62 Ragtop Beryl Green Beetle RHD restoration

[vwsplitvan]

We have owned this 62 RHD Beryl Green L478 ragtop Beetle for many years.
It was used by us in all weathers and seasons.
Being a UK bug the rot was starting to get the better of it. And finally we decided to take it off the road for repairs. That was almost 10 years ago now.

Metalwork had started with a local chap but was very slow. Eventually we took the car back and decided to have it restored by Paul Irving of IRVs restos.

We thought we would share the restoration work of the car here.

Beryl Green is one of the harder restorations to get right.

How the car looked before restoration.

If anyone has any original Beryl Green parts for sale please private message us.
_________________
SBS #20 UK

RHD 62 Ragtop Beetle Beryl Green
LHD 69 Squareback Peru Green
LHD 63 Splitscreen Highroof Pearl White

[vwsplitvan]

Like many UK bugs it had been saved a few years before we ended up owning it.

And back then they were normally done on a budget by DIYers. It had its fair share of bodged repairs. Some hidden by aluminium plating on the heater channels. And it was rotten in the usual places.
The upper half of the car was surprisingly good. And the car had all of its original interior, the carpet was shot but the door panels and seats were great.
We took it as a part-ex on a bus we sold.

We had planned to sympathetically restore the car and blend the paint. But after a lot of thought we decided to go full resto on the metalwork and the paint finish. The interior will have new carpet and headliner but we plan to fit the original seats and door panels.
The car will be raised closer to stock height. And we have a rebuilt Porsche 912 motor to install.

We should get the shell back from IRVs painted in L478 Beryl Green ready for us to build up.

This is how the car was sent off to IRVs restos for the guys to work their magic.
It needed a lot of metalwork to be safe to drive again.

_________________
SBS #20 UK

RHD 62 Ragtop Beetle Beryl Green
LHD 69 Squareback Peru Green
LHD 63 Splitscreen Highroof Pearl White

[vwsplitvan]

First job was to split the body from the pan.
Then media blast to see what else needed work.

The pan would be dealt with separately.

I had managed to find some really good lower 10” body cuts from a rust free California car. These were grafted into the car. As the lower A-pillars has rusted out where they met the old heater channels.
It was all a bit of a mess.

_________________
SBS #20 UK

RHD 62 Ragtop Beetle Beryl Green
LHD 69 Squareback Peru Green
LHD 63 Splitscreen Highroof Pearl White

[vwsplitvan]

Some more pics of the progress on the bug.
Body split from pan and metal repairs underway.

_________________
SBS #20 UK

RHD 62 Ragtop Beetle Beryl Green
LHD 69 Squareback Peru Green
LHD 63 Splitscreen Highroof Pearl White

[vwsplitvan]

Now onto final flat and prep on car at restoration shop.

Anyone have correct paint mix codes for the Beryl Green?

We are in the UK.

Its a tough one to get right.
Got to see if I have any og paint interior parts to check against.
Thanks

_________________
SBS #20 UK

RHD 62 Ragtop Beetle Beryl Green
LHD 69 Squareback Peru Green
LHD 63 Splitscreen Highroof Pearl White

[Murt]

Awesome
Will be following this
_________________
1966 VW Beetle ‘Jules’
1967 Kombi Splitscreen ‘Barney’
2018 VW Caddy Maxi R Line
2017 Golf GTD saloon
2008 VW EOS 2.0 TFSi

[vwsplitvan]

Not updated for ages. Been busy in the garage for the last few months.

We got the car back and have been slowly going thru the og parts we have from the car and what still needs restoring and sorting on the car.

But First we fitted the correct 3 pin NOS hood VW roundel badge. It always had the wrong one fitted previously.
Sourced from @thegermanjunkies.

The car was not bolted to the floor pan ( aftermarket pan possibly) but one side we had to dremel the pan holes to get it bolted up right. The heater channels were all genuine.

So spent some time lining up and then chasing all the threads on car. Well worth doing. Restorer should of done this really. Will make the build much easier.

Had a gearbox built by Richard Holmwood at N2 Engineering and we installed that. New front mount and rubbers. New earth strap.
And an auto starter fitted. The box has been built to work with the Porsche 912 motor we have to go in the car.

This was re-built by true professionals at Canford Classics Porsche Specialists. More on the engine later.

The 4” narrow beam that was in car was looking a bit tired so it was stripped down and bare metalled and repainted satin black. New seals, grease, shocks, and new mount bolts and rubbers, steering coupling rubber, and Tie rod ends replaced.

Now ready to go back in. Plan to raise it a little, but not sure how much height we will get out of it.

Cleaned up the rear torsion tubes, had to extract a broken bolt.
PITA but slow and steady got it sorted.

Installed the torsion bars and a set of Limebug 2” drop plates.
Quite a simple install. New urethane bushes, used silicone greased so hopefully no squeaking.
New bolts and fixings from Buttys Bits.
_________________
SBS #20 UK

RHD 62 Ragtop Beetle Beryl Green
LHD 69 Squareback Peru Green
LHD 63 Splitscreen Highroof Pearl White

[vwsplitvan]

Limebug adjustable 2” drop plates installed
Not sure where its going to sit til we get the rear brakes back together and the wheels on.

But a big improvement on the stock spring plates that had been notched by Slamwerks 10 plus years back. Seems dodgy now.

All went together nicely.

New rear brakes and axle seal next.
Just waiting on a few brake parts.

But first had to drill the new rear brake drums so that the oil deflectors could be installed.
8mm cobalt drill bit and some cutting oil.
Got them spot on. The new repro oil deflectors from BBT fit nicely.

I believe they were on bugs til 63 or if you have the older style bearing cover without the weep hole.

_________________
SBS #20 UK

RHD 62 Ragtop Beetle Beryl Green
LHD 69 Squareback Peru Green
LHD 63 Splitscreen Highroof Pearl White

[vwsplitvan]

RHD pedal cluster was a rusty tired mess.
So restored them next.

Stripped down blasted and powder coated.

Matt @oldskoolspeedshop in the UK installed new bushes and I also got a new stainless accelerator rod and main shaft from him. As the og ones were bent and mashed up.
Top guy and a fast turn around. If you need pedal parts hes the guy to call.


The accelerator pedal was bent so straightened it out.

The long rod that runs through the pedal shaft on a rhd set was bent so replaced that. Also I was not happy with the main shaft so that was also replaced. Also accelerator cable arm stop was missing so that was sorted by Matt.

Before replacing rod and end cap repair. You can see it was a mess.

This diagram was very useful not a great deal of info on the RHD sets.

New main shaft, stronger bracket and repaired acceleration arm stop

NOS VW Germany pedal rubbers fitted.

All greased up and back in the car. That was fun getting clutch cable hooked up. Got a feeling it may have to come out again to fit a slightly longer clutch cable.

Feel like new WOW! A job worth doing right.
_________________
SBS #20 UK

RHD 62 Ragtop Beetle Beryl Green
LHD 69 Squareback Peru Green
LHD 63 Splitscreen Highroof Pearl White

[wheel607]

As long as you are doing it OG it is important to get what you can see as well as what you cant see.

[vwsplitvan]

I have fitted All new brake hard lines and a dual circuit ATE Master cylinder.

First time I done brake lines. So far its looking good.
Will upload pics later.

Bought the dual circuit reservoir from WW and will fit in the original position that the single circuit reservoir was in. Prefer to see the fluid level without laying on the floor under car.

Just have to drill the hole bigger for the 2 pipes. And possibly fit a longer securing strap.

Sticking with the original drum brake set up for now and replacing With the best quality items we can find.

Once we get the car back on the road we can then decide if we need the disc set up front.

New handbrake cables greased and installed.

Saved the og paint nepal green handbrake lever, polished up nice.
And the gearstick is still in og paint.

Gearshift rod was removed and a new shifter bush fitted. What a crappy job that was. Feels super smooth and tight now. No sloppy gears.
Like new!

Removed all the left over media from blasting that was in the tunnel. And wax oiled inside.

Was hoping to save the og paint on steering wheel but unfortunately it was not handled very well during resto and ended up with damage and chips etc.

So repaired and re-painted in the og silver beige. Got a very good match in spray cans from WW.

Made repairs to the contacts on the turn signal switch and painted that too.
The rivets that holds the contact plate break down and its no longer secured in place. I carefully drilled out what was left and used super steel to fill in the hole and success it held very well. Always good to save original parts.

_________________
SBS #20 UK

RHD 62 Ragtop Beetle Beryl Green
LHD 69 Squareback Peru Green
LHD 63 Splitscreen Highroof Pearl White

[vwsplitvan]

Restored the original headlights as they were looking shabby.

Found a good match to the original grey that was used.

These had been painted silver in the past and the rust had started. So bare metalled and zinc primer, then painted og grey.

Genuine NOS Hella rims. New rubber supports etc

Look the part now.
_________________
SBS #20 UK

RHD 62 Ragtop Beetle Beryl Green
LHD 69 Squareback Peru Green
LHD 63 Splitscreen Highroof Pearl White

[slayer61]

Sir, your car is stunning!
_________________

[vwsplitvan]

We managed to install the 4” narrow beam. It was removed during the resto and we have now refurbed it.

Set of nice quality axle beam bolts 10.9 M12 from Simon @Buttys Bits.

Realised l needed to remove track rods.

Slid it under car on some offcuts of hardboard.

Then raised it up using some blocks of wood and the jack and rested it on some beer crates.

The 4” beam shock towers only has a few mm clearance of the body. So taped up to protect the inner wing area.

Bit tricky as beam wants to tip but with a helper we got it in position.

The main 4x axle bolts and new lock tabs were fitted and torqued up to 36 ftlbs

The upper beam to body bolts were tightened ro 14 ftlbs

Front brakes next.
_________________
SBS #20 UK

RHD 62 Ragtop Beetle Beryl Green
LHD 69 Squareback Peru Green
LHD 63 Splitscreen Highroof Pearl White

[vwsplitvan]

Built up the rear brakes.

58-64 with the 30mm shoes.

Cleaned up the handbrake components and fitted the pin wavy washer and the horseshoe clip to the brake shoes.

I seemed to struggle to get the handbrake/ e-brake cable to sit how I wanted it in the bracket on rear of drum.
Was a right PITA maybe it was the repro brackets?
Is this acceptable?
Washer and spring are on inside of drum after the bracket.

New ATE cylinders and brake shoe set.

Waiting on front brake shoes to complete front axle.

Hopefully back on its wheels soon and we can trial fit the motor.
_________________
SBS #20 UK

RHD 62 Ragtop Beetle Beryl Green
LHD 69 Squareback Peru Green
LHD 63 Splitscreen Highroof Pearl White

[TRS63]

What a nice project one day my 62 also will have to get this treatment but I am still daily driving it

Antoine
_________________
Antoine
My 62 ragtop daily driver:
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=728873
My 914 restoration&lightweight project :
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9698432#9698432
Resurrecting a 60 ghia : https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=713906
My 52 Standard Zwitter :
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=10086685#10086685

[vwsplitvan]

[vwsplitvan]

Got the front brakes fitted today.

Before pic

The new fitting kit from Schofields VW ( had a BBT sticker on box) Anyone else found the brake shoe springs and pins a PITA in these kits? Got to be a better quality fitting kits out there?

Pic of old next to new

Anyway got them on. See pics
And the new drums fitted with new bearings.

After pic

Decided to get the modern style Empi nuts with the allen bolt, instead of the locknuts and tab.

_________________
SBS #20 UK

RHD 62 Ragtop Beetle Beryl Green
LHD 69 Squareback Peru Green
LHD 63 Splitscreen Highroof Pearl White

[vwsplitvan]

Hubcap clips fitted to the 15” beetle smoothies

Had the fitting tool which in a vice made it easier.

Peened the rivets to secure the clips. Got the WW ones. They are pretty good quality.

Outer rim on wheel is wrong colour for a Beryl Green car. So getting correct colour mixed tomorrow and will repaint . Also going to paint inside in black like it should be.

Centre is L382 olive and outer rim should be Opal White L287 not the car body colour L478 Beryl Green

Then fit the old tyres for now and decide what sizes to go with once we have ride height sorted.
_________________
SBS #20 UK

RHD 62 Ragtop Beetle Beryl Green
LHD 69 Squareback Peru Green
LHD 63 Splitscreen Highroof Pearl White

[vwsplitvan]

Wheels redone in og spec colours. L382 and L287 a hard one to get as not on the colour charts. So had some colour matched to some og paint left on a spare wheel.

Spent some time removing all the media from blasting left in the join between the 2 colours. It was painted over by restorer and just looked naff. Bit of a shocker!

Finished result way better 👍

Still waiting on og wheel bolts to be returned. So moved on to some other niggles.

The door hinge bolt retaining plate had been damaged and left as it was in car. So you could not fit the bolts right.
Luckily I found an og one and painted up to match car.
Got that fitted. Bit fiddly but it has some metal tabs that are bent up to remove and back down to secure.

Replacement

Installed in car

_________________
SBS #20 UK

RHD 62 Ragtop Beetle Beryl Green
LHD 69 Squareback Peru Green
LHD 63 Splitscreen Highroof Pearl White