Corney13's '63 Beetle

[Corney13]

[57BLITZ]

Wow! Congratulations! The Bug looks amazing!
Is that trophy full or do you just get to set it on yer mantel?
_________________
Jesucristo es mi Señor y Salvador!

[Corney13]

A couple weekends of VW events! I cruised out solo to the Pomona Swap Meet on 10/14 and attended Beer, Brats and Beetles car show on 10/21. I won Best of Show!! Pretty cool!

[Corney13]

One day I would love to do the Treffen cruise, but this year I joined the show in Oxnard, at the Channel Islands Harbor. It was a fun event with lots of VWs!

A quick clip of my drive down there:

https://youtu.be/-Wuf89bQa9A

[Rome]

[Corney13]

Me and my bug made it to the RVA Volkswagen d'Elegance on Saturday! I left my house at 6am to make the 75 mile trip down to Huntington Beach. I was still a little nervous traveling that distance, as the round trip was going to double the miles I had put on the car since I finished it. In all honesty, my biggest fear was that I would loose a wheel at speed, or that a tie rod would come loose, even though I triple checked everything. The drive went very well however, and I made it to the Costco parking lot across the street from the venue at about 7:20am. Show participants were lining up and waiting to check in.

The venue was The Old World Village, which is a German themed shopping center in Huntington Beach. It was a very cool place to have a car show. The club members checked all of us in and guided us through the little streets and alleys, advising us where we would be set up. I can't say enough about how nice the guys and gals from RVA (Rare Vintage Air VW Club) were. Everyone was super friendly and cared greatly about their event. I felt very welcome, which was great because I came alone, not knowing anyone there.

The RVA club member's cars are stunning. Their cars are early stock cars. I believe the bugs need to be pre 64 and the buses pre 67, but I don't know for certain. The participants cars were absolutely amazing as well. I was honored to have my car shown with such fine examples of vintage Volkswagens, especially because I built and painted my car in my garage. The club members judged the cars on a point system with categories like paint, engine bay, interior, fit and finish, etc... They had quiet a few classes including mine (58-67 ragtop sunroof and convertible Beetles). I was shocked when they read my name as the winner of my class! What a feeling to take my car to it's first car show and win an award against some absolutely flawless cars. I believe the fact that I built and painted my car myself might have gained me a point or two!

It was a great day and my little bug soldiered home, getting me there safe and in one piece. Looking forward to the next event!

[slave1pilot]

Ol' Herb and I are a little jealous.
_________________
Currently:
1959 pan with a 64 body and a 63 ragtop grafted in Herbie replica
Previously:
1967 Beetle
1968 Beetle
1970 Beetle

[dodgerodder]

Your car really does look amazing, congrats on your 1st drive!!

57BLITZ haha, you are right though! Always a few things to sort on a total build.

Soon those will be done, and you’re all set.

Really great job on the build, you should be so proud of your major accomplishment!

Dan
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My 66’ build thread:
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=699235

[57BLITZ]

Looks FANTASTIC!!!!
Congratulations!!!!
Very cool that ya have it driving and getting the "bugs" sorted out!
_________________
Jesucristo es mi Señor y Salvador!

[Corney13]

The day finally came! I drove my bug for the first time since I got it nearly 4 years ago!

While the car was at Koch's, they re-indexed the rear and got it at a good height, installed the new master cylinder and put in a windshield. They also adjusted the carbs. I am still a little rich, so I may need to jet down one size.

While I was waiting (about 3 weeks), I finished my deck lid. When I arrived to pick it up, they helped me install it, as the plan was just to drive the car home.

This was my first drive in the car and for the most part, it drove well. The alignment was way off and I was very cognizant of every noise and smell. It was a stressful drive, but it made it with out a hitch.

I drove it around my neighborhood and over to my sisters house and gave my niece and nephews a ride.

After coming back from a Memorial Day camping trip, I took the car to get aligned. This made a big difference, as it was way off.

After the car had about 100 miles on it, I decided I would try and drive it into work. I thought it would be a good day because I figured some people may still be on vacation so the traffic would be light.... I was wrong. The traffic was absolutely horrible and it started lightly raining. I have a 6 volt wiper motor that I need to change out but I figured I would give it 1 pulse and shut it off. The wipers pointed straight up and stopped. I started to smell burning electrical, so I got of the freeway, reset the wipers and made sure nothing was on fire. Just a little smoke from the wiper motor. No more trying that until I get the replacement piece to convert it to 12 volt! I proceeded on my way when all of a sudden I started getting a very loud banging from the rear. I pulled off on the shoulder and realized that the fan bolt had come off. Shit! I called a tow truck and had it towed to the closest vintage VW shop.

Come to find out, I had a single port fan on the engine. It did not fit right and was out of balance. It basically shook itself loose. The shop replaced the fan and tightened some things up. I picked it up and brought it into work for an hour before I drove it home. The drive home was nice and pretty uneventful. I could definitely tell a difference with the new fan.

I have the car entered in a show in Huntington Beach on Saturday. It is a 140 mile round trip. I am going to triple check everything and bring some tools and extra parts. I am hoping for a smooth trip. Wish me luck! I will post pictures from the show on Monday.

[Corney13]

[Mark Evans]

It's a nice roof rack, but I have 2 ragtops, 2 fold and a 3 fold. Personally I DON'T like the roof racks up there.
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'63 Ragtop

[arizonabuckeye]

Awesome - thanks. I have long maintained that these cars look so much better with a roof rack. One person challenged that when there is a rag top saying that it could get too busy. Would love to see how yours looks.

[Corney13]

[arizonabuckeye]

Looks incredible! Any shots of it with the ragtop open and the roof rack on?

[Corney13]

The bug finally left the garage / driveway for the first time since I brought it home in June 2014. Off to Koch VW in Acton for some buttoning up and to fix some of my rookie mistakes. I had to lift the rear back up to the stock height in order to get it on the trailer. I was going to take the time to index it properly by adjusting the inner and outer splines, but I am just going to let Koch do it. I always thought 1 outer spline equaled about 2.5 inches, but for me it is either ass high or 3 inches off the sump drain bolt. Not drive-able in my opinion. I will also have them raise the front. I am near full adjustment on the beam, so if they cant get it high enough, I may have to swap out my unused drop spindles for stock height spindles and just adjust off the beam. Goal is to have the tires basically in line with the fender line. Other than that, they will replace the windshield, add a dual circuit master cylinder and fine tune the carbs.

Here are a few photos before it left. Additionally, I finally got around to repainting the decklid after it fell.

[dodgerodder]

[Corney13]

[slave1pilot]

hurry up and get this finished. There's another '63 a little northeast that needs your help.

_________________
Currently:
1959 pan with a 64 body and a 63 ragtop grafted in Herbie replica
Previously:
1967 Beetle
1968 Beetle
1970 Beetle

[Corney13]