The Root Beer Float

[74Shovel]

My wife and I just bought our first VW Bug. It's a 1978 Super Beetle Convertible. I am just starting to go through the car, cleaning and making a list of items which need to be replaced or repaired. It looks to be almost all original. We bought it from friends of ours who were selling it to raise cash for another project, they called it the Root Beer Float because it's metallic brown with a white top and interior. While I haven't found any serious rust, the paint has several spots where it's blistered and cracked, but from ten feet away it looks very nice. The interior is in good shape, but the front seats are definitely showing their age.

For now my wife is using it as her daily driver, but we plan to eventually strip the car down for a full repaint and replacement of the interior and top. I'll be doing all the work with the exception of paint and top replacement.

[Keith]

That's a champagne edition , you should have wood grained dash pieces and a square dash clock.
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Formerly known in the forums as "OVALTEEN"

"I firmly believe that some villagers from Botswana could probably build a better road than PennDot."- Splitty

"If you do anything to your car someone will hate on you for it. People absolutely love to complain and find fault with others. Don't let it bother you. Just live and have fun."- Lind

[vwuberalles]

It looks great, I love that color! Does it need a repaint, or could you just fix the damaged areas and blend in the new paint? It'd save you some money and work, as well as retain as much of the original paint as possible.
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1973 Superbeetle: 1st car, owned since age 12. Update thread --> https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9919140#9919140
1967 Kombi: Owned since age 17, Dad's retirement project.
1966 Beetle: My new project. (SOLD) Build thread--> https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=678040

[74Shovel]

It does have the plastic, fake wood grain panels, and the square clock. I thought the wood grain treatment was some kind of an aftermarket item. Mine is sun-faded and looks bad. I was hoping to find a replacement online, but it appears they don't exist. I'm temped to remove them then get a sheet of wood veneer from the local woodworking shop and resurface them with real wood and a nice finish. The clock is working, but the reset knob is missing, so I can't set the time correctly. Again, I was hoping to find another to replace it with, but if this is a limited addition item it may be difficult to find.

As for the paint. I have thought about the possibility of sanding out the blisters individually, along with the cracks, then carefully touching them up. Metallic paint can be a bit of a pain though. There's an automotive paint supplier in town, and I'll have to see if they get the paint code and make me a couple custom spray cans (I've had this done before by a different place about 20-years ago).

Now to anger the purists. My wife really wants to paint it pink. We bought it for her, and the friends we bought it from don't mind the idea of repainting it (they never liked the color anyway). As long as it makes her happy, and she enjoys the car, that's all I care about. She's only been driving it for three days now, and enjoys the fact that people notice the car. There are other Beetles where we live, but not many. The repaint is probably a couple years down the road for now, since the cost of replacing the top will need to be saved up as well.

My priorities right now are to go through the brake system, replacing any parts needed, followed by a good flush. Then replace the control arm bushings on the front end. I noticed the front end was twitchy at highway speeds, and YouTube showed me why. If there's a particular kit that is recommended or I should avoid, I'd love some advice. I'm a very good home mechanic, but I'm not familiar with the reputations of various aftermarket VW parts suppliers. Once I have the control arms off, I'll decide if the ball joints and tie rod ends need replacement.

Once I get some parts in my hands (probably in a couple weeks), I'll start a separate build post. I did this for a vintage motorcycle I restored, and appreciated the advice that came from other forum members at HondaTwins.net.

[vwuberalles]

The purists aren't the ones to worry about when it comes to painting it pink, it's potential buyers if you plan to sell it on in the future. Painting it pink will severely limit your market and resale value. If it's a forever car then paint it however you want!
_________________
1973 Superbeetle: 1st car, owned since age 12. Update thread --> https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9919140#9919140
1967 Kombi: Owned since age 17, Dad's retirement project.
1966 Beetle: My new project. (SOLD) Build thread--> https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=678040

[ach60]

I realize it's your car to do want you want with it, that edition with that color, and top, and interior if all original is rare.
VW made a crap ton of Triple White editions, and in '79 made a triple Black edition also.
People thought those cars would be the collector’s items, so there is still a crap ton of triple whites that now have incorrect interiors, and tops.
What I'm saying is It's only Original Once, so if it's original now, I'd leave it that way.
Also VW Super Beetle Convertibles are like VW 101, a lot of people buy them as their first VW.
And a lot of people find out that pre-historic VW fuel injection is not their friend,
But if you buy the VW Bentley manual and only replace Fuel Injection Parts when they test bad, you can make this fuel injection system work well.
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Good Luck
Al

[74Shovel]

Ach60, thanks for the info. If it was just mine I'd leave it brown, but we got it for my wife. It's possible she'll grow attached to the factory color, but I won't hold my breath. The factory paint is failing, it's fine for now, but won't last too much longer, and the front seat covers need replacement at a bare minimum. Like I stated, it's a good 10-foot car, but come any closer and the flaws begin showing themselves.

The fuel injection doesn't scare me. The first car we bought my son was a non-running '84 Rabbit Convertible. I discovered that all the fuel injection components could be trouble shot with a digital multimeter. I've researched this system and it seems to be even simpler than the Rabbit was. If worse comes to worse I can install carburetor conversion kit. For now the car runs great, and the previous owner just had the fuel injectors replaced and the system gone through.

My wife is looking forward to driving it each day, and I'm looking forward to visiting salvage yards looking for random parts that are either too expensive new or just not available.

[hitest]

That is on my top 5 favorite convertible colors list- all years considered. It is mighty rare. I'd bet you would see 30 white and 30 black ones before one other of yours. I wish I had one that needed paint that I could trade you for that.

On the plus side, pink will be far cheaper to squirt on there than the original color. Something to consider- if you started with a white or black car- changing to pink is more easily camouflaged and more easily reversed. Changing the color and hiding all that brown will be a paint shop's dream or nightmare- and will result in a much bigger bill- hold on tight!

I am glad you intend to keep the FI system. When they work, they work well.
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[74Shovel]

I plan on stripping the car to the bare shell prior to the repaint, at least that's the plan. Honestly though, I kind of hope my wife decides she likes the color.

[Busstom]

It's funny how things are cyclical, like colors. Has anyone noticed how rich metallic browns are back? Porsche, Audi, Mercedes, and most the rest of the manufacturers are selling plenty of new cars in shades of metallic brown (of course.....who would want poo brown ) It's been since the 70's that metallic brown was hip...and I'm likin' em.

I'm with the crowd, I like the brown. But if you must, maybe a hot pink metallic would be a bit more palatable than Pepto pink. Come sale time, you can always fully strip it again and respray it in that gorgeous brown

I'm surprised Washington doesn't have emissions regs that would prevent a carb swap.

[74Shovel]

Washington State does have an emissions testing program but it's limited to just five population dense counties, and, currently, only vehicles manufactured between 10 and 25 years ago need to be tested once every four years. The state figures that there are not enough vehicles older than 25 years on the road to make a difference in emissions output. Similarly, the state figures that most vehicles 10 years old and newer are running well enough they don't need to be tested. Diesels, hybrids and motorcycles do not require testing at anytime. I live in a county that doesn't require testing, and the Bug is 43 years old anyway, so I can do whatever I want to it. I was living in the Seattle area when I fixed up the '84 Rabbit for my then teenage son. I had no problem getting the car running, but I couldn't fine tune it to get it to pass the emissions test. I had to breakdown and take it to a local VW specialty shop. They fixed it in about 15 minutes (while we waited) and only charged us about $20 (note: this was before internet forums and YouTube videos). Sometimes it makes sense to take it to someone who knows what they are doing.