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Thu Jul 10, 2025 11:31 am

Figured I’d start my own “build thread” to document my progress, although it wont be as fast as others. Unfortunately I’ve got to do a little at a time as I have the money.

I’ve named her “Ella” since my great grandfather was German (Vondenstein) and Ella was my great grandmothers name.

Before I purchased her the seller did these things:
-New wiring harness from firewall back
-New carburetor
-New fuel filter and fuel line (tank to hard line & hard line to carb)
-New alternator and belt
-New distributor, rotor, cap, plugs, wires
-New engine shrouding & body seals
-Replaced driver’s rear fender seal
-Replaced driver’s rear tail light
-Replaced left side window and rear window (new rear window has defroster)
-All new brake soft lines, drums, shoes, master cylinder
-Front end rebuild (steering damper, tie rod ends, bushings, etc, only ball joints NOT done)
-New rear tires, front tires are new condition but older age (came from another project)
-New fuel filler neck
-Assorted replacement body seals where necessary
-New battery
-New starter

Yesterday, I started cleaning her up and removing the surface rust and oxidation. I used some 0000 steel wool and 409, and I was amazed at the difference! I was also surprised to find that about 85% of the paint is original. I’m going to compound and wax her until we can repaint her this winter.

My next two things are replacing the steering wheel, and carburetor with originals.

Thu Jul 10, 2025 11:42 am

Looks like a good Bug! A lot of things already taken care of. Nice find.

-Dan

Thu Jul 10, 2025 12:42 pm

That oxidized paint rubbed out very nicely! After you get finished with the rest you might have a great patina look to preserve. I know that's not your plan at the moment, but often times our goals change as the project gradually progresses. Looking forward to following ... :popcorn:

Thu Jul 10, 2025 2:20 pm

" Ella" appears to have a bright future. She is going to look real good when you are done. I don't know what your plans for wheels are but originally they were black on the inside portion and off white on the outer portion of the rim. I think it gives the car a very original look at first glance., like the picture I have attached.

Thu Jul 10, 2025 4:29 pm

Bobs67vwagen wrote: " Ella" appears to have a bright future. She is going to look real good when you are done. I don't know what your plans for wheels are but originally they were black on the inside portion and off white on the outer portion of the rim. I think it gives the car a very original look at first glance., like the picture I have attached.

I think this is the first I’ve seen of this! I am having an internal battle of whether to stay original or go stock street style….

Thu Jul 10, 2025 5:31 pm

Yeah in 1970 vw went to the silver or argent painted wheel, which looks to be what is on your car now. I like either of those as they look very classic with a shiny set of stock vw hubcaps.

Sat Jul 12, 2025 12:20 am

Well this was fun. I was filling out my registration paperwork and decided to search for the previous owners name (the guy who sold it to the guy I bought her from.) Found all these photos of her from a few years ago, and of her engine fire!

And this was a joke they played on the previous owner. The guy I bought it from told me the story about the license plate they gave him. (His last name was Cook! LOL)

Sat Jul 12, 2025 3:10 am

Wow those are some sad looking photos. Ellas second life will be better under your care.

Sat Jul 12, 2025 3:48 am

Bobs67vwagen wrote: Wow those are some sad looking photos. Ellas second life will be better under your care.

Did you notice her wheels in the pic at the gas pump Bob? Black and white just like you said!

Sat Jul 12, 2025 9:03 am

Yes I did but I did not want to torture you any further about that!

Sat Jul 12, 2025 12:00 pm

Bobs67vwagen wrote: Yes I did but I did not want to torture you any further about that!

I think I’m going to bring them back. I actually kinda like them!

Sat Jul 12, 2025 4:13 pm

Coastal, does the Beetle run now after all the parts which the PO installed? How about a photo of the current engine? Was there any fire or heat intrusion at the inside carpet or padding of the rear firewall in the rear luggage well? Or on the headliner? I see it has a '69 - '71 rear window with defroster wires. I first thought the Beetle was a '69 in the first few photos, and then I saw the finger indent for the fuel filler flap which was only in '68.

I like the two-toned original factory sedan wheel look; I even painted my hubcap wheels on my '77 like several years ago that to add some "backdating" effect. The wheels were painted like that only for the '68 & '69 model year (Sedans; Cabrio wheels were all black so that the standard equipment beauty rings would not reveal the ivory outer edges from the Sedan) so that if nothing else, you can narrow down the years of a Beetle with such wheels from 100' away.

Sat Jul 12, 2025 4:19 pm

Rome wrote: Coastal, does the Beetle run now after all the parts which the PO installed? How about a photo of the current engine?

Oh yeah. I drover her to work today. Got her up to 55mph! I started a thread when I first got her. You can read it here.

Sat Jul 12, 2025 4:46 pm

Ah yes, you also asked about details on the steering wheel in a separate thread, to which I responded.

The engine looks to be in decent shape in your main thread. It should push you to 75 mph, but you probably are slowly increasing your highway speeds as you gain confidence with the car, brakes, etc.

In your other (main) thread, you could probably get a decent color match to the other rear fender for the time being using a quart can of Rust-O-Leum's "Royal red" and applying it with a small dense-foam roller. But first you should apply Ospho (ACE hardware) as a rust neutralizer to the fender, sand it with 220, spray a can of Rust-O-Leum rusty metal primer, and then try that red color.

Mon Jul 14, 2025 4:46 pm

Boy you VW hippies are a very cool and gracious crowd! I bought an engine stand from a guy today for a song.

And he GAVE me a BRAND NEW PAIR of running boards and a box of gaskets! Super cool guy!

And then because I work nights and got off work at 6am, another guy who lives close by and picked up the stand for me, GAVE me a brand new carburetor!

They’re super cool guys!

And I also stopped by the local air cooled shop and met the guy who owns it! He hooked me up with an original correct steering wheel! The horn ring screw holes are stripped but I’m going to fill them and redrill the holes, and restore the rest of the wheel as well.

And I couldn’t help but wrench on something so I took my old boards off and got a good look at the body. NO RUST! Wooohooo!

I have a lot of research to do tonight on carbs and tomorrow I have to go get new bolts for the new running boards!

Mon Jul 14, 2025 5:04 pm

Hello Ella

Mon Jul 14, 2025 5:35 pm

The ivory round "donuts" in your gasket set are for the pushrod tube ends. Those are the better quality ones; cheaper sets have those donuts in "brick red" which tend to split in only a few years.

For the running boards, the bolt thread size is M6 x 1.0 which is the same thread size as the engine's cooling tin. I don't remember the length you need for the running boards, but it's about 1" long. Use fender washers under the bolt heads. Also, I fit round rubber seals from a garden hose squirt head between the board itself and the body. This allows any rain water to quickly drain out, instead of having the board firmly along the body.

When you install the boards, line up their bottom edges so that they are even with the bottom curves of the fenders. A small detail for correct fitment. You see alot of boards that are higher than the fender bottom curves. This is a '69 press photo but gives you an idea of that alignment.

Mon Jul 14, 2025 5:42 pm

Nice score on the parts today Chris. Your car looks better all the time like the rocker panel you showed in the photos.. is the carb a Chinese copy? Since it was free you can try it as you have nothing to lose. Keep up the good work Bob

Tue Jul 15, 2025 2:15 pm

Got some new bolts today and installed the new running boards! Thanks for the suggestion Rome! The hose washers worked great! I even put them around the bolts on the fenders to prevent rust.

Tue Jul 15, 2025 4:30 pm

Looking better every day Chris. Did you happen to notice the wheels on the press photo that Rome posted? Nice huh?