Buggeee's '61 Turkis Pile (from scrapyard to show in 21 days)

[Busstom]

[Buggeee]

Well the plague has put our indoor convention center out of business so there will not be a massive car show in the coming March and my fifty bucks entrance fee has been returned for the cancelled show for March previous. Bummer. A car in that show has been on the bucket list since going to it as a youngster with my dad each year and Turkis Pile had been accepted.

Also, cruising has been severely limited and the season has wound to a close. Freeing up space in the shop for ongoing projects, I have decided to adopt out this completed work rather that just store it for the foreseeable future.

One of my crew would not have it leave the family so he picked it up immediately and went right to work making it feel at home, trimming it out with personalized bits and racks and other memorabilia fitting a patina bug in this part of the world. Plus, I still get visitation on weekends and the odd Wednesday night.

Here is a parting shot of her ride out into the wide world whith her very happy new caretaker.

Within a matter of hours of this shot, Instagram crashed under a deluge of Turkis flavored postings. She is in a safe place.

_________________
Big Time 1988 Vanagon Westy
Release the Krankenwagen! 1966 Sportsmobile Camper
Dr. Kompressor 72 Super Duper
61 Turkis Pile (adopted out)

[Rome]

Have you considered pulling out the dents in your left rear quarter panel using a stud gun? Eastwood.com sells 2 types- one converts a mig welder to the gun tip, the other is an electric self-contained "gun" that spot-welds the "nail head" onto the body surface. With either method, you pull on the nail/stud shaft with a dent puller. Once you are done with the panel, you grind off the nail head. There's no hole to drill into the panel. This might be another time saver compared to replacing part of the quarter panel with your valuable NOS piece.

Great that you had a spike of motivation to get the '61 roadworthy. At this point you have a driveable project. Improvements can be done at your convenience. Many people, including me, have projects that just sit for years due to laziness or other excuses.

[Buggeee]

[Rome]

Our current pandemic situation has most car shows/events canceled. Will you consider spending some of that extra non-driving time to spray painting the rear fenders, rear apron, and the left quarter panel with a few coats of spray can paint, then wet sanding the upward-facing areas for a faux patina look? Krylon Jade Green being a close match to Turkis. You could even first spray paint the upper sections of the fenders with a lighter grey primer so that when you sand off the Turkis/Jade on those limited areas, the fender's primer will look closer to that on the front fenders... https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=424324&highlight=krylon

[Buggeee]

[bad91teg]

I really like how you got that bug on the road ,and enjoying the car so quick . dam good job .

[Buggeee]

Turkis Pile made the invite to the local Memorial Day Parade.

A great way to spread joy from a distance with smiles, honks, and waves.

_________________
Big Time 1988 Vanagon Westy
Release the Krankenwagen! 1966 Sportsmobile Camper
Dr. Kompressor 72 Super Duper
61 Turkis Pile (adopted out)

[Buggeee]

With cruise-ins as we used to know them suspended for the time being, getting fresh air in the bug has been limited to a few no-contact drives for pictures at local spots.

Don your masks, stand a stone-throw away, and enjoy a few random pics:

_________________
Big Time 1988 Vanagon Westy
Release the Krankenwagen! 1966 Sportsmobile Camper
Dr. Kompressor 72 Super Duper
61 Turkis Pile (adopted out)

[Chickensoup]

And.... that’s exactly how a vw should be driven. good work
_________________
-'85 c10 5.3 LS, cam, heads, long tubes, x pipe, 3 inch spin tech's
-'01 e46 325ci *tree modded
-'05 B5.5 TDI Wagon 17in sport rims ;EGR + BSM + ASV Delete, Stage-2 Tune, straight pipe
'65 Tourist Delivery Build
'66 RIP

[Buggeee]

The next morning I sat in the backyard enjoying a cup of coffee, looking at the loaded trailer with anticipation while the sun came up on a beautiful day. It's time. My friends are already on the road and I will be catching up with them at the entrance of the IX Center to stage our cars for the show this weekend.

I pet the dog, set the mug on the picnic table and sauntered towards the truck when my phone rang...

My buds were being turned away at the door. No show this year. Later that day the Governor announced the formal shut down on t.v.

A kid's dream frozen in time for another 365 days, ours spots would be honored next year. To be honest I was kind of relieved, we had seen enough on the news by now to know it was a bad wind blowing our way. I unhooked the trailer, went to pick up my goul-driven hot rod t-shirt for the ghost show that wasn"t and moped around for most of the day.

Just as the sun started setting I decided I might as well get the tires dirty to open the season, as well as my mind.

The car pulled strong and I felt great! I only made it a half mile or so when my bug reminded me that we had drained the tank for the indoor show. Oops

My wife is a kind soul and rescued me with a can of gas so I could ride out the sunset.

Home safe and sound.

_________________
Big Time 1988 Vanagon Westy
Release the Krankenwagen! 1966 Sportsmobile Camper
Dr. Kompressor 72 Super Duper
61 Turkis Pile (adopted out)

[bad91teg]

very enjoyable thread . way to handle the bug quick , and getting it back on the road .

[Buggeee]

In a time long ago, before the quarantine....

March 2020 IX Center Annual Piston Power Show (aka Auto Rama) is a week away, and a dream I've had since spectating the show with my dad every year as a tot is about to come true.

I've got a car in the show. It's my Turkis Pile and it will be among a baker's dozen air-cooleds. All my cruizin' buddies and I got in and will be staged together. For three full days of indoor hot rod paradise we will be introducing an air-cooled German presence to the traditionally American muscle scene.

Last weekend I spent the day helping my friend put the windows in his freshly headlined early low rider 61. A few days later he stopped by with a complete hand-me-down interior so my ride could hold its own at the show. No more ratted high-backs for my rat. What a DUDE. Love the airheads.

Here it is getting cleaned up and installed. Top of the world.

As luck would have it, here is what had been lost in the pocket of one of the door cards, by a prior owner's prior owner. Destiny.

Feeling in the mood to tighten her up I threw on some running boards, slicked the tires and she is ready for the big dance!

Wow. This bug is ready for a couple of window stickers

This one is my favorite. It's been in my tool box since it's first cruiz to an outdoor show last summer and I'm really feeling it.

I loaded her into the box trailer for the night and hooked up the tow mule for the morning trip into town.

Night all
_________________
Big Time 1988 Vanagon Westy
Release the Krankenwagen! 1966 Sportsmobile Camper
Dr. Kompressor 72 Super Duper
61 Turkis Pile (adopted out)

[jeremy.g]

Super fun. Thanks for taking the time to post!

-JG

[vwuberalles]

Great job, it's perfect just the way it is now! Makes me want to scab in some floorpan halves on my 66 and finally get it on the road.
_________________
1973 Superbeetle: 1st car, owned since age 12. Update thread --> https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9919140#9919140
1967 Kombi: Owned since age 17, Dad's retirement project.
1966 Beetle: My new project. (SOLD) Build thread--> https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=678040

[VW_Jimbo]

I was wondering where you went!

Just read through it all - NICE!
_________________
Jimbo

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

[Busstom]

Oh well, don't dwell over it, other trailers will come along.
_________________
My name's Steve and it's pronounced "Bust 'em" (cuz people think I'm Tom)

[Buggeee]

[Buggeee]

[KTPhil]

Note to self: Be skeptical of ads proclaiming a car is rust-free because it came from California...