My 74 Bug "build" Beelzebug

[kai.scott98]

So i got my first car, a 1974 vw beetle, near new engine, perfectly fine floorpan and virtually no rust, for only £970:

i decided that while geting it to show/ driving condition i would post all my progress on here,
A: so i can look back on it in future years.
B: so maybe i could help someone else who has an issue i may come across
C: so if i get stuck, i can ask for a bit of pointers on here
D: so people can point things out on my car that i may not have seen, such as, i made a post at the weekend and included a picture of my engine, someone pointed out that my rubber fuel line was zip tied to the heat riser and that it could melt throught the rubber, and boom, no car, so thanks to that person.

This wont be a major build where i take the body off and all that, the floorpan is sound and the heater channels, so none of that is needed, just some TLC really. i will put some more pictures of the car below:

[kai.scott98]

so, third day in and for the first two days we had a problem, wouldnt start haha. turns out the ignition wire to the starter was loose, a little squeez of it with some pliers and it went back on and started up fine, thank god, need a new set of doors for it as the ones on are different, missing loads and rusty, then i can start on the bodywork:

Gonna stone chip the bottom of her before the winter months, and probably inside the wings while im at it, dont want it rusting over winter, well dont ever want it rusting. anyone know how to remove the back seat, the top bit, i removed the bit you sit on but i cant get the back bit off, there is a bolt that when i turn with the ratchet, it just turns and wont come out, i tried for ages.

[kai.scott98]

Finaly got the back seats out, took a grinder to it as they were never going back in anyway, the backs gonna be smoothed out and used as an actual boot area. if anyone wants any seats that are kinda broken, then they can have em.

however there is some weird fluf stuff that i think is remnants of glued carpets, anyone got any ideas how to get that off, using a paint scraper, but its taking a good while:

[kai.scott98]

Got quite a bit done over the last few days, stone chipped the underside and inside the wings, we also did the driver and passenger footwell and wheel arches on the inside of the car. a few rust spots and dints on the car that we smoothed down and sprayed red oxide over, ready to prime it. we got the wood cut for the back of the car, where the seats uesd to be, just needs bolting in, and the hinges put on so we can access the battery bay and other bay. Got the carpet fitted in the front, just needs sticking down, the parcel shelf is holding that down at the minute though, all in all its going well, cant wait until its ready to be sprayed.

oh, i also stuck the first, of many, sticker in the driver side rear window:

[Tim Donahoe]

It looks like you're off to a good start.

How are the heater channels?

Tim
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Let's do the Time Warp again!

Richard O'Brien

[kai.scott98]

Thanks Tim, the heater channels are great, a little surface rust around where the doors are on either side, as the doors are rusty, but nothing to be worrying about.

[kai.scott98]

So, today has been a fairly productive day, we primered the red oxide areas, and other areas that werent red, found a finger sized rust hole in the dash where the condensation runs, but dont have a picture of that, and got that filled. On a bad note, the left spring and hinge that holds the bonnet up snapped, so gotta buy a new one of those. Also got a second had door for the passenger side, but turned out to be in worse condition than the one on before i got it, so i bought 2 doors imported from america, that i have been told were in best condition, they best be at £200 each.

I also fixed the wood in on the back, and the hinges so i can get to the battery compartment, i understand that a lot of people will hate me and the car for this but just remember, its allready been heavily modified before i got it, and its gonna be a show car, and i want it to stand out as a show car, and be practical for going to shows, thus, a tent and supplies will fit in the back. We just need to get some black carpet for the floor, some black vinyl for the cards, touch up bits of the dash thats scratched or chipped and some black headliner paint then the interiors done, until i get enough money to get my seats upholstered in black vinyl, or buy some cobra bucketseats in vinyl, havnt decided yet.

[SCRAF]

Hi, nice car mate, great to see another UK bug on there. The Skegvegas sticker caught my eye!

That price! For a solid car you got a great deal, I paid considerably more than that for a rust bucket! More fool me I guess but I'm almost done fixing it up.


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'68 build thread: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=557899

[kai.scott98]

Thanks, that means a lot, for another fellow bug fan to commnet on my car, yeah it seems that this site has mainly american users, were you at skeg vegas this year with your bug? i went but didnt get my car in time. I will take a look at your build, see what yours was like, to be fair though, i was looking since about march for a solid beetle, lost a lot of bugs and got lied to a few times, but i guess it all paid off with this beauty, and im lucky, my grandad has a body shop so any body work i need doing, he does for free, that means a free re-spray soon, haha. But yeah, i feel really lucky getting this car, wouldnt swap it for the world.

[SCRAF]

Didn't go Skeg-vegas, only show I went to this year was BugJam and didn't go in my Bug as its still off the road. Almost there now tho, next year I will be hitting the shows in it!

Sounds like you did your homework and made a smart purchase. I don't regret buying mine but if I had know what I was getting myself into I might have been a little more sensible and found a more solid one. My heart ruled my head on that day! I wouldn't swap it though.
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'68 build thread: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=557899

[kai.scott98]

Ah, fair enough, skegvegas was great this year, it was huge, better than the previous years where it was in skegness. Hopefully i will be hitting the shows next year, want to be able to drive, and have the bug done, to show standard, by july, bugjam basicly, i hope i can for volks worlds show, but thats a long shot, i havnt started driving yet, but am starting this month, so you never know. I tried to research, but this car was bought on a whim too, it was in wales and i had only seen the pictures on ebay, i didnt even go to see it just prayed it was ok, and as far as im concerned, its perfect, nothing like your first car.

[kai.scott98]

This weekend has been very productive, we got it sprayed satin black. Well not actually satin black we just sprayed it metallic black and didn't laquer it and it turned out satin black

we started spraying it, but only got one coat on before the neighbour peered over the fence and started moaning. Then as we were taking the paper off, he peered over the fence again saying he is going out so we can spray it, I nearly punches him, so we had to mask it all up again and got another coat on. Looks nice and cant wait to spray it properly after winter, the colour on now is just to protect it and to see what it will look like. The door hasn't been painted cause we are getting some new ones, should be here tomorrow.

[kai.scott98]

I also removed the toms v dubs sticker in the back, mainly cause its a bodyshop and my grandad owns a body shop, so i didnt really want to advertise another bodyshop. I dont have any photos of that, but you can kinda see some of it scratched of in this pic:

Did a few minor things to the car too, there was another rust patch on the dash that was sanded down and fillered, anf found some paint in my grandads paint collection for the interior, a nice pearlesent maroon red, which should look nice contrasting the black. does anyone know of any good chrome paint and if chrome paint actually looks chrome, some of my rims are stained with something i cant get off and a little scratched so i might try to get some chrome paint for them if i can.

[Bob Brugge]

You have the wrong bonnet/hood. You need vents in there so you don't overheat your engine. At least USA models do. It depends on the engine size, I know, but your hood looks just wrong.
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Keep on Dubbin'!

[kai.scott98]

Hahaha, its a 1.2, i didnt cover it, it came like that but gotta admit that i do like it, the car has been converted to a previous model, a pre 66.... and suprise suprise, a pre 66 doesnt have vents...

-thats a pre 66, and what? its the same boot as my car? oh wow!!!

[kai.scott98]

The doors came today, both in a lot better condition than the previous ones:

got the passenger side sanded down and put in red oxide, its also been put in primer but i dont have a picture of that.

could anyone tell me the name of the rubber seal that i "circled" below:

[kai.scott98]

Anyone got any good ideas how to streangthen a beetle? i know that i should get a roll cage, not sure weather to make one or have one made, but is there any other way to reinforce them?

[kai.scott98]

Finished the passenger door today, there are a few more dints and dinks, but they can be done at a later date when we are spraying it properly, took a bit of persuasion to get it to fit, including a hammer and a metal pole.... but it fits fine now:

[Bob Brugge]

Window scraper...I think.
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Keep on Dubbin'!

[kai.scott98]

Do you mean the rubber seal i circled?