1961 Turkis Ragtop Build

laneven28 · Posted: Mon Oct 29, 2012 9:52 am Post subject:

Paint is so close to being done. It wasn’t ready and waiting in the garage when Wade got there Friday like I’d hoped, but I did take him by the shop and let him see paint on the backsides of the decklid, hood, doors, and fenders. All the small parts were also painted, and we took them home with us. Trent was planning to spray the front sides of all lids and fenders Saturday night, and finish the body shell last night, so it may be done right now - fingers crossed! I’d love to have it back in my garage tonight.

Here’s a few shots from our visit Friday night.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

_________________
1950 Pearl Grey Hoffman Standard Split Window
1954 Iceland Green Euro 3-Fold Oval
1955 Strato Silver Transitional 3-Fold Oval
1956 Iris Blue Convertible
1958 Pearl White Lowlight KG Convertible
1961 Turkis Ragtop

OvalinAz · Posted: Mon Oct 29, 2012 10:03 am Post subject:

love that color!
_________________
Dad's 4/55 Oval
8/56 Oval
5/64 French Notchback
12/62 French 11 Window Bus
Wedge VW
Pandraggers C.C.

templeofspeed · Posted: Mon Oct 29, 2012 3:10 pm Post subject:

laneven28 · Posted: Mon Oct 29, 2012 3:43 pm Post subject:

laneven28 · Posted: Tue Oct 30, 2012 8:35 am Post subject:

Stopped by the paint shop last night to check on status. Trent was in the middle of spraying first coat of paint on the fenders, doors, hood, and decklid when I showed up. It looks so good!! Very Happy

_________________
1950 Pearl Grey Hoffman Standard Split Window
1954 Iceland Green Euro 3-Fold Oval
1955 Strato Silver Transitional 3-Fold Oval
1956 Iris Blue Convertible
1958 Pearl White Lowlight KG Convertible
1961 Turkis Ragtop

roadkingdoc · Samba Member Joined: May 16, 2009 Posts: 911

i have enjoyed following your project. great for the boys to learn some practical skills in this age of video games. the pictures bring back memories for me as i was short of 4 years doing mine. i did all the work on mine except shoot the two stage. welcome to the 61 turkis ragtop group!

Soul Built · Posted: Sun Nov 04, 2012 9:22 am Post subject:

Just wanted to chime in and say thanks for sharing this with us.

I don't have son's but this entire thread has been an inspiration. Not only because you guys have taken on a great project, but that you did it as a family. And personally, I cannot tell you how much I love the fact you went back to Turkis. One of my favorite VW Colors. Never had a Type 1 in Turkis but a I have had a few Buses.

laneven28 · Posted: Mon Nov 05, 2012 10:57 am Post subject:

Thanks roadkingdoc. Your 61 looks fantastic! I wandered through your pictures and enjoyed seeing the before and after. I'll be glad when we're at the same point you are. As much as I've loved the project and spending time with my boys, I'm ready to wrap it up and move on. It's consumed me for the better part of 2 years now, and was on and off for 2 years before that. I'm sure you understand Laughing

Soul Built - hard to describe how great it's been working with my boys on this car, and how involved they've been. My 12 year old has developed a love for early VW's throughout the process, and got his heart set on a low light Karmann Ghia for his project car. A couple weeks ago I found a 58 coupe here locally, made a deal so we officially have another project to tackle in the near future. There WILL be a break in between though - Dad's a bit worn out, and so is the bank account. Here's a peek at the next project.

Our painter finished spraying the shell last Wednesday, and immediately began color sanding & buffing. By Saturday, the shell and decklid were completed so I took them home and began the reassembly process. I have to say, I'm more than impressed with our painter, Trent, and his skills. Every panel is like a mirror, and he's been so good to work with. I wouldn't hesitate recommending him to anyone that may be looking for quality body & paint work.

One of the first things I installed was a clear-needle 90mph speedo I picked up from Ryan Ousley at Orange Empire Speedo a while back. Although early 61 models actually came with a white needle speedo, these clear needle 90's were built from May - July '60 so they're period correct, hard to find and definately cool.

Also mounted an original Dehne fuel guage that I have. Unfortunately, it needs some $$ parts to be operational so we won't be running it initially. Once I'm done hemorraging cash to get it running & driving, I'll come back to it.

Also installed an NOS ignition and NOS 1-year wiper switch & pump, side trim, and the antenna. It's starting to look like a real car again!

_________________
1950 Pearl Grey Hoffman Standard Split Window
1954 Iceland Green Euro 3-Fold Oval
1955 Strato Silver Transitional 3-Fold Oval
1956 Iris Blue Convertible
1958 Pearl White Lowlight KG Convertible
1961 Turkis Ragtop

Jon65 · Samba Member Joined: September 29, 2012 Posts: 2417

Awesome car. I like the clear needle speedo. Keep up the good work. Cool

jzjames · Posted: Tue Nov 06, 2012 9:32 am Post subject:

When will that odometer start moving? Very Happy

laneven28 · Posted: Tue Nov 06, 2012 3:05 pm Post subject:

mykidsbug · Posted: Tue Nov 06, 2012 8:16 pm Post subject:

Love the work!! i had my son helping. that didnt last. football season, baseball season and track keeps him from helping.. now that he turned 16, its girls. Cool

roadkingdoc · Samba Member Joined: May 16, 2009 Posts: 911

those springed hood hinges were a 62 item according to the vw timeline. were those original to the car? wish my rag had them. they probably help prevent the driver side hood kink or bend common to the 61 and earlier. i am the only hood operator of my car!

laneven28 · Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2012 11:19 am Post subject:

obfuscurity · Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2012 10:26 pm Post subject:

Just read this thread from start to finish. Disappointed to see no updates in over a month. What's the latest? Smile

OvalinAz · Posted: Fri May 03, 2013 11:33 am Post subject:

laneven28 · Posted: Tue May 28, 2013 12:56 pm Post subject:

This update is long overdue. While the project has taken longer than expected, we’re steadily marching towards the finish line. The devil really is in the details, and those details seem to eat up a lot of time! Regardless, we’re still enjoying every step of the process.

Once we dropped in a 12V armature into the wiper motor, the wiring wrapped up fairly quickly. During reassembly, I found that 3 of the 4 fenders had burn through on the paint, so they had to go back to the painter to be resprayed and color sanded & buffed. At this point, many months later, I’m still waiting for those to wrap up. It’s time to turn up the heat as I’m ready for them now.

We then installed the front beam but ran into an issue with one of the securing bolts when it snapped off in the chassis frame as we were tightening it. Many frustrating hours and drill bits later, we got the broken piece out and moved onto installing the brake system. That was not fun!

Wade chose BRM’s for his wheels, and was anxious to get them on once the brakes were all done. While I personally like my cars stock, I gotta say that the look of these rims has really grown on me…

_________________
1950 Pearl Grey Hoffman Standard Split Window
1954 Iceland Green Euro 3-Fold Oval
1955 Strato Silver Transitional 3-Fold Oval
1956 Iris Blue Convertible
1958 Pearl White Lowlight KG Convertible
1961 Turkis Ragtop

laneven28 · Posted: Tue May 28, 2013 3:19 pm Post subject:

One cold night in February, the boys and I stayed up late and finished assembling the stale air 40hp engine. We had a local VW machine shop set the end play, but we did everything else.

Here’s what we started with:

Here’s where it is now:

_________________
1950 Pearl Grey Hoffman Standard Split Window
1954 Iceland Green Euro 3-Fold Oval
1955 Strato Silver Transitional 3-Fold Oval
1956 Iris Blue Convertible
1958 Pearl White Lowlight KG Convertible
1961 Turkis Ragtop

laneven28 · Posted: Tue May 28, 2013 3:31 pm Post subject:

By the end of March, with the completed engine mounted to the transaxle, we were ready to test fit the body to the chassis. We rounded up a few friends and moved the body from the donor chassis to the restored one. We were very lucky as everything lined up as expected. It was great to see the painted body mated up with the restored chassis – lots of high fives, and smiles that night as we were all proud and excited that it was all coming together.

_________________
1950 Pearl Grey Hoffman Standard Split Window
1954 Iceland Green Euro 3-Fold Oval
1955 Strato Silver Transitional 3-Fold Oval
1956 Iris Blue Convertible
1958 Pearl White Lowlight KG Convertible
1961 Turkis Ragtop

laneven28 · Posted: Tue May 28, 2013 3:47 pm Post subject:

We final prepped the chassis & body by adding the pan gasket, installing rattle trap on the chassis tunnel and body, installing front seat belts, and adding new tar board to the engine firewall.

_________________
1950 Pearl Grey Hoffman Standard Split Window
1954 Iceland Green Euro 3-Fold Oval
1955 Strato Silver Transitional 3-Fold Oval
1956 Iris Blue Convertible
1958 Pearl White Lowlight KG Convertible
1961 Turkis Ragtop


Hello! Log in or Register \| Help \| Donate \| Buy Shirts	See all banner ads \| Advertise on TheSamba.com

1961 Turkis Ragtop Build
Page: Previous 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 Next

	Forum Index -> Beetle - 1958-1967	All times are Mountain Standard Time/Pacific Daylight Savings Time Page: Previous 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 Next
Page 6 of 10