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OvalinAz Samba Mini Tech

Joined: June 09, 2009 Posts: 1092 Location: AZ
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Posted: Fri Mar 29, 2024 6:52 pm Post subject: Dad's April of 1955 Oval |
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So on my way home from work a week ago, I saw this oval parked out on the road with a for sale sign on it.
I thought it was a 56-57 but was super surprised when I got up to it and it was a ribbed door euro car. My Dad has been looking for a 3 Fold ribbed door car for a while, but a hardtop is a great start! and it drove home.
Dash is perfect, might even be the original Nile Beige paint still. added a 356 Blaupunkt radio and a camping quick release I made.
Front clip is about perfect to, apron is kinda banged up but the whole car is super straight.
Only real issues with it is the drivers heater channel is kinda rough and it needs rear bumper mounts and some wheelhouse/firewall rust repair. but the package tray and pans are all super solid.
Bonus that it is already 12v, non splitcase and came with a solid 1600DP motor. brakes are still all 2 bolt and actually all work. needed some wiring love because none of the lights worked. And more of a bonus, it has all the original seats! interior has what looks like a red TMI kit.
my dad wanted my BBT sprints, so ditched the AE 5 spokes. and added the correct big spring decklid. has a 64ish hood on it, but I have a solid 4 tab for it. Front fenders are rough but are original and actually still have the wire tubes.
pretty stoked on this car for him, also exited to see what we build it into, I'm pretty sure it has a 3 fold from grumpys in its future. _________________ Dad's 4/55 Oval
8/56 Oval
5/64 French Notchback
12/62 French 11 Window Bus
Wedge VW
Pandraggers C.C. |
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OvalinAz Samba Mini Tech

Joined: June 09, 2009 Posts: 1092 Location: AZ
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Posted: Fri Mar 29, 2024 6:55 pm Post subject: Re: Dad's April of 1955 Oval |
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Today I got some repop egg taillights from Koch's, installed them on it. Luckily there was great info and pictures on here on correct mounting locations. The rear fenders aren't OG but they will work fine.
measured everything out, and welded up the old taillight holes.
pretty solid looking! ran all new wires for the rear lights as well. _________________ Dad's 4/55 Oval
8/56 Oval
5/64 French Notchback
12/62 French 11 Window Bus
Wedge VW
Pandraggers C.C. |
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tehillah1 Samba Member

Joined: August 23, 2009 Posts: 306 Location: Colorado
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Posted: Sat Mar 30, 2024 7:06 am Post subject: Re: Dad's April of 1955 Oval |
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Nice driver. I like the rear view. The taillights came looking great and I like the red decklid.. does it have a later rear apron with the pea shooter cutouts? |
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djfordmanjack Samba Member

Joined: June 15, 2009 Posts: 2316 Location: Graz, Austria, Europe
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VW_Jimbo  Samba Member

Joined: May 22, 2016 Posts: 10709 Location: Huntington Beach, CA
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Posted: Sun Mar 31, 2024 9:00 am Post subject: Re: Dad's April of 1955 Oval |
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Nice find! Looks like you are going to have fun!
Is that an MG next to the Bug and another Bug on top. Lucky man! I meant about the lift! JK _________________ Jimbo
There is never enough time to do it right the first time, but all the time necessary the second time!
TDCTDI wrote: |
Basically, a whole bunch of fuckery to achieve a look. |
67rustavenger wrote: |
GFY's Xevin and VW_Jimbo!  |
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OvalinAz Samba Mini Tech

Joined: June 09, 2009 Posts: 1092 Location: AZ
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Posted: Thu Apr 04, 2024 8:47 pm Post subject: Re: Dad's April of 1955 Oval |
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tehillah1 wrote: |
Nice driver. I like the rear view. The taillights came looking great and I like the red decklid.. does it have a later rear apron with the pea shooter cutouts? |
Thanks! I think it might get painted Strato silver. It actually is the original rear apron with the cut outs on it.
djfordmanjack wrote: |
That's a sweet project car, when you can actually drive it home and start improvements instantly. rolling restorations can be more fun than ground up builds that will take years before you can drive it again. Well done ! |
Irs been a great car so far! Thanks!
VW_Jimbo wrote: |
Nice find! Looks like you are going to have fun!
Is that an MG next to the Bug and another Bug on top. Lucky man! I meant about the lift! JK |
Thanks! Yep that’s a 53 MG TD! And yep a few more vw’s around it lol, my dad has a VW shop here in Phoenix and I’m incredibly lucky to be able to use lifts! _________________ Dad's 4/55 Oval
8/56 Oval
5/64 French Notchback
12/62 French 11 Window Bus
Wedge VW
Pandraggers C.C. |
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OvalinAz Samba Mini Tech

Joined: June 09, 2009 Posts: 1092 Location: AZ
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Posted: Mon Apr 08, 2024 8:58 pm Post subject: Re: Dad's April of 1955 Oval |
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added a really close to correct hood for it, its a early 56 hood, with no folded edge on the cowl. fits great. removed the peanut turn signals as well, holes will be welded up soon.
also added the correct 55 tank.
my dad had a super clean set of original pop outs for it so those got installed.
also got all the lights working, minus the semaphores. need to run a harness to the passenger side as it is missing. _________________ Dad's 4/55 Oval
8/56 Oval
5/64 French Notchback
12/62 French 11 Window Bus
Wedge VW
Pandraggers C.C. |
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OvalinAz Samba Mini Tech

Joined: June 09, 2009 Posts: 1092 Location: AZ
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Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2024 8:40 pm Post subject: Re: Dad's April of 1955 Oval |
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Got the hood, decklid and rear fenders/lights close to color matched.
I gotta weld up some more holes, but happy its close until it actually gets painted.
messed with more wiring today, completely rebuilt the rear harness for the motor and lights. 2 different headlight switches, 1 fuse block and 2 domelights were bad. ordering a new headlight switch from Wolfsburg, both OG switches had dead terminals. but all the lights do work now minus the semaphores.
_________________ Dad's 4/55 Oval
8/56 Oval
5/64 French Notchback
12/62 French 11 Window Bus
Wedge VW
Pandraggers C.C. |
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ddutch Samba Member
Joined: June 17, 2020 Posts: 173 Location: Nederland
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Posted: Thu Apr 18, 2024 6:09 pm Post subject: Re: Dad's April of 1955 Oval |
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OvalinAz wrote: |
I gotta weld up some more holes, but happy its close until it actually gets painted.
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What do you mean with ''... untill it gets painted.'' ?!
Are you serious?!! It just got painted, and it looks awesome now! |
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OvalinAz Samba Mini Tech

Joined: June 09, 2009 Posts: 1092 Location: AZ
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Posted: Wed Apr 24, 2024 9:49 pm Post subject: Re: Dad's April of 1955 Oval |
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ddutch wrote: |
OvalinAz wrote: |
I gotta weld up some more holes, but happy its close until it actually gets painted.
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What do you mean with ''... untill it gets painted.'' ?!
Are you serious?!! It just got painted, and it looks awesome now! |
eventually it'll be completely "restored" and get actually painted. for now its gonna be a cruiser _________________ Dad's 4/55 Oval
8/56 Oval
5/64 French Notchback
12/62 French 11 Window Bus
Wedge VW
Pandraggers C.C. |
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OvalinAz Samba Mini Tech

Joined: June 09, 2009 Posts: 1092 Location: AZ
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Posted: Wed Apr 24, 2024 9:59 pm Post subject: Re: Dad's April of 1955 Oval |
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today I converted the wiper motor to 12v, unfortunately I had to swap out the motor to a 58+ style, my dad had an NOS 12V armature, that didn't fit in the oval motor. he also had a good used 58+ motor, cleaned everything up and got it installed and running. new blades and body grommets..
also got the drivers hinge pin out, super easy with the correct tool!
Found this super cool mirror on a 59 bug in a pull n save yard here in Phoenix, it fits on this car perfect.
_________________ Dad's 4/55 Oval
8/56 Oval
5/64 French Notchback
12/62 French 11 Window Bus
Wedge VW
Pandraggers C.C. |
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stale air Samba Member

Joined: August 23, 2007 Posts: 5451 Location: Senoia Ga, formally NorCal
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Posted: Thu Apr 25, 2024 7:41 am Post subject: Re: Dad's April of 1955 Oval |
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That mirror is wild, but cool!  _________________ WANTED: Henry Veale Santa Rosa plate frames
WANTED: Brittsan Motors Fresno plate frames
WANTED: Any Georgia plate frames
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VW_Jimbo  Samba Member

Joined: May 22, 2016 Posts: 10709 Location: Huntington Beach, CA
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Posted: Thu Apr 25, 2024 8:21 am Post subject: Re: Dad's April of 1955 Oval |
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Looks great! The door is what I am referring to! No ding from the pin presser! Very cool! Oh, and the mirror is awesome! 😎
Keep having fun with the car. It is fun to read about. _________________ Jimbo
There is never enough time to do it right the first time, but all the time necessary the second time!
TDCTDI wrote: |
Basically, a whole bunch of fuckery to achieve a look. |
67rustavenger wrote: |
GFY's Xevin and VW_Jimbo!  |
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OvalinAz Samba Mini Tech

Joined: June 09, 2009 Posts: 1092 Location: AZ
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Posted: Sat May 25, 2024 6:56 am Post subject: Re: Dad's April of 1955 Oval |
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switched out the sprints to smoothies.
Had the speedo rebuilt, minus a new needle.
Got some 12V ribbed semaphores, and got them all working. Also picked up some 12V flashing bulbs. Also had to run a new harness for the passenger side semaphore as the original one was missing.
and my dad picked up an original Bekowa roof rack for it.
Also have a rebuilt freeway flyer trans for it which will be going in soon. and going to be switching all the brakes out to 58-64 style. _________________ Dad's 4/55 Oval
8/56 Oval
5/64 French Notchback
12/62 French 11 Window Bus
Wedge VW
Pandraggers C.C. |
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OvalinAz Samba Mini Tech

Joined: June 09, 2009 Posts: 1092 Location: AZ
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Posted: Wed Aug 21, 2024 9:40 pm Post subject: Re: Dad's April of 1955 Oval |
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Got the windshield and rear window seals swapped out for American style with chrome.
Also pulled a rebuilt freeway flyer trans from one of my dads other projects that has been sitting since 2015. the current trans in the 55 is loud and shifts bad. so this one is going in, had to convert the nosecone to a bus one, fix the hockey stick so it would work and go thru all the brakes, swap the clutch arm and replace the mounts.
pulled trans
super clean, ready for the bus nose cone
also have all new 1 bolt front brakes, new soft lines, dual master cylinder and drums for it, that'll hopefully be on and done this week.
had to weld and redrill/countersink hockey stick to work with the bus nose cone.
and done, swapped the clutch arm, drained and refilled with new gear oil, and installed the nosecone. have to install the new throw out bearing and rear mount. and pull the other trans from the 55. also have to put the new axle boots on, and flip the backing plates upside down.
_________________ Dad's 4/55 Oval
8/56 Oval
5/64 French Notchback
12/62 French 11 Window Bus
Wedge VW
Pandraggers C.C. |
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