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kickfli12 Samba Member
Joined: June 25, 2012 Posts: 21 Location: Greensboro
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Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2012 8:57 pm Post subject: My 1968 beetle build thread |
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growing up, i was always fond of the Volkswagen beetles mostly due to my grandfather being a big volkswagen fan. in fact, thats the only car he would drive on a daily basis. we always joked around about who will get his beetle when he passes and i would always tell him it had better be me. well, unfortunately the day came on April 29th 2012 and on may first i found out that he left the beetle to me. come to find out he didnt have a "proper will" and everything that had a title and was in his name went to the state and this brings me to the present. i bought this 1968 beetle to build in memory of him. i bought for $900 from a guy who has been hoarding them. it has no motor, interior, back glass, or wheels and has been sitting since 1990. he let me borrow wheels to tow it to the house which was nice of him considering that all the wheels i have are 4x100. i plan on putting all early model sheet metal on it cause i like the look of the early model cars over the late model ones. im going to take my time and do things the right way vs. rushing through it and not being happy with the end result.
here it is the day i got it at the hoarders place.
here it is at my buddy's house (where all the work will be done)
walk around after i started cleaning it up
started to tear it apart
started to drill out the spot welds that hold the front apron on and since i had never done that before it took forever. overall i think i did a good job for it being my first time.
got my new pre 67 apron. not welded on yet. just on there for picture purposes. not going to weld it on until i have an early model hood so i can get everything lined up properly.
i decided i wanted to lower it (a lot) so i took the front beam out to put some adjusters in it.
my friend welding in my adjusters for me
finished product
i kind of threw everything on it to get a feel of how its going to look
my friend picked up an early model hood for me today so he bolted it up and sent me a picture of it.
so far, this is where it stands. ill post as i get more things done. |
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dubjeep Samba Member
Joined: December 24, 2011 Posts: 354 Location: Rhode Island
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kickfli12 Samba Member
Joined: June 25, 2012 Posts: 21 Location: Greensboro
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Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2012 9:09 pm Post subject: |
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yeah my dad keeps calling me asking if its road worthy yet lol. dad is pretty excited that im doing a vw in his fathers memory. i cant wait to get it on the road. i ordered some headlights from socalautoparts.com and a friend of mine gave me some eyebrows. im looking forward to all that. i need to order some running boards cause mine had some lame vented aluminum ones on it... they were the first things in the trash. |
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kickfli12 Samba Member
Joined: June 25, 2012 Posts: 21 Location: Greensboro
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Posted: Sat Jul 21, 2012 6:49 am Post subject: |
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i finally cut the floor pan out. i was nervous cause i have never cut into the floor of a car before. i still need to do some trimming but again i think i did a good job for it being my first time
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dubjeep Samba Member
Joined: December 24, 2011 Posts: 354 Location: Rhode Island
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kickfli12 Samba Member
Joined: June 25, 2012 Posts: 21 Location: Greensboro
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Posted: Tue Aug 28, 2012 9:57 am Post subject: |
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been a while since ive updated. not much is going on with it.
tim welded the front apron on
got my rear window in (without defrost)
got my pan all trimmed up
put the pan in
started tearing down my cylinder heads for cleaning and porting
buffed the valves (before and after)
all of them buffed
before cleaning the chambers
after cleaning the chambers
ported
before lapping the valves
after lapping
all finished up
put my front fenders on
put my early model headlights in (hella fluted with removable h4 bulbs)
started to wash it and tried to get off all the spray paint. all the black is spray paint. the fenders were just moldy.
i also bought pretty much everything to put the engine back together, i just need a carb.
more updates soon... hopefully |
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dubjeep Samba Member
Joined: December 24, 2011 Posts: 354 Location: Rhode Island
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EuroSmashed Samba Member
Joined: May 02, 2011 Posts: 122 Location: NWA
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Posted: Tue Aug 28, 2012 11:13 am Post subject: |
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Wow man, looking great. Giving me some inspiration to get cutting!
Cant wait to see the end product. |
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gt1953 Samba Member
Joined: May 08, 2002 Posts: 13842 Location: White Mountains Arizona
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Posted: Tue Aug 28, 2012 12:56 pm Post subject: |
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On the rear engine H pattern, personally I would make it removeable. So much easier to remove install engine....wish Vw would have done that at the factory. _________________ Volkswagen: We tune what we drive.
Numbers Matching VW's are getting harder to find. Source out the most Stock vehicle and keep that way. You will be glad you did.
72 type 1
72 Squareback
({59 Euro bug, 62, 63, 67, 68, 69, 73 type ones 68 & 69 type two, 68 Ghia all sold}) |
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kickfli12 Samba Member
Joined: June 25, 2012 Posts: 21 Location: Greensboro
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Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2012 9:10 pm Post subject: |
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again, its been a while since my last post so here are some more pictures.
i bought new shoes, hardware, wheel cylinders, master cylinder, and stainless brake lines for the front and rear of the car
i got my flywheel resurfaced
i havnt had a lot of time to work on the beetle lately since my girlfriend is currently having some health issues, so tim put my motor together for me and put it in the car.
obviously i bought a new clutch, pressure plate, and throwout bearing. i also bought a rebuilt carb.
i ripped the dash pad out of it so i can get it to look like an early model dash.
bought an early model tank
just a picture of the rear brakes after i fought them for a while cause everything was seized up.
i also bought an early model rear apron and a few other random things that i cant remember right off the top of my head
still a little ways to go.... but its getting there slowly but surely. |
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slamadub Samba Member
Joined: September 08, 2009 Posts: 178 Location: Springfield,mo
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Posted: Thu Oct 11, 2012 6:42 am Post subject: |
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Nice, I own a 68 as well, Ill be watching this thread, keep up the good work!
Hey how hard was that pan to do with the body on? Im looking in to doing both on my 68 and did not want to pull the body _________________ My little build thread
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=527955 |
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gt1953 Samba Member
Joined: May 08, 2002 Posts: 13842 Location: White Mountains Arizona
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Posted: Thu Oct 11, 2012 7:16 am Post subject: |
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Nice job so far as I can see. 68 beetle owner here also.
Say before you button all the engine up add some thermostat and flaps to it. _________________ Volkswagen: We tune what we drive.
Numbers Matching VW's are getting harder to find. Source out the most Stock vehicle and keep that way. You will be glad you did.
72 type 1
72 Squareback
({59 Euro bug, 62, 63, 67, 68, 69, 73 type ones 68 & 69 type two, 68 Ghia all sold}) |
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drs1023 Samba Member
Joined: October 20, 2011 Posts: 1682 Location: Georgia, USA
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Posted: Thu Oct 11, 2012 2:00 pm Post subject: |
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Nice work so far on your '68.
I am belatedly sorry for the loss of your grandfather, and I am not hijacking the thread, but . . . . . how in hell did the state end up with the car??? If I read that part wrong, please disregard the rest of this post. Don't get me wrong, I am a law abiding 60-something year old man, but no way under the sun would the state have gotten their hands on my grandfather's car.
There are ways around this, so I am also sorry for the loss of your grandfather's car. |
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kickfli12 Samba Member
Joined: June 25, 2012 Posts: 21 Location: Greensboro
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Posted: Thu Oct 11, 2012 4:02 pm Post subject: |
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thanks everyone. the pan isn't hard at all, you just cut it out and trim the new one to fit. its hard to explain. well the state said that since he didn't have a will, everything that was titled to him like his cars and the house belonged to the state, but, everything else like military documents, clothes, furniture, etc. could be taken. if the drive up there wasn't 14 hours long id go up there and gut the damn thing and take the Porsche motor out of it and leave the body and chassis because that's what the title is for =) maybe his neighbor was smart enough to do that lol |
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kickfli12 Samba Member
Joined: June 25, 2012 Posts: 21 Location: Greensboro
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Posted: Mon Feb 18, 2013 5:44 pm Post subject: |
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well, i finally got everything to put the beetle on the road. i got early model rear fenders, tail lights, i installed my standoffs, got a shifter, seats, early model gas tank, early model gas gauge, early model glove box door, some pretty neat wheels that i havnt seen before, got some eyelids for the headlights, some re pop early model bumpers, and an early model poke nose rear deck lid.
nothing has been done to it since my last post due to my fiancee's health issues (and notice shes my fiancee now ) and doing wedding junk... i told her do whatever as long as i get to use the vw as the getaway car and i get to choose my tux
so i dont have any pics to show you so ill try to dig up something for you to look at
here are my wheels, i got all 5 at the raleigh show for $200. anyone know what theyre called?
here is my deck lid with the stand offs. and those arent my early model rear fenders... obviously lol
and a random pic i took a while back
a lot still needs to be done. the rear needs to be lowered, the gauges need to be put in, more welding needs to be done. should come together soon. i actually just got all the title work done today so now its tagged and good to go |
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White Trash Renegade Samba Member
Joined: September 30, 2009 Posts: 10 Location: Wichita KS
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Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2013 12:03 pm Post subject: |
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Love it as I also have a 68! _________________ 1968 Beetle. |
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novice bug guy Samba Member
Joined: August 08, 2012 Posts: 28 Location: Georgia
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Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2013 12:41 pm Post subject: |
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looks great man!
I'm getting inpsired to go work on my bug now _________________ '73 std. |
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kickfli12 Samba Member
Joined: June 25, 2012 Posts: 21 Location: Greensboro
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Posted: Sun Aug 18, 2013 8:35 am Post subject: |
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again, not much going on with the vw at the moment but starting tomorrow its GO TIME! in the past few weeks here is whats happened. ive spray painted my rear late model fenders white (i no longer have earlys, long story) i put my early model tails on and painted them as well. i cleaned out the interior. finally lowered the rear end with adjustable spring plates from sway-a-way. hooked up the hood release, got the engine tuned, started to paint the side panel. adjusted the brakes, fixed a brake line leak, re-bled the brakes and adjusted them again, put my roof rack together, fitted my porsche steering wheel, got my rear early apron mocked up and ready for welding, and put in new pop out seals. only thing now thats keeping me off the road is lights, gauges, and seats.
here are a few pics
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Hyperspace Samba Member
Joined: January 03, 2013 Posts: 1166 Location: South Africa
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kickfli12 Samba Member
Joined: June 25, 2012 Posts: 21 Location: Greensboro
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Posted: Sun Aug 18, 2013 12:25 pm Post subject: |
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They're american racing spectre 2's |
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