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Thu Apr 25, 2013 11:07 am

Rome wrote: Great to see a relatively solid '60's Beetle being revived in New England. Good work so far! I hope you can get it roadworthy even if the bodywork is still in progress, and drive it to VW meets in CT this season.

That was my original plan. Like a lot of other builds here this one is on a budget. I was hopeful to have it up and running by fall. I sold my boat to fund most of it but ran out of money before I even got to the front end parts and the engine. I got all brake parts I need to make it stop and convert it to a dual master cylinder. I almost have everything rubber that was in need of replacement. I’m not too bummed though these are almost as much fun to work on as they are to drive.

some updates:

Fri Jun 21, 2013 6:30 am

I haven't posted any updates in a wile so here are a few new ones.

I did some sculpting recently

before

after

Replaced the vent window frame to glass seal, vent window seal and window scrapers

Mon Jul 01, 2013 5:08 pm

since I'm hobbling around with a sprained ankle I spent some time hooking the electrical system back up.

Wed Jul 10, 2013 6:34 pm

Headliner is in
windows with new seals are in
and the peddle cluster is repainted, greased up and in with new clutch cable.

Wed Jul 10, 2013 9:00 pm

OMG, I love the original door panels. Hang on to them with an Iron grip. 66 door panels are like hens teeth, I'm trying to revive my og vinyl on new boards. I guess I'm a little crazy about things like that!

Thu Jul 11, 2013 6:35 am

phononocd wrote: OMG, I love the original door panels. Hang on to them with an Iron grip. 66 door panels are like hens teeth, I'm trying to revive my og vinyl on new boards. I guess I'm a little crazy about things like that!

You know what, I'm with you on that! Not just cause I'm cheap but I am trying to keep all original parts even thought it isn't all perfect. Sort of going for the survivor look.

I left the door panels out in the sun to stretch the vinyl and reglue it around the edges. I also used the plastic that the OUTSIDE SCRAPER/ aluminum trim came in for the inner vapor barrier ( again cheap). Then cleaned them up with Wesley's bleach white. The chrome was in decent shape.

Sat Jul 13, 2013 10:22 am

since this car came with a later wiper motor set up, I fit it to the car and installed it plus the original glove box after I coated it with a sealer.

cleaned it up

Mon Sep 02, 2013 9:38 am

rolled the car out into the sunlight recently for a cool photo op

Mon Sep 02, 2013 9:39 am

stuck inside all weekend so spent some time working on my list. Installed the last of the glass and all door parts. Four vent windows later and I finally got the hang of replacing all the seals.

The jigs I made for Herbie's vent windows came in handy again

Mon Sep 09, 2013 10:58 am

All new brake lines installed and converted it to a dual master cylinder. I'm still going back and forth on either using a 67 reservoir or the kind that just mounts on top of the master cylinder or maybe something els.....

Tue Sep 10, 2013 4:28 pm

When I installed an entire '70 chassis under my Ghia's '64 body, I had access to a '70 Ghia parts car that still had its rectangular, 2-chamber brake fluid reservoir. I decided to mount that where the original single-chamber one is, on the body ledge behind the spare tire. I routed one of the two bottom outlets through the original hole for the single outlet of the original reservoir. i drilled a second hole, filed it to the shape of a slot, to fit the other outlet of the dual-chamber reservoir. The body area in your Beetle is shaped nearly the same so you could consider these options also.

Or, you can use the original single-chamber reservoir and run a "T" out of the outlet hose. Although this gets you two supply lines to the master cylinder ("M/C"), you lose the functionality of the dual-chamber reservoir.

The absolute easiest would be to locate a good used '67 reservoir which is the two-chamber type, and fits in the original location.

I'd strongly recommend keeping any reservoir up on that ledge, instead of down on top of the M/C itself. You can fill brake fluid so much easier that way.

Thu Sep 12, 2013 7:11 am

Rome, the 67 res is probably what I will do in this case. Like you said it's easier to fill. Its a little more work now but easier down the road. I've done it before and really liked the way it worked out plus it throws people off and they always think its a 67 when they see that! Tks for the info.

Thu Sep 12, 2013 7:17 am

I was planning on building the engine in the winter months but with the weather tuning so hot yesterday I decided to get it started. I stayed in the basement most of the day. I was able to button up the case.

no engine stand so I made this instead.

50s gear heater by General Motors

Wed Oct 02, 2013 12:16 pm

Dragged the long block out of the basement to finish assembly in the garage. I decided to work smarter not harder by attaching it to a generator frame with wheels on it then used a come along and strap to pull it up.

Wed Oct 02, 2013 12:33 pm

EA812 wrote: stuck inside all weekend so spent some time working on my list. Installed the last of the glass and all door parts. Four vent windows later and I finally got the hang of replacing all the seals.
The jigs I made for Herbie's vent windows came in handy again

Where did you find the seals for the vents? I have made the same jig and have had my vents rechromed, but can not find the seals...

Love the build by the way!

Wed Oct 02, 2013 4:58 pm

I found them at WW http://www.wolfsburgwest.com/cart/DetailsList.cfm?ID=221845295A

I soaked them in warm soapy water to get them to go in a little easier plus started it by hand at first. You end up with a bunch left over for other things when done as well.

Wed Oct 09, 2013 6:23 am

Frankenmotor is in and runs.
The case was shot on the one that came with the car but The piston rods were in speck like they were new. The crank and Cam shaft looked brand new. The car also came with a NOS set of Nipon P&Cs so those replaced the busted pistons that were originally on it. I think it was a rebuild engine that went wrong. the dowel pin for the thrust bearing was crushed over sideways and the distributor drive gear was locked up. I got another case and heads from one motor. Then made the two into one plus heater boxes from elsewhere. Then installed new main and cam bearings. The dizzy, carb, intake, generator, fuel pump and some tin were still good. Some tin was missing so I replaced that.

With old cracked and crusty plug wires, old cracked dried up vacuum line to the dizzy and a carb I didn't know anything about it started fairly easy.

http://s402.photobucket.com/user/EA812/media/000_0007_zps85ac6917.mp4.html

Thu Oct 24, 2013 11:27 am

Rome wrote:
The absolute easiest would be to locate a good used '67 reservoir which is the two-chamber type, and fits in the original location.

I'd strongly recommend keeping any reservoir up on that ledge, instead of down on top of the M/C itself. You can fill brake fluid so much easier that way.

I finally went with he 67 reservoir from WW. Its a little more work to install but will be easer to fill in the future.

Fri Oct 25, 2013 9:35 am

EA812 wrote:

Like a lot of other builds here this one is on a budget. I was hopeful to have it up and running by fall. I sold my boat to fund most of this
some updates:

I sold some other junk and was able to reassemble the engine but that and a couple other things to maybe get it on the road this year. To make that happen I did some cheap seat repair and made some cheesy seat covers with an old tent.

this is the short list to at least be able to drive it in the neighborhood.

Sat Nov 09, 2013 3:45 pm

I finished the short list and put about 50 miles on it now

Before

as of now