1969 Manx project

[dlyle]

Spent a little time polishing the back fiberglass and it's looking pretty nice. There was a raised impression of a few decals on the back.

It's difficult to see but just barely visible in the light reflection is the image of Tweety Bird's head. The other side had me baffled until I figured out it was Sylvester the cat. There is another square visible but no telling what that could have been.

I did a search and found the exact decals that are from 1969. Same measurements and shapes. I was lucky and found a set for sale.....I may or may not put them back on the buggy.

I also changed out the rear turn signal lights and license plate light housing.

Here is the before

And now the after. I found a set of light housings at a swap meet that were already chromed and have a little patina. I'll get the originals rechromed.

No chrome on this so it got replaced. I also removed and polished the convertible top snaps.

[SBD]

_________________
"Just $99 down and $64 a month for 36 months buys you a brand new Volkswagen Beetle!"

[KAmes]

One vote for put the stickers on

[dlyle]

[dlyle]

Started taking off the black paint on the front end. The damage doesn't look to bad. The gelcoat is pretty rough where there was no paint protecting it. Not sure if I'll be able to polish that out.

[dlyle]

The hood is fixed as well as it can be for now. The gelcoat was toast in the areas that weren't covered by the black paint. I removed all the bondo and exposed the damage underneath so it could get a temporary fix. I should point out that I got a lot of help from Miguel Diaz on the repair. I removed the paint and he did the repair and clear coat of the hood.


I used Citristrip to remove the black paint. Covered it with Seran wrap to keep it from evaporating. Doing it in the sun seems to speed up the process.

The lower area will have to wait for the final repair when the hood comes off the car. For now I'll cover it with a license plate.

The old 7E Brilliant Golden Orange is nothing like the newer 7P Brilliant Golden Orange that Meadowbrook and Meyers Manx use today. That's a bag of the new 7P. We couldn't use that and had to go with with some gold flake as a temporary fix.

This is the newer 7P flake that has a lot more orange than gold.

I'm looking for an original Manx emblem for the front....the kind with the 3 plastic studs.

I'll let it dry a few days and then will wet sand and polish.

[dlyle]

Cleaned up the new wheels and painted the backs.

Miguel Diaz helped and applied the color. We used Eastwood Argent silver which was very close to the original color on the back of the wheels. This paint dries immediately. You can paint it and by the time you put the can down you can take sandpaper to it.

The rear tires are Genneral Grabber AT/X 31x10.5R15LT

The front tires are Genteral Grabber 27x8.5R14LT.

The new rear tires on the right at 31" are just a bit shorter than the Gates Sand Command XT tires that came off the buggy.

The tire on the far left is what came off the car and the middle tire is the new 27x8.5R14LT tire. The tire on the right was a temp set of roller tires.

[squareweave]

Any updates on this? I believe I saw pictures of it online with a new wiring harness etc?? I'd love to see it done

[dlyle]

[dlyle]

Now turning our attention to the brakes. They worked but there was a really hard pull to the right. I use DOT 5 silicone fluid on every car I work on. It lasts forever. You can look at your brakes years after a rebuild and the fluid will still be purple. The only downside is that it can kill the brake light switch. I've tried switches from a Harley Davidson which also use silicone fluid but still had problems so a mechanical switch will be used.

The pedals came out for some clean up and painting. The single circuit brake master was replaced with a dual circuit.

The after shows the care that was taken to make sure these last another 50 years.

Now back in place with the floor having also been cleaned up and painted. Note the brake line to the rear has also been replaced. The pedals received a "Big Boy" clutch pedal shaft upgraded that adds another 3/4" between the pedals. You can get theses from Ron at Classic Bug Parts. https://www.classicbugparts.com/big-boy-pedal-extender/

I also opted for their X-celerator pedal.

DOT 5 brake fluid was used which can destroy the hydraulic brake switches so a mechanical switch was added

This is a before shot of the front end.

Parts that were within spec were retained but anything worn was replaced. All hard and rubber brake lines were replaced.

Rear brakes getting the attention to make them reliable and safe.

[dlyle]

The seats will get replaced so while they were out it was a good time to clean up the floors.

Lots of junk to scrape off.

Much better. Brake line to the rear of the car now replaced too.

[dlyle]

All the gauges now work including the Racimex tach. Most importantly the fuel gauge works.

Not sure why there are so many toggle holes. We had to fill the holes so some of the switches are not hooked up.

[dlyle]

The aftermarket seats came out and were replaced with PRP Roadster seats.

The rear seat will get mounted on a 1/2" board and then will get installed. This buggy never had a back seat but I think it needs one.

[dlyle]

Steering rag joint was good so was reused. I've noticed most of the replacements are conductive so they don't isolate and your horn wiring won't work. This was one of the few that work as intended. .

The shift rod bushing now has a Delrin replacement and the rear couple was also replaced.

[dlyle]

The old De Carbon Bilstein shocks were probably original to this build back in the late 60's so they were cleaned up and reused. I see a 70 on the housing so maybe it was 1970.

[dlyle]

The engine ran fine before but it got a little attention. Upgrades included a new 34 Pict carb, a replacement intake manifold as the old one had the preheat tubes cut off, an electronic ignition, and an alternator. New plugs, wires, oil change and tune up were also performed. The crank Power Pulley was installed in 1975 at a cost of $11.50 so was left in place. The bolt was another $2.75. At this same visit in 1975 the dual port heads were installed along with push rod tubes, rod bearings, muffler, distributor, and dual 40 DCNF carbs. I still have the carbs in a box of spare parts that came with the Manx.

I had the intake manifolds vapor blasted. They came out looking like new.

The type 3 air filter will get hidden behind a stainless panel that the license plate goes on.

While we have the motor out it gets a new throwout bearing, pressure plate and disc.

[slayer61]

Doug, your attention to detail is off the charts. Very well done, Sir,

This wire tying technique (using waxed string) is now lost to history, with the exception of a few phone guys

Be good!
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[dlyle]

The exhaust was also replaced. The old one was ok and from what I was told was either a Thunderbird or SS exhaust but it stuck out too far. The muffler cost back in 1975 was $50. The replacement is a Shoemaker exhaust which was a common option for the Manx.

This is a before shot.

This is an after shot. The muffler has been tampered with so it sits too high. Unfortunately the chrome exhaust tip has been shortened by a previous owner.

John fixed the muffler. It looks great and the exhaust sticks out about 7" less than the old exhaust.

[dlyle]

The floor was dirty and needed some cleanup.

Lots of scraping needed here.

Now much better and has a new brake line going to the rear.

A new rubber mat was installed over the tunnel.

Kuhltek floor mats were used.

[dlyle]

Miguel Diaz spent a lot of time matching the color on the hood. He took it to numerous paint match experts that eventually all told him don't come back if it doesn't match. He had to experiment with different base coats and spent a ton of time but finally got it as close to perfect as possible.

This is what we started with.

A night and day difference from before.