Austin's 1974 Standard Beetle Body-off Restoration Project

[bart44]

nice build man, wish my bug was that good and not so rusty. i hope your welding got better lol. Nice job with the sand blasting but next time soda blast it the heat from the sand warps the metal u can see the blue flame when u blast at night! Anyways nice project man! looking good!

[19-VW-74]

[69 Jim]

Good luck.

[AirDirect]

Austin,

You car is looking awesome! It won't be long before you will be taking a spin in it. Love the paint job.

[19-VW-74]

Hey, everybody! Remember me? Well, it's been far too long since my last update, and there's no good excuse for it.

I blame these for sidetracking me:

I had to put some money into reupholstering the seat on my Honda and some maintenance items... Still need to buy new tires... goodbye $$ And my mom just picked up a 1985 Honda Nighthawk 700 S in MINT CONDISH. All I had to do was remove the carbs and clean them, taking care not to damage any of the original hardware, as it was untouched. I was the first to remove the carbs since the bike was new! And after dialing it in, that bike is a GRIN MACHINE.

I finally decided to go through my camera again and organize, resize and upload all of my pictures and post them up on here. So here's what I've got done in my absence.

With the car almost completely done wet-sanding (I have only one quarter panel left to sand. HATE wetsanding. SO tedious.), I re-indexed the rear torsions (1 inner spline... I think It's a bit too much drop for the look I want) and I put some ratching tie-downs around the front beam to pull the trailing arms up and artificially lower the car. Just to get some Ideas.

Here are a few shots:

That taillight is just sitting on the fender for looks right now.

I'm definitely going to have to narrow my front beam. Think 2" will get the wheel to tuck just behind the fender lip? I don't want to narrow more than 3" because I want this car to HANDLE. I don't want the wheel to sit lurking way under the fender. It should be just flush. And I want my fender gap to be 1.5-2" max. I may need to invest in some drop spindles so I can maintain ride quality.

I also discovered that my front passenger door trim holes are lower than my rear passenger quarter trim holes. Weird. That's the factory passenger door...

On another note, I was pretty pissed at how poor the German body moulding mounted to the clips on the body. The clips were either to big or the trim was too wide by maybe half a millimeter. I may just need to wrap the clips in some cellophane to make the trim snap on as it should.

Anyways, on a more positive note, I have completely finished all of the seat upholstery for all of the seats! I was pretty stoked at how well the junkyard seats transformed into some fresh new buckets.

My car was missing the drivers seat when I first got it (don't remember why) and the passenger seat was in pretty poor shape with a bad recovering job. The rear seat was in complete original covering and padding, including the fiberboard flaps on the seatback. But they were looking very sorry. So I set out to find a new driver seat to reupholster and I was on my way!

I ended up taking both the front seats out of a '74 SunBug in the local Pick'n Pull, paid $20 a piece. The covers were horrible but I only needed the frames anyway. I took my existing passenger seat and new passenger seat and took the best parts of the two and mixed them together to make a nice solid seat frame.

Here's one of the junkyard seats (the other looked identical):

I pulled all of the crappy upholstery and padding off of the seat frame. I also tossed all of the plastic side covers off (I have new ones from Wolfsburg West in the mail). Once I was down to the frames, I pulled the frames completely apart and wire brushed them to get ride of all the old foam remnants, rust, glue, etc. I then pressure washed all of the crap out of the nooks and crannies. And with the frames perfectly clean, I primed and painted them gloss black, and got them ready to be upholstered again.

Here are the frames for the front driver seat (I did the passenger seat in the same way).

(sorry it's sideways )

What I first did, was add an extra spring to the center of the seat to keep it from bottoming out against the rails. (I got several springs from the local upholstery shop that matched the originals perfectly). I then saturated every single spring joint with spray lithium grease. It will keep the seats from squeaking and rusting.

These are the springs I bought:

On the passenger seat, I replaced all three front springs with new ones as the originals were fatigued and distorted. They fit perfectly and the passenger seat is nice and firm.

By the advice of the Jbugs Interior Video, I laid down two layers of burlap on the seat bottom and attatched with hogrings. I then layed a layer of high-density 1" foam on top of the burlap. This foam is TOUGH. Flexible and resilient, but FIRM. I got it on closeout at a local upholstery shop. I glued it in place with 3M Super 77. Great stuff.

I then saturated the TMI seat foam with spray glue and kneaded it around the edges of the frame, like shown in the Jbugs Video. The TMI pads fit excellent, but this photo makes it look a little wavy.

The next step was the upholstery! Time to tug, stretch, and cramp your knuckles. The cover fit very well and I imagine will settle in once I start driving the car around on hot days.

I then moved to the front seat-back. I saturated all of the spring joints with grease and then soaked mechanisms on both sides of the seat that allow it to fold forward. All of the cables and levers operated smooth as butter.

The 73-76 seats all seem to have an issue with the bar that goes across the back of the seat. That flat stamped steel bar seams to always crack or completely split down the middle. So I made a bar out of scrap metal and pop-riveted it to the frame to give it some strength. I didn't want to weld and cause the springs to harden.

I again laid the seat down onto two layers of burlap, cut it to size and hogged it to the frame.

And I cut some 1" foam to place directly over the burlap.

Then I placed the TMI foam over that and glued it all into place with the 3m Super 77.

There's a little slit that needs to be cut in the burlap to allow for the upholstery to go through and fit tight around the headrest.

Then slide the little rods through the pocket in the upholstery and slip it through the seat foam and over the hooks.

And after some serious hair-dryer action and LOTS of Super 77, the upholstery hugs the seat foam nice and tight.

I slipped cardboard into the back of the seat-back to give the upholstery something to sit on but it looks bad. So I have some fiberboard reinforcement backing panels coming in the mail from Wolfsburg West, along with all new plastic side covers.

I'll update tomorrow with the rear seat bottom and seat back. I'm way too tired right now
_________________
-Austin
My 1974 Standard Beetle Build:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=492617

[jhicken]

Looking good Austin. Before you change your beam, look at 4.5" sport wheels in the front. They'll tuck nicely and you'll have that classic big/little look. This way you only need to get the dropped spindles. As for the trim not lining up, you got a different year door on there. I see that time to time on finished cars. To bad it didn't get noticed before the paint

One more thing, the CB550 Rocks, totally classic 70's [1975?], not a big fan of the Nighthawk but the CB is sweet!!

-jeffrey
_________________
Der Kleiner Kampfwagens

[19-VW-74]

[19-VW-74]

Alright, as promised, here are pictures/steps to reupholstering the rear seat.

Seat bottom:

Before:

After removing the cover and foam, I wire brushed all of the rusty junk off of the frames and cleaned with Simple Green. Then I sprayed them with some Rustoleum Primer and two coats of gloss black. I then sprayed all of the spring joints with lithium grease to get rid of any squeaks.

Wrapped with two layers of burlap:

Laid the seat frame over the 1" high density foam and cut it to shape:

When the foam was ready, I sprayed it down with 3M Super 77 and laid it down on the burlap:

The TMI foam fit like a glove.

The seat upholstery went on very smoothly with a little hair dryer action and some spray silicone.

Hogringed to the frame. The hogrings worked well, but as you can see I got some nasty grease and goo on the cover. A little paint thinner cleaned it right up.

After pulling the drawstring tight, I tied it to the frame snugly and the seat is finished!

Seat Back:

Before:

I started pulling off the cover and insulation. I really didn't want to because the insulation was so full of the "VW" smell and I'll probably keep alot of it so I have that smell somewhere in the car.

Down to the frame, and painted with Rustoleum gloss black.

Wrapped with burlap and hogringed.

Then glued and hogringed the TMI foam directly to the burlap and frame. I didn't add a layer of 1" foam at the advice of the Jbugs Video.

I then wrapped the top of the seat with a cap of Saran wrap and soaked the saran wrap with silicone spray to help the cover slip on. It helped immensely.

I bought some 5/16" Tempered hardboard from Home Depot and cut it to the shape of the new TMI carpet for the behind the seat. I then contact cemented the panels to the carpet and let them sit overnight with a heavy box on them for good contact. The TMI carpet kit didn't directly match the original carpet dimensions, but I think they'' work just fine when the new headliner is installed.

I was even able to cut a hole in the carpet and hardboard and reuse the original grommet for the seat strap.

Upholstery done.

After cutting holes for the seat latches. That was a pain. Also, the carpet and hardboard is installed now. Fits perfectly and the flaps work as original.

And it's DONE!
_________________
-Austin
My 1974 Standard Beetle Build:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=492617

[19-VW-74]

Made a trip to fasteners, inc. in Spokane and picked up a bunch of new stainless hardware! I'm replacing the door hinge screws and all of the visible hardware in the door jambs with flathead stainless allen screws. I also have stainless bolts for the fenders and to bolt up the floor pans. Not bad for $45.

_________________
-Austin
My 1974 Standard Beetle Build:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=492617

[Glenn]

[19-VW-74]

I knew I wasn't crazy... thank's for the heads up, now I don't feel so bad about leaving it that way!
_________________
-Austin
My 1974 Standard Beetle Build:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=492617

[pitterpat]

Nice job Austin!!!! You do good work. Thanks for detailing the seat upholstery, I've got some to do.

[Joel]

Looks like you could adjust the door catch in the pillar upwards slightly which would make the problem stand out less.

Notice how the body swage line above the trim also doesn't line up either on both yours and Glenns bugs?

May make the door a little harder to shut though, people often adjust them lower and lower as the door hinges start to sag making the door easier to shut.
Gotta watch for paint chipping too.

Very impressive work on the seats, just goes to prove with some time and patience you can do just as good job at home as the pros.
_________________
Quick little bug, you got a Porsche motor in that?
1974 Germanlook 1303 2.5 Suba-Beetle

[flyboat]

Yep, lookin good. I like your color choices. Your upholstery work looks very nice. The devil is in the details.
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79 super Vert
62 Ragtop Bug
66 tintop Westy
Porsche 914
09 Z06 Vette track car

[19-VW-74]

[EXJAY]

excellent work
_________________
EXJAY

'74 Superbeetle (Family owned since new)
'73 181 Thing (sold)

[PatterBon]

Kick ass job!
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PNW Dub Folk & Kitsap dub Folk (KdF)
Austin Aircoolers VW Gang
2020 Ford F-150
1973 Standard Beetle
1969 Cessna 172K Airplane
US Army CH-47 Chinook Helicopter Repairer November 2013 - July 2024

[19-VW-74]

So my shipment from Wolfsburg West came yesterday with my new plastic side panels and my fiberboard reinforcement panels for my front seats. I was impressed by the quality of both of them. I also got some German OE tarboard for the engine bay, some new fresh air hoses (I crushed mine taking the engine out. ), WCM dashboard, a bunch of different rubber bits, and real nice glossy catalog from WW.

Here's what the seat side covers and fiber boards looked like:

They appeared to be vinyl on one side, and paperboard on the other. They are probably 1/8" thick. Really sturdy but flexible and forgiving. I did have to take a horse rasp and deburr the corners so that the sharp edges wouldn't poke through the seat cover, but it was no big deal.

Before WW fiberboard panels:

After WW fiberboard panels:

Makes the seat look much more professionally done, and the covers fit better all around. Total price paid? $10 bucks for the pair. Worth every penny.

And here's a quick comparison of the new WW side covers and the OG VW side covers:

As you can see from the pictures, the grain and sheen are a little different (not a big deal, imo) and the shape isn't quite as sharp as the originals, but very close. The WW ones don't have any of the webbing molds that the OG ones have, but you'll see in the last picture that the WW ones are nearly twice as thick as the originals. The new ones are also much less brittle and a bit more forgiving. They seem to be a very high quality part.

Here they are installed on the (finished!) seats:

They really complete the look of the seats.

Total price paid: $54 for the set. Whatever you do, don't buy them from Cip1, or you'll pay about $96 dollars for the same set.
_________________
-Austin
My 1974 Standard Beetle Build:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=492617

[a.wilson]

Thanks for your much better pics on those side plastic covers, Austin!!
Lol.. mine sucks compared to yours, so went ahead and added links in a couple of mine just in case someone searched the gallery and wanted some more clearer shots between the new & old versions.
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_search.php?...r=a.wilson

Your seats turned out nice!
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Be kind to all critters. America's "H8TERZ" can drink sludgy used Motor Oil!


oemwolf

[phazor]

Awesome werk! Your build thread is my favorite referance material!

My 74 standard beetle build (just beginning).