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Fri Jul 13, 2012 8:06 pm

The boy got the bumpers and all four fenders off today. He is getting the hang of it :)

We pressure-washed the body parts, they will get stored in case we need them for the build, then we will offer them for sale.

We also pressure washed the wheel wells and around the transmission. His job tomorrow is to drop the tranny.

Is there some kind of etiquette for junking a chassis? This yellow one is rusted bad in the foam spots, has lots of (bad) body work up front, and has the usual battery rust issues.

I hate to sell it for the $50 scrap, but I can't have it laying around either.

Right now the plan is to disassemble it as far as is practical . . . maybe even to the point of separating the pan and the body. Save all the parts for spares or sale, then dispose of the actual pan and body.

A lot of the reason to disassemble this one so far is to let my son have a good learning experience -- like med students practicing surgery on cadavers :) And also so for us both to get experience and knowledge about the car before working on the "real" one (which will probably end up being the '75).

Is there some better use to for a "pretty darn trashed" body and pan?

Sun Jul 15, 2012 12:18 am

Shorten the pan and make a Dune Buggy

Sun Jul 15, 2012 12:56 am

Looks like fun! Really makes me want to finally (after a year of it sitting) move my Bug over to my house in my own garage!

For HIDs, I would contact theretrofitsource and let them piece something together for you :wink:

Sun Jul 15, 2012 7:34 pm

My son used the pressure washer to clean off the transmission out of the yellow donor. Here is a shot of the right side:

The left side:

I am not sure if the numbers are significant, but I thought I'd post them for completeness:

It does look like either the bell housing was clearanced, or somehow the clutch or ring gear rubbed on it. Maybe these marks are normal?

The starter seems unremarkable. I guess we will rebuild one and have two for spares:

Tue Jul 17, 2012 9:36 am

Only the 5.5X15 ET26 true Sport Bug wheels are worth any money. The 4.5X15's are pretty common (74+ convertibles and the '75 La Grande). The rear bumper struts are different starting in '75 due to the FI apron so you can't use the ones from the '74. If the gas tank in the '75 is the original, there will be 2 outlets on it, or more specifically, one outlet and one inlet for the fuel return. The hack that tore out the FI may have plugged it or worse, pinched it shut. Make sure you take the pop out rear windows before you scrap the yellow one.

Tue Jul 17, 2012 10:16 pm

19super73 wrote: Only the 5.5X15 ET26 true Sport Bug wheels are worth any money. . . .

We plan to have alloy wheels for summer. Maybe we can use the 4.5 sports for snow tires.

Since we plan to use disc brakes, we might have the discs drilled for the common 5-bolt pattern, so the wheel choices are greater. If that is the case, the discussion is moot.

It looks like a 16" 70 profile would be pretty close to a 15" 80 profile--within a percent or two on overall diameter.

ref: http://www.1010tires.com/tiresizecalculator.asp

I have not really studied tires and wheels yet . . . that seems such a long way off.

19super73 wrote: If the gas tank in the '75 is the original, there will be 2 outlets on it, or more specifically, one outlet and one inlet for the fuel return.

Yes . . . just had the '75 fuel injection tank cleaned and sealed. All the openings look good. Although I'll have to clean some of the sealing goop out of the smaller openings.

19super73 wrote: . . . Make sure you take the pop out rear windows before you scrap the yellow one.

Already removed and stored. We want to mod an electric actuator from a van rear window to run them. Still studying that side project :) (cowers waiting for the purists to attack . . . relax, it is a super beetle not a split)

Tue Jul 17, 2012 11:22 pm

beetlenut wrote: Can you do me a favor and look at that FI tank and tell me where the two lines come out of that tank? I have a 74 super with a carb tank, and I'm converting to FI, so I need another fuel line inlet/outlet in my tank. Just wondering where to put it? I also might just look for an FI tank.
Thanks,

Made a post special just for you:

1975 fuel injection gas tank vs 1974 carbureted gas tank

:)

Wed Jul 18, 2012 10:52 pm

We are continuing to take the yeller bug apart. This is partially to let the boy learn about wrench-turning, but also so both of us can have a good understanding of how these beasts are put together.

I do not think that the chassis is worth saving. There horrible rust on the right side foam area. Pretty bad rust on the left side foam. Bad body repair on the front. Some rust in the passenger side lower front just in front of the door post. Battery rust. I am not going to cut it up just yet, but at this point I do not think there is much to use.

Our next step is to separate the body from the pan so we have some experience with that process on a car that we can mess up without consequence.

In any case, we pressure washed the yeller bug after he removed the interior and we got most of the wiring out.

Things I learned:

* there is an access hole at the bottom of the door pillar that lets you make sure the defroster hose is connected
* there is foam in the seam above the parcel area. I had not heard about that.
* the "tarboard" under the front seats has a thin layer of the white styrofoam . . . it seems like I knew that at one time, but I had forgot.
* apparently there is no way to remove the hard plastic heater tubes that are bolted through the body under the back seat
* the wiring harness is foamed in at the right rear

So here are pictures, just for reference:

In these two images, you can see that a good portion of the front was replaced . . . and the seam is with spot brazing (?):

OK, just for fun and learning.

Thu Jul 19, 2012 3:07 am

the bakolite heater tubes can be removed but the body needs lifting up an inch or so off the floor pan.

Shame really, this yellow bug is virtually rust free compared to 90% of what gets restored in the UK.
Not kidding either, most bugs there get the entire bottom 6" and the whole rear quarter panels replaced.

Thu Jul 19, 2012 6:39 am

Joel wrote: the bakolite heater tubes can be removed but the body needs lifting up an inch or so off the floor pan. . . .

Those dorks. What a goofy design. Good to have confirmation that my failure to get them out is not due to my incompetence.

Joel wrote: . . . . Shame really, this yellow bug is virtually rust free compared to 90% of what gets restored in the UK.
Not kidding either, most bugs there get the entire bottom 6" and the whole rear quarter panels replaced.

Will a bug fit in a container? I'll ship it to you :)

That is my dilemma. In another 38 years, this chassis would be the "barn find" of a rebuilder's dreams. But for me it would just be a 38 year storage burden.

I originally bought it because I thought it was "rust free". Maybe I am just being a pansy, scared of that rust.

We have not done anything irreversible, we even still have the gaskets (except for the rear, which fell apart) and could pop the windows back in to weather proof it for storage. All the other work we have done is actually in the direction of rebuilding.

Who knows, maybe by the time we get the White 75 stripped this 74 will look like the gem.

Thu Jul 19, 2012 6:49 pm

Rust isn't a huge issue here either, even I've sent good solid cars to the crusher in the past when it didn't seem to matter.

I had a 74 Beetle I sent for scrap in about 1999-2000 when all it needed was new floor pan halves, body was rust free.
It was a standard not a super so it had swing axle, 1300dp and drum brakes, a combo no one in aus wants when supers had 1600dp, discs and IRS.
Kicking myself now but lesson learned, they're not making any more of these things which is why I try and encourage to sell saveable bodies to someone to fix rather than scrap.

I have seen people fit new heater tubes by trimming a small amount off the top and bottom so they slip in passed the torsion bar tubes.
Old ones can be smashed apart to remove.

Thu Jul 19, 2012 10:14 pm

Well, I can hold on to it for a year or so until the main car is running and complete. I just promised the boss I would not have junkers laying around forever. Once I am pretty sure I have what I need I'll start offering excess parts for sale cheap and see if anyone is willing to take it.

On a happier note, we received and inspected the absolutely incredibly complete front door seal kit from West Coast Metric:

https://shop.westcoastmetric.com/viewProduct.php?productID=113-0669

Painfully expensive, but seems to have EVERYTHING and it all seems to be very good quality and packed very well. No shipping damage at all.

It even has the little buttons that go in the top of the hinges, and the clear plugs that cover the hinge screws.

It will be awesome to have the doors seal perfectly!

Fri Jul 20, 2012 8:44 pm

We got the chassis separated from the pan, well for the most part:

I could not disassemble this ball-joint. I'll have to research what it takes to separate those.

Fri Jul 20, 2012 9:14 pm

You can take the 3 bolts out that hold the steering box to the body and let the whole thing drop out.

But to remove the center drag link properly from the drop arm I use a balljoint splitter fork or a little 3 legged puller if I wanna save the boot.

Fri Jul 20, 2012 9:55 pm

Thanks for your reply.

Joel wrote: You can take the 3 bolts out that hold the steering box to the body and let the whole thing drop out.

We wiggled and jiggled and cussed and pried and could not get it to drop out. Then we looked it up in one of our books, and the fellow says he ended up disconnecting the rod. Sigh.

Well we are off this project for a few weeks, so I'll get a fork or puller in the meantime and then have a go at it with the puller.

Sat Jul 21, 2012 6:35 am

Quote: A lot of the reason to disassemble this one so far is to let my son have a good learning experience -- like med students practicing surgery on cadavers

Haha! There's a lot of truth to that statement. Tearing apart my original "Red w/ Stripes" bug was a tremendous learning experience. I guarantee the experience will pay off.

JOEL SAID:
Quote: Shame really, this yellow bug is virtually rust free compared to 90% of what gets restored in the UK.
Not kidding either, most bugs there get the entire bottom 6" and the whole rear quarter panels replaced.

Ugh... it's always tough to tell in pictures, they seem to mask some of the smaller defects, but... that bloody yellow car looks better than ANY of the 4 (or so) I had kicking around for my build. :cry: I wound up putting a whole armada of tiny patches here and there. Oh well. Regardless, I wouldn't scrap the car quite yet. if nothing else, have it set around to use for measurements / test fitting / mocking up some of the custom pieces you plan on doing. Then HOPEFULLY, someone local will see this thread and ask to take it-- and a bunch of the extra pieces-- off your hands

Quote: The repair job included some nice brazing work on the body seam

I'm not sure if I'm referencing exactly what you're talking about (your pictures are already starting to disappear, you might want to think about uploading them to the Samba if only cause this thread's gonna be a good memento of the time you and your son spent together), but the brazing on the front panels that continues the line of the hood to the top door hinges is from the factory. All mine were like that.

Keep up the good work!

Oh, and PS-- I keep skipping over your thread cause the title "1974 Super Beetle Project" is really generic. You might want to think about jazzing it up a bit so people can recognize your kick Azz build thread straight off!

Sat Jul 21, 2012 7:54 am

^^ You dont even know what rust is untill you move into the rust belt ;) Thats what my dad does, vehicle rustproofing its so bad here.

Sat Jul 21, 2012 4:56 pm

baxsie wrote: I could not disassemble this ball-joint. I'll have to research what it takes to separate those.

I used a small two arm puller I had. The trick for me was to put the threaded part under tension with the puller, and then heat it with a propane torch. When it got hot enough, it just popped off! Did the other two on the steering linkage the same way.

Sat Jul 21, 2012 5:04 pm

Nepenthe88 wrote: JOEL SAID:
Quote: Shame really, this yellow bug is virtually rust free compared to 90% of what gets restored in the UK.
Not kidding either, most bugs there get the entire bottom 6" and the whole rear quarter panels replaced.

Ugh... it's always tough to tell in pictures, they seem to mask some of the smaller defects, but... that bloody yellow car looks better than ANY of the 4 (or so) I had kicking around for my build. :cry: I wound up putting a whole armada of tiny patches here and there. Oh well. Regardless, I wouldn't scrap the car quite yet. if nothing else, have it set around to use for measurements / test fitting / mocking up some of the custom pieces you plan on doing. Then HOPEFULLY, someone local will see this thread and ask to take it-- and a bunch of the extra pieces-- off your hands

Yes it's sad, the minor rust that yellow bug has a good welder could fix in a weekend.

There are some reasonably rotten cars on here getting fixed but I think it will be a cold day in hell before I see a Super in North America with this much rust getting fixed.
Many Euro cars start out this bad.

Sat Jul 21, 2012 8:44 pm

When i got my car, thats what both back corners and the driver side looked like. Just mass patching.

Quote: