1969 restoration :)

[vamram]

WOW! That is beautiful! Great work!!
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Eventually, "we are what we pretend to be.’”
Give peace a chance - Stop Russian-Soviet Aggression!!

'74 Super 9/16 - present, in refurb process.
'73 Super - 6/18 - Present - Daily Driver!
'75 Super Le Grande...waiting it's turn in line behind '74.
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Save the Supers!!

[kosti]

Today:

- the VIN plate is on the body again!
- diverse seals, grommets, vents, etc..
- speedo reset to zero
- wiring - to be continued tomorrow

[Dark Earth]

It must be an absolute joy to work on that car right now !! Great job
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My Build: '69 Baja - Dark Earth Version

~I'm almost done. I just lack finishing up.~

[kosti]

I guess besides the fresh air box and a couple of hoses here and there, the front is pretty much ready and I can move inside the car.

[DurocShark]

That is mind-blowingly beautiful.
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No boom today. Boom tomorrow. There's always a boom tomorrow.

[kosti]

The goal for today way tidying up the wiring and generally complete the front as much as possible, while still missing a few pieces, like a few hoses and most importantly the two dash vent covers. Those attach to the dash from the cabin, but you need to twist the clips to fasten them and with all the wiring in place, I am quire sure I will have to dismantle a substantial part of the trunk again. Alas, the paint shop did not want to spray small parts while focusing on the body and so there still is a bag of bits and pieces in the paint shop, waiting to get their treatment.

Anyways, I think one cannot do much more in terms of tidy wiring with the standard wiring loom. I had to adapt the wiring to EU specs. This meant moving the auxiliary light in the front from the turn signal to the main headlight - extending the wire and routing it properly. Not too difficult. I also made sure to minimise the number of wire routes and put as many wires into common ducts. I also hid the front headlight and turn signal grounds into ducts not to have single wires snaking about under the bonnet.

I also started to put on sound deadening. I bought something I liked price-wise and review-wise on ebay and I think I chose well. Next week, I finish the deadening and start glueing the felt padding to get the headliner in.

This is it for now.

[VW_Jimbo]

Absolutely loving your work! Bueatiful.

The brake reservoir lines need to be tightly packed into that opening by the fuel tank, leading to the reservoir. The car will vibrate the two metal components and the body steel will wear a hole in the pipe, taking that gorgeous paint off. Bend them well, like the originals and use some tubing surrounding the exterior of the tubing or similar to create a buffer between the components and the body.

Other than that concern, it is coming together nicely!
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Jimbo

There is never enough time to do it right the first time, but all the time necessary the second time!

[Chris333]

What brand is the sound deadening?

[kosti]

Chris: I bought three rolls of this: https://surga-performance.de/alubutyl-daemmschaumm...-matte-2qm

Jimbo: The brake pipes were a tight fit already, I had issues routing the brake sensor cables through the same opening and had to route the horn wires out one of the small holes in the tank support as they would not fit through the bottom hole the rest came out. I dont thing they will chafe but I can try and put some kind of additional buffer in there, if it fits.

[kosti]

Putting in the headliner. I read everything I could find, watched every video that seemed like the person knew what they were doing and in the process, made a few decisions of my own.

Needless to say, it is easy in theory but a fight in real life.

First, I put in the padding and glued it to all the places i thought might benefit from a layer.

I also made the B pillar padding slightly thicker than people generally seem to make theirs. This may be an issue once I come to attaching the grab handles to the top but I like the look and feel. Once the windlace was hammered in place, I could tackle the headliner itself.

At some point, I stopped taking pictures as I got so focused on the work. Here is the headliner hanging in place.

and after a LOT of putting theory into practice, here is most of the headliner done.

In hindsight, I would still do a few things differently had I to do it again but overall, it is not bad for my first time.

[kosti]

I thought this would be a fast and simple day in the garage. Finish the headliner, get the pop outs in, as well as the rear and front window.

the headliner was no problem, but the pop outs were.. a bit. The left is fine, has a proper seal all around the perimeter. the right, though, doesnt seem to seal in the top corner. There is almost a gap. No idea how that is possible, as the windows are genuine pre-oned pieces. Oh well, investigation needed.

The rear window broke my calm, however. I bought a set of german deluxe seals, not to have any fitment issues. That may have been a mistake (??) the damn thing doesn't want to go in. I always manage to get the bottom and sides seated but the top corners and the top itself just doest want to go in. The seal seem to be too big and you cant slap it down sufficiently to seat it properly. With the seal too heavy, the window hole is thus too small and the window doesnt squeeze in. Any advice? What seal should I get that is guaranteed to fit properly?

Pics only until things went south and didnt feel like documenting the mess.

[sb001]

Absaolutely speechless!! That is one amazing looking car. Love the neatness of the wiring up front. THis is the kind of thread that makes me want to totally disassemble my car and rebuild from the ground up!
I can only pray mine comes out half as nicely when I try to do my headliner....
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I'm the humblest guy on this board.

1969 autostick sedan, family owned since new
1600 SP engine
Solex 30 PICT 3 carburetor
Bosch 113905205AE autostick distributor

[SdAufKla]

Inspiring and motivating! Just what I needed to read through to get me back in the shop working on my resto project.

Beautiful work all around. Thanks for taking the time and effort to share it with us in such detail.

I'm looking forward to seeing your next update!

[VW_Jimbo]

On the rear window rubber. I also have had issues with fit on the seals from Wolfsburg and JBugs. I ended up buying from west coast metric and got a properly sized one. It too was still a tiny bit oversized. So, I sat the car out in the sun on a hot day and put the seal in the refrigerator over night. Seal was a stiff to install into the car, but with both components expanded and contradicted, it somehow worked. But it was a fight!

Get the car hot. I think that was the best move I made!
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Jimbo

There is never enough time to do it right the first time, but all the time necessary the second time!

[kosti]

Thanks for your support guys, here are some more photos from today, continuing to install the TMI interior.

Glueing the wheel well carpet pieces was fun, I tried as best as I could to put in down without having to cut anything. I dont understand how people apparently manage to get the carpet in in one piece. Maybe a softer fabric would give in to the massage but this stuff is thick and doesnt want to conform to almost no curve. So i had to cut each piece in two places. You can see the cuts but once the rear seat is in, they will be covered for good. I cannot imagine any scenario where I would fold down the seat.

I also glued a thin strip of headliner fabric along the wheel well curve to make sure no naked body shows through the gap between the carpet and side panel.

Getting the side panels in was also more difficult than I anticipated. Aligning the clips with the holes in the body is a fight.

Then I glued the luggage tray carpet in place, but just the vertical part as I dont see any reason why the horizontal potion would need glueing. Doesnt look too bad.

Also note the dome light being in as well as the B pillar coat hooks and grab loops. The aftermarket pieces had an extra coat hook to go into the assembly so I used it but Im not sure how i feel about it.

The rear window is where I left it yesterday - 70% in. Same issue with the front window. There is just no way I can get the seal in.

@Jimbo: thanks for the advice, I might try it but not with these seals. I ordered a set from paruzzi.com, so I can have at it again next Saturday. I have read that the West Coast Metric seals you mention seem to fit quite well but being in Europe, I try to avoid US retailers whenever possible. It takes forever for shipments to arrive and you have to pay import tax. I have no idea whether the paruzzi seals will be any better but they cannot be much worse.

Oh and I also started glueing the front carpet pieces. Again, with the front bulkhead being full of curves, I need to figure out how to glue that potion so that it is straight and without gaps between the carpet and the metal.

[kosti]

Yesterday, the package from Paruzzi.com got here. Besides the window seals, I also ordered a few smaller things, among others new outside chrome trim. The seals, i am almost sure, are the same brand as the ones I tried before - meaning they are firm, slightly oversized and with a too narrow channel to fit on the body. After this disappointment I knew there was no other way but to do all I can to actually use them. With this newly-found dedication, I actually managed to the both screens in. The front one went in easier than the rear. The key decisive factors leading to success, I guess, were first of all slowing down and stop hammering on the screen. I found applying pressure, ideally uniformly on the entire glass surface, helps to get a better seal than banging it with your palms. When constant pressure is not enough, you can try pushing the glass instead of slapping it.

So anyway, the glass is in, it looks nice, it is just a pity that the original glass is full of scratches and dings. It takes away from the illusion of a new car.

With the screens in, I could finally get all the carpeting in. In put sound deadening (the silver butyl stuff) on the pans and other larger surfaces and got the TMI carpeting in. From now on, no more shoes in the car. I think I will need a pair of driving slippers.

As you can see, I am still missing the fenders, doors, bonnet and all sorts of small parts - the paint shop promises to have them done by end of next week, so lets see. I honestly believe that if I had all the missing body parts, I could have the car finished in tho days.....the journey is slowly coming to an end i guess.

[joey1320]

Great work
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**1971 Super Project
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...mp;start=0

[kosti]

a few more things off the to-do list today.

The antenna is in, although I still havent decided what to do about the radio situation - original vintage or modern vintage look or none.

Second front seat in, as are the Wolfsburg West lap belts.

Without the remaining body parts that are still being painted, all that remains is to adjust the tracking in the front and fabricate two brackets for the cover to hide all the wiring under the bonnet. Other than that, I am done.

[kosti]

The paint shop is taking its time with the rest of the boy work...it is starting to get a bit frustrating. So far, they got the fenders and rear lid done, but the front bonnet, the doors as well as all the small bits are still missing. I could have been done already...

[Deebs]

This car looks incredible! Has to be the tidiest wiring job I have seen. Threads like this give me motivation to keep mine going. Love the two tone seats you went with.

Good luck!