TheSamba.com :: View topic - New project - 1954 VW Beetle Deluxe w/ VW Canada prodn plate

Sun Oct 26, 2025 6:54 pm

The steering wheel.......

Using quick drying epoxy for the wider gap repairs and 6 hour epoxy to push into the smaller cracks seemed to work.Followed up by glaze putty for cleanup made the steering wheel much better in appearance and strength.

However less than pleased with the final finish. It was spray can but the Krylon paint used was too thin and maybe over pressurized. Too many drips and runs... could also be operator error. Will sand down, fix any other minor blemishes and get it painted properly. Otherwise, my first experience with this and time well spent.

Before....

Sun Oct 26, 2025 7:09 pm

The car looks great!

Your steering wheel came out most righteous!

Keep plugging away! Want to tackle a second steering wheel and semaphores?

Sun Oct 26, 2025 7:46 pm

Thanks!!

I leave the semaphores to the professionals..... costs money but you pick your battles. The steering wheel took about 15 hours in total. Won't stop the wheel cracking some more but maybe will slow it down a bit. Will leave the steering wheel repair in your hands. I think you could do it faster and better given your build record on this site !!

Let's both keep moving forward!!

Tue Nov 04, 2025 5:15 pm

So Cam is off to SEMA this week as he had told me earlier. He finally told me he was part of a group here in Manitoba doing a build for the show. With the usual rush to the deadline he was unable to pick-up my car last week and estimates with the ankle incident he is about two weeks behind. Had told him earlier just to keep moving ahead for now and we can pickup the '54 in November as mentioned in a prevous post.

In the meantime picked up these cool trim rings on the Samba that I have never seen before. Estimated to be from the early to mid '50s, the design will go well with the skirts.

Looked at the steering wheel again and think I can do better. Carefully sanding it down for another respray.

In addition also looking for some really good hub caps and original 32 PCIB carbs to rebuild for the WW kit.

Sat Nov 08, 2025 8:18 am

Looking at getting a set of hubcaps for the car. Last time I bought an OG set was from the dealer about $50 each...... last century.

Looking at ORIGINAL CLASSIC PARTS. 113601151 Genuine Volkswagen! Sourced directly from Germany. CIP offers the same from OCP although shows different parts # 111601151??

Or find excellent used and re-chrome? Actually my re-chromed parts are ready for pick up on Monday and can ask price then.

Advice??

Mon Nov 10, 2025 1:02 pm

Went to the chrome shop today to pick up the '54 pieces.

Pleased with the work.. cost was $400 CDN. Inquired about taking minor dents out of OG hubcaps and re-chroming - around $120 CDN.

Mon Nov 10, 2025 2:17 pm

They look great! I am so jealous of that. All of the tree huggers here have killed the use of hazardous chemicals for those of us that don’t mind using them. How it is that a bunch of tree huggers can influence my life and cost me several hundred dollars more than it should, is beyond my scope of rational thinking. Let freedom ring. My ass! I do not even have the freedom to choose to get my parts chromed locally. Such a shame. As a kid, I had all of my 55 Bug parts rechrome by a shop across the street from my Dads cabinet shop. He knew the guy. He had built them their front counter!

Nothing like small business people. Love them!

Sorry. I am ranting like an old man.

Mon Nov 10, 2025 4:53 pm

We are lucky to have a local plater given the environmental regs you mention. I would have to think as an owner you might also be considering longer term possible health effects. I'm not sure how this business operates on a day to day basis regarding these issues and others.

However, there appears to be a steady stream of customers with antiques, cars, bikes, motorcycles, household items, etc. needing these services.

On the speaker grill the OG wire mesh is flocked in either light beige or light grey. I decided to use light beige to add contrast to the ultra maroon. I used felt as it has a similar look and expect will be longer lasting.

Mon Nov 10, 2025 5:51 pm

I will just interject here for a moment and say that the original owner of House of Silver where Scott got his stuff plated died of stomach cancer. I was on a tour of his shop a few years before he died and that place was toxic. I was very happy to get out of there.

Don

Tue Nov 11, 2025 7:47 pm

I was looking at used hubcaps with a few dents or scratched. And I would have liked to have seen how well the repair and a new re-chrome would have come out. But at $120 Cdn that was too costly...... although the end product would have been based on the factory hub cap.

So with CIP having another sale on and comparing to Concept 1... I went with CIP, and the German made Original Classic Parts which I understand makes these under licence from VW. Next project....... putting the vent windows back together. Tough.... but there is a plan!!

Sat Nov 15, 2025 2:15 pm

So Scott came by my place today and we installed the latches and glass into the quarter window frames. It all went together like butta.

Talcum powder did the trick. In 1979 I was working as a stock boy at Zellers for $3.35/hour. At Christmas time it was secret Santa and I got a mens Cologne set including this scented powder. It has come in very handy over the years most especially for fixing flats on bike tires. A coating on the inside of a tire will make sure the tube won't stick next time and a bit on the bead makes it slip over the rim. Yes, most useful stuff.

Anyways...

Into the clamp and, as Gollum would say, a bit of a squeeze

And Bob's your uncle

Very happy with that. Talcum powder is def the trick.

Don

Sun Nov 16, 2025 5:41 am

Putting two of these together took just about an hour and 15 minutes including riveting the new WW latch to the frame and cutting the excess rubber off. I had asked the plater to match the thin layer of old chrome flaking off with the new chrome the same thickness... it appears this was done which also aided assembly.

The talc powder is the key element in this job....... otherwise there will be a fight .... and no doubt profanity possibility! Thanks again to Don, having done this once before!!

On the wheel trim rings coming over from Germany via DHL.. they will take a bit longer to get here. We used to have a DHL truck on the street frequently but hadn't seen them for awhile. It appears they have cut back their services in Canada after settling a short strike in June. As a result, they now have an option to engage partners to complete their shipments.

In this case, when the package arrived in Toronto (Watched the flight track into Toronto... airplane nerd) they assigned Canada Post for the end delivery. Canada Post is currently on a revolving strike basis with federal back to work legislation in the back ground. So they will arrive in the next 12 days. Minor annoyance since we were trying to avoid Canada Post.

Sun Nov 16, 2025 9:43 am

How did you trim the rubber behind the wind deflector? I found that a pain and have never been happy with the outcome.

Sun Nov 16, 2025 11:49 am

This Xacto knife will work at an extreme angle. I used two new blades per side as the cutting action comes from the very point of the blade.

Good Luck!!

Sun Nov 16, 2025 1:31 pm

I'm gonna need that.

Don

Tue Nov 18, 2025 3:30 pm

The trim rings showed up today and combined with the hub caps will provide a great contrast to the car and especially with the fender skirts...IMO

Tue Nov 18, 2025 11:37 pm

Looks sweet! Can not wait to see them on the car!

Wed Nov 19, 2025 7:46 am

You forgot to mention the hub caps!

Don

Wed Nov 19, 2025 5:33 pm

Enjoying your progress.

Wed Nov 19, 2025 7:23 pm

Obus..... Appreciate the support!

So you have a 1956 Beetle Kabriolett with Foxcrafts that gets my attention. But to top it off you own a 1960 Ghia that you got out of Winnipeg, Manitoba???
What's the story there? My Dad got me hooked on VWs in the late 1960s when he bought a 1959 Ghia Kabriolett from St James Volkswagen, Winnipeg Manitoba.