TheSamba.com :: View topic

Fri Nov 25, 2016 2:49 pm

So my wife has always wanted a classic bug. Long story short, but due to a guy hitting me while riding my motorcycle to work, I've been laid up for a couple of months. That gave me a lot of time to dig into this site and others to educate myself on Beetles and to begin the search.

During my search, I realized that I had always wanted a Baja bug - that thread to come later. While looking at a baja bug, the guy mentioned another bug (his driver) that he had considered selling.

My goal for my wife was to have a nice little bug that she can drive every day. I didn't need to start with a show car but wanted a solid little driver. If it needed a bit of work that would be ok, but I didn't want to start with a resto project either.

So, when the PO mentioned his driver, I crawled around it a bit and made him an offer for both of them. This thread is about Jenny's little ride.

Overview of the body:

The interior:

Various other body shots:

So, a relatively solid little car. Some rust on the pan behind the passenger seat will require work in the relatively near future but otherwise, I'm happy to have such a nice car for her to drive. The body seems to be in quite good condition with minimal rust. Pans are in good condition with one spot on the passenger side behind the seat (surprisingly not under the battery).

Looks like it was originally Emerald Green.

From the engine code it appears to be a '73 casing. PO said it was built as a 1500, so unsure of the piston / cylinder / head situation. It has a 30/31 carb and the Bosch 009 distributor with mechanical advance. Runs pretty good, had to brush up on my breaker point ignition service knowledge already.

Upcoming plans:
Troubleshoot a sticking front disk brake issue - hoses have been replaced, seems like it may come down to a caliper rebuild or the master cylinder - TBD, haven't been able to dig into it yet.

Return the car to stock height and swap the wheels for the standard ones with the cool chrome hubcaps (wheels and hubcaps purchased through TheSamba.com - Thanks guys!).

She doesn't like this paint job, so we're going to have it painted Yukon Yellow. Going to start talking to some locals about paint soon. This won't be a restoration paint job necessarily, but I do want it to look nice.

Already have learned a lot from this forum and the links found within. Looking forward to learning more as we go.

Fri Nov 25, 2016 3:25 pm

looks like a solid wee car madworks, was some ones baby once.
I kinda like the faded old 80's paint job, but happy wife, happy life. :lol:

Fri Nov 25, 2016 9:19 pm

63Ragtop NZ wrote:
I kinda like the faded old 80's paint job, but happy wife, happy life. :lol:

There's all kinds of 80's style cars coming out of the woodwork lately. A guy I new in the early 80's had that style of graphics on his bug. He flipped it on a curve. It was totalled but he had an awesome 1835 that I bought from him.

I wonder if anyone knows the exact year that was painted? My guess? 83' or 84' :D

Sat Nov 26, 2016 5:28 am

wcfvw69 wrote: 63Ragtop NZ wrote:
I kinda like the faded old 80's paint job, but happy wife, happy life. :lol:

There's all kinds of 80's style cars coming out of the woodwork lately. A guy I new in the early 80's had that style of graphics on his bug. He flipped it on a curve. It was totalled but he had an awesome 1835 that I bought from him.

I wonder if anyone knows the exact year that was painted? My guess? 83' or 84' :D

Thanks, I actually like the paint job. If it was my bug I'd probably get a nice clear coat sprayed on it just to keep it looking good. PO said the guy that painted it did it to match his Cessna.

But, as noted, happy wife, happy life. I want her to go out and smile every time she drives it and if changing the color helps her do that, ok with me.

Thu Dec 01, 2016 11:12 am

What a sweet patina paint job. Love it!!!!

Man it would be cool if you kept it but I understand the wifey situation. Habe fun with the car ;)

Sun Dec 04, 2016 3:42 pm

Good call on the paint! haha

Mon Jan 02, 2017 6:23 pm

So a quick update and a few new photos. I did the budget paint job on her bug and gave some detail here:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=668758&highlight=

So, now in looks like this

We are pleased with the result. If you get too close and look carefully you'll see plenty of imperfections but even from less then ten feet it looks really good.

Mon Jan 02, 2017 7:40 pm

Looks good!