and take a look at what he's done and all i can say once again is wow!

I can't say enough about the incredible work oscar and the crew at quality first do. When i got there oscar was mixing some primer and said he was gonna prime it later tonight and have it painted by this weekend! Now we just need to order a new windshield from chirco which isn't a problem since I live about five minutes away from them. I'll see you guys with another update soon

[NOTAHONDA]

Nice!

[j-dub]

Heck yea, glad to see this thing is will be back on the road soon.
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1957 Oval rag
"POLICE STATION TOILET STOLEN ... Cops have nothing to go on."

[vwnut1]

Keep the updates and photos coming. I can't wait to see your Bug after it's been repaired, repainted and finally assembled. She's a keeper!

Are you still going to install Euro bumpers? You may want to have Oscar weld up the bumper overrides holes before it goes to paint.
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1957 VW Oval Resto Mod

[thevinster]

I didn't even think about that! I think we will just use rubber inserts so it matches the rear. Thanks for the support guys more updates soon!