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Sat Jan 03, 2015 8:02 am

Thanks so much..

Sat Jan 03, 2015 8:30 am

Your wheels will look tremendous with the paint scheme and the narrow white walls!

Remember that the original '66/'67 "flat" hubcaps had a different retaining method than the domed caps thru the '65 wheels. The '65 caps were held to the wheel with the clips like what appear to be on your 356-style wheels. The '66 caps were held on by 4 "shoulders" which were a part of the wheel hub center. The outer retaining edges of the flat hubcaps were therefore shaped differently than on the domed hubcaps. I haven't tried this myself but you might try the '68-on hubcap (slightly different outer edge style than the '66 flat hubcaps) with the '65 wheel clips, or locate '65 domed caps with the '65 style wheel clips. If you still have the original '66 spare wheel you can compare the difference in retaining methods.

Sat Jan 03, 2015 9:52 am

Thanks Rome. We do have the two original front wheels and they have the same type of retaining clips as our wheels from CIP1. The hubcaps fit on the original wheels just fine. I think it will be a matter of bending the new clips on the CIP1 wheels to match how they look on the originals. The wheels (new or old) do not have the 4 nubs on the outer ring so I think we have the right match up in terms of style.

Just like almost every other reproduction part we have put on this bug, they will need some "adjusting" :D. Was just wondering if others have had this issue and might have some different ideas.

While I have the floor - what kind of oil bath air cleaner might fit on our 1600 DP with a 34 Pict-3 carb and a dog-house fan shroud? We thought maybe one from a 67 or 68 might work??

Sat Jan 03, 2015 10:17 am

Here's what the 66/67 stock wheels should have. The 3 yellow arrows point to the nubs that the flatter 66/67 only hubcaps should secure with. If the wheels you have contain the clips, they're not OEM, but as you pointed out, they can still be made to work with some adjustments and tweeking.

Sat Jan 03, 2015 10:51 am

In comparing the clips from our CIP1 wheels and the original, they are shaped a little differently. Not sure any amount of bending will work but we will try. If they break or still don't work then we will simple drill them out and replace with the proper German clips from WW or CIP1.

Sat Jan 03, 2015 1:38 pm

Well, we managed to get the clips and hubcaps to play together. The clips on the original wheel (first photo) are different than the reproductions (second photo). We discovered that if we crimped the clip on the reproductions we could get the hubcap to fit. However, we also discovered that the 5 inch CIP1 wheels did NOT need the adjustment and the hubcaps popped right on. Of course we discovered this after I had modified the clips on one of the wheels and could NOT get the cap to fit. Go figure! Had to "undo" the modification on those. The front wheels are 4.5 inch and needed to be modified. Must have been a different production run than the 5's

In any case the wheels now look great!

Sat Jan 03, 2015 6:46 pm

Had the bug out last night for her maiden voyage and identified a few areas that will need more work. First, comparing the speedo against a GPS App on my iPhone it appears the speedo is reading about 5 MPH low across a range of speeds. We are running 165R on the front so it should not be a tire size issue - these are pretty close to stock. Second, we filled up the tank and it is reading a little less than 1/2 full. Will pull the "sending" unit tomorrow and see if possibly the float has a hole or there is some other obvious issue. Any suggestions on the speedo? Would be better if it was reading high for a buffer. With 5 MPH low you have to keep an eye on the speed. Maybe just a quick disassembly and cleaning?

Sun Jan 04, 2015 2:10 pm

Just couldn't resist this before and after comparison even though we still have a little work to do!

Sun Jan 04, 2015 3:29 pm

Whoever the PO is would never believe it's the same car. Probably a lot nicer than when it left the dealership. =D>

Sun Jan 04, 2015 4:35 pm

great before/after shots . Nice work !

So what's the next project going to be ?
57 oval ??? :twisted:

Sun Jan 04, 2015 4:53 pm

sportin-wood wrote: Whoever the PO is would never believe it's the same car. Probably a lot nicer that when it left the dealership. =D>

That's funny - shared the photos with the PO and that is exactly what he said! :lol:

Sun Jan 04, 2015 4:55 pm

grandpa pete wrote: great before/after shots . Nice work !

So what's the next project going to be ?
57 oval ??? :twisted:

That would be sweet! Unfortunately, we are out of room for another project at the moment. We are available to help others :D

Sun Jan 04, 2015 6:15 pm

wow you guys did a great job \:D/ , you definitely need to find room for another vw! I pick my car up from Ricardo tomorrow, hope it looks as nice as yours when I'm done! Thanks for all your help...

Mark

Mon Jan 05, 2015 5:45 am

My first beetle was a'66 and yours is a beautiful car! You did an awesome job! Absolutely beautiful

Sun Jan 25, 2015 5:19 pm

Well, its been a great ride but the restoration project is finally at an end. We have finished up all the little lingering punch list things. Instead of using the offset hinges at the top of the decklid we decided to build a little stand-off at the bottom of the lid. The offset was easily accomplished with a couple of 1 inch spacers. The tougher part was getting a solid latch connection now that the lid does not touch the body at the latch area. We rigged up a little jig with more spacers and some rubber chair leg caps. Works great.

Also had to swap out the original oil-bath air cleaner off the 1200 that came in the car (not the original engine) for one from a 68. With the new intake and 34Pict-3 carb the old one just stuck out too far. The 68 model works well and looks pretty good too.

Been driving the car a bit for fun and to a couple of local shows (So-Cal second Saturday, Scottsdale Pavillions).

The rest of the photos here are a series of before and after views. Boy, we have come a long ways! And I'm sure we will continue to tinker and improve. And I'm sure we will find little things wrong here and there as we drive it more. Who knows, maybe someday there will be a set of dual Webers on her :D

Sun Jan 25, 2015 5:24 pm

What a great job, and cool post/photos !

Sun Jan 25, 2015 6:31 pm

The before and after photo set is GREAT !!

You should start a new thread titled " INSPIRATION " .
No words ; just that set of photos . We can refer new people to it :D :D
or just look at it when we get frustrated .

thanks
.

Sun Jan 25, 2015 7:03 pm

Here's a good before & after thread you should add your photos to:

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=173262

Sun Jan 25, 2015 8:46 pm

sportin-wood wrote: Here's a good before & after thread you should add your photos to:

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=173262

Missed that one. Thanks for the tip - will get something posted there soon.

Sun Jan 25, 2015 8:50 pm

grandpa pete wrote: The before and after photo set is GREAT !!

You should start a new thread titled " INSPIRATION " .
No words ; just that set of photos . We can refer new people to it :D :D
or just look at it when we get frustrated .

thanks
.

Thanks Grandpa Pete. Lots of frustrating moments to be sure. And lots of joy too - like when that new engine we just built actually fired up and ran!! During the frustrating times we learned quickly to just take a break and cool off. More often than not a solution would come to mind while relaxing with a refreshing beverage :D