1975 Beetle Convertible Resto/Mod Build-Chop,Dash,Suicide,Shave.

[VW_Jimbo]

Jellyman! I am Loving the update!!

I have a pearl of wisdom for you. Sorry dude, but here it goes.

JBugs window regulators SUCK! Do not waste your time on these. When I had the 1 piece window 70 Yellow Bug, I went through several JBugs units. I finally purchased the stock VW dual post regulators and never looked back. Worth the time to get the stock ones in!

Those door gaps look great!
_________________
Jimbo

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

[MACJELLY58]

Hey JIMBO,

Yup, I heard ya!! Your wisdom was the reason that I procured the used stock ones in the first place. I never disregard those you have been there and done that. I'm using the Jbug ones as Guinea Pigs for all the Mods and Butchering. When I'm sure I got 'em dialed in, I'll take the leap and Butcher the good ones.

I was lucky to find a set. Apparently, it's harder to find the driver's side. I guess they got the most abuse over the years.
Thanks for looking out for all of us Novice guys. If your posting to another thread, I always check it out to see what I can learn.

You Da Man!!

[VW_Jimbo]

[MACJELLY58]

Next item on the list was to relocate the two other mounting tabs. You can see in the last pic, one of them is just hanging out there in space right in the middle.

The first Tab, is the rear one at the top. In addition to the Tab relocation, I cut and pinch off the top of the channel. On the original window, the top of the vent window frame has a little protrusion that acts like a window stop.

With the one-piece free standing convertible window, there needs to be a stop made. So that if someone rolls the window up while the door is open, it doesn't hit the top of the seal and get pushed outwards.
The original Tab is on the left and the modified on the right.

Then, I moved the Tab that was floating in space to above the door handle location. Here's the two finished Regulators together.

Next was the installation channel that I make, so that I can get the window crank gear into it's location.

I measured to drill the bolt mounting holes for the new Tab locations. Thank goodness I'm not any kind of Carpenter or builder in general. Because, my measurements never, ever work out. I welded the extra holes shut.
Also, there was a sharp corner from the door reinforcement I welded in. That sure was some LAZY work I had done. But, like I read somewhere on TheSamba, " There's always time to do it right the Second Time."

Okay with the Regulator mostly mounted, I slipped in the window and gave it a go. It was a little cock-eyed. The rear of the window was about 3/16" low.

I elongated the rear top and bottom mounting tabs, so that I could adjust the regulator higher and got it level.

Next up will be the Window frame guides. Those were a lot of fun to make.... NOT!!

[VW_Jimbo]

Dude! That is some serious progress right there! Very nice!

Window looked good. It was level and in plane with the rear quarter one! Up just a bit and BAM! Winner, winner, chicken dinner!!!!
_________________
Jimbo

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

[Buggeee]

I have no idea what's happening at this point, just standing in the back and staring in slacked-jawed wonder.
_________________
1966 Sportsmobile Camper https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...mp;start=0
72 Super Duper http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=672387
(adopted out) 61 Turkis Pile https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=728764

[MACJELLY58]

Thanks guys!! Just knowing somebody is routing for me somewhere out there is reassuring. Even if this build turns your stomach, at least it's worthy of your disgust. HaHa !!

That being said...DAMN DOORS! Sorry, just had to say it again.

So after JIMBO reminded me of the plan to insert the O.E.M. '68 window regulators into the mix, I got them out to start the process. When I received them awhile back, I had quickly checked out the condition and functionality of the units. They were a little rusty and greasy, but they worked great and I put them aside.

As I was going to start the butchering, I noticed that they weren't exactly the same as the Jbugs units. Of course, they were made of better and thicker metal. But, we all expect that of modern manufacturing of these parts. The configuration is also a little different, subtly curved here and a little more mounting tabs. Oh well, as long as the theory of my mounting and function is good, I can make it work. We will see!

The Passenger's side was the rusty one and the Driver's side was the greasy one. Not too shabby for 50-55 year old Junk Yard parts.

A little wire brush and my go-to...Acid, they cleaned up pretty nice. The Crank gear teeth look really great on both sides.

Then, Primed and painted.

The only non-guady paint I had was Rust-Oleum Gloss Black. This is the stuff I used on the seat adapters. It takes forever to cure! So, I put those aside to dry until next weekend. Then I got to work on making the Window guides. If you remember, I used the rear quarter window guides to do this. At least, all I gotta do is copy the Driver's side...kinda.

I made the relief cuts to get it straight, or at least pretty straight and cut them in two.

I cut the "Wings", or channel extensions by copying the other side. Then, welded and cleaned up a bit.

Next, the mounting Tabs. I just tacked those in. I'll wait for the fitting to make sure that it will fit like the other side.

This will be it's location on the Passenger door, looking at it from the inside of the car. Well, I'm crawling along. See ya later.

[VW_Jimbo]

Progress! Love it!
_________________
Jimbo

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

[MACJELLY58]

Yup! And speaking of progress, I got a couple of hours in today!!

The natives were restless yesterday, so my wife went to the apartment instead of me. Leaving me in the crazy house. I told her that she needs her time away too, so much love. That gave me an extra day before work to get at it!!


Still waiting for the Regulators to dry, so I moved on to the Door Popper thingy mounting. I had some trial and error on the Driver's side, so this side wont' look exactly like it. I made a template with my cereal box board by doing a "Rubbing" with my wooden hammer handle.

***Disclaimer*** There may be some unintended sexual innuendo in this post, ie..."Rubbing". You'll see.

YAH, I know you see it!! Please refrain from any Off-color or Lewd remarks....Okay, maybe a few, if they're GOOD! Like, "That's what she said".
Actually, my wife came out to the garage and simply said, "Ding...Ding".

Sorry. Anyway After the "Rubbing", I outlined the cut marks and punched holes for the mounting screws. Then, refitted the template.

A little more trimming and adjusting and then I transferred the finished template from the Crunch Berry box to the Peanut Butter Crunch box. I need to flip the template for the other side and I didn't want to see the Crunch Berrys.

Okay, one more unfortunate accident...The location of the Captain's face. I think that was about it. Unless there are some deviant minds out there.

Transferred that over to the Passenger's side and made my cut marks. I didn't need to cut the whole thing out, as I only need to make the mounting area flat to receive the Door Popper unit and the cut out for the cable attachment.

I made a mistake by cutting out that little protrusion on the right. I had to weld that back.

Made another quick template for the mounting base and tacked that in. Man, the two hours flew by. Now, I gotta go to work. Late-tahs, Brudders!

[MACJELLY58]

I got back to finishing the Popper Housing on my days off. Welded, cleaned up, and installed.

The Regulators are all dry and I went to popping those in.

NOPE!

Although the Jbug Regulator is a stock replacement, as mentioned before- they are just a little different. Enough of a difference, that all My prefabbed mounting had to be moved...ever so slightly.

I'm not sure why, but the bottom Mounting Tabs had to be trimmed about 3/16". The stock Regulator tube channel is curved toward the bottom of the door...The Jbugs, are not. That could be why?

So, I was trying to get a measurement on that bottom bar and the whole Regulator slipped down into the door. No biggie, that kinda happens a lot. Then, I noticed I forgot to remove the finished Door Popper and It had got WACKED!

After many, many EXPLEITVES, I removed it and inspected the damage. I was very relieved that the two arms "snap" in. No damage= No problem. HAH! One in the win column for me this time.

Anyway, I went about moving the Mounting Tabs and cutting the mounting channels, much like the previous post. Nothing new there. I couldn't sleep so, I went out to the garage a little too early to make any noise. I did a little quiet work, prepping the Window Crank plate for the next day.

Then, the Sun came UP!!

Much more finagling of the mounting holes and stuff. I was able to get it all in (again). I have a bit more cleaning up of the extra holes and stuff, but it works good. Well, the action of the Regulator is pretty grainy. The rust in the tube channel is breaking loose from the oiling and I'm sure I got some grinding material in there. So, I'll have to clean that up too. Next time, I gotta install the Guides and weld in the Door handle plate and the Arm Rest too. Man!, just when you think you're getting somewhere. I guess, "that's the FUN!"

[VW_Jimbo]

Progress! It may be 1 step back, but it moved 2 forward.

I was hoping that JBug shit was not going to bite you in the ass. Sorry man! Glad that you had the better lifts in hand, because good ones are getting harder to find!

Keep up the work! I always look for your thread!!!!
_________________
Jimbo

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

[MACJELLY58]

Thanks JIMBO!

The After Market Regulators weren't that bad...until I got the "new", old ones. The action is just so much smoother and "tighter". And like you said, longevity is the key. It feels as though these "new" old ones will go another 50 years! All in all, even with all the extra work, I'm still glad that I had used the After Market ones to prove my theory of how I would mount and secure these windows before I hacked up the O.E.M. regulators.

So, the Mother in-law had some friends over on my days off. I had to do a little quiet work again. I was able to mount the window guides. Sorry, no pics. They're hard to photo in there. Just mounting though, still gotta clean, paint and install the felt. Then, the mail arrived. I received my Gas Hood (bonnet for you European Buggers) Struts. I will have some Vacation time next month, so I'm trying to get some things lined up because I'm hoping to be all done with these Doors by then. These were purchased from CIP1, who imports from Europe. Kinda pricey, but they are purported to be compatible with the later 1303'S. I hoping to mount the "Bar" type '73 bumpers next month, so I gotta mount the Hood and front Apron to get that all to fit right.

So, still in quiet mode, I went to making the Door Card the next day. Mostly just copying with some small adjustments. Got it fitting pretty well. I cut it a little larger, then sand it down to fit the particular door.

Then wouldn't you know, another delivery... My Rebel Wire VW Deluxe Wiring kit arrived. With all of the "Supply Line" problems nowadays, I was hoping that I could get it by next month also. Of course, I'm nowhere near wiring the car. But, I need to find a mounting place for the Fuse Box. I'm thinking of mounting it inside of the Glove Box. The size looks about right. We'll have to see.

Anyway, The kit looks pretty good and "Jeremy 1984", who works for Rebel Wire, has a page that he helps us Buggers with installation questions. I really hope he's still around when I finally get around to doing it. Anyway, because of the support offered with the kit, the Quality satisfaction of prior users and the relatively user friendly marking of the wires every six inches with plain English descriptions, I felt comfortable with this purchase. There's even clear pictures for "Dummies" in the 6 page instruction book! Here's Jeremy's link, if you're interested.:
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=711039

Alojahs.

[trynne]

This is one fantastic build !

[MACJELLY58]

Thanks Trynne! You have no idea how much I needed some positive vibes right about now. Much appreciated!

So, I had mentioned getting the Guides installed. I've been working on getting the window working flawlessly...not much luck. Thought I'd give an update, even if I can't give any resolution, as yet. The first problem was the alignment of the window and the guides. The second was the window opening on the top of the door being, juuust a little too tight.

The alignment of the window was a bit misleading, as the window goes up and down pretty decently with just a little binding. The binding, as I've discovered, was the guides being too tight on the window. This caused the wooden window to bow, which of course, a real glass window will not do .

I tried adjusting the Guides as best I could, but no dice. A real hassle too, because I have to disassemble/ assemble the whole door each time I try another adjustment. I changed the mounting tab on the front guide to help.

It was better, but still not enough play in the window frame. I finally bit the bullet and decided to cut out the original indention in the door jam. That should open up enough room.

Did a test fit, and it appears that should do the trick. The guide is now completely flush to the interior jam.

Cut up a patch and tacked that in, as I'm still not confident that all is well.

Reassembled the door, yet again, and it appears that the guides are good, However, now that the window is free to glide, the "glass" is rubbing on the top of the regulator channel. There it is in the light, just below the mounting bolt.

Because this is the damaged door, I decided to again, give it a pull to open it up. I welded a a couple of eye bolts to the area on the interior of the door and did the ratchet strap thing again.

Again, just a little better. I guess I "REINFORCED" that area pretty well.
So, I went with the simple fix... I just shaved the regulator channel down a bit. That did the trick! Now, the next problem is the opening in the top of the door for the window. It's about 3/32" too small. I had to fix that area anyway, so not too much more work...hopefully.

While I had the door "assembled" again, I thought I'd check the door seals. They seem to fit pretty well, except the two top ends. Not enough room at the front of the door to fit the seal at the top. The rear has a little too much rubber?

Another thing that has been "Bugging" me(pun intended), the horrible looking job I did to the bottom of the passenger door. I can't live with that, so I ordered a repair panel to splice

(I should've done that to begin with).
Anyway, just an update....I'll keep plugg'in away at it until something happens-good or bad

[MACJELLY58]

Well Hello! So, the vacation time has run out but I was able to get some work done. Not as much as I had hoped, but I always Dream Big!

I took a crap load of pics, so I tried to consolidate them a little so as not to gum the works here. I jumped around a lot so the pics maybe out of the actual chronological order. I bunched the work together here to make it as understandable as possible to the readers.
Last time I was still trying to get the Passenger window to operate to my satisfaction. Next up was painting the Guides and installing the felt into the channels.

All looked good, so I reinstalled the wooden window and installed the bottom window stop( the hose clamp) and secured the window to the Regulator frame with Zip Ties.

It worked like a Champ!!
But, I still have the wooden window in there. The proof is in the Pudd'n. I went about ordering some glass. The original glass, like most cars, is Tempered. No cutting that. I found a place in Washington State that can make Tempered glass to any template you send in. Here' the Web address if any of you Hot Rod guys are interested:
https://www.sandersreproglass.com/

The cost is little prohibitive, also I'm concerned about my measuring capabilities. Everything I measure never works out for me. I decided to go with Laminated Safety glass. The original glass is 3/16" in thickness. I found that although they do make the 3/16", it is somewhat of a oddball size. I found a glass shop that could order it for me, but there were all kinds of limitations(minimum square feet) and time concerns. Also, again my measuring problems.

1/4" Laminated Safety glass is a standard size. As the glass will go into the chrome window frames, I decided to go with that. The only Mod would be to the rubber window frame weather stripping. It would have to be thinner, or maybe just some caulking? The 1/4" cost is about 30% less than the 3/16" glass, plus shipping. All in all, it ran about $400 for two front windows and three quarter windows. I ordered an extra quarter window just in case I mess one up!

I had them cut the pieces to the height I needed and I will make the final cuts at home. I popped one of the front panes in to give it a whirl.
Pics of the glass are hard to see. The first pic is window down, then window up and then door closed a little.

Before I cut the glass to size, I want to get the Convertible frame all cleaned up and the surfaces as straight as possible for the glass to seal as best that it can. So, that will have to wait. On to working on the door.

I'll call the next portion of the post, " The Saga of the 1/8 ". I implore you to please measure and try your best to get it right the first time. Otherwise, you'll end up here, with me, in the..."1/8" ZONE". As the name implies, I got a few things wrong with the passenger door that could have been avoided if I had been more precise and careful the first time. The first thing is the front lower door gap. It's a great 3/16" gap all the way down until about 4-1/2" from the bottom. It gets wider there and wit the door closed you can definitely see daylight.

I adjusted the door the best I could get it, then I took a straight edge to the jams. The outside Door Seal lip looked pretty close, but the inside "A" pillar post was bad.

So there's that, then the messed up corner of the inner door frame, as well as, I measured the width at the bottom of the door skin and...you guessed it...1/8" short there also! All that adds up to a BIG gap.

No crying though, it's the life I live.
I cut the lower Door Seal channel and added the 1/8". Much better. Getting closer.

The NEXT thing I tackled, was the top back of the door. A few things wrong here. The corners of the window opening are cracked again. Then, the whole 1/8" inboard of the quarter panel from the top of the Body line. First the cracks...again and extending the Door Seal channel at the top. This time I'm making sure they will be good, forever!

I inserted 16ga. reinforcements at the corners and added the 1/8" to the top of the Door Seal.

I'm glad that I saved the used small grinding wheels.

Then all cleaned up.

That outta take care of the corners cracking again, as well as, getting the seal to seat better at the top of the door. Now for the 1/8" inset of that top door corner. The rest of the door is spot on...it's just the top. So, I cut that out.

Here is a better look at the corner reinforcements.

I welded a few extension pieces to get the corner up and out.

Made a few cuts to the door skin and jam to move it out.

Did some fitting. It's pretty Hinky trying to get it line up.

Then welded it all back up. It'll still take a bit of filler, but not much.

I got more to show. Like I said, I got a crap load of pics, but I'll try and get some more posted tomorrow.

[VW_Jimbo]

Jellyman! You spent some time out working on your Bug!!! Looking great! I love the refinements. It shows the craftsmanship side of the project. Like back in school when one writes a report. 1st outline. 2nd rough draft, with maybe 2 or 3 more. Then a final draft. And then the finalized report. Remember all those things we were taught, they really do come back to haunt us!!!!

Looks great! I was wondering a few pages back, but damn, it is looking like a well groomed body! Keep at it and a full car will magically appear before you, ……..one day!

And thank you for the glass shop! I have been searching for one for a front window. Everyone is out of stock right now!

🤙🏻
_________________
Jimbo

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

[vamram]

Pretty amazing! What wire speed and voltage setting did you use to weld those slivers? I'm not an experienced welder and am having some burn thru problems repairing a quarter panel on my '74 using a donor panel from a...'74. So a brother of the same metal variety. BTW, I don't mean to hijack your build, we can go the PM route if you prefer.

Victor
_________________
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.
Click to view image
Save the Supers!!

[MACJELLY58]

Thanks again JIMBO.
I kinda gave up on any time line for completion and just keep pluggin away. Hopefully, like you said...one day, poof! I'm done.

On the bright side, I will have that much more experience for the next car!!

[MACJELLY58]

Pretty Amazing yourself VAMRAM!!

I really enjoy your build thread. Nothing gets you down. You have done sooo much great work!

My secret for welding very thin metal is...I've got a cheapy Hobart Hobby welder(HAH)! I don't know if it translates to real welders but, I had to fiddle with the settings to work out. Here's the chart that comes with my welder.

I found that the metal for the interior door panel and most of the outer panels came in at 18ga to 22ga. Pretty thin.
So, first thing is I change out to the .024 solid wire. But, I found that the settings in the chart were a little too cold and I didn't get great penetration. I messed around and ended up getting results at:
Heat at #3 and speed at 40.
The recomended was #2 at 40.

All you really want is that "Sizzle" After that, the little quick spot welds oughtta be good.

Hope that helped in some way. Thanks for checking in.
Alojahs!!


*** EDIT***
Sorry, I forgot to mention that when I get to an area that I had grinded even thinner and start to get some burn through, I back off on the distance of the tip to the metal. That in theory slows the wire speed, creating less continuous arcs, thus less heat, less burn though for that area. It's not as pretty because the gas is not shielding as much but, then I just clean it up a bit.

[MACJELLY58]

So in finishing that corner, I took care of the outside top and bottom door gaps to my satisfaction. The problem with the front door jam has only partially been addressed though. On to the inner bottom corner that has been Bugg'in me.

As most of you know, the profile of the repair panels are not quite right. The new panel's profile is more squarish, while the original has a trailing curve into the inner portion of the door. There are those that are competent enough (JIMBO) to remedy this with some ingenious metal forming. Please check out JIMBO'S build if you wanna see how that happens to an even more complicated Oval door. You won't see it here. I'm too afraid of messing it up even more!!

I'm planning on just blending it in the best I can, as it is just a small area. Hopefully, no one will really notice...all that much.

Oh well, I think it's better than the mess I had made earlier! I'll put some filler in there and see how it goes. I still got a bunch of things to do to the door before I take it off for some filler. The screw holes for the window crank plate I made are getting all oversized, from all the off and on I've been doing. Plus, the inner door metal is only 22ga. and the sheet metal screws don't have enough to bite on to. I cut some thick 16ga. tabs and welded those to the inside of the holes and that fixed it right up.

Then, with the window almost finished, I cleaned up and greased the Regulator...SMOOTHE...

Then, on to the Door Handle Plate. I "rescued" the mounting bolts from the donor door. I pretty sure I had some put aside, but I'm totally disorganized right about now. Cleaned and welded those in then, I fitted, cleaned and primed the back of the plate. Then welded that in.

Measured and copied the Arm Rest "clip" from the Driver's side and tacked that in to check with the door card attached.

Looked good so, I welded that in and cleaned up the Door Handle Plate.

Filled the extra holes that I made trying to mount the Regulator.

Removed the door for some Filler! Then noticed that I had never finished welding the Flat Plate on the jam when I had been fitting the Guides.

You may have noticed that I have the Fenders on the tires. I had placed them in the Patio for safe keeping while I worked on the Bug. Sadly, I had put them too close to the hanging Body Punching bag and my nephews were banging away on it when, the "c" bolt unscrewed and the bag fell on the pile of Fenders Thank goodness my nephews weren't hurt(just feeling guilty). But, a couple of the fenders took some damage. Anyway, how would I feel if I didn't have to redo stuff! I really don't know.

So, I moved them back to a safe place? I was backing my car into the garage and was looking in the sideview mirror and saw the Bug. With the fenders resting on the tires, it kinda looked like a Slammed Super( if you use your imagination). I'll post again tomorrow with the conclusion of "My Vacation".