My '67 Maserati Blue Oceano Bug Conversion to '66 Build

[Goshen]

Originally Posted: Mon Jan 21, 2013 12:44 am
But due to the photos hosted on Photobucket being proprietary in other words now it is no longer free.. its now a whopping $89.00 per year. all my images were blocked by Photobucket so now I will have to transfer them over to The Samba image hosting.

So here is the original dialog from that build.

I've been involved with vintage VWs since 1979 where a couple of friends and I built our first Dune buggy for Auto Shop class in High School in NYC.

Sometime in the near future into my college days I owned a Super Beetle as well as some regular Beetles, Notchbacks and Karmann Ghias.

Fast forward, 31 years later I had been looking for a regular beetle but living on the East Coast of Florida the ones to be found here are usually rust buckets. I searched as far as New York and they were all pretty much the same .. rusted out through and through. After much money spent and driving across the state of Florida I decided to cut my losses and just get one from California or Arizona where the ambient weather is a bit more forgiving than the East Coast.

I purchased a 1967 One year only beetle with '66 front fenders for $1,750. from Roseville, CA and had it shipped for about $850.00 to my home in Miami, FL.

This car is a running car and I was able to drive it off the trailer and it felt great to be back in a beetle again.

I went through her thoroughly and came to find out that the previous owner was not lying when he told me there was mild rust behind the rear seat in the luggage area.

First things first is to get all the mechanicals out of the way.

First mechanic to work on it was Jonas aka "Static" and on the samba he goes by "Volks Medic" who I had the chance to meet driving his '61 Right hand drive European born Beetle named "Trixie"

He did the usual such as oil change, readjusting the valves and brakes. I was off and running and driving her.

The time was April 22, 2012

Here the story and pictorial begins.

The restoration of my '67 beetle converted to '65 and I know some purists were not pleased but I have always been someone who thinks out of the box and not a mainstream man.

I have decided to document this build now almost 9 months after beginning on this frustrating and overwhelmingly trials and tribulations.

There have been 3 Auto Body shops in the past 7 months that have tried doing work on my beetle and the reasons why so many body shops I will make clear in future posts.

3 Mechanics or should i say motor builders and the stories will even frustrate you but i felt it was necessary to document this so some of you are thinking of restoring a VW bug may have an idea as to the ups and downs, pros and cons, the frustrations one may have to endure with accountability or lack thereof from some scrupulous individuals and the ones that are worth working with.

Here the Story begins on April 13th, 2012
_________________
My '64 Pan Meyers Manx Dune Buggy "Lady in Red"
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=659260

My '67 Split Window Bus project :
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=634144

My '67 Maserati Blue Oceano Bug Build:
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=541870

[Goshen]

Here are the photos as they were advertised on the Samba from Matthew in Roseville, CA

_________________
My '64 Pan Meyers Manx Dune Buggy "Lady in Red"
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=659260

My '67 Split Window Bus project :
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=634144

My '67 Maserati Blue Oceano Bug Build:
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=541870

[Goshen]

All loaded and ready to go from Roseville, CA and on its way to Miami, Fl

Jump to 72 hours later (3 days) and it's now in Miami.. on my block

I can see her now being unlodaded

I am driving her down from the transport trailer

Now she is front of my house:

_________________
My '64 Pan Meyers Manx Dune Buggy "Lady in Red"
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=659260

My '67 Split Window Bus project :
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=634144

My '67 Maserati Blue Oceano Bug Build:
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=541870

[Goshen]

April 27th, 2012 is the date she arrived into Miami
Now to look over how much work it needs

This is about the biggest rust damage that will need to be replaced

I bought a luggage panel from JOHNEX in California
and welded it in with Harbor Freght Tools 110 Flux wire welder

Another pic of the area that I welded for the fist time in my life. I burnt a couple of holes from the lack of experience but soon got the hang of it. Prior to the welding I used Ospho and then primered it and finishing up the job with a seam sealer from Home Depot $3.50

_________________
My '64 Pan Meyers Manx Dune Buggy "Lady in Red"
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=659260

My '67 Split Window Bus project :
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=634144

My '67 Maserati Blue Oceano Bug Build:
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=541870

[Goshen]

I didn't like the color on the beetle so i changed it with some rattle cans from the Home Depot.

_________________
My '64 Pan Meyers Manx Dune Buggy "Lady in Red"
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=659260

My '67 Split Window Bus project :
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=634144

My '67 Maserati Blue Oceano Bug Build:
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=541870

[Zorba2.0]

I like it! Can’t wait to hear the story on why so many different shops and mechanics

[Goshen]

[Deebs]

[aaronr25]

Looks good for a rattle can paint job.
_________________
65 Bug
66 Landcruiser FJ40

Life's too short to drive a stock VW

[Goshen]